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Mike Elko Press Conference Quotes: Wake Forest
10/31/2023 11:48:00 PM | Football
DURHAM – Duke football head coach Mike Elko met with members of the media on Tuesday morning for his weekly press conference.
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Duke hosts Wake Forest on Thursday night for another ACC matchup. The game will be broadcast on ESPN with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. The contest can also be heard on the Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
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Mike Elko Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Thanks for coming out and Happy Halloween. It's that time of year. The weather is starting to change. It's cold and brisk at practice. Wrapping up Louisville, it wasn't our best performance. I think we all know that. We really didn't win in any phase of the game that's important to us. We weren't able to control the line of scrimmages. We didn't win the turnover battle. We weren't great in situational football, and we really got behind early and just kind of let it get away from us. It was unfortunate but obviously this game is about response and bouncing back and that's what we have. We don't have a ton of time. So, as you look forward to this week and playing a really talented Wake Forest team, another in-state rival, another primetime TV slot, it's just another opportunity for us to respond.
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"When you look at Wake, everybody's aware of the relationship Dave [Clawson] and I have, and I have a ton of respect for him and all the guys over. I've worked with a lot of those guys for a lot of years and shared offices with a lot of those guys. This one is always a little bit different for me. There is just a lot of feelings that go back, a lot of memories that go back with a lot of those guys. All respect for them and what they're doing. I think when you look at their team, defensively they are tremendously improved. I think they look like a team in year two in their system. They've made a lot of steps forward. They look very cohesive in how they're playing the system. Very physical upfront, very fast. Play really, really relentless through their front seven. They've been really good at stopping the run. I think they've got a talented back end. I think they're executing the way they want to play the defense at a much higher level. Offensively, obviously every time you play them it's just different, right? The way they run the slow mesh, the way they read things, the way they go about it, they present a lot of problems. They're really talented on the outside. They've got three really talented receivers that have the ability to get open and separate and catch the football. The offensive line does a really good job running the system. That's the one thing about their program is, they've got a lot of guys that get into that system and learn and develop and know how to do the things that they're asking them to do. They do that at a really high level. They roll three backs back there that are all really talented. They've got their quarterback healthy last week and so I'm sure they're expecting him to take a big step forward now that he's got his feet back underneath him and ready to go. This will be a huge challenge for us. We know that. We're excited to go out again and play another in-state school. We're excited to just bounce back from where we were last week at this time. So we're looking forward to the opportunity."
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(Ref.: On the main concerns coming out of Louisville last week)
"Yeah, the main concerns were we were just completely dysfunctional at every level. We didn't block. We didn't hit our targets in the run game. We didn't do a good job of staying on schedule because we committed way too many penalties. We were inefficient again in the passing game at all three levels. I think when you're struggling, the answer is believe in who you are. Believe in what you're doing. Simplify. Go back to your fundamentals and just improve. I think people always think there's these huge, sweeping answers. There's not. We're in a little bit of a rut. But we've also been a very efficient, very effective offense for the better part of my tenure here. I have all the confidence in the world that we're going to get that thing turned in the right direction, but I don't think it's like 'oh, we're not playing well, so let's panic' or 'let's try to make all these adjustments' or 'let's put in these big changes'. You just don't do that. That's not who we are. We have confidence in who we are. We have confidence in our guys. We have confidence in what we're doing. You have to do it better. That's really just the reality of it."
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(Ref.: On relying on the veterans to guide the locker room coming off two tough losses)
"Yeah, I mean, when you look at the short scope of it, and we're competitors and want to win every game, we're in a two-game losing streak and there's a little bit of disappointment. If you look at it, you can't lose sight of the big picture of this thing, right? We've still played four ranked teams. We played two ranked teams in a row on the road. I don't know that anybody around here feels as though the bottom is falling out of anything. We played two really talented teams and didn't get the job done. That's our job and we certainly compete too, but we still believe in who we are and what we're doing. We have a lot of confidence in where we're going."
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(Ref.: On balancing the quick turnaround, but also being ready to start fast on Thursday"
"Yeah, I think that's the challenge. I think in a normal week, you absolutely would. I think when you have two days -- just to put this in perspective for everybody, we got home at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and we were in this building on Sunday at three o'clock prepping for Wake in what was one of our only three days to prep for the game. So, there's not a lot of room for physicality this week. There's not a lot of room to address it. I think you just have to rely on who we are at our core and what we're about. Obviously, we show the kids in the film, show them those areas where we feel like we've got to improve and get better. Then again, you just trust. Everything is about trusting and who we are. We've been a team that has answered the bell physically a lot since I've been here, and we just got to do it again. Maybe we just lost our way a little bit on Saturday."
