Oct. 19, 2009

Watch Coach Wannstedt's Press Conference

Coach Wannstedt Press Conference

October 19, 2009         

USF Week

Opening Statement:

"Wrapping up the game from last week, it really played out pretty much how we anticipated from the beginning. It was a really physical game on both sides. As I mentioned after the game, the encouraging thing was obviously, number one, the win. I think our players and coaches did a great job the last three weeks with two of those weeks being short weeks, Friday road games, and getting regrouped to go up and perform and find a way to win the game. After looking at the film, the interesting thing was we had very good performances from guys that we expect and that we need to perform on a high level on a week to week basis for us to win, but it was neat to see Ray Graham, a freshman, making a play on a kick return, particularly since he was back home in the New Jersey area. It was really exciting to see how Mike Shanahan is coming on. Oderick Turner tweaked his ankle early in the game. We put Mike Shanahan in, he had an opportunity and he made some plays. Jarred Holley made some plays, on the defensive side. So you've got your mainstay players coming through, your seniors, on a week to week basis. It's also great to be mixing some of these younger players in and getting them opportunities in that type of environment, to have a chance to line up and play. They did a great job on Jonathan Baldwin. I mean one time they had three guys covering him. He didn't have many opportunities, but when his number was called he came through, obviously with a huge play.  So it was a good win for us. Now we regroup and get ready for South Florida. When you look at this football team, the one word that describes them would be explosive. They are explosive, not just at the quarterback position, or receiver. I mean, they are explosive at the defensive line. They are explosive at the running back position. They've probably got as good of talent man for man across the board as anyone in our conference. They were the team when the season started that I picked to be, because of their experience coming back, they would be at the top of the list as a candidate to win the Big East. They're a talented football team. We know what to expect. This is always a fun game because we have players from Florida. It's the one game where they get an opportunity to play against a lot of guys that they see once a year that they've grown up with. It's a neat game that way. Our kids are excited. With it being Homecoming, now we have to just keep our focus,  keep our feet on the ground and get ready for the challenge come Saturday."

On injury updates:

"Everything is going to be day to day, but I'm encouraged. Yesterday Cameron Saddler was out there for the first time working. Aaron Berry was out there working. Obviously Elijah Fields is back. Oderick Turner will be fine. He will definitely play. I can tell you that now."

On South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels:

"You better keep an eye on him, because he's fast. It's kind of interesting. I did a little bit of research on him. He's from Tallahassee, Lincoln High School. He had a lot of schools recruiting him as a receiver/defensive back, as an athlete. He didn't have a ton of schools recruiting him as a quarterback, for whatever reason. South Florida did, that's how he ended up there. He was an outstanding player in high school. They really have not changed anything. Generally, when your back-up quarterback comes in you'll see a lot of changes to what you are doing on offense. They have not done that.  He's responsible for about half of their big plays, run and pass. They put a lot of pressure on the defense from the quarterback position. You're going to end up in a lot of one-on-one situations. It comes down to athleticism versus athleticism. That's what that spread offense is all about. So we've got to be very, very, disciplined this week on defense. That will be the key."

On South Florida's offense being similar to any previous opponents:

"You would have to go back to Buffalo. Buffalo's a spread with the quarterback run game. Now last week, Rutgers ran three different wildcat packages. When they jumped in there with Jabu Lovelace at quarterback, and then when they put the receiver at quarterback, they were running the quarterback run game. In essence, that's what this offense is. Other teams substitute a quarterback for a running back or a skill position. They obviously don't have to with his ability. So we've seen a version of it every week. It's just been sometimes a running back or a receiver at that quarterback position."

On Elijah Fields starting:

"We'll see how he practices this week. We've got to see him. Last week he was really limited. He was working about one third of the practice reps. If he can jump in there tomorrow and go, then we'll be more confident with him playing more."

On Jarred Holley:

"Jarred's played very well. He really has. He's got a lot of natural instincts. He's got good ball skills. The only thing Jarred Holley needs is to get in the weight room with Buddy Morris and get a little bit bigger and stronger. He's a good tackler. He's a smart guy, very instinctive. I'm very pleased with the way Jarred has played."

On starting 6-1 during the 2006 season:

"If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have remembered to be quite honest with you. We hadn't beaten Louisville since 1983 on the road. We hadn't beaten Rutgers in five years. And we did it. So this is a different football team. It's a different year. Those things really have no bearing on what we're doing. We need to just continue, as I tell the players, with the process of preparing every week. It's no different this week than what we did last week, or the week before that."

