Nov. 3, 2008

Coach Wannstedt Press Conference

Nov. 3, 2008

Louisville Week

 

Opening Comments:

“We did not practice yesterday because of the overtime game against Notre Dame. We adjusted our schedule a little bit. We brought the players in and showed them the tape. They had their treatments and so forth downstairs but we did not practice yesterday. We felt that we needed a little bit of extra rest and instead spent a little extra time on the tape. That part went good. We will practice tomorrow. I’m sure everyone is anticipating and anxious to know about Billy (Stull). We’re anticipating him practicing. He has been cleared. He came in and worked out yesterday. Once we get down on the field and actually get involved in the whole scheme – then we’ll see where it goes. Everything as of today is full speed ahead. Before moving on to Louisville, I thought our team did a great job of hanging in there last week and we talked about that. It’s games like that you have to have guys that you expect to make plays. We talked about LeSean, (Jonathan) Baldwin, Scott McKillop and Conor Lee. Those are guys who have been around a couple of years. Rashaad Duncan played very well. Some other guys stepped up and made plays when they had to. It was a good win. Now we’re getting ready for a conference game here at home. We’ll regroup and move forward.”

 

On the decision not to play Bill Stull against Notre Dame:

“If he was healthy enough to play, and he thought that, and the doctors thought that – then he would have played. Big East vs. Notre Dame wasn’t a factor in the thinking at all. It was solely about his health.”

 

On winning big road games and struggling at home:

“You have to look at each game individually. I’m not going to go back and look at each game right now. Rutgers has 85 guys on scholarship too. They’ve got some good players. That’s what I would say. We weren’t as sharp as I’d like us to be in those losses. Things happen in the course of a game. The one thing I would say in all of our games – even the couple that we lost – our kids came back at some point in the game and gave us a chance to win. Against Rutgers it was 31-34 and we’re going to get the ball back. We had the crowd and the momentum and we turn the ball over. How do I explain that? I can’t. I wish I could.”

 

On having players who can step up in close games:

“You hope to recruit kids like that. When you look at it from a coaching standpoint, you can talk about it and make references to past experiences. If kids can experience those types of situations and come out of it on the upside then it re-enforces that conversation. To be honest with you, it’s probably something that some kids have and some people have. Some people don’t. We’re fortunate that we have a good group of men who are decent leaders on this team and have those qualities.”

 

On trying to recruit leaders:

“You try and do your homework to the best that you possibly can but it’s tough in high school when you don’t get the exposure like you would in an NFL draft. You don’t necessarily have those resources to try and find those things out. In high school we have a limited amount of time and visits. You base a lot of your information from high school coaches and people who know the kid.”

 

On a more aggressive approach on offense and in fourth-down situations:

“Those plays have been big. We talked about the turnovers and we sit back and look at ways to overcome that. We did block a (punt). We did go for it on fourth down three times and made all three. They went for it twice and didn’t make either one. So you look at those fourth-down plays and put them in the category of turnovers and possessions. It really depends on where the ball is on the field. A lot of it comes down to a gut feeling. Matt Cavanaugh and I are constantly talking throughout of how we feel and what they’re doing on defense. You don’t want to do anything crazy but in a situation like that, you’re trying to give your kids the best chance to win. I thought that where we were at on the field and the plays that we had, gave us a chance. The one (fourth down situation) that we threw to Oderick (Turner) was huge for us. We start talking about these situations when it’s third down. Looking back at things now – even back to our first game – there’s maybe a few situations where we would have done things different had they occurred now. When you get anything that’s more than fourth-and-three, I think you’re taking a little more of a risk and your percentages go down.”

 

On the decision to use LeSean McCoy instead of Greg Cross with the Wildcat package:

“That decision is based on who is the best football player on our team and how can we get the ball in his hands. With our wildcat package with Greg, a lot of it is reading the defenses. If they give something to take LeSean away, then Greg’s got the ball. This was something we were comfortable with because they (Notre Dame) were doing a lot of blitzing. That’s really their forte. We felt that the same keys to getting the ball to LeSean in the backfield were the same keys that he was getting in the wildcat position as far as we wanted. That was the thinking behind it.”

 

On LeSean McCoy blocking and maturing:

“He did make a big block. Was it a game changing play, I don’t know. I think it just illustrates how he’s grown as a football player. When you start seeing him making blocks out there when he’s not carrying the ball, he’s getting better and better.”

 

On the approach of playing at home when nationally ranked:

“I thought our guys have always been prepared. I know we were prepared for the Bowling Green game. From my perspective it’s pretty simple, even though you’d like to psychoanalyze it, I don’t know. We’ll be ready to play.”

 

On the matchup and timing against Louisville:

“I think the best thing about this game is that it’s a conference game. We know the importance of getting a conference win. They do some things on offense and defense that are similar to what Notre Dame did. We needed a little bit of a carry-over as opposed to preparing for a triple-option at Navy to a pro-attack at Rutgers. We’ll get some carry-over from a preparation standpoint and I think when you have a lot of young players out there, that’s all good.”