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(Ref.: On if it is a big challenge to play two short-week games in a season)
"I think it's an enormous challenge. In 23 years of coaching, it's the first time I've ever done this and doing it twice in one year, just a tremendous challenge. I was talking to people this offseason about it. Everybody says the same thing, and Wake's got the same situation. So, this has nothing to do with performance. We've got to go out and perform, that's not what this is about, but it is a challenge to get a football program football team, NFL, college, whatever, ready coming out of a physical sport that we play, and spin around this quick and play again. It's a challenge."
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(Ref.: On any injury updates)
"Everyone's day-to-day. Riley's day-to-day. Graham is day-to-day. Jacob is day-to-day. They'll all be gametime decisions. All of those guys again, it would be really nice if we had a couple extra days. So, we're in a race against the clock with all of our injured guys. Myles [Jones] is going to be the same way. It's just when you don't have the full week coming out of the game, that's another part of what you have to be conscious of and be careful of. Then obviously just to address this, Henry [Belin IV] has been dealing with an upper body injury. He's been dealing with it since the UConn game. He was a warrior for us and really gritted his teeth and played against NC State and played against Florida State. I just think people need to know that and maybe it's something for just everybody. Football programs, it doesn't benefit us to get up here and let the whole world know all of the things that are going on inside of our program. A lot of people make a lot of these snap judgments watching games and watching kids play and a lot of times there's a lot more going on behind the scenes and so maybe giving the kids some benefit of the doubt every once in a while might, you know, help people a little bit."
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(Ref.: On how Grayson Loftis has progressed since his arrival on campus)
"He's progressing. He's been able to get a lot of reps. There's been different weeks this year where we've had to shut Henry [Belin IV] down and try to let his injury calm down and last week was another one. So, he's been able to get a lot of reps. He kind of moved off a scout team really after the UConn game, so he's been getting reps consistently since then, and I think you saw that last week. It was obviously not a fair sample, the part of the game that he goes out there in it's a completely different sample in terms of the score and the makeup of it all, but certainly was able to go out there with confidence and operate and do the things that we needed him to do and so I think he'll be ready if needed."
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#GoDuke
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Duke hosts Wake Forest on Thursday night for another ACC matchup. The game will be broadcast on ESPN with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. The contest can also be heard on the Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
Â
Mike Elko Duke Football Head Coach
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Thanks for coming out and Happy Halloween. It's that time of year. The weather is starting to change. It's cold and brisk at practice. Wrapping up Louisville, it wasn't our best performance. I think we all know that. We really didn't win in any phase of the game that's important to us. We weren't able to control the line of scrimmages. We didn't win the turnover battle. We weren't great in situational football, and we really got behind early and just kind of let it get away from us. It was unfortunate but obviously this game is about response and bouncing back and that's what we have. We don't have a ton of time. So, as you look forward to this week and playing a really talented Wake Forest team, another in-state rival, another primetime TV slot, it's just another opportunity for us to respond.
Â
"When you look at Wake, everybody's aware of the relationship Dave [Clawson] and I have, and I have a ton of respect for him and all the guys over. I've worked with a lot of those guys for a lot of years and shared offices with a lot of those guys. This one is always a little bit different for me. There is just a lot of feelings that go back, a lot of memories that go back with a lot of those guys. All respect for them and what they're doing. I think when you look at their team, defensively they are tremendously improved. I think they look like a team in year two in their system. They've made a lot of steps forward. They look very cohesive in how they're playing the system. Very physical upfront, very fast. Play really, really relentless through their front seven. They've been really good at stopping the run. I think they've got a talented back end. I think they're executing the way they want to play the defense at a much higher level. Offensively, obviously every time you play them it's just different, right? The way they run the slow mesh, the way they read things, the way they go about it, they present a lot of problems. They're really talented on the outside. They've got three really talented receivers that have the ability to get open and separate and catch the football. The offensive line does a really good job running the system. That's the one thing about their program is, they've got a lot of guys that get into that system and learn and develop and know how to do the things that they're asking them to do. They do that at a really high level. They roll three backs back there that are all really talented. They've got their quarterback healthy last week and so I'm sure they're expecting him to take a big step forward now that he's got his feet back underneath him and ready to go. This will be a huge challenge for us. We know that. We're excited to go out again and play another in-state school. We're excited to just bounce back from where we were last week at this time. So we're looking forward to the opportunity."
