Football Press Conference Quotes
Aug 28, 2001 | Football
Aug. 28, 2001
Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Bill Snyder
On what goes on in practice at this point...
"We're not big on all the gadget stuff, in reference to motivation, for a variety of different reasons. Our purpose day in and day out is the same. Whether that's motivation for someone or not remains to be seen, but it depends upon the individual. Our reference point is that we need to be motivated to practice to make ourselves better. Individually that's self-motivation, if you find that within you to work towards that end then its going to make some progress for the program. If you can't then your probably stagnating a little bit and I think that's going to happen, but what can we do to change it. We can't not practice. I'm not very big on that. I don't have anything else to do during the day so I probably wouldn't go in that direction."
On the captains' role of motivating the team...
"They kind of fall in with everyone else. When it gets hot or practice gets long, I think they do their best to verbally motivate young guys. This isn't rocket science. We don't have all the psychology approaches that a lot of people might think are necessary. That's just not the message I want to send. I don't want to trick youngsters into trying to get themselves better. I don't want to trick them into liking to play the game of football. I don't want to trick them into anything. If you work at it you get better and if you don't work at it you don't get better."
On the last Saturday's (Aug. 26) scrimmage...
"Every scrimmage is exactly the same. In some cases it's good and sometimes it's bad. The reason I say that is from my vantage point your looking at if your offense is good that means your defense is bad and if your defense is good that means your offense is bad. I am in a no-win situation in that respect. You have to be able to draw some inferences from what all of that means. Normally, what happens is some of it is good and some of it is bad."
On the depth at center...
"We have a number of guys who are capable of playing there. Nick Leckey has played there, John Robertson has played there and, of course, Steve Washington is our backup center at this point. That's one place that you just can't afford to be without players. You have to make sure that you have enough people available to give you quality reps there. We've put Andy (Eby) in there and he has taken a few more snaps at center as of late because we didn't give him as many as we needed to early. By the same token, we had given reps to Nick at center because he had not played at that position before. It became important to make sure he could still move outside as an offensive guard, and that speaks to the depth of the offensive line. We are always struggling to get eight to 10 guys that can play (on the line). If you've got 10 in your two-deep and somebody can fall back and be your third center you're probably in good shape. We probably haven't gotten to the point where we've got ten guys that we would say we could play interchangeably. So consequently we have to move people around a little bit."
On the interior defensive line...
"I think we're making strides. We're making progress there. If we played today I would have to go sit down with the coaches to make some decisions on who would be our actual starters. I think there are four guys in the mix, and I think all of them would have the capabilities of playing interchangeably right now. We won't decide on an absolute starting unit until the end of this week. Jerry Togiai is certainly going to be in the mix. Justin Montgomery will be in the mix, as will Corey White. Tank Reese will be in the mix. I think from those four guys we feel like we have a solid group to select from. Now it's a matter of two of those four giving us reason to believe they should be the starters."
On the defensive ends...
"Thomas Houchin had a very nice scrimmage this past Saturday. He and Melvin Williams, in all likelihood, would be the starters. Henry Bryant will fit into that mix. Alax Carrier will fit in also. Andrew (Shull) will also fit into that mix. How rapidly, I'm not all together certain."
On the wide receivers...
"Obviously Aaron (Lockett), Brandon Clark and Ricky Lloyd would be the first three. Derrick Evans, Taco Wallace and Drew Thalman would be the next set."
On fullback Joe Hall...
"It's an ongoing process. I think he's making progress. Not just on the field, but off the field as well. That has to continue. All the final decisions have not been made. He is in a position to have a chance. That's the best I can tell you. He's making an effort. Like I said, he is 40 pounds away and in that respect I think he is making as good of an effort as he has. He is making an effort and is trying to step it up. It's not something you solve in a few days."
On tight end Travon Magee...
"He has been banged up a little bit so he has been on and off the practice field. He's made some progress. He's learning. It seems like he is kind of a quick study. He came in probably a little heavy and a little out of shape.
On running back Darren Sproles' status on the depth chart...
"It might be Danny (Morris) or Darren (as the No. 2 running back). Darren has made some progress. He can be a return guy but he is probably not as high on the depth chart there yet. He has been rather impressive I think. He works hard at what he does. He's the kind of guy that fits our program, a role up your sleeves, go to work, no nonsense guy. I appreciate that a great deal. There is a very solid possibility that he wouldn't redshirt which you couldn't say about all the freshmen. We've had a few guys from time-to-time that play as freshmen and Darren probably fits in the mold with those guys, but as you know it doesn't happen very often. I think it's an asset. I made some comments the other day in reference to the scrimmage he had when we put him in with our number two's. He had a couple of very nice runs. One of the things that's always apparent when you have smaller guys, height wise, is that they are kind of difficult to find on the other side of the ball. If you have quickness to go along with it, then by the time you can identify where they are they just might have stepped on you, and he's kind of that way."
On the preparation for the USC game...
"Yes, we've done some work on the University of Southern California. We don't really know a whole lot about them. I think we probably have more to go on, in reference to their offense, than we do their defense. Especially with Pete (Carroll) having been out of college football for a few years and us not certain on how they will structure their defense. You'd like to believe that it's probably related to his background in the NFL, but there are some things that are different in the NFL as well. It's just hard to draw inferences in regard to what your going to see (from the USC defense) so that the preparation is not quite as easy as our preparation is on defense."
