What Scott Satterfield, Louisville Players Said After 25-10 Win vs. NC State

Thanks to a combination of phenomenal defensive play, four field goals from James Turner and a pair of touchdowns by Jawhar Jordan, Louisville was able to get back on track, taking down No. 24 NC State in their final home game of the season.

Here's what head coach Scott Satterfield, quarterback Brock Domann, linebackers Yasir Abdullah and Monty Montgomery, and running back Jawhar Jordan had to say following the win:

Head Coach Scott Satterfield

(Opening Statement)

“First of all, I’m just so proud of our guys - what a hard-fought win that was – and I knew it was going to be that way. NC State is a really good football team, I know they’re dealing with some injuries, but they’re really good on defense and I knew it was going to be a blue-collar type of game. At the start of that game, I wasn’t sure anybody was going to score. Of course it’s cold, the wind is blowing, that type of weather you would expect this time of year. It took a total team effort to go win like we did tonight. Offense, defense and kicking game, all three did some really good things. Start with the kicking game, JT [James Turner] kicking field goals phenomenal tonight in that wind did an outstanding job, and has done that all year. We really have a lot of confidence in him and what he is doing. Mark Vassett, our punter, did some great things tonight, including punting the ball left-footed, one time tonight. Pinning those guys inside the 10, that 5-yard line – we pinned them inside the 20 three times tonight, that was tremendous in a game like this, a defensive battle. And of course, [Jawhar} Jordan with the big-time kickoff return for a touchdown.

Offensively, I think we knew that we were going against a great defense who shuts the run game down. Our backs ran hard tonight, our offensive line, tight ends, they did a great job blocking on the perimeter. To end up having a guy get 100 yards, Jordan 105 yards… Maurice Turner did a great job tonight, he ended up getting 59. Brock [Dormann] had a couple of runs where he got a first down. The run game I thought was hard-fought yards and I thought they did a really, really good job with that. It was hard to throw the ball, I think both teams struggled with that I think with the wind that we had. I think one of Brock’s best throws was on the third down when he hit Tyler Hudson on the slant, he breaks a tackle, goes inside the 10 – huge. We ended up scoring on that drive right there.

And then defensively, our guys did a great job. We didn’t know which quarterback was going to play, and they ended up going both and so it’s completely different game plans for both of those guys, because one’s a runner and one’s a thrower. So, you’ve got to be able to be flexible in your calls. We were able to get some pressure tonight – five sacks. Great job getting into the backfield, getting pressure. There were other times that he had to throw the ball early, because we were getting back there. And we didn’t give up the big play again – that’s the key. All three phases did a great job in a complete game, I like that.

I’m really proud of our seniors – the guys that played their last game [at home] – to send them off on a high note like this, they’ll remember it forever. I still remember my game back in 1995, my last game, it was a long time ago. They’ll remember this game forever. And so I wanted it to be a good memory and it was. Particularly those guys that stuck around for six years, they’ve been through so much. We talked about that this week… coaching transition, we come in and win eight games, win a big bowl game. Then Covid hits and it’s awful for two years, and then to battle back this year. Particularly this year how you think after the Boston College game we’re dead in the water, and then all of a sudden, we’ve won five out of the last six. That’s a credit to those seniors, those guys that have been here. They did a phenomenal job, they continued to stay the course and I’m really proud of them. And I’m proud of our coaching staff. Our coaches have done an outstanding job to continue to fight every single day and to continue to get better every week. To go out and beat another ranked team, I think says a lot about our guys and what we’ve been able to accomplish this year. Again, we’re sitting here, we’ve got one game left, with a chance to win eight, so it’s been a really good year for our guys.”