Â
(Ref.: On the main concerns coming out of Louisville last week)
"Yeah, the main concerns were we were just completely dysfunctional at every level. We didn't block. We didn't hit our targets in the run game. We didn't do a good job of staying on schedule because we committed way too many penalties. We were inefficient again in the passing game at all three levels. I think when you're struggling, the answer is believe in who you are. Believe in what you're doing. Simplify. Go back to your fundamentals and just improve. I think people always think there's these huge, sweeping answers. There's not. We're in a little bit of a rut. But we've also been a very efficient, very effective offense for the better part of my tenure here. I have all the confidence in the world that we're going to get that thing turned in the right direction, but I don't think it's like 'oh, we're not playing well, so let's panic' or 'let's try to make all these adjustments' or 'let's put in these big changes'. You just don't do that. That's not who we are. We have confidence in who we are. We have confidence in our guys. We have confidence in what we're doing. You have to do it better. That's really just the reality of it."
Â
(Ref.: On relying on the veterans to guide the locker room coming off two tough losses)
"Yeah, I mean, when you look at the short scope of it, and we're competitors and want to win every game, we're in a two-game losing streak and there's a little bit of disappointment. If you look at it, you can't lose sight of the big picture of this thing, right? We've still played four ranked teams. We played two ranked teams in a row on the road. I don't know that anybody around here feels as though the bottom is falling out of anything. We played two really talented teams and didn't get the job done. That's our job and we certainly compete too, but we still believe in who we are and what we're doing. We have a lot of confidence in where we're going."
Â
(Ref.: On balancing the quick turnaround, but also being ready to start fast on Thursday"
"Yeah, I think that's the challenge. I think in a normal week, you absolutely would. I think when you have two days -- just to put this in perspective for everybody, we got home at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and we were in this building on Sunday at three o'clock prepping for Wake in what was one of our only three days to prep for the game. So, there's not a lot of room for physicality this week. There's not a lot of room to address it. I think you just have to rely on who we are at our core and what we're about. Obviously, we show the kids in the film, show them those areas where we feel like we've got to improve and get better. Then again, you just trust. Everything is about trusting and who we are. We've been a team that has answered the bell physically a lot since I've been here, and we just got to do it again. Maybe we just lost our way a little bit on Saturday."
Â
(Ref.: On if it is a big challenge to play two short-week games in a season)
"I think it's an enormous challenge. In 23 years of coaching, it's the first time I've ever done this and doing it twice in one year, just a tremendous challenge. I was talking to people this offseason about it. Everybody says the same thing, and Wake's got the same situation. So, this has nothing to do with performance. We've got to go out and perform, that's not what this is about, but it is a challenge to get a football program football team, NFL, college, whatever, ready coming out of a physical sport that we play, and spin around this quick and play again. It's a challenge."
Â
(Ref.: On any injury updates)
"Everyone's day-to-day. Riley's day-to-day. Graham is day-to-day. Jacob is day-to-day. They'll all be gametime decisions. All of those guys again, it would be really nice if we had a couple extra days. So, we're in a race against the clock with all of our injured guys. Myles [Jones] is going to be the same way. It's just when you don't have the full week coming out of the game, that's another part of what you have to be conscious of and be careful of. Then obviously just to address this, Henry [Belin IV] has been dealing with an upper body injury. He's been dealing with it since the UConn game. He was a warrior for us and really gritted his teeth and played against NC State and played against Florida State. I just think people need to know that and maybe it's something for just everybody. Football programs, it doesn't benefit us to get up here and let the whole world know all of the things that are going on inside of our program. A lot of people make a lot of these snap judgments watching games and watching kids play and a lot of times there's a lot more going on behind the scenes and so maybe giving the kids some benefit of the doubt every once in a while might, you know, help people a little bit."
Â
(Ref.: On how Grayson Loftis has progressed since his arrival on campus)
"He's progressing. He's been able to get a lot of reps. There's been different weeks this year where we've had to shut Henry [Belin IV] down and try to let his injury calm down and last week was another one. So, he's been able to get a lot of reps. He kind of moved off a scout team really after the UConn game, so he's been getting reps consistently since then, and I think you saw that last week. It was obviously not a fair sample, the part of the game that he goes out there in it's a completely different sample in terms of the score and the makeup of it all, but certainly was able to go out there with confidence and operate and do the things that we needed him to do and so I think he'll be ready if needed."
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#GoDuke
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