Oct. 22, 2007

Dave Wannstedt

Louisville Week

October 22, 2007

 

Opening Statement:

It's always great when somebody on your football team gets recognized in some capacity after a win.  Conor Lee was picked as the Big East Special Teams Player of the Week and because of the circumstances, and I mentioned this to the team yesterday, I probably did not give Conor his proper due last week when he broke the consecutive extra-points record at the University of Pittsburgh (against Navy). Last week (against Cincinnati) was probably -- obviously it wasn't raining or snow, but from a wind standpoint -- very challenging down there. We did have 12 to 15 mile per hour winds. At times it was gusting up and a couple of those field goals he went in there, which we needed at the time, he didn't falter at all. And that was a big point in the game. I think it did have an effect on their (Cincinnati's) kicker. So the wind was a factor and, again, congratulations to Conor, not just for this week but for what he's done here. He's been a great addition to our football team.

 

Now it's on to Louisville this week and they are really a very talented team. I'm a big Brian Brohm fan. I felt like last year he might have been the best quarterback in the draft. He doesn't make many mistakes and right now he's throwing for about 400 yards a game. They've been inconsistent as a team, but it's not because of him, that's for darn sure. I think they've had some changes. They've had some guys hurt, they've had a big receiver missing, they've had their top tailback out for awhile, so I think that, due to some injuries or circumstances that he did not have control over, it has affected his numbers a little bit, his play.

 

We're going down there and it's the same defensive coordinator (for Louisville) as the last couple years. They've always given us some problems and I'm sure this is a game that they had circled on their schedule. When you look at who they have left, this is probably one that they checked off on their schedule awhile back and they know that this is a big game for them -- as it is for us -- and our football team will expect their best effort. That's the mindset that we will have this week as we prepare and that we'll take down there come Saturday.

 

On the win changing the team heading into the Louisville game:

Not in the work ethic or the commitment to prepare themselves, but they have to feel better inside. I think it's just a confidence thing. You can have 10 guys on defense playing their hearts out and somebody falls down and they throw an 80-yard touchdown pass and you lose the game. Well you lose that game and everybody is part of the team, and that's what is great about football -- it's a team game. But it may be one play or one individual or one instance that costs you that game and in most cases it is. If you don't fight through the mental battles and really separate reality from perception, it's easy as coaches and players to suddenly start believing that you're not very good and you can't win a game and you can't go out and make plays. We were kind of at the crossroads of that juncture and by winning the game and having some of our guys go out there and do some good things, I think it reinforced that more than anything. The work ethic has not changed. They won't approach this week any different than they did last week or the week before that, but hopefully deep inside they do get that believing feeling back that they can go out and make some plays and win a game.

 

On the best way to defense Brian Brohm:

You have to mix it up on him. If you go down there and try to blitz this guy, he'll kill you, he'll tear you up, but by the same token you have to be willing to pressure him enough to make him understand that he's not going to have time to sit in there and hold the football. So to answer your question, you have to mix it up on him a little bit and you have to try not to give him really easy decisions. That would be the first thought that comes to my mind.

 

On bringing more pressure against Cincinnati:

We probably brought a little bit more, but I think that their offensive style enabled us to do that. I mentioned this before that we were down 10 and then we came back and got three, it was a touchdown game and one in which both sides needed to make plays and could not afford to really screw anything up. When you're in that type of game, there's a little bit more pressure on everybody -- players, coaches -- to make the right plays. So look at that situation and then you look at the Navy game. Forget about blitzing Navy, I mean they're running the triple option, it's different. You take that game and then you take our previous two games, Virginia and Connecticut, and we're down 21-0 or 28-0 and they're just handing the ball off. There was no pressure for them to make plays. At no time were they in a situation where we were going to blitz them and they were going to take a sack or force a throw. I think the circumstances of this game had a lot to do with us bringing more pressure and mixing it up more. Yes we did do it, but there's a reason why we did it.

 

On being up in the booth during the game:

There are two sides to that. As a coordinator my entire career, calling defenses for, whatever it was, 15 years, I think only one year I was on the field. When you're in the box you can definitely see things better, you really get a feel for what they're doing from a big picture standpoint. You have more information in front of you to help you make decisions and you're still talking. Every offensive play (offensive coordinator) Matt Cavanaugh and I are talking, every defensive play (defensive coordinator) Paul Rhoads and I are talking. On special teams it's (coordinator) Charlie Partridge. I talked to the officials before the game and alerted them that I was going to be running my timeouts through the assistant coaches. So we had everything covered that way.

 

What you miss (is) being down there with the players and being involved in the game. We'll see this week; I may have to go up there again this week. It all depends on when I get the stitches out and when they allow me to start being able to stand on my feet for a long period of time.

 

On how his leg feels:

It feels ok. I said this after the game: I felt better with about 25 stitches and two surgeries than I did a week ago (following the Navy loss) with nothing. A win helps everything, including your Achilles and your knee.