(About Jawhar Jordan’s play on special teams and offense)

“What is awesome about him is he doesn’t say anything. He just comes to work every single day. He just works his tail off and when he gets an opportunity or a chance, he tries to make the most of it. For a smaller back, he runs as hard as anybody I have been around for his size. He is not the 210 or 215 pound back. He still sticks in there and tries to maneuver and get yards. We have known what he can do on the return game. He had a big return in the bowl game last year. We haven’t had many opportunities this year for returns. Even that one was kind of weird, the ball bounces, it gets by him and a lot of times I have seen what happens is guys get out of their lanes as they are running. Then he picks it up and he runs and all of a sudden there is nobody there and he’s got to make the kicker miss and he did it. He’s got a lot of speed. He is a tough, tough football player. He made some good catches tonight. He had a big first down on a third and 10 on a catch and also some big time runs. He is a big-time ball player.

(About NC State only giving up 66 yards rushing in the last three games, what was picked up on film that allowed the Cards to run)

“I didn’t know if we were going to have that kind of night. When I watched the film, I was like ‘oh, we are playing the 1985 Bears out here’ when it comes to the running game. They do a great job. Their three D-linemen occupy the O-line. Those linebackers really just run. Number 10 (Tanner Ingle) is a safety and he just flies down. They are a great run-stopping defense. So, we tried to give them some unbalance tonight. We did some things with our tackles and moved them over tonight that was a little bit different, that we hadn’t shown that all year. We knew our tight ends had to block great on the perimeter. Our backs ran hard. We broke some tackles out on the corner and perimeter to be able to get some yards there. We were fortunate enough to keep the game intact like it was to be able to continue to run the ball even though sometimes we weren’t able to get some yards. You just have to be patient with it and every now and again you will pop one. We were able to do that and so some of that credit goes to our defense to be able to hold them like that so we could stay patient. I think more than anything it was the unbalanced stuff we did and then guys giving great effort.”

(About when the staff knew Malik Cunningham was not able to play and his availability next week)

“It was probably the middle of the week. We were trying to hold out and maybe he might get better. He got better as the week went on. But just didn’t get enough practice time in last week. We felt Brock (Domann) gave us the best chance to win the game. Brock came out and did play well. I mean, Brock is 2-0 as a starter. He runs the operation. He runs our offense. We will see where Malik is at, I’m hopeful that he is ready to play next week. He (Malik) has gotten better as the week’s gone on so we will see where he is at. We take it day by day with all our injured guys and see where we are at and whether or not they can go out and play.”

(About next week’s game with Kentucky. Since being here, what has he learned about what that game means to this community and people in the area and the state?)

“It’s huge. It’s a huge game. There is no other thing to say, other than that. We are in the state of Kentucky. There’s a lot of people running around this state that bleed that color blue. There are people in this city that bleed that color blue. We represent all of the people that bleed red and Cardinal Nation. There’s a lot of things that go into that game. They are a good football team. They’ve got a great program. Coach Stoops has done an outstanding job since he’s been there. He has been there for a while now. We know what they got. They’ve got a great defense. They do an unbelievable job on defense. Offensively, this year hasn’t been a great year for them on offense, but if they play great defense, they don’t have to be great on offense. They can still be solid and be good. I haven’t personally watched any film on them. I know we broke them down this summer and our QCs (quality control coach), our analysts, and our GAs (graduate assistants) have watched film on them. It’s a big week. We’ll celebrate this one tonight and then we’ll come back in tomorrow and get ready for them for next week.”

Quarterback Brock Domann

(On his overall thoughts on the game)

“It was a huge team win. Our defense only let them score ten points, that's crazy. Jawhar (Jordan) played his ass off. I thought the offensive line did amazing. I just had to do my job and we just grinded it out.”

(On the way NC State played defensively)

“They have a good defense. We knew coming in, that it was going to be a dogfight. I thought we got the yardage that we needed obviously. Every week is different. Sometimes we go air raid, sometimes we ground and pound, so you just got to execute the game plan and trust that (the coaches) know what they're doing up there. And we got it done, so that’s all that matters.”

(On the team’s turnaround since being 2-3 at the beginning of October)

“A lot of times, people write you off and you just got to not write back and just keep grinding. This whole team, we knew our backs were against the wall and we're just grateful for the opportunity to make this run that we have. We're a team. If that didn't show it tonight, that was just a team win. You couldn’t blame that on anybody, it was a complete and total team win, so I'm just grateful to be a part of it.”

