Football: Coach Stewart and Player Quotes
April 16, 2011 03:17 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coach Bill Stewart and select player quotes following the first scrimmage of the spring season.
Coach Bill Stewart
Opening Statement
The guys really played hard and went after each other. There were a lot of positives. I saw us running to the ball on defense, which I like. I thought our offense had great enthusiasm - they mounted some drives, and our defense stopped some drives. It was very back and forth, which is good to see on day nine.
This was our first major scrimmage with officials, and I thought our guys did well. There were a couple of penalties that I did not like, but I liked the way we rallied around each other. The guys played hard.
I thought our defense ran to the ball well and tackled well. There were a few missed tackles in the open field, which is very difficult to do. By and large, we wrapped up really well. They caused a couple fumbles, one which was recovered by Pat Miller. They had some great goal-line plays. I saw some nice, outstanding tackles, and then Mike Dorsey closed the door and came up with a big pick.
Offensively, I liked the way we came off the goal line. We ran the ball well and stretched the defense. We also caught a couple of deep balls. I was really pleased with the way they got after each other.
When we got down into the red zone, it was back and forth ball. The offense did pretty well, and the defense stopped a couple of drives. In the goal line, there were some big plays. Ryan Nehlen got us out of a tough hole. Tyler Urban had a big touchdown catch. I thought our back ran very hard. Two individual scoring efforts were Shawne Alston and Trey Johnson. The guy that had the best day, offensively, was Tavon Austin. He caught the ball well, got vertical after he made the catches and did well.
Geno (Smith) had a good, sound day, and that was pleasing for us to see. I thought Paul Millard stepped up and did some nice things in his first scrimmage.
I really was not pleased with our kicking game. I thought our PAT and field goal efforts were shabby. There were two outstanding defensive efforts. The first was blocked by Terrance Garvin, who also had a good day, and the second block was Josh Taylor inside. I don’t think the ball was kicked low, as was the case a couple times last year, they were just outstanding efforts by our defensive guys. One came off the edge, that was Garvin, and one came up the middle, which was Taylor.
By and large, this was a good first scrimmage. I’m pleased with where we are, but we have a long way to go. There was some sloppy play and some penalties. There was a holding, some guys lined up wrong on the defensive side and some flinching from our guards. Other than that, it was a pretty mistake-free scrimmage.
On injuries up to this point
Brad Starks. He is the only injury that has occurred this spring. I don’t like to see red shirts out there. They don’t want to put a red shirt on, either. There are three surgeries out there now – Don Barclay, Jeff Braun and Eain Smith. They can’t help that. We’re really healthy.
On the ball handling in bad weather conditions
I was pretty pleased. The ball handling falls that we had were just guys that got the ball in the running game and fumbled before the defense got there. There were some hits that caused the ball to come out, but I was pleased with the way we concentrated and competed in the weather. I was pleased with the way we took care of the ball today.
On the defense’s response to the running game
I thought they did well. They ran to the ball, and I thought they hit the guys pretty hard. We tell them to stay up. I know you can tackle, but we stay up so as not to hurt each other. I thought our defense really converged on the ball very well.
On playing in the rain
That was my decision. I heard a head coach say one time, “if you fight in the North Atlantic, you train in the North Atlantic.” That was Woody Hayes.
On Tyler Urban’s route running
He looks really good. I like the way he comes to work every day, with excitement and enthusiasm. I’m sure people have said there is no tight end in this offense, and you have no role. I believe that has already been put to rest.
On Urban’s matchups
There’s not only a matchup there (in the red zone), but there is also the matchup on those screens on the outside. He’s just a big guy who can get on a Sam linebacker. He’s also agile enough to block a safety in space.
Tyler gets it. When I first started recruiting Tyler, I went up to watch him play basketball. I was really impressed with his skills. He’s an athlete and a big man in space. I believe he’s going to give a lot of people fits with what he can do.