 

On moving past the Cincinnati win and focusing on Louisville:

I think we have enough veteran guys and enough coaches (to keep the team focused), and that's my job to make sure that everybody understands. We have to set the tempo in practice, which we will. I think we have good seniors that have already turned the page. These young kids, I don't know if it's confidence and winning and all that stuff as much as it is an opportunity to play. Every one of them (young players) to a man, they're just so excited about playing so I don't think that the win will affect them as much as another opportunity to play.

 

All you have to do is put in the tape on them (Louisville) and these guys, the last two years, we couldn't slow them down. We did not really slow them down. Games were close for awhile, but in the end we couldn't hold up physically, we couldn't hold up on the scoreboard. Defensively, we don't have many true freshmen that are going to be involved in the action; everyone else has been a part of this thing for the past few years. They're (Louisville) balanced, they hurt us with the run as much as the pass in years past. The statistics and the names that they have, they have two or three first-round draft picks supposedly on their offense. A couple that we know for sure, so our players know that. They know what kind of talent they (Louisville) have.

 

On the offensive line's performance against Cincinnati:

They played very good. (But they were also) much improved against Navy. These guys (Cincinnati) were more talented than Navy and they continued to play well. I thought that John Bachman, when Joe Thomas pulled his hamstring, went in and filled in and played well. I think the key is that we just don't take a step backwards. This is going to be a whole new challenge for us. I think they (the offensive linemen) are playing with some confidence now. I can relate to this myself, being an offensive lineman here. It's amazing how your confidence will grow when you start believing in the guys who are carrying the ball for you. I think one goes hand in hand with the other. Where we're at today with LeSean (McCoy) and LaRod (Stephens-Howling) and where we were at four weeks ago, it's different. These kids are different, they're playing a lot more, they're starting to get some experience and I think there's something brewing there, a little chemistry between our line and our backs.

 

On the Cincinnati game being a blueprint for how the team wants to play:

Yeah. The only thing that's really missing, and it's going to take time, is the passing game. We really need to throw the ball better. We're not going to be a quarterback team with Pat (Bostick) where we're going to get a lot of runs out of our quarterback, but we need to be a heck of a passing team, similar to Louisville. We want to be able to throw the ball and run it just as effectively (like Louisville). We're making progress, it's just that every week is a new adventure with these kids and there's no easy way to go around it, you have to go right through it.

 

On Bachman starting:

Joe Thomas is not ruled out yet. He was in today feeling better. If Joe Thomas can't start then, yeah, John Bachman will.

 

On Bachman starting based on merit:

That decision hasn't been made yet. We'll see how Joe (Thomas) is healthwise. If Joe comes back and practices then we'll let them both split time in practice and make a decision from there.

 

On there being a different dynamic between Pat Bostick and Matt Cavanaugh when Cavanaugh is on the sidelines as opposed to the box:

I'm sure there definitely is, but Matt can't be everywhere. I know that he can see better in the box. Now if he's just worried about talking to Pat, then you need to be on the sidelines, but if he's going to be calling plays I feel more comfortable with him in the box. And Pat's fine, because you can talk to Pat all day if you want. If you want to have a conversation with him, he'll stand there and talk to you. (laughter)

 

On T.J. Porter's performance:

Last week in practice we were actually going to split time between him and Cedric McGee and Cedric got hurt on Thursday or whenever it was - nothing serious, hopefully he'll play this week. I think he will. So T.J. got the nod and he played well - he was down field blocking. The obvious things to everybody are the catches, when he makes a nice catch or the run after the catch. The things that you're looking at from a head coach's standpoint is how is he playing when he`s not getting the ball. That's sometimes what separates those guys, particularly at the young stage that they're at right now.

 

On Greg Romeus:

Greg Romeus is definitely coming on and we're rotating him. Chris McKillop and Joe Clermond are both playing well, so we're keeping them fresh and rotating them, but this is the (third) year that he's ever played football so he's going to get better every week. I like how we're doing it now. He's been in there in enough critical situations and he's made plays and he'll continue to make plays, but those other kids are playing well too. Even when Greg becomes the starter and Chris and Joe are gone next year and he's the guy, there will be somebody behind him, Jabaal Sheard or somebody else that we'll rotate in there.

 

On redshirting freshmen players:

We're trying to redshirt as many as we possibly can and how it plays out I don't know. Injury would probably be the only thing that could possibly change it. At this point we're playing four or five of them and it looks like we'll be able to redshirt 18, 19 or 20 of them, which will be a big boost for our football team two years down the road.

 

On Louisville's sometimes overshadowed rushing attack:

Some people may not (appreciate their running game). It's easy to look at them and say, `first-round draft pick quarterback who's a Heisman Trophy candidate, 400 yards a game passing. We better rush the passer every play.' And you can't do that, you have to be able to stop the run. I said that at the beginning. If you look back on our two games, down there two years ago it wasn't the pass. They ran the ball for 200-and-some yards against us. That's what killed us.