Football: Rodriguez Presser Quotes
November 14, 2007 01:37 PM | General
November 14, 2007
Rich Rodriguez Weekly News Conference - Nov. 13, 2007 The seventh-year head coach reviews the Louisville game, while also talking about the upcoming game at Cincinnati
On the possibility of a high scoring game
“Most coaches get more nervous on those high scoring games because, you believe you have to keep making plays and keep scoring. I don’t ever think about it too much. As long as we have one more point then the other team, then I’ll be happy at the end of the game.
“Cincinnati is an explosive team. They scored a lot of points in the first half against USF, and they have jumped on a lot of teams early; some from the offense and some from the special teams and some from their defense. I think their defense is ranked second or third in the country in turnovers, takeaways and they feed off that. There is no question that taking care of the football and not giving them easy points or great field position is going to be the biggest key of the game.”
What makes Cincinnati so effective?
“They are aggressive, and they have an aggressive mentality. They have some veteran players who know how to go after the ball, strip the ball and they do a good job. The veteran guys usually cause more turnovers than the younger guys. (Haruki) Nakamura is one of the best I’ve seen. They were good at it last year, and they are even better at it this year.”
What changes has the UC defense made since last year?
“On defense, it’s all juniors, so it’s really a lot of the same guys. They are doing some similar things, but it’s a completely different defensive staff. Some of their coverage and blitz schemes are different, and they have been very productive. They haven’t gone completely from an even front to an odd front, so I think the adjustment into the new defensive staff was easier, especially with the veterans.”
On Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk
“I think he has been the key for them offensively. He is a veteran guy who has played in the spread and played successfully in high school and at Wake Forest. They have been able to plug Mauk in. He can play in the shotgun and spread offense. I think he has been a reason for some of their success offensively, because he is a great competitor and sees the field. He creates plays.”
On Mauk’s age
Besides experience, he has been in a number of circumstances and games, and now things don’t faze him. You aren’t going to see him get rattled. He has taken care of his business academically and can just have fun and play."
Offensivly, when you come in and inherit one team and then put in a completely different offense, how difficult is that?
“It’s difficult, especially if you are dealing with younger players or quarterbacks, who haven’t been in the system. It’s always going to be difficult, but I think Mauk has made a big difference. It’s all centered around the quarterback and whatever offense you put in, it starts with that guy. If you have a quarterback who has experience doing that, then you are going to have them do more. UC has done a great job of teaching their guys and putting their guys in the position to make plays that are centered around their quarterback.”
In your opinion, did (Head Coach) Brian Kelly have an advantage when he coached UC in their Bowl game last year?
“I think that helped. They would have to tell you the details, but because of that, Kelly had an extra 14 or 15 practices with his team and when he got to know his team. That is the benefit of being in a bowl game, you get that extra practice and playing time.”
On the importance of every game during the season and viewing them all as playoff games.
“Until you get to the end, the guys are having a sense of urgency. Its easier for that idea to sell now, and we are three weeks from wrapping the season up. We have been telling them for several weeks, ‘every play is for a BIG EAST championship’. Now, that’s obvious.”
On Cincinnati’s tempo
“It’s hard to tell on film how fast and how often they go with the fast tempo and the no-huddle. There are times when you can tell that they are going really fast, and we have to prepare for that. Our guys have seen that in practice, so I don’t think it’s going to be a huge adjustment for us as compared to a guy that has never seen it. It’s going to be different. I think both the coaches and players need to adjust. I don’t think UC does it all the time, but we have to be ready.
The major difference is that they have thrown the ball more than we have. Some of their formations are very similar. We probably have a more variety of runs and more quarterback centered runs, than they have. There are a lot of similarities, and we have been working on it this week in practice. Everyone runs the zone but again, they have different types of runs than we do. They have a lot more route packages. Our secondary quarterbacks and linebackers really need to work hard to pick those up.”
On the health of the team
“Darius Reynaud is healthy and feels good. He is as healthy as he has been all year. Pat was a little banged up, but he’s fine. Derrick Hayes’, who plays both guard and tackle, back has been bothering him so he is questionable on Saturday’s game. Overall we’re pretty healthy.”