On the play of the freshmen quarterbacks
I thought they did OK. They threw the ball away a few times. It was their first scrimmage. Remember, they both should be in high school still. Could they be better – you bet. Are they overwhelmed – you bet. Will they continue to get better – I hope so.
On the play of the offensive line
I watched them all today. When you have to block Bruce Irvin and Julian Miller – that’s pretty tough. Also, when you bring a linebacker like Josh Francis or a safety like Mike Dorsey off the edge, it’s tough. It’s hard to match up that big guy against that little, fast guy coming off the edge.
I know the line is progressing. I like the way they’re competing. The guys are in the locker room helping each other out, and that’s great camaraderie.
I’m pleased to tell you I left a happy guy today. Are we sloppy – you bet. Did we make mistakes – you bet. Did we put the ball on the ground – you bet. We also made some plays. I saw us competing, running and tackling. There’s give and take on both sides.
Day nine, first scrimmage – I’m OK with it.
On the play of the running backs
I though they ran hard behind their pads and played tough. I thought our defense tackled hard against the running game. We ran it in four-down territory today, too.
I thought Alston ran behind his pads. Matt (Lindamood), Ricky (Kovatch) and Ryan (Clarke) didn’t carry the ball, but I thought they all blocked well and ran hard. It was good to see the young guys. I thought Trey Johnson also ran behind his pads.
On replacing Brad Starks
They all have an opportunity. We just need to replace him through the spring – he’ll be back. According to David Kerns, his surgery went well. As I indicated earlier, I though Tavon Austin did very well with the ball in his hands. Nehlen made some catches, too. J.D. (Woods) and Ivan (McCartney) need to make a catch. Stedman Bailey caught a nice ball.
We ran the ball a lot tougher today then we’ve been doing, and that was good to see.
Quarterback Geno Smith
I thought we moved the ball pretty well. I liked the fact that we competed clean. There weren’t too many penalties on our side, but I think we can get better.
On dropped passes
That’s part of the game. We’re going to make a few mistakes. The weather didn’t really help us out. We just have to look at it as a positive and keep getting better.
On the way the team is handling the new offense
I think we’re doing a great job. Our communication is still getting better, but I think we’re picking up more and more as the practices go on. This was the first time we got a chance to put it all together, and I feel like we did a pretty good job.
Defensive back Keith Tandy
On the defensive’s take on the three-back set
You have to account for the run, and that leaves the corners out there by themselves on an island. They’re going to throw it about 50 percent of the time, so you can’t get lined up to stop the run. As a corner, you can’t relax when they come out in the set.
On the defense gelling as a unit
We still have a long way to go, and that’s what spring ball is for. We have a lot of guys sliding toward the ball and people are starting to compete out there.
Linebacker Najee Goode
On what the defense needs to work on
We need to work on the fundamentals, like tackling. We need to make sure we’re playing good man-to-man coverage. We also have to do the little things right if our defense is going to be as good as last year’s.
On going against the new offense
This is a complete 180 from last year. Our offense last year used to run a little bit of everything and ran power football down at the goal line. We still run power football, but it’s from a different look. You never know which way it’s going to go. It’s a big change.
Inside receiver Tyler Urban
On why the offense is “easy” to learn
We’re really just going to grass and trying to find the open space. There aren’t any trick schemes. We’re just getting to space. That’s why it is so easy. If you get the basic route down, you can just go to grass from there.
Last year was more set patterns – you knew where you had to be and where you were going. This year, if the backers and corners move, you can cut your route and go to open space.
On the fact that everyone has a chance to play
You have to run your route 100 percent every time because you never really know when the ball is coming to you. I guess that’s exciting, offensively, because you know you can get the ball at any given time. I’m sure that makes people run their routes better and do the little things better because they know they have an opportunity.
On the offense’s progress
We’re doing well. We still have a ton of things to work on. Route running, getting to where they want us to be, holding on to the football – there are a ton of little things. I feel, at this point, we’re doing pretty well.
