Wommack post game Q&A

Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack talks about the performance of his defense against Riley Skinner and the Wake Forest offense. Tech changed a few coverage schemes from the first to second half and it was successful. Coach Wommack also talks about some individual performances on defense that changed the course of the game.

What changed in the second half?

“I don’t know that there was anything that changed. At half time we challenged them to get up in their face on man to man coverage and press them more. We challenged the guys to get a better pass rush up front. You gotta give a lot of credit to their quarterback, I think that he is a heck of a player. They tried to run it 25 times or so for only 30 yards and any time you stuff the run like that then you are going to have success, especially if your offense rushes for over 400.”

Was man to man something that had to be done in order to defend Skinner?

“They really hurt us on some deep crossing routes a couple of times on third down. We were playing quarters coverage against it and we couldn’t get the linebacker back underneath it, so at halftime we decided that we were going to play more man free and two deep, five underneath man to man and it helped us. I thought that our kids a great job getting them off of the field in the second half, other than the one series. It wasn’t all man to man, we did some bluff and choke blitz and we got out and played some two coverage on them as well. You gotta give credit to Skinner because he did a heck of a job. He has had 45 starts so you’re not going to fool him with a lot of stuff. He is extremely accurate. He may not have the strongest arm in the world but he’s going to get the ball to the receiver. You watch him go for 550 yards, including 408 yards passing, against Miami and it scares you to death. He is a competitor and people were watching whether or not he was going to practice, but you know that a competitor like that is going to be out there on Saturday.

Talk about the performance of Mario Edwards. He seemed to give Tech a spark on defense.

“I think he has come along well and is really starting to help this team, especially with losing the guys that we lost. We’ve had some performances that weren’t as good as we like at those positions and for him to step up was a real good thing for this team.”

Derrick Morgan came up big on the last drive of the game.

“Yeah he is amazing; he is the one guy up front that just finds a way. He’s a great competitor, he loves the game, and didn’t want to lose. I think that he left it all out on the field, there is no question about that.”