Cam Ward had a whirlwind night, turning the ball over three times but compiling 500 total yards, 5 TDs and a comeback win. He met with reporters to discuss the game:
On what he was feeling during the review: Just pain. I ain't got no control of the game. Leave it up to the white hat. That's a position you don’t want to be in. But the ball was on our side today. I'm just glad we got a win.
On the turnovers: It was nothing they did on defense. It was all correctables by myself. Protection was great on the first one. I tried to throw it so I wouldn't take the sack. It didn't work out. The first interception, if I hit back shoulder would have been a touchdown, I left it inside. The second one, they showed on film that the corners, they overlap and they get off the post player. If I throw a better ball, it doesn't get tip-picked. So they're all correctables. Everything they did on defense, they showed on film. I just got to be better next week.
On how he made the shovel play on the game-winning drive: Riley being around the ball. I told him anytime I'm scrambling or he sees something, don't try and block for me. I can protect myself out there. I'm looking to go make a play. I'm looking for my guys to be around me. Riley Williams, he stepped up at the right time and got a first down for us.
On Xavier Restrepo's fourth-down catch: That's a routine play for him. He's made crazy plays in practice, and I can't wait until we get that play call against the right team, and I throw it how we practice it, and he's going to make a crazy circus catch. But he makes plays like that every time.
I could see when he was going out of his break, he was falling. So I tried to throw a little bit more air. But he made a play for us. And that was the reason why we were able to score on that drive.
On the team's resiliency: We knew that was going to be a challenge. They have a great D-line. [Antwaun Powell-Ryland] is one of the best players on their team. We knew that was going to be a challenge. The O-line, they did a good job all night, protected me when I needed it.
We played good team football at the end of the day. I gave some points up on the board in the first half. Defense rallied. They made me better. They made the team better. It came down to we wanted it a little bit more, I believe. We made plays at the right time as an offense. And the defense stepped up in big time ways. I'm just glad we got a win.
On what he learned from the game: I learned a lot. It's about time we had one of these games. These games are going to be the standpoint going forward in ACC play. Everybody is trying to win that game. We put ourselves in a bad situation early, but we were able to come out of it. We just got to be better on offense. We still have yet to play a great game, so that's good. But we've got to hone in on little things this week and get ready for Cal.
On the tight ends: I knew that was a matchup that we liked this week, especially versus their nickel or their safety whenever they bring it down, even their Will backer. Those boys made plays from Elijah [Arroyo], starting us off with an explosive play after the turnover early on. Our tight end room has grown over since I got here in January, from protecting to route concepts. They know what space that we have to get to. Those boys showed up, and I'm just glad I got them on my side.
On his message at halftime: To lock in. We were hurting ourselves on both sides of the ball. Once we got in the locker room, Coach Cristobal didn't say nothing. It was all of us. That's something that we pride ourselves on, being a player-led team, and it showed up tonight. At the end of the day, both sides of the ball never flinched. We all leaned on each other. We were motivating each other as the game went on. We knew if the defense gave us something, we had to respond. It was a good team win tonight.
On the offensive performance: I don't feel good about this game. We had three turnovers on offense, so there's nothing to feel good about. We were able to move the ball consistently, but at the end of the day, those turnovers, that's what held us back. We left a lot of points on the board. We've got to watch the tape, know where I got to improve at, where we have to improve as an offense, and take it from there.
On Kyron Drones: He's the reason why that team was put in a situation to win the game at the end. He's a good player, and we joke around all the time, especially in our quarterback workouts with my quarterback coach. I'm just ready for January. We'll have one of them workouts again, and you'll see.
He might not answer the [next FaceTime] call. I don't blame him. They're a good team, though. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC, too. Our quarterback coach (Darrell Colbert, Jr.), he gets us all right. So it was good to face him for my last year of college. I'm just psyched that we got a win.
On what he was feeling during the review: Just pain. I ain't got no control of the game. Leave it up to the white hat. That's a position you don’t want to be in. But the ball was on our side today. I'm just glad we got a win.
On the turnovers: It was nothing they did on defense. It was all correctables by myself. Protection was great on the first one. I tried to throw it so I wouldn't take the sack. It didn't work out. The first interception, if I hit back shoulder would have been a touchdown, I left it inside. The second one, they showed on film that the corners, they overlap and they get off the post player. If I throw a better ball, it doesn't get tip-picked. So they're all correctables. Everything they did on defense, they showed on film. I just got to be better next week.
On how he made the shovel play on the game-winning drive: Riley being around the ball. I told him anytime I'm scrambling or he sees something, don't try and block for me. I can protect myself out there. I'm looking to go make a play. I'm looking for my guys to be around me. Riley Williams, he stepped up at the right time and got a first down for us.
On Xavier Restrepo's fourth-down catch: That's a routine play for him. He's made crazy plays in practice, and I can't wait until we get that play call against the right team, and I throw it how we practice it, and he's going to make a crazy circus catch. But he makes plays like that every time.
I could see when he was going out of his break, he was falling. So I tried to throw a little bit more air. But he made a play for us. And that was the reason why we were able to score on that drive.
On the team's resiliency: We knew that was going to be a challenge. They have a great D-line. [Antwaun Powell-Ryland] is one of the best players on their team. We knew that was going to be a challenge. The O-line, they did a good job all night, protected me when I needed it.
We played good team football at the end of the day. I gave some points up on the board in the first half. Defense rallied. They made me better. They made the team better. It came down to we wanted it a little bit more, I believe. We made plays at the right time as an offense. And the defense stepped up in big time ways. I'm just glad we got a win.
On what he learned from the game: I learned a lot. It's about time we had one of these games. These games are going to be the standpoint going forward in ACC play. Everybody is trying to win that game. We put ourselves in a bad situation early, but we were able to come out of it. We just got to be better on offense. We still have yet to play a great game, so that's good. But we've got to hone in on little things this week and get ready for Cal.
On the tight ends: I knew that was a matchup that we liked this week, especially versus their nickel or their safety whenever they bring it down, even their Will backer. Those boys made plays from Elijah [Arroyo], starting us off with an explosive play after the turnover early on. Our tight end room has grown over since I got here in January, from protecting to route concepts. They know what space that we have to get to. Those boys showed up, and I'm just glad I got them on my side.
On his message at halftime: To lock in. We were hurting ourselves on both sides of the ball. Once we got in the locker room, Coach Cristobal didn't say nothing. It was all of us. That's something that we pride ourselves on, being a player-led team, and it showed up tonight. At the end of the day, both sides of the ball never flinched. We all leaned on each other. We were motivating each other as the game went on. We knew if the defense gave us something, we had to respond. It was a good team win tonight.
On the offensive performance: I don't feel good about this game. We had three turnovers on offense, so there's nothing to feel good about. We were able to move the ball consistently, but at the end of the day, those turnovers, that's what held us back. We left a lot of points on the board. We've got to watch the tape, know where I got to improve at, where we have to improve as an offense, and take it from there.
On Kyron Drones: He's the reason why that team was put in a situation to win the game at the end. He's a good player, and we joke around all the time, especially in our quarterback workouts with my quarterback coach. I'm just ready for January. We'll have one of them workouts again, and you'll see.
He might not answer the [next FaceTime] call. I don't blame him. They're a good team, though. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC, too. Our quarterback coach (Darrell Colbert, Jr.), he gets us all right. So it was good to face him for my last year of college. I'm just psyched that we got a win.