Coach Bill Stewart
Opening Statement
The guys really played hard and went after each other. There were a lot of positives. I saw us running to the ball on defense, which I like. I thought our offense had great enthusiasm - they mounted some drives, and our defense stopped some drives. It was very back and forth, which is good to see on day nine.
This was our first major scrimmage with officials, and I thought our guys did well. There were a couple of penalties that I did not like, but I liked the way we rallied around each other. The guys played hard.
I thought our defense ran to the ball well and tackled well. There were a few missed tackles in the open field, which is very difficult to do. By and large, we wrapped up really well. They caused a couple fumbles, one which was recovered by Pat Miller. They had some great goal-line plays. I saw some nice, outstanding tackles, and then Mike Dorsey closed the door and came up with a big pick.
Offensively, I liked the way we came off the goal line. We ran the ball well and stretched the defense. We also caught a couple of deep balls. I was really pleased with the way they got after each other.
When we got down into the red zone, it was back and forth ball. The offense did pretty well, and the defense stopped a couple of drives. In the goal line, there were some big plays. Ryan Nehlen got us out of a tough hole. Tyler Urban had a big touchdown catch. I thought our back ran very hard. Two individual scoring efforts were Shawne Alston and Trey Johnson. The guy that had the best day, offensively, was Tavon Austin. He caught the ball well, got vertical after he made the catches and did well.
Geno (Smith) had a good, sound day, and that was pleasing for us to see. I thought Paul Millard stepped up and did some nice things in his first scrimmage.
I really was not pleased with our kicking game. I thought our PAT and field goal efforts were shabby. There were two outstanding defensive efforts. The first was blocked by Terrance Garvin, who also had a good day, and the second block was Josh Taylor inside. I don’t think the ball was kicked low, as was the case a couple times last year, they were just outstanding efforts by our defensive guys. One came off the edge, that was Garvin, and one came up the middle, which was Taylor.
By and large, this was a good first scrimmage. I’m pleased with where we are, but we have a long way to go. There was some sloppy play and some penalties. There was a holding, some guys lined up wrong on the defensive side and some flinching from our guards. Other than that, it was a pretty mistake-free scrimmage.
On injuries up to this point
Brad Starks. He is the only injury that has occurred this spring. I don’t like to see red shirts out there. They don’t want to put a red shirt on, either. There are three surgeries out there now – Don Barclay, Jeff Braun and Eain Smith. They can’t help that. We’re really healthy.
On the ball handling in bad weather conditions
I was pretty pleased. The ball handling falls that we had were just guys that got the ball in the running game and fumbled before the defense got there. There were some hits that caused the ball to come out, but I was pleased with the way we concentrated and competed in the weather. I was pleased with the way we took care of the ball today.
On the defense’s response to the running game
I thought they did well. They ran to the ball, and I thought they hit the guys pretty hard. We tell them to stay up. I know you can tackle, but we stay up so as not to hurt each other. I thought our defense really converged on the ball very well.
On playing in the rain
That was my decision. I heard a head coach say one time, “if you fight in the North Atlantic, you train in the North Atlantic.” That was Woody Hayes.
On Tyler Urban’s route running
He looks really good. I like the way he comes to work every day, with excitement and enthusiasm. I’m sure people have said there is no tight end in this offense, and you have no role. I believe that has already been put to rest.
On Urban’s matchups
There’s not only a matchup there (in the red zone), but there is also the matchup on those screens on the outside. He’s just a big guy who can get on a Sam linebacker. He’s also agile enough to block a safety in space.
Tyler gets it. When I first started recruiting Tyler, I went up to watch him play basketball. I was really impressed with his skills. He’s an athlete and a big man in space. I believe he’s going to give a lot of people fits with what he can do.
