USF vs. McNeese State: Post Game Quotes

Post game comments from University of South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt. Leavitt, who is a perfect 10-0 in home openers, talks about his team's first game performance, the performance of freshmen quarterback Matt Grothe, special teams and more. Also included are bonus quotes from Bulls runningback Moise Plancher concerning his injury, and cornerback Trae Williams.

Coach Leavitt

The importance of winning the home opener “You always want to win regardless of who you play. I am not focused on so much winning as much as playing good football. We have a pretty young team with a lot of new faces. I just want those guys to go out and play well and real hard. We are going to make mistakes but hopefully they will be effort mistakes."

Reaction to how the special teams performed
“We were not very good on fourth down. Your worse nightmare really came true. Our punter Ilia is a good guy. It was hard to put him in that position. He is a freshman going in there straight out of high school. I went with Alverado after that. I thought our punt return team did very well. I really felt bad for Randolph because he had a great runback until we got a block in the back. We did so many foolish things. We looked like a young undisciplined team. We really did and that’s what we are.”

How he felt about his team’s performance
“I love this football team but half the guys that were playing had never taken a college snap before. We made a lot of mistakes but I am proud of the way the team came back and kept battling. It did not surprise me that it was a close game. I totally expected it but we kind of broke it open in the end there. We have got a ways to go though.”

His reaction to Grothe’s performance
“He did a great job. We did not plan on playing Pat (Julmiste) past the first half because Matt has been doing so well in practice. He started of slow but by the end he really showed what he showed us in practice. Matt did an outstanding job.”


Moise Plancher:
Feelings about starting his first game and the injury he sustained on a 16 yard run
“I was excited to play. I was very anxious because it has been over a year since I have been on the field again. Unfortunately on the option play I stepped down and a guy pulled my knee from behind. They said I might have just hyper extended it. I did not think it was really that bad but it is stiffening up right now. Hopefully I will be back next week."


Trae Williams:
How he felt the team played
“I think we did pretty well overall. We were a little sluggish in the first half but came out in the second half and stepped up. I was looking for them to mostly do trick plays like reverses or reverse passes. The defensive line played very well.”

How he was able to grab the interception
“I knew he had a step or two on me. All I was thinking was touchdown because I figured he was going to score. Somehow I got my hands on it and surprised myself.”

Concerning his punt block
“We have been running that play in practice all week and if it was not for Danny Verpaele opening up the gap for me I would have never got to it.”