Everything Scott Satterfield said after Louisville’s loss to Clemson

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Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield

(Opening statement):

“I was really proud of the way the team continued to fight and continued to play. Even there toward the end, we’re down six with two minutes to go and no timeouts and we hit Tyler Harrell, great play by Tyler down the sideline, and then another great play by Justin Marshall to get the ball on the two-yard line and it gave us an opportunity. We had a few pops to try to get in the endzone and just didn’t do it. Give credit to Clemson, they still have an outstanding defense, one of the best in the country. We were able to move the football tonight, we rushed for over 200 yards against a defense that’s very stingy and we scored 24 points but obviously it wasn’t enough. Again, I’m proud of our guys, they continue to come back. We’ve had so many close games this year and have not come out on the winning side of it and these guys just keep battling. I tell them we’re really close and at some point, we are going to get over the hump and when we get over the hump and we’re going to start winning all these games that were so close with. Just give Clemson credit, they battled as well and came back and ended up pulling it out towards the end, but it does hurt to come that close and not finish it out.”

(On the last drive withing the two-yard line)

“That was basically a sprint out to the right were trying to get a cross action in the route there and they switched it off, which sometimes they do, and then you just have to make the throw, you still have to throw it in there. The play before that we were trying to run a corner route with a flat route, and they did a good job covering that as well. It really wasn’t there but you have to try to fit the ball in there. Again, give them credit, it was good defense, they brought some pressure there and Malik (Cunningham) didn’t have as much time as you’d like with it as well. But yeah, I mean, you know, obviously if those plays didn’t work, I had a few more we could dial up, we just have to go out there and try to execute.”

(On Malik’s injury limiting the play calling on the final drive)

“I don’t think so at that point, we really weren’t thinking about that. The time was a factor too, although I thought we had time to run some plays. We didn’t want to run the ball. We were on the two and we ran it the first time and then after that we had to decide if we wanted to run the ball again because we weren’t going to have as much time if we need to go four downs, so that was coming into play. I was hoping that they were thinking we were going to run it, so we did a play action, so there was a lot of things that came into play right there, and again, they did a good job. You’re exactly right. They’re very stingy inside the 10. We went back and watched all those clips and there weren’t hardly any touchdowns scored. They do a great job of creating pressure right up the middle and making the quarterback move in and their DBs are good defenders on the outside. It was good defense there and not good enough offense.”

(On Malik going down)

“We had a lot of momentum going when (Malik) Cunningham went down, we were on the plus territory and feeling really good about that drive. We were up, we were getting ready to go down and go up two scores. He goes out, and I feel like the momentum flipped at the start of the fourth quarter. We couldn’t get anything going. We had a couple of three and outs and we were backed up and just couldn’t get anything going at that point. That was a pivotal point in the game. We got it back and go for it on fourth down but didn’t get it but our defense held them to a three and out. They kicked the field goal, and it ultimately came to two minutes, and I thought it was a great job by our defense holding them to two field goals to give us a chance to win the game. We hit a big ball down the sideline and end up getting down to the red zone. Really good job by all those involved to give us an opportunity to win the game.”

(On failing to score on the final drive in the red zone)

“Clemson had our guys covered up pretty good. I put my mind in the mind of Malik and said, ‘where are you going to throw the ball?’ On the last one, you have to try to fit it in because it’s fourth down but the one before that, there wasn’t anywhere to throw it. Clemson has a good defense, but in hindsight, obviously, you go back and maybe call something else. Maybe try to spread them out. We want to look back and ask, “What could we have done differently?” But we gave ourselves an opportunity and that’s what we wanted. And we just didn’t make the play.”

(On losing games after leading in the second half)

“I think they are all different. The circumstances are different, details are different, your plans are different. They’re all different. So, I don’t look at it that way. We will go back and watch this film and we’ll break this film down. We’ll figure out what we needed to do differently in this film. Malik (Cunningham) going out most of the fourth quarter was a huge part of this game. I think another part is that Kei’Trel Clark didn’t play this game. That’s a huge loss for us. He’s one of our best defensive players. We lost Jack Fagot at the end of the first half, and he didn’t play the whole second half. That’s another starter that doesn’t come off the field very much. We were playing with a lot of guys that hadn’t played as much, and we still went toe-to-toe and we were still right there to win the game at the end. So again, I’m proud of our guys, I’m proud of the way they continue to fight. We’re really close and we’re right there. It’s just such a fine line from getting the victory. If we can complete one of those balls, we win the game. It’s a fine line.”

(On if the offense changed with Evan Conley in)

“We try to stay within the offense and try to figure out what we needed to do with him. Obviously, you’re not going to run Evan as much as you do Malik, but we’re still going to try to run our offense, run our plays that we have in the game. Again, Clemson’s got a good defense. So, with Evan, it’s hard for him. He’s just coming into the game and not yet in the flow of it. We’re trying to call some plays that will make him comfortable and sometimes that’s hard when there’s not an easy play to make. Every play, you have to earn the yards against a defense like Clemson so that makes it a lot more difficult to get something going. I think we just couldn’t get anything going. It was three-and-out, three-and-out and it’s hard to get into a rhythm that way.”

(On how to keep players engaged during a losing streak)

“It’s just who they are and what their makeup is. They’re competitors and they’re fighters. These guys are going to come out and do that. Sunday, we’ll come back over here and they will be disappointed, and they will be hurt but we’ll watch the film and we’ll go back to work. That’s just what they’re trained to do and that’s who we are as coaches. You’re not going to throw the towel in. You’re not going to walk away, you’re not going to quit, you’re going to keep fighting and you’re going to keep rolling. You’re going to try to go out there and beat Syracuse. That’s the bottom line, and we’ll try to figure out a way, whatever we can, to make that happen. We’re disappointed in the fact that we have not won some of these games. We’ve been right there. But we’re also encouraged with the fact that we’re in every game. Just one or two plays and our record is sitting here a lot differently. To me as a coach, that’s encouraging. We have a young football team; we got a lot of good players and a lot of guys with the right things right here inside of their chest and I think they’ll be able to get us over the top.”