Transcript: Wake Forest coach talks U of L

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson spoke to the media on Monday following his team's 24-21 win over Army.

On Saturday, Clawson's Demon Deacons come to Louisville to play a 3:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Here's what he told reporters:

Opening statement: Wrapping up Army, I'm proud of the win, and not just because of the win, but how we won. To come back and win the fourth quarter the way we did, the way our defense played in the second half, there were certainly opportunities to not come back, and certainly things didn't look good for 20 minutes of that game – late in the first half and the whole third quarter. I think our guys showed a lot of resiliency.

Watching the tape, the physical effort that our guys are giving us – I'm really proud of it. We are not playing as many players as we would like. Sometimes when guys play more snaps than you'd like to, you may see lack of effort or guys taking plays off, and our guys are giving us such great physical effort.

We've got to continue to develop and try to play more players. Heading into an eight-game ACC season, that's going to have to happen. There were a lot of things (from Army): We took care of the football, their two turnovers really hurt them. We had a turnover late in the first half and our defense allowed us to survive that. After giving up three consecutive drives, to get a three-and-out before the half, turned out to be a critical play. Offensively we did a nice job in the red zone. So a lot of positives to build on and obviously we have to build with who the opponent is this week.

On Louisville: We are playing a really quality, physical, extremely well-coached football team. They have a lot of big-time players. Their defense is one of the very best in the country, it might be No. 1 or No. 2 in the country at stopping the run. They have a bunch of guys up front who will be playing on Sundays, and they're well-coached, and play really well with their hands. They can run on the perimeter. This is one of the best defenses that we will face all year. Offensively, certainly coach (Bobby) Petrino's track record speaks for itself. They're averaging, I think, 38 points a game. They have two tackles who are outstanding.

They have a bunch of running backs who could play anywhere in the country. Their best receiver got hurt early, but they've had guys step up for them – the Quick kid has made a lot of big plays. We're not sure who the quarterback is going to be, but certainly the Gardner kid has played well, the freshman was a national recruit who could have gone anywhere in the country and certainly watching him in his limited action this year poses a lot of threats. He has a live arm and is very dynamic and can create plays. We're going on the road to open the ACC against a good football team, so we have a great challenge, but we'll go out there this week and try to get better and go up there and make a good account of ourselves."

On where the team is right now: Defensively, our guys know that they can execute the defense at a high level, doing things right, and they've had some success. Offensively, it's been a work in progress. We knew that going into it with how young we are. I don't think there's any question that we've improved. Now that improvement has to keep happening against one of the best defenses in the country. It's a great measuring stick game, but certainly feel better heading into this week's game after last week's performance."

On John Wolford's performance: I've never seen a freshman get seniors lined up the way he does. He really has learned (the offense) quickly, and he knows it better than a lot of the guys that were hear this spring which has helped a lot. When you go back and watch the film, he's getting in some of the right checks, the ball is going where it should go, you see him getting better every week, so that's been very positive for us."