Tampa Bay Vipers Postgame Notes and Quotes
March 2, 2020 - XFL (XFL)
Tampa Bay Vipers News Release
- About The Win: Tampa Bay recorded the first victory in franchise history with a 25-0 win over the DC Defenders...Tampa Bay amassed 477 yards of total offense while limiting DC to 107...The Vipers set XFL season-highs in total yards (477) and rushing yards (266), while allowing XFL season-lows in opponent total yards (107) and passing yards (61)... Tampa Bay's win was only the second shutout in XFL history (Week 2, NY at DC, 27-0 DC).
- Tampa Bay opened the game with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in an 8-yard touchdown rush by RB Jacques Patrick...The drive marked the second consecutive game in which the Vipers have scored on the team's first possession of the game (Last week vs. HOU: 43-yard field goal).
- QB Taylor Cornelius led the team on a second 75-yard drive on the team's second possession of the game...The 15-play drive resulted in a 13-yard touchdown reception by TE DeAndre Goolsby.
- DE Obum Gwacham, playing in his first game of the year after starting the season on injured reserve, recorded the first blocked field goal in Vipers history with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter...The block came on a 43-yard attempt by DC.
- Tampa Bay shutout DC in the first half, marking the first time they have held an opponent scoreless going into halftime...The Vipers outgained the Defenders 223 to 79 in the first half.
- A big reason for Tampa Bay's offensive success was the team's rushing attack...The Vipers amassed 266 yards rushing across 49 carries (5.4 yards per carry)...Conversely, Tampa Bay allowed just 46 yards rushing, marking the biggest disparity in rushing offenses (220 yards) in any game this season.
- CB Tarvarus McFadden recorded the team's second takeaway on the year when he intercepted DC QB Cardale Jones with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter.
- Tampa Bay capitalized on the interception by scoring just one minute later on a 17-yard scramble by QB Taylor Cornelius...The rushing touchdown was Cornelius' second on the year, tops among all quarterbacks.
Please see the table below for a list of Tampa Bay Vipers' firsts established in today's game:
Blocked FG
Obum Gwacham block on a 43-yard attempt with (2nd Q - 8:37)
400-Yards Total Offense
477 yards - 211 passing, 266 rushing
Individual 100-Yard Rushing
De'Veon Smith - 122 yards; Jacques Patrick - 108 yards
200-Yard Team Rushing
266 yards - D. Smith (122), J. Patrick (108), T. Cornelius (36)
OFFENSIVE STARTERS
WR #17 Jalen Tolliver
LT #73 Martez Ivey
LG #67 Jerald Foster
C #63 Jordan McCray
G #75 Andrew Tiller
RT #71 Isaiah Williams
TE #80 DeAndre Goolsby
WR #18 Reece Horn
WR #81 Dan Williams
QB #4 Taylor Cornelius
RB #24 De'Veon Smith
DEFENSIVE STARTERS
DE #96 Jason Neill
DT #92 Josh Banks
DT #49 Nikita Whitlock
DE #91 Bobby Richardson
MLB #45 Lucas Wacha
WLB #41 Terrance Plummer
CB #20 Tarvarus McFadden
CB #23 Anthoula Kelly
NCB #27 Micah Hannemann
SS #21 Robert Priester
FS #35 Marcelis Branch
INACTIVES
QB #8 Chase Litton
QB/RB #9 Quinton Flowers (*Roster Exemption)
CB #32 Jalen Collins
G #76 Daronte Boulding
TE #85 Nick Truesdell
DT #93 Kellen Soulek
DT #94 Shane Bowman
VIPERS HEAD COACH AND GENERAL MANAGER MARC TRESTMAN
[On getting the first win of the season...]
"Well I am just happy for our players and coaches. They are a resilient bunch, our players have a sense for how good we can be. We said it all along, there's a sign of a good team in there. We are going to enjoy the win. There's a lot of different ways we can get better - we know that - but I just want them to enjoy the win. There's nothing like a winning locker room."
[On running back Jacques Patrick...]
"I just think that if our fans want to get to know a player, he is one guy that everybody should get to know. He is extremely football intelligent, even keeled - what you saw out there tonight is how he practices in practice each and every day. He's played through some stuff over the last couple weeks and has stood by his team and I couldn't be happier for him. What people are seeing is who he is, and he is just a very dynamic football player..."
[On the defensive performance tonight...]
"Very impressed - that is not an easy offense to stop. I think they hit a bump in the road; the first two games they showed they were very dynamic. [Their] quarterback has been awesome for the first starts of the season. They have speedy receivers like [DeAndre] Thompkins, and [Eli] Rogers and I was really proud of our guys. We got a good pass rush, we ran, we chased to get to the ball as good as anybody in the league - I think we saw that tonight. We tackled well. There is still work to be done..."
