Oct. 15, 2007

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Coach Wannstedt's Monday Press Conference
S. McKillop Monday Media Comments

Dave Wannstedt

Cincinnati Week

October 15, 2007

Opening Statement:

We have a good practice under our belt in preparation for Cincinnati. I'm encouraged. The attitude of our football team is good considering the tough situation that we are in right now. I thought our practice was good yesterday; the guys have been in watching tape. They are excited about playing at home and going out there, finding a way to win and getting this thing turned around. I think that our defense is a lot better than what we showed last week. You give Navy credit, but we did not execute as well as we are capable of and for us to beat Cincinnati we need to play `lights out' defense. They are one of the more explosive teams, not only that we will see, but also one of the more explosive teams in the country. Their quarterback situation is unique with how he (Ben Mauk) ends up there and not having any spring practice, but all of a sudden he's the starter. If you look at his numbers, he's thrown 15 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He has made that offense go. It's a completely different look from a year ago. Obviously they've had a change in philosophy, but it's more important to note the play of the quarterback. Defensively, it's the same guys that have played for the past few years. I remember the first time we played them three years ago; they were primarily a sophomore and freshmen team. I think eight or nine of their starters were sophomores and freshmen and now those guys are juniors and seniors. It's pretty much the same group we've faced the last two years. They haven't changed a whole lot from a philosophy standpoint with the coaching change. They are very good so we need to be sound.

On his approach with the team at this point in the season:

The number one thing is to get your players as confident as they can be going into the game. You don't go into the game and hope that something good happens. A lot has to do with your players. From a defensive standpoint, we have a few more seasoned guys, guys that have been around so you can probably just tweak some things and go on. With a freshman quarterback who is playing his second game at home as a starter, you have to look at that differently. What Matt Cavanaugh and our offensive coaches can do, if Pat Bostick can't comprehend that and go out and execute it, it means nothing. If you have a veteran quarterback, if you have Tyler Palko, maybe you can come out and say `we're going to throw it 75 times' and you're more willing to get away from the run. We can't do that. We have to be smart and try to maximize the guys that we have.

Right now with a freshman quarterback and a freshman tailback, both of those guys are making progress. The key for them and for this game is to try to keep them moving forward against a better opponent. I remember the one quote from Chuck Noll, and you guys have probably heard this a thousand times, "Good things will happen if you keep playing hard and keep doing the right things." That's what we're going to do. And we will come up with turnovers. It is mind boggling to me and to our players that we've gone six weeks and haven't come up with a fumble recovery. I don't know how that happens, but I think it'll turn. We're working on stripping the ball and we're doing everything that the Steelers are doing. Trust me. We just haven't come up with them, and that's a big part of winning. When you look at Cincinnati's success and the number of turnovers that they've come up with from a defensive standpoint, yeah the offense is doing great and they're scoring a lot of points, but it all ties together. When you look at the Rutgers game against Navy, Navy turns it over three times with two interceptions in the end zone. Was that the difference in the game? Maybe. That's how we can help our offense, by coming up with some turnovers on defense.

On changing the defensive style to get some more turnovers:

I think it depends on the opponent. It's very difficult to blitz Navy, because you have to cover the entire field on every play due to the offense they use. If you look at the Virginia game, we were out of it so quickly that they were just handing the ball off and we were playing catch up and we didn't get a chance to force them into some bad throws. I think that probably has a lot to do with the lack of turnovers as we were either even or playing from behind. When that's the case, the quarterbacks don't feel pressure, they don't feel like they have to force anything and the offensive play callers on the other side are usually a little more conservative, so that probably has something to do with it too. I know it does.

On making any personnel changes on defense:

No. We're going to continue to rotate our defensive linemen. Mick Williams and Rashaad Duncan are both back and healthy. We're going to get Dom DeCicco a little bit more playing time at safety, that's something that we're going to do. Dorin (Dickerson) and Adam Gunn are pretty much splitting time now. Our middle linebacker (Scott McKillop) is leading the conference in tackles, so we're sure as heck not going to take him out of the game. That's one guy that I know is not coming out of the game. At the corner position, we'll try to get Lowell Robinson and Ricky Gary in there, but we've been mixing guys there a little bit.

On getting more turnovers:

You just keep gang tackling and violent hits and stripping the ball and pressuring the quarterback. There's a lot of different ways and a lot of strange ways. I think I watched 50 games on Saturday. I got up and got a notepad and pencil and that's all I did was watch games all day looking for things that people are doing that might be of help. It's crazy some of the turnovers that happen in football games. Most of them happen because people are under distress and they're running and they make a crazy decision or they're pressing to make an extra yard. We have got to get ourselves in that position.

