Football: Head Coach Bill Stewart Press Conference
September 23, 2008 04:44 PM | General
September 23, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University football Head Coach Bill Stewart quotes from Tuesday afternoon's press conference.
On the Colorado loss
I’m very proud of our football team, your football team. These guys went out and gave great effort. We asked them for 60 minutes of maximum effort and they gave us that and much more on every play. I was very thrilled with the way our guys responded and our administration blessed us very richly with being able to go out a day early. We went out not because of the altitude, but because of what happens on trips. Anytime anything leaves this office, you worry. Anytime you go on a long trip, especially to a different time zone, bad things can happen. It just happens. We had a little jam with the truck and getting all of the equipment out there, but we got that all resolved. It cost us a couple hours, but that’s why we left on Tuesday evening.
Our guys played hard and they played great, and we just came up short. The special teams, I thought, played very well. I pushed all week about how we were going to contain Colorado’s Josh Smith and we contained him. He averaged 4.3 yards on punt return and he was averaging over 50 yards on kickoff returns and we held him to 20. Ellis Lankster stole the show. He is the BIG EAST Player of the Week, and he played very well. Our special teams were darn good and I’m proud of what they did.
Defensively, I thought they played like warriors and I thought they played very hard and very smart. Once J.T. Thomas, who was injured on the second play of the game, came out of the locker room and our players saw him, they started to jump around. He (Thomas) was bugging me to death the whole game, pulling on my belt, back of the neck and just begging him to let him play. I told him to help me coach special teams and that was the best thing he could do. He did and that was a good thing. But once our players saw that J.T. was alright, I think that inspired them greatly. Our defense played phenomenally.
Offensively, we played very hard and it was a darn good game, we just didn’t get a couple third down and shorts, and we’re going back to the blackboard on that in the meetings. We have a better plan. We’ll grow from it, we’ll learn from it, and we’ll do better from it. I was really sad that we couldn’t get that job done out there as a football team. That’s what we are-we are a football team. We are not a football offense or a football defense or a football special teams, we’re a team. T-E-A-M. We are a family and that’s how it has always been at West Virginia University and that’s the way it’s going to stay. That’s what its all about.
On short yardage
I saw a couple guys miss blocks on the quarterback sneak and that greatly disturbed me. That will be rectified in the full pad practice today. I watched a couple of the young guys at the point of the tackle fall and slip and get beat. That frustrated me a little bit, but I saw great effort. We came up short against a stout defense. They had seven seniors starting, three juniors starting and one sophomore. They hadn’t given up more than 100 yards since 2004, so the 2005, 2006, 2007 seasons, no one put 100 yards on them, and they play good football teams in the Big 12. Well, we got 200 yards on them; one was 147 and one was 130. We had 300 yards rushing and you usually don’t lose games when you have 300 yards, but if you turn the ball over, don’t put the ball in the end zone, miss this and miss that, you lose. Our guys learned a hard lesson in life; just because you give effort and you strain more than your opponent, that doesn’t always mean you beat your opponent. Sometimes you beat yourself with some penalties, beat yourself with a dropped ball, beat yourself with a missed pass opportunity and that happens. That’s why you practice, you get better, don’t berate them-I’m not going to sell them down the river. They’re ours and we love them and we are going to keep coaching them hard.
Expecting whether or not he expected struggles on the offense
Yes and no. It was unknown. We have who I think is the best quarterback in the country, but we lost two of our guys from the backfield that are now playing professional football (Schmitt and Slaton). Do we miss them? Yeah we miss them, but we have to get better.
On the players’ reaction to the game
All I saw was a bunch of tears and hurt. When my No. 5 comes off the field and into the locker room and he’s crying along with 20 other guys, that’s hurt and that’s what I saw. That’s what I live with. That’s what I think about and that’s what I carry everyday, 24-7. It’s my job to get them better. We will work in practice as hard as we can and repeat those plays as many times as it takes to make it work and then you get ready for the common opponents. We’re working on our short-yardage plays. We’re not in a panic mode; we just have to get a little bit better. Again, we saw so much progress come out of that game so that was good.
On Marshall
We are up against a very formidable opponent. They are 3-1 and this game is a great rivalry. It’s going to be a good game, an exciting game and I know people are anticipating this game-busting at the seams, I would imagine, in the state of West Virginia. I know I am.
It’s such a great game between two fine universities, and I will always have a special place in my heart for Huntington, West Virginia and for Marshall University. Now Saturday, I can’t wait to whip them and punch them right in the nose. But that’s what you do with family; sometimes you have to hit family just as much as anyone else.
On Marshall Head Coach Mark Snyder
I know this about Mark Snyder, he is a real credit to the game. He has great character. He’s a wonderful dad, a great husband, a good man and he’s all what is right about football. I’m so glad he is the man that is down in Huntington getting that program turned around because he’s doing a tremendous job for the Marshall University fans and alumni. I’m really happy for him but hope he won’t do too good of a job Saturday.