Thoughts on the BCS
“I think the BCS has been fair to us. There is always going to be controversy, and everyone is going to have their opinion on it. I think what we have now is better then what we had before the BCS. There was always controversy before. The system now is fairer than it was before, and it gives more opportunity to more teams than before. In DI, every football game is a playoff game and that makes the importance of a regular-season game is what makes DI A football so exciting. In a year like this year when you see so many upsets, it has brought the importance of each game to the forefront. I think if you are undefeated and you are a BCS team, and there is another BCS team that is undefeated, and then those two should be playing for the national championship. To me, that’s fair.”
On WVU’s rushing game
“We haven’t been executing well at times. We score points and do some different things but part of it is executing, and part of it is the opponent’s defense and how they have played us. I think sometimes we get spoiled. We as in players, coaches and fans. Sometimes everyone expects us to rush for 300 yards a game. Some people asked me if I was upset with the Louisville game. Are you kidding? I mean, we won! Sometimes I’m disappointed in the execution at times and the turnovers, but we still won the game. Our fans were terrific, but I think our fans are spoiled and sometimes except us to win each game by 20 or 30 points and that’s not easy to do.”
Pat White was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week but Owen Schmitt was named WVU Offensive Champion. Can you explain that?
“Pat played well enough to be our champion, but Owen played better. In overall offensive statistics, the average fan doesn’t see what we do. We really review the game. Pat played well, but Owen played really well. Pat can tell you that the Louisville game wasn’t his best game as a Mountaineer but he did play well. Owen played very, very well.”
How big are the intangibles in a game like Cincinnati?
“As far as outside the game, our guys need to understand the environment that we are going to go in. This is an environment where fans have been camping out for tickets. They are sold out, and it will be the biggest crowd they’ve ever had there. UC doesn’t have the biggest stadium but it will certainly be a loud stadium. This may be the biggest game they’ve had in many years, and we have to understand that. We have to understand the intensity that we are going to go in to, and we have to be prepared for that. We have to focus on the game itself and not on what is going on outside.”
Thoughts on the Saturday night game
“It’s better than a Thursday night game, where you sit around with nothing to do. I think most players like to wait around and play at night, but I’ve said this many times that I much rather get up, have a meal and meeting and then go play. Waiting around is tough rather its Saturday or Thursday but Saturday is a little better because you can at least watch some football. TV exposure is good for the program. The BIG EAST has a contract with ESPN and the only bad part about playing an extra month is that we lose a week of recruiting. You can’t recruit and prepare your team at the same time. I’ve voiced my opinion before but to no avail. When we play on December 1, there is a lot of crossover with men’s and women’s basketball and football. Our season has gotten longer, and longer and longer. The Ivy schools have it figured out. They start at the end of September and end the first of November and play 10 games. I think the late fall home games aren’t fair for the fans. I think we are the last BCS conference team to host a conference home game when we hosted Louisville on Nov. 8.”
On Pat White’s toughness
“I have been blessed with wonderful quarterbacks. Shawn King played in 1998 with a broken wrist the whole year. He caught every ball with his right hand and had a soft cast on his left. Rasheed Marshall was a tough guy, and Pat is a tremendous competitor. Every quarterback I’ve had has always been great athletes, but they have also been amazing competitors. You can recruit that but you won’t know what they have until they are in a rough situation.”
On Cincinnati remarking that the WVU game is the biggest of the program
“It’s complementary but our guys have to realize and be prepared for that. It isn’t the first time this year that that is the case, and I think it’s not old news. This is a huge game for them, and we want to be in the position where the game is just as important to us as it is for them. That’s the case with Cincinnati. This game is just as much or more important to us. The more you win, the more is at stake. Since we’ve won the past couple weeks, more is at stake at Cincinnati.”
On Noel Devine and the four true freshman
“He will play more, and he is getting more comfortable with what we are doing. We’ll try to get him into the game more this week. We have been alternating all four true freshmen offensively that will play more this weekend, at least that is in our plans.”
On WVU’s defense giving up yards against Louisville
“I don’t think we lost any confidence. They knew they were going up against a great offense and quarterback. We gave up a few plays. Some were fundamental mistakes and some plays, they just executed better than we did. I think they know that Cincinnati will be a similar case where they are going up against a veteran quarterback that has made a lot of plays and have some explosive wide receivers.”