(On how he maintains his confidence and calm demeanor)

“I would just say trusting in your preparation. When you put in the hours, it's easy to be confident out there because you know what you're seeing and ultimately having trust in your teammates. I got a great offensive line, I got some great receivers, some great running backs that took the load today. It’s easy for me when everyone around you is really good.”

(On his reaction to Jawhar Jordan’s 98-yard kickoff return touchdown)

“It was huge. So, at first, I was thinking, ‘Man, we're going to have the ball at the 10-yard line. Dang, this is going to be a long series’ and he just takes off with it. Jawhar’s first big play as a Cardinal was a kick return in the bowl game last year against Air Force. So, we knew he had it in him and he was due one. That changed everything, the momentum, I think we went up ten at that point, so that was huge. I went up to the linemen and just told them ‘Hey, great drive.’ It ended in a touchdown, so that’s all that matters.”

(On the importance of having momentum heading into a rivalry game)

“It’s huge. If I’ve learned anything here, it’s that this last game means a lot to a lot of people. So, we're not going to take it lightly at all and we're going to make sure we go out there and put our best foot forward and shift the tide.”

(On James Turner’s success in the cold weather)

“Yeah, he has that poise that you really need to have in a kicker. He never gets too high or too low, and he's a really good guy also. We trust him. Every single day, we see him knock down really long field goals. He's really consistent, and he did a phenomenal job tonight. The elements definitely affect things, but I thought he was fantastic for us.”

(On the significance of the rivalry game against Kentucky)

“It's bragging rights for the entire year. Everyone knows that this game decides who had a successful season in the eyes of Kentucky people. So, we know we're not going to take it lightly at all, and we're going to make sure that we do our job Monday through Friday, so we give ourselves an opportunity on Saturday.”

Linebacker Yasir Abdullah

(On the importance of performing well on Senior Day)

“It meant everything to me. When I was playing the game, it just reminded me of when I was younger, when I first got to Louisville. Starting off on special teams and just working my way up, I got emotional while I was playing. I had to show out.”

(On the rivalry game next Saturday)

“I feel like we just have to do our job. Preparation throughout the week has to be great. That’s where we always go off, so we’ll be ready.”

(On the way the rivalry game is looked at within the program)

“When I was younger, the rivalry was just insane. The older guys when I was younger, they really took it seriously, so it’s embedded into me now.”

Linebacker Monty Montgomery

(On if the defense felt they would need to step up without Malik Cunningham starting at quarterback)

“Absolutely. We really appreciate the offense and how they handled that situation, and Brock (Domann) stepped up the way we wanted him to. Honestly, we just try to focus on having all phases of the game, and I feel like the offense did a good job today.”

(On the feeling of turning things around defensively from the beginning of the season)

“It’s amazing to be the best defense in the country.”

(On how the defense has helped turn it around from being 2-3 to now being 7-4)

“Just executing and trusting Coach (Bryan) Brown and the other coaches around him. We just trust who’s playing, and just execute. That’s the only thing we can do, as a player, and just hold each other accountable.”

(On the team’s mindset going into the game against Kentucky)

“We’re ready.”

Running Back Jawhar Jordan

(On his initial reaction when the kickoff rolled past him before the return touchdown)

“Me and the up-back made eye contact, and I thought he was going to get the ball but he didn’t. So, I said, let’s just make a play.”

(On overcoming the strong rushing defense of NC State)

“The game plan was just to gash them out with the run game and just believe in what we practiced. That’s all that was.”

(On if this was the sort of game he envisioned when transferring to Louisville)

“Most definitely. To be honest, I envisioned every game to be like this. It’s a blessing to come out with a win for the seniors.”

(On if it was frustrating that it took so much time to have a breakout game due to injuries)

“Not exactly, I know it’s part of God’s plan. You just got to trust the process, and that’s what I did.”

(On when he realized he might be able to return the kick for a touchdown after it bounced past him)

“I was anticipating the kickoff team to be on my tail, so when I picked it up and I saw the hole, I was like, I’ll just take it.”