[On quarterback Taylor Cornelius' performance...]
"I thought he played well tonight, I thought he played winning football tonight. I thought he could have made a better throw on the interception in the right corner. I think we really had two guys open and that just goes to reps and working more with him. We took a shot and put him in a position to make a play and it didn't turn out that way. But he did a really good job outside of the pocket... He moved the football team, he used the clock properly, we played fast tonight. We went with a lot of really fast calls up there. He communicated well and he is an even-keeled young man with high football intelligence. It has been fun to work with him."
VIPERS QUARTERBACK TAYLOR CORNELIUS
[On the team's performance today...]
"It felt good. When you run the ball the way we did today, it definitely makes you feel a lot more comfortable."
[On his rushing touchdown...]
"It was great. They brought pressure and we ended up getting the edge on them. The receivers did a good job blocking down field and we got in the end zone."
[On getting the first win of the year...]
"It was nice to jump on them quick...but, I think we just take it a week at a time. We're not worried about what our record is right now. We're week-to-week, and we're 1-0 this week."
VIPERS RUNNING BACK JACQUES PATRICK
[On his motivation today...]
"It's a weird situation, because my father brought me into this sport and he actually got to see me play my first professional game in New York when we played the Guardians, so he actually got to see me do that. Last week it was tough, because I had to bury my dad on Friday and then come play a game on Saturday. So, I just tried to give my all last week and I feel like I owed my team a little bit more this week, because of it. I don't know if I was fully there mentally, just because of having to see that and my father meant a lot to me - he meant a lot to this sport for me. So, just coming out here and getting a touchdown for him - I know he's smiling."
[On his 100-yard performance...]
"It's pretty cool. I look at it like hard work paying off. These things are opportunities of preparation and tonight we had the opportunity to get the ball and we prepared for it and we're prepared to practice this week."
[On the team's energy this week...]
"Yeah, 100 percent. We knew it was a must-win game for us. Me personally, I just changed the way I prepared this week, because we weren't getting the wins that we want on the scoreboard. So, personally I changed the way I prepared this week. It payed off a bit. But, the energy was great all week. Coach even told us on Friday that this was the best week of practice we've had since we've been together. So, it payed off. We got a big win and it was a divisional opponent, so that was pretty cool."
DEFENDERS HEAD COACH AND GENERAL MANAGER PEP HAMILTON
[Opening statement...]
"The one thing I said to each member of our team, the coaches and players included as they walked back in the locker room, is that we have to get back to DC and fix this together. We haven't played well on the road the last couple weeks and it is really just a situation where I have to evaluate what we are doing when we play outside of DC. There is no excuse for it, we have to play better football on the road, execute better on offense, not turn the ball over on defense and we have to tackle and be able to stop the run. They did a really good job on making the commitment to run the ball and they did it well all day. We didn't do a good enough job offensively with anything; we didn't convert third down.........We have to do a better job of preparing our guys on the road, and we will do that."
[On the play in the trenches ...]
"I agree. We have to be able to run the football and we have to be able to protect our quarterback, but at the same time we have to stop the run and do a better job tackling."
[On if Tampa Bay's performance surprised DC...]
"Not at all. I think that when you look at each game that the Tampa team has played up until this point, they show that they have tremendous playmakers on both sides of the ball. I think we helped by not executing on either side of the ball, they seemed to gain some momentum and we never recovered from it."
DEFENDERS QUARTERBACK CARDALE JONES
[On the team's offensive performance tonight...]
"My personal opinion; nothing. They played their game, we missed on opportunities that we wanted to exploit, we just missed it. I mean, they played a great game overall but nothing we weren't prepared for. I think this game, and this one sucks because it's more of missed opportunities than what your opponent was doing. They still stayed true to themselves and still played their base looks and they didn't try to switch anything up."
[On his interception...]
"It was tough, I knew I had some leakage in the protection and I was trying to get the ball up and out instead of being late down the middle of the field. I tried to be safe, I tried to push it to the point where either Ross (WR Rashad Ross) got it or no one got it. Ross did a heck of a job of seeing that it was too short for the first part. Then try to break the ball up, but unfortunately it still ended up in an interception."
[On Vipers' defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville's game plan...]
"Like I said, they stuck to their guns, they didn't do anything out of the ordinary, they didn't do anything we didn't prepare for. I think it was more so of us missing the opportunities. We got behind the sticks early a couple of times and it's tough when you've got an aggressive defense like that."
[On being surprised by the Vipers...]
"That's a great question, I don't know. No matter the opponent's record, each and every game I want to go, I want to win. I'm pretty sure that's the mindset of not just the players but the coaches as well. You can tell from the beginning that they came out and, as they showed on tape, playing hard from the first snap until the last."
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