Sept. 28, 2009

Watch Coach Wannstedt's Press Conference

Coach Wannstedt Press Conference

September 28, 2009

Louisville Week

 

Opening Statement:

"Just to reflect back on the game with NC State briefly, I think it was pretty obvious what happened. To put it in simple terms, we just didn't finish the game as a team. With four minutes to go in the third quarter, we had the lead. From that point on, special teams gives up a big kick return, and then we had a penalty. We get them in third down a couple times, and fourth down on defense, and we have a chance to stop them, and we come up with a penalty. Offensively, we're third down and two, third down and three, and we get penalties that kill drives. Penalties that move us back. So it was really an effort by all of us not to just find a way to make plays and win the game. I think back to last year when we won five games in the fourth quarter, came from behind. The difference was that we didn't make mistakes, we made plays and the opponent didn't. That did not happen Saturday night. We watched the tape. We had the players in here yesterday. It's full speed now towards Louisville. It's a conference game. We'll take the bad and the good from last week's game and move forward. Now it's on to Louisville, our first conference game. Louisville's played good football overall. They turned the ball over last week. Against Kentucky, they got it at the end with a chance to win the game. They just had some costly mistakes as a team. I think they are playing a lot better than probably most people anticipated. It's been the turnovers really that have hurt them. They are a physical football team. They run the ball well. Their quarterback is very accurate, and they play good defense. So this will be a big challenge for our team. Number one, to bounce back from last week's game. Two, to go down there and play in front of a very excited and hostile crowd on a Friday night on ESPN."

 

On the defensive problems against NC State:

"I would sum it up this way. I would give Russell Wilson a lot of credit on the front end. We played Pat White, who I consider to be the best option athletic quarterback maybe of all time and we handled him when we knew he was going to run the ball. We at least slowed him down. All of Wilson's runs, and he had 100 yards rushing, they were all on his own. They were not designed runs. He tucked the ball and outran us. Obviously, we didn't do a good job of coaching and didn't do enough executing to contain him. He was sacked 11 times coming into our ballgame and he was not scrambling. He was throwing the ball. In our game, he made up his mind that he was going to run the ball. And run he did. To me, that was the difference. We had guys free on blitzes and he throws up jump balls and they made the plays and we didn't. Three times we had guys standing there. We weren't beat. Aaron Berry wasn't beaten in the end zone. Elijah Fields wasn't beaten. Greg Williams wasn't beaten. These are all 20-plus yard plays, where the ball was in the air and we just didn't come down with it and they did. They made more plays than we did."

 

On the defense's struggles despite an experienced unit:

"I think every coach and player is very disappointed. Very disappointed with how we've played defense the first part of the season. Now, I do think that everything is correctable. The guys have the right attitude. We've got to get on it and come back. I knew that was going to be a whole different deal for Dan Mason. Max Gruder's a first year starter. Dan Mason is a true freshman starting. Greg Williams is only in his second year starting. So, we're really young at the linebacker position. Last week, there were a lot of different formations and there were a lot of different personnel groups. From regular personnel, to two tight ends, to three wide receivers, and it took its toll on us. We had some mistakes that we shouldn't have had. The inexperience did show up in different areas."

 

On any defensive personnel changes:

"We're just hoping to get Adam Gunn back. He told me this morning that he feels the best he's felt in awhile. So we're optimistic that he will be back."

 

On the difference between Navy and NC State for the middle linebacker:

"Navy was a game where you didn't need to worry about the pass. They line up with the tailback, two slots, and two wide receivers. That's it. So it's one personnel group and now they've got their dozen plays. So, you aren't worried about play-action pass, because the middle linebacker's not involved in it. Against a `normal' offense, where you've got to cover the tight end, and you've got crossing routes, it's a little different deal."

 

On the issue of penalties:

"We keep talking about it, keep emphasizing it. They have to have a clear understanding that this is legal, this is not legal. We can do this, we can't do that. We bring officials to practice. I promise you, we aren't working on it any less than we did last year. Last year, we led the Big East by a long shot in least amount of penalties. We were top 10 in the country in least amount of penalties. This year, we're the worst. It's the same guys (from last  year) for the most part playing, too. I wish that I had an easy answer. The solution obviously is that you emphasize it and if it continues then you've got to make a change. Penalties and turnovers, that's the only way to deal with them. You try to correct it, coach them up, emphasize it, and if they continue, the guy can't play."

 

On tackling:

"We did miss some tackles that bothered me. We didn't look as fast playing Saturday night as I thought we should have with a later game. We just didn't look as fast as I thought we needed to be. We were sporadic. We weren't consistent."