On South Florida's pass defense:

"Number one, they've got a very good pass rush. They put on a lot of pressure, so you aren't going to hold the ball long. I think the second thing is, they have a new defensive coordinator. The guy that's the defensive coordinator was at Cincinnati last year. They'll mix in the man coverage and the zone coverage. So, they give you a nice mix of coverage. They aren't a big blitz team. They are very similar to what we are. They get good pressure up front. They've got very good athletes back there. They've got guys that are covering that you're not going to run away from. You've got to be precise in your routes, you've got to have protection, and the quarterback needs to make good throws against them. There's not a whole lot of easy throws, because of the athleticism."

On comparing South Florida's defense to Cincinnati's defense last year:

"We've done that. You can see Cincinnati on tape. It wasn't a complete change when he came in. There were some changes, but the core of their defense is pretty much the same."

On the 4^th quarter mistakes being a concern, despite the win:

"I will say this. I'm never going to be happy, there's always the next game. You enjoy it, but you turn the page and you've got to get refocused. The encouraging thing was when I saw in the paper what Bill Stull, Dorin Dickerson, and the rest of players said after the game, that we can still get a lot better, that's what excited me, because we can. Then I go home and I'm sitting there watching the USC-Notre Dame game and after watching the end of that game, I felt a lot better about our team. They had, what, five personal fouls in the last four minutes and found a way to win the game. I think that's the key. I don't think you'd find a coach in the country that would say `we've arrived.' We've got a good football team. A good enough football team that you find a way to overcome those mistakes. The difference between good football teams and great football teams are cleaning those little things up. That's the difference."

On the blocked punt:

"I'll take responsibility for that. The operation time was good. We knew we were going to turn a guy loose with the protection. It was going to be one of the two outside guys and we turned the guy loose to the kicker's foot. I should have anticipated that they were going to be coming with the block and then we would have had a different call on."

On the punt that hit Dom DeCicco:

"It should have been caught. The ball hit at the 12-yard line, we were standing at the ten. You've got to catch that ball. Dom was trying to get out of bounds. That was no fault of his. He couldn't have done anything."

On the Big East having three teams ranked this week, including Pitt:

"It's great to be recognized when you win some games, but trust me, that will not be a discussion in this locker room and with our players. Our guys could care less. I think it's great for our conference. I'd love to see someone in our conference win a national championship. I think it's great for the Big East Conference and people now are looking and they know the quality of football that we play. That's the good part. You see that Sunday, and that's the end of it."

On Dion Lewis:

"The consistency that Dion has demonstrated has been unbelievable, on the field and off the field. I walked down to the training room about 7:30 this morning and there was one guy in there getting some treatment and doing a little rehab. It's Dion Lewis. I bring that example up just to let you know that he's approaching everything with the same mentality that he is on Saturdays.  He's doing everything right. He's such a great kid. Very few freshmen can make that transition and maintain it. They can all do it for a week, two weeks maybe. When your name's being thrown around maybe as a Heisman Trophy candidate and you go back home to play, as close to home as he's going to get, and you show up and play like he did...there are some really special qualities about him as a person, in addition to his talent."

On the possibility of going 7-1 for the first time since 1982 serving as motivation:

"Human nature, you want to accomplish something that has never been done or something that hasn't been done in a long time. So, I think those things are all healthy things to talk about. Last week with our seniors not having beaten Rutgers, we didn't put our heads down. Our guys took it the other way. We're going to get this done. We're going to find a way to beat these guys before we leave here. I think those past facts are facts, but I think it's all how you approach it. That was great motivation for us last week. Did we need it? I don't know. It sure as heck didn't hurt. You're always looking for extra carrots out there to chase and to go after. So that's all part of the experience of trying to accomplish things that haven't been done in a while."

On Bill Stull making great throws under pressure:

"I didn't realize how many times Bill got hit until I watched the tape. He got hit way too many times. Rutgers did a great job. A lot of it was pressure, a lot of it wasn't. It was just guys coming off of blocks. He handled it well. He made some great throws under pressure. He just kept coming back. He was beat up the next day, there's no question about that."

On South Florida's front four:

"They're very similar to us. The style that they play, the talent they have, the athleticism. You can look at the four guys and compare them to our four. They turn those guys loose. They play aggressive like we do with their front four."