Don’t think our people aren’t aware of what is going to come to town. They have a fine football staff, they have some great new coaches and they are doing a super job down there. I really think the people in Huntington should be pleased with them and I know they are.
On Marshall’s Offense
Their quarterback, Mark Cann, is a son of a coach. I have not picked Steve Dunlap’s brain because No. 1, Steve Dunlap wouldn’t tell us any secrets because he’s a professional. We won’t have a meeting and ask him to tell us everything he knows about the players. We don’t do that, maybe some coaches do, but I was trained by coaches like Don Nehlen not to do that. Take it off the film, coach how you’re supposed to coach, and let it go. Steve did say this; he said that Cann is a heck of a winner, a good kid and a son of coach. That’s all I need to know. If he’s the son of a coach, he can play. He looks good on film, he holds the ball well, they max protect a lot so he throws a lot of deep balls. They have tremendous receivers. They go get the ball. Their tight end Cody Slate is awesome. He’s playing well and the offensive line is playing very hard and solid. They have a tremendous running game and they are going to be a real force for our defense. Our defense has their hands full and their work cut out for them.
On Marshall’s defense and special teams
Defensively, they have Albert McClellan back, No. 96, and he’s a banger. They have Maurice Kitchens back. I recruited him out of high school and he’s a banger. I think their secondary is playing great. The defensive line is doing well, too.
Their special teams look very solid. Their punter is new, and I understand Tyler Warner kicked the other day, a young man out of Parkersburg. I had him up here in camp and I know what he can do. God, I hope he doesn’t come up here and beat us. They have a nice special teams unit and they are running on all cylinders.
They are where they are because they believe. They are 3-1, and just beat a Southern Miss team. They beat Memphis, who I have great respect for, in Huntington, and they beat Illinois State. They are going to be tough. It’s neat to play them. They are in-state. I love playing them, and I hope it’s going to be a fantastic game for everyone involved. I just hope the Mountaineers bring their ‘A’ game. If we don’t bring our ‘A’ game, we are going to be in trouble-big trouble. We are going to have to play well.
On WVU never having lost to Marshall
I think each year is different. Now is now and this is the 2008 season. I watched the first game here in 1997 in my living room with my dad and I thought that was a great game. What Mark (Snyder) says to them, that’s up to Mark and how they get ready. I’m only worried about us and each year is different.
On Marshall quarterback Mark Cann
I’m sure Jeff (Casteel) and Coach Kirelawich and Dave Johnson have a good plan for him. It’s hard to get to someone when they max protect. Marshall max protects a lot so it’s hard to get to him. We will give them as much stuff as our guys can handle. The biggest thing is that we need to cover the guys we need to cover, which we didn’t do in games two and one. That was a very fine football team we played last week. Our defense was outstanding covering the guys they were supposed to cover. I saw no one get behind us, no one peak into the backfield. We didn’t make many mistakes and that tells me that our defense is better. We will give them things that we need to win with.
On Ricky Kovatch and Will Johnson
He and Will Johnson are doing ok and Ricky has a chance to play. He should get in this week, I sure hope so. He deserves to play on special teams. I’m bringing him along slow, but I guess coaches do that to make sure they are ready.
On Jarrett Brown
Jarrett is going to play. We wanted to play him last week. We don’t know if he’s going to play quarterback or where he is going to play, but he’s going to play. He needs to get on the field. I’ve talked to both he and the staff about him playing I back. Putting that big rascal back there might be advantageous to us.
On having Reed Williams and J.T. back.
Having Reed in there speaks volumes. Both Reed and J.T. are ok.
On Pat McAfee
Some players you say things too in certain situations. No one felt worse in that entire stadium than Pat McAfee. I know this. When I came out of the locker room at the end of the day and I saw his mom there with Reed Williams’ parents. She was still having a tough time. I felt really down for her and him. Our players are past that. No one is finger pointing. Like I said, we don’t have a defense, we don’t have an offense, we don’t have a special team. We are a football team.
If I could, I would have sent him right in again to kick. Kick him again. Pat him on the butt and kick him again. You have to have faith and confidence in your players. They’re just little fellows and sometimes they will stumble and fall. I hate it, but we can’t bail out on them. If you bail out on them-shame on you.
On playing the rivalry game at home
I hope it will be great. I think the stadium will be electrifying and I hope the people of West Virginia will be excited. I cannot imagine growing up in this great Mountain State and not having some kind of interest in this game. This game is great for college football. I just hope it’s a hard-fought, injury-free game and I hope the best team wins. I know it’s going to be very emotional and very exciting. It’s going to be a fun time here in the ‘ole town when we tee it up at 15:30.