 

On what was needed to close out the NC State game:

"What we needed was maybe not to go three and out... a five-minute drive. Let the defense get their breath. Or make a stop on defense. You know fourth-and-12. Come on. You tell me that we're going to get fourth-and-12 and someone's going to make a first down scrambling, with our front four? We're athletic. They were chasing it and it happened. I think we needed a stop or a drive, something to change that momentum. When it turned, after we scored and they come back and get the big kick return and we get a personal foul on top of it, they start their drive at the plus-45 going in. The momentum turned on that play and we were never able to stop it as a team, in any area."

 

On what happened on offense on the final possession:

"Obviously, we felt good about our running game and they stopped that. Then we had a little bit of pressure and we throw an incomplete pass. The one with Dorin Dickerson was very close to being a touchdown. They were plays that we felt good about executing. On the last play, Oderick Turner was coming open for the score. They ran a play up front and Bill Stull had pressure in his face and he had to get rid of the ball so he didn't get sacked. I wouldn't second guess the plays. Obviously, we didn't execute them, or they did a good job of executing, however you want to say it. But that was an opportunity to tie the game and we didn't get it done. I think that series was probably indicative of the entire fourth quarter and the last four minutes in the third."

 

On lessons learned from the loss:

"I hope that our players, just from an emotional standpoint and a finish-the-game standpoint, there were some valuable lessons to be learned. From a penalty standpoint, we need to continue to stress the importance of not having penalties. I think those two things would probably be the biggest lessons that we took away from that game."

 

On the run game being slowed down in the second half:

"They were doing a lot of pressure stuff early and they didn't do it in the second half. We just didn't execute. We weren't as clean in the second half. I didn't think the crowd was a factor. I thought our guys handled that well. We just didn't execute in the second half like we did in the first half."

 

On injuries:

"I think we should be okay. We'll wait and see how Adam Gunn is today. Today will be like a Tuesday for us from a practice standpoint."

 

On the players bouncing back:

"We've got a great group of leaders. You know, Nate Byham, John Malecki, Adam Gunn, Mick Williams, Gus Mustakas. We've got great leaders. We had a very productive meeting yesterday. A team meeting and we cleaned it up. We watched tape on Louisville as a team. Our guys are excited. We start conference play."

 

On the linebacker rotation:

"We'll see where Adam Gunn is at. That will be something that we'll have to talk about. We're going to play Dan Mason. It's just a matter of when and how much."

 

On being able to play faster:

"I thought that on a few of those scrambles (by Wilson) that we would have gotten him on the ground. The Navy game, I thought we played fast. I just didn't see that consistent high energy for 60 minutes on Saturday."

 

On Louisville:

"They are very physical. They've got an outstanding running back. I like their quarterback. I think he ran for 50 yards last week. He is not a Russell Wilson, but he can get out of trouble and make things happen on his feet. They have a receiver that didn't play against us last year. Scott Long, number 84, he's a big time player. He's their leading receiver and this guy is very impressive. Defensively, they are doing a good job. They are similar to us. They will mix in a little pressure here and there. They are physical. They are sound. It's going to be a big challenge for our football team, there's no question."

 

On Louisville's offense:

"I think their offensive line is going to be the most physical, by far, that we have faced this year. They will run the ball. They've got big play guys. They've got a junior college All-American at tight end. They've got three receivers. They bring in number three (Trent Guy). He comes in and is their big play guy. He had a 66-yard pass play. He can break it and take it the distance. So they have a nice compliment of power and speed. I definitely think they have gotten better from week one to where they're at now."

 

On confidence and penalties:

"You've got to have confidence. To me, the whole deal is having confidence. I talked to Aaron Berry after the game. He's faster than anybody he's going to play against or as fast as anybody. He's got good ball skills. He knows the defense. There's no need to grab, or push, or pull. Just cover the guy. So he's two inches taller than you, you can jump. Get good position on him. Or strip the ball. I think when you get penalties in some situations, a lot of it has to do with a little lack of confidence or a little bit of insecurity at being able to execute your assignment. It's like an offensive lineman and we haven't had any of them, but an offensive lineman that constantly holds. Usually, the result is that he is not real confident that he can block that guy and the minute he gets in a stressful situation he reverts back and he grabs him. That would be an example. Where you get your confidence is in practice. That's what I tell our guys. We are going to stress it more than ever this week, with officials here, on every snap this is the right way to do it and the importance of not getting penalties that could be the difference in the game. I think last week, we had penalties in all three phases. They could have all made a difference. Kickoff return, offense, and defense."