On the speed of cornerback Terrance Newman...
"I think you've got to have more than just speed. Part of that reason is he is going to line up against a guy named Kareem Kelly that runs every bit as fast as he does. So that's negated right off the bat, so you better have some of the other things that go along with it. That is important. We have some guys who run very, very well here who couldn't play that position nearly as well as some guys without great speed. You take a guy up at Kansas City right now, Dyshod Carter. Dyshod was a pretty good cornerback for us and really didn't have near the speed that a lot of people he played against did or the kind of speed that Terrance has.
Player Quotes
Junior Quarterback Marc Dunn
On the quarterback race with Ell Roberson...
"I think we are both doing very, very well. I wish I could tell you more."
On learning the offensive system...
"You get more comfortable as you do things. It's all about repetition. So when you get in the offensive scheme, it's like you're in a game. Playing in a game-type situation as the repetitions come, you get more comfortable with the flow of the game. It's the same type of thing with learning an offense and I think that is what is happening here."
On being told who will be the starter at the first game...
"It's all the coaches' discretion, whatever he feels is best for the team and when he feels it is right for the team to know and when we can maturely adapt to his decision."
On playing the University of Southern California...
"I am just looking forward to playing against USC. That is going to be a great thing. It's fun to get done with practice and actually start preparing for a game. This is why you play football, to play on Saturday afternoon. It's hard to practice with really no end result, so knowing that USC is getting closer and closer is exciting."
Senior linebacker Ben Leber
On the improvement of the defense during the preseason workouts...
"At the beginning of the fall practice there were a lot of question marks. A lot of guys are pushing each other and getting better every day. It's fun to watch guys come out and excel from practice to practice. We had a scrimmage last Saturday and a lot of guys stepped up and made plays on first and second teams. Right now we are not really focusing on one team, we are just trying to get better."
Senior wide receiver Aaron Lockett
On USC preparations...
"We don't really know too much about them. We just know what we see on paper and on film. They definitely have a lot of team speed, and that is something that the offense is really focusing on."
On the offense...
"We are in a position where we could be the same as last year, if not better. It is important that we gel together more as an offense this year and not depend on one or two people."
Senior defensive back Jon McGraw
On USC's offense...
"I think Kelly (junior wide receiver Kareem Kelly) is a very good wide receiver. He shows the ability to do some really good things after he catches the ball. He can obviously get open. The quarterback does a great job of putting the ball in the right place. I was impressed watching film on the running back and his ability to create things. They definitely have some good all-around athletes. They can make plays, so it's going to be a challenge for us on defense."
On the way the defense has come together...
"I'm very pleased with how the defense has pulled together. We were very pleased with how a lot of the new guys stepped up at the scrimmage on Saturday. They are doing what they have to in order to learn the system. It's been very good the last couple of weeks."
Sophomore quarterback Ell Roberson
On the quarterback race with Marc Dunn...
"I feel that Marc and I are both getting a lot better. I feel he is closing in on me just because of the things he does. He wasn't really far behind me because he came here doing well. I am trying to get better myself. We just hope for the best for each other. If Marc has a good practice and I don't play well, he (Coach Snyder) said he would move Marc up (the depth chart). And that is what we need right now, some leadership. If I am not leading the team, I would expect coach to bring Marc up. And if Marc is not leading the team, I would expect him to keep me up."
On working with different centers in practice...
"That has not affected us at all. Our offensive linemen move around all the time, so it hasn't really affected us at all."
On being in a quarterback race...
"I like that a whole lot better. It's just pressure for me. When I want to take it easy, I know I have Marc right there on my back and the other quarterbacks are stepping up a lot too. Coach Snyder wants me to push myself and he wants Marc to push me to be a better quarterback."
Senior running back Josh Scobey
On how much anticipation there is before the first game...
"We're excited and we're hungry. We've' been practicing every day and guys are trying to stay motivated and as pumped up as possible. We don't really we don't have anything (a game) to look forward to at the end of the week and that's hard, but we're pushing through. A lot of the guys are getting fatigued, but that's all part of the training process. Those are the things you have to go through to get to where you want to be."
On freshman running back Darren Sproles...
"He's small and he's low to the ground. He's got speed, great moves and great vision. He has all the intangibles of being a great running back. I just try to show him by example. When I'm in there (on the field), hopefully he's watching and taking some notes on the things I'm doing. I am just trying to lead him by example. He's not really a guy you can just say `hey this is what you've got to do, you got to do this. You got to run this way.' That's not what running backs are all about. You learn from other running backs by just watching."
On the offensive line...
"They're really good. We have a bunch of veterans up there and they are working hard every day just trying to get themselves prepared for the USC game. Right now I am thankful that we have this extra time for more preparation and for us to come together as a team so we can execute. We have a lot of talent. There is a lot of athleticism on that line and I am thankful that I can run behind a veteran line like that. I'm looking forward to it."
Senior tight end Nick Warren
On his role as a tight end...
"I enjoy going out and catching passes. We have tried the last couple years to say we are going to get the tight end more involved in the passing game. I think our approach for this year is to try and get the tight end more involved in the passing game. It's something that I am looking forward to, but if I have to block, I am content with that."