On the play of the freshmen quarterbacks
I thought they did OK. They threw the ball away a few times. It was their first scrimmage. Remember, they both should be in high school still. Could they be better – you bet. Are they overwhelmed – you bet. Will they continue to get better – I hope so.
On the play of the offensive line
I watched them all today. When you have to block Bruce Irvin and Julian Miller – that’s pretty tough. Also, when you bring a linebacker like Josh Francis or a safety like Mike Dorsey off the edge, it’s tough. It’s hard to match up that big guy against that little, fast guy coming off the edge.
I know the line is progressing. I like the way they’re competing. The guys are in the locker room helping each other out, and that’s great camaraderie.
I’m pleased to tell you I left a happy guy today. Are we sloppy – you bet. Did we make mistakes – you bet. Did we put the ball on the ground – you bet. We also made some plays. I saw us competing, running and tackling. There’s give and take on both sides.
Day nine, first scrimmage – I’m OK with it.
On the play of the running backs
I though they ran hard behind their pads and played tough. I thought our defense tackled hard against the running game. We ran it in four-down territory today, too.
I thought Alston ran behind his pads. Matt (Lindamood), Ricky (Kovatch) and Ryan (Clarke) didn’t carry the ball, but I thought they all blocked well and ran hard. It was good to see the young guys. I thought Trey Johnson also ran behind his pads.
On replacing Brad Starks
They all have an opportunity. We just need to replace him through the spring – he’ll be back. According to David Kerns, his surgery went well. As I indicated earlier, I though Tavon Austin did very well with the ball in his hands. Nehlen made some catches, too. J.D. (Woods) and Ivan (McCartney) need to make a catch. Stedman Bailey caught a nice ball.
We ran the ball a lot tougher today then we’ve been doing, and that was good to see.
Quarterback Geno Smith
I thought we moved the ball pretty well. I liked the fact that we competed clean. There weren’t too many penalties on our side, but I think we can get better.
On dropped passes
That’s part of the game. We’re going to make a few mistakes. The weather didn’t really help us out. We just have to look at it as a positive and keep getting better.
On the way the team is handling the new offense
I think we’re doing a great job. Our communication is still getting better, but I think we’re picking up more and more as the practices go on. This was the first time we got a chance to put it all together, and I feel like we did a pretty good job.
Defensive back Keith Tandy
On the defensive’s take on the three-back set
You have to account for the run, and that leaves the corners out there by themselves on an island. They’re going to throw it about 50 percent of the time, so you can’t get lined up to stop the run. As a corner, you can’t relax when they come out in the set.
On the defense gelling as a unit
We still have a long way to go, and that’s what spring ball is for. We have a lot of guys sliding toward the ball and people are starting to compete out there.
Linebacker Najee Goode
On what the defense needs to work on
We need to work on the fundamentals, like tackling. We need to make sure we’re playing good man-to-man coverage. We also have to do the little things right if our defense is going to be as good as last year’s.
On going against the new offense
This is a complete 180 from last year. Our offense last year used to run a little bit of everything and ran power football down at the goal line. We still run power football, but it’s from a different look. You never know which way it’s going to go. It’s a big change.
Inside receiver Tyler Urban
On why the offense is “easy” to learn
We’re really just going to grass and trying to find the open space. There aren’t any trick schemes. We’re just getting to space. That’s why it is so easy. If you get the basic route down, you can just go to grass from there.
Last year was more set patterns – you knew where you had to be and where you were going. This year, if the backers and corners move, you can cut your route and go to open space.
On the fact that everyone has a chance to play
You have to run your route 100 percent every time because you never really know when the ball is coming to you. I guess that’s exciting, offensively, because you know you can get the ball at any given time. I’m sure that makes people run their routes better and do the little things better because they know they have an opportunity.
On the offense’s progress
We’re doing well. We still have a ton of things to work on. Route running, getting to where they want us to be, holding on to the football – there are a ton of little things. I feel, at this point, we’re doing pretty well.
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