I was just watching some of the pressure stuff, how much pressure in certain situations. I love the end of the LSU game. One team runs it four times and the other team throws it four times. That was confusing. (laughter) To be honest with you, it was just reaffirming to me that we're doing the right things and we just have to continue to work on them and do them better and the good things are going to happen. Our players are working too hard and our coaches are working too hard for good things not to happen.

On Pat Bostick against Navy:

He was good. He never really forced anything. He made a couple plays when he was in a little bit of trouble. I was very pleased with him.

On the rise of Big East programs Cincinnati and South Florida:

We talked a little bit about Cincinnati and their turnovers, but I think it's their turnover margin and the play of their quarterback. When you look at Cincinnati, those are the two things that are different. On South Florida, I think they're playing well on offense, but I think their defense has really been the difference in their success. And I really don't know too much about them, I just saw the scores. I haven't really studied them, but Cincinnati I know.

On Cincinnati's offensive strengths:

Big plays. They stretch the field and get you isolated. Ninety percent of the time they are going to come out with three wide receivers. This quarterback (Ben Mauk) does a great job of staying alive in the pocket, even though he's only averaging 2.6 yards a rush, he's carried the ball about 35 or 40 times and he's one of those guys that can move around. There are two types of quarterbacks: those that can scramble and they lost vision of the field and quarterbacks who can scramble under pressure and find receivers. Ben Roethlisberger can find receivers down the field when he's under pressure. This kid does a great job of that, he makes a lot of his plays when he's on the move.

On Cincinnati's running game:

They're going to look exactly like West Virginia when they line up. They're going to line up with the one back and the quarterback's going to be in the shotgun. They'll run the zone play and hand it off, sometimes the quarterback will keep it. The only time they really get in the "I" and run their power game, for the most part, is when they're ahead or it's a definite run situation, they'll jump in there and run a little power attack. For the most part, they'll spread you out and try to put pressure on the secondary and put guys in one-on-one situations.

On the defensive scheme against Cincinnati:

We'll do several things. We'll change it up. They do a lot of no huddle. If you look at the Rutgers game, Rutgers gave up three or four big plays because they weren't lined up. Cincinnati goes right to the line of scrimmage and runs the play. They got Louisville on a little bit of that, it's not always a no huddle situation, but they will do it from time to time so you have to be ready for it.

On Dom DeCicco and Dorin Dickerson being in the lineup to cause turnovers:

No. We're just getting those guys out on the field and getting them experience because they're going to be great players for us, that's all.

On Dom DeCicco playing either safety spot:

He could play either, but we'll probably just keep him at the free.

On keeping his players focused:

I think our players understand. As long as people are very clear on why things happen, they have a tendency to understand and move on. I think if our players walk out of the room and they don't see that turnover board and that penalty board and don't understand how these guys scored 28 points and then you go out and try to get ready for the next opponent, then there's going to be a cloudiness there and some doubt. But when you lay it out like we do and say `Hey guys, it's real clear. This is what happened and if we do these things, the result is going to be bad.'

We have smart guys, these guys understand. Back in training camp, we said that you have to realize what will lose you games faster than what will win you games and a lot of people all they are talking about is `we've got to score points, we've got to score points.' Well if you turn the ball over you're not going to score points. Understand what comes first and that was the problem as to why we didn't win the last few games. Field position and turnovers.

On the young offensive linemen and their progression:

John Fieger would be the first guy up. Jordan Gibbs, who was a tight end when we recruited him and we moved him to offensive line, would be the second guy. We just don't have the depth there. Whether they want to or not, they're with the second team and if we have to play them just to get them some playing time, we're going to do it. It's tough when it's just practice. They're doing fine in practice, but we haven't stuck them in the game. Now with (Jason) Pinkston out last week, it's put us in a position where Chase Clowser is the swing tackle and we don't have the depth that we'd like to have there so we're forced to get some of these young kids on the depth chart and get them some work.

On Bill Stull and Doug Fulmer:

Both are making progress. Neither one will play this week, but they are making progress. Doug is getting real close and Billy's making progress. The injury (Stull's) is healing, but it's just a matter of being able to grab the football. It's taking time and it's not easy.

On preparing for completely different offenses on a weekly basis:

Everybody has to deal with that, though. It's a challenge. I think from a coaching standpoint, and Scott (McKillop) would have to answer from a players standpoint, it's challenging. One week you're seeing this and the next week it's a different attack, different plays and different blocking schemes. As a coach, going back to when I was a defensive coordinator, it didn't bother me. I kind of liked the challenge of something a little bit new.