 

On the play of Elijah Fields, Ricky Gary and Andrew Taglianetti:

“Elijah played really good. Elijah stepped up and was involved in three or four different defensive packages that we had. Taglianetti did a great job. He blocked the punt and made a tackle. We trapped them two or three times inside their own 20-yard line. Our kickoffs with Lucas Briggs have done a great job with hang time and placement. We alternated Jovani (Chappel) and Ricky Gary. Ricky fell down on the one touchdown play and the one that Jovani had, their quarterback threw the ball to his back hip and we were pressed up. We actually had double coverage on that play. Claussen threw the ball on his back hip and their receiver made a nice catch. They both competed and made some plays. What we saw from Elijah Fields was very encouraging and to see him get back in the mix was good. He played about 75-percent and on special teams too.”

 

On the importance of getting a seventh win:

“It’s important for our kids and this program so there’s no pressure on them. Look, we’ve got a game this week and an opportunity and that’s how we’ll approach it.”

 

On Pat Bostick’s performance:

“We originally went in with a plan that there were certain things we felt good about Pat doing and certain things we felt good about Kevan Smith doing. After a couple series, we made a decision with  the help of Matt Cavanaugh that it’s too difficult to call plays based on which receivers are in the game and if this quarterback and this tight end is in the game. It was really crazy in a span of like twenty-nine seconds. We decided that we were going to go with Pat. We’re going to call our plays and run the game plan and throw the ball around the field regardless of who is in at quarterback. I think that was smart on Matt’s part. We had Jonathan Baldwin open for a touchdown down the middle – it was a great call and a great route but Pat overthrows him. Pat came to the sideline and said that it was the first time in his life he’s ever overthrown anybody. (laughs) That’s about how it went for us and the poor kid. When we made up our mind to put Pat in, we thought it was because he was the best guy to give us a chance to win. We told him that and here we go. We’re not going to back away from anything this time.”

 

On the play of the new offensive line:

“I thought they did a great job. I think Tony Wise continues to mold those guys. We had our starting guard at the center position and then we had the wildcat with the shotgun formation. There were a lot of things that could have gone wrong with making that change and I thought that Tony and those kids did a great job of really focusing in and getting on the same page.”

 

On Louisville’s offense:

“They’re third in the conference in running the football. Their quarterback came in and contributed a year ago when Brian Brohm got hurt. He came in and didn’t miss a beat on offense. He can make all the throws and he’s an accurate passer. They’ve changed a little bit because of the coaching change but as far as throwing the ball down the field, they love to throw the ball deep and love to use the play-action pass. They have a lot of skill and speed on their football team. They have good athletes at every position. This will be a big challenge for us.”

 

On Louisville’s defense:

“Defensively, they are a 4-3 team. They’re pressuring a little bit more this year than they have in the past. Right now, their defensive line, in my opinion, is the most improved position. They return three out of four from a year ago and they’re playing good. Two weeks ago they were leading the conference in rushing defense. They’re doing a nice job.”

 

On playing this far into a season with a chance at winning the Big East:

“I would hope that they believe that. I don’t know what more can be said. We’re eight games in and we have four games left. We’re sitting right there and I think it’s pretty clear to everybody that the whole conference is up for grabs. However we play in this last month will obviously be a determining factor. I looked at the schedule last night and everybody is playing conference games now and every week is a big week. They don’t get any easier.”

 

On LeSean McCoy’s performance on national television:

“The right people that need to know, and want to know how good he is, will find out. Whether it was national T.V. or whatever -- that’s great for LeSean and for the school – all those things are positive but when it comes to evaluating him as a football player, they’re going to find a way to find out.”

 

On Jonathan Baldwin’s involvement on offense:

“He’s played about 65-percent of the plays on offense and he played the whole overtime. He’s getting more and more playing time every week. We’ve also got some other good receivers here that can make plays and have made plays for us. We’ll continue to rotate those guys around. He’s getting his reps and he’s not surprising anyone now when he comes into a game. Sometimes he’s drawing three guys towards him which is nice because now you put him on the field and it gives us an opportunity to exploit some other options. You wouldn’t think that three or four games into your freshman year that you’d be drawing that kind of attention but he is.”

 

On T.J. Porter staying as the starting punt returner:

“We’ll see how practice goes but yes, we’ll probably go in that direction. The one return he had was good – I think he had 11 yards. The other one he looked up and it went through his arms which could have been a costly turnover. He’s been in games before and he’s a veteran guy. Between him and Aaron Berry and Derek Kinder who can catch the ball, that’s about what we’ve got right now.”

 

On going with a single return man on kickoffs:

“Yes we went one-deep this week and changed up our return. It was a scheme we were using and it will change week-to-week. Last week we used Steve Dell as an extra blocker.”

 

On Myles Caragein:

“Myles deserves to play. His play ratio is as high as any defensive lineman. With Tommie Duhart being out, I think he played about 15 snaps and he made some plays and did a nice job.”

 

On Dominic Williams starting and being named a captain:

“Dom transferred here and got his degree. He came back for his fifth year and wasn’t a starter but now here we are and he’s got an opportunity to play. Those are the kind of success stories you like to talk about and make reference to. All the kids now around the country, if they’re not playing as a freshman they get discouraged. It’s nice to have some examples to refer back to like Dom.”

 

On Louisville running back Vic Anderson and his abilities:

“He’s quick. He makes a lot of guys miss. He’s got exceptional speed and he’s a lot stronger than what you might first anticipate. He’s a very good back. He can play for anybody in our conference, there’s no question about that.”