Head Coach Greg Robinson Press Conference (October 21, 2007)
Opening statement:
"Still the 24 hour roll and we still have a little time – still a lot of smiles around here. The team is in a meeting right now and going through all the lessons there are to be learned from (the Buffalo game). As we met in here as a full team, there were a lot things we talked about, but I would say we commended a number of players. On the offensive side of the ball, obviously, Taj (Smith) and Mike Williams jump out at you. I point to a play where both those two were down field when (quarterback) Andrew (Robinson) ran the option and they make great cut blocks that lead for the big gain. (Guard) Carroll Madison has been very consistent all year, but I thought he really played, maybe, his best game this year. I mentioned a little bit yesterday, Paul Chiara and Jeremy Sellers playing the fullback position with Tony Fiammetta being out. I think Paul would like to have that one catch back, but other than that he did a lot of good things. Jeremy Sellers, for never playing fullback before in his life, had a couple of decleater blocks – put a couple guys right on their backs. On top of that he was a highlight on special teams. He caused (and recovered) the fumble on the kick off. I'm proud of the way he has hung in there tough. Obviously, (running backs) Curtis (Brinkley) and Doug Hogue both did a great job of running that football. Andrew did a lot of good things in that game and I know he would like to have a couple of those balls back. You drive all the way from the 14-yard line down to the 18-yard line in the other end and then throw an interception in the endzone – he probably would like to make a better decision on that. I think the other one, he just needs to throw that ball away. He did a lot of good things.
"On defense we talked about Jameel McClain and he goes all day from sideline to sideline. A person who has been stepping up week after week and I think we had him for five tackles for losses is (defensive tackle) Arthur Jones. Arthur is becoming a real force in the middle and he plays with such passion. And, on top of that. he is a physical football player. He brings a dimension of intensity that is so important on defense to have people who play the game like that. (Linebacker) Jake Flaherty was struggling earlier in the year a little bit, but I think Jake has settled down over the last three or four weeks and is turning into a real good football player for us. There is a lot of leadership that comes form Jake. (Free safety) Joe Fields played well and has been pretty darn consistent for us.
"The kicking game, I mentioned Sellers. John Barker, obviously, is our holder, but had a great 71-yard punt. If there was ever a time to hit a punt on third-and-30, or whatever it was, it was a great job. People who you don't hear much about (long snapper) Ian Hammond. Ian has really stepped his game up from a year ago. (Former SU punter) Brendan Carney will tell you he (Ian) made life hard on Brendan last year, but this year he's been so consistent and he works so hard. It's a great example of a guy who spent the whole spring and summer training to get himself right. (Placekicker) Pat Shadle, we kind of just count on Pat. He gets up there and just kicks those field goals. We just don't want him to kick too many field goals. We like him to kick more extra points.
"That's a number of people that I mentioned, but really what I see was there was a lot of good play on offense, defense and special teams. The things I would see change in the special teams area is the penalties. We set our offense back twice on a punt return, the one that Bruce (Williams) mishandled, then we get a 15-yard penalty on top of that. Then on kick off return we get a personal foul. It's a young player trying too hard. Just a little to exuberant, trying to make something happen and he gets a personal foul. Those are things we can eliminate and that's what this week is all about – working on things that we can fix and see how we can get our health back."
"The kicking game, I mentioned Sellers. John Barker, obviously, is our holder, but had a great 71-yard punt. If there was ever a time to hit a punt on third-and-30, or whatever it was, it was a great job. People who you don't hear much about (long snapper) Ian Hammond. Ian has really stepped his game up from a year ago. (Former SU punter) Brendan Carney will tell you he (Ian) made life hard on Brendan last year, but this year he's been so consistent and he works so hard. It's a great example of a guy who spent the whole spring and summer training to get himself right. (Placekicker) Pat Shadle, we kind of just count on Pat. He gets up there and just kicks those field goals. We just don't want him to kick too many field goals. We like him to kick more extra points.
"That's a number of people that I mentioned, but really what I see was there was a lot of good play on offense, defense and special teams. The things I would see change in the special teams area is the penalties. We set our offense back twice on a punt return, the one that Bruce (Williams) mishandled, then we get a 15-yard penalty on top of that. Then on kick off return we get a personal foul. It's a young player trying too hard. Just a little to exuberant, trying to make something happen and he gets a personal foul. Those are things we can eliminate and that's what this week is all about – working on things that we can fix and see how we can get our health back."
On the schedule for the bye week:
"We'll go out and work out here just a little bit. They have tomorrow off. Tuesday and Wednesday we practice. Thursday they will lift and run and Friday, Saturday they are off. They come back Sunday to get ready to begin the week for Pittsburgh."
On how (running back) Curtis Brinkley got hurt:
"Just running off the left side and kind of got caught with his leg inside out on it – guy came down on his leg. It's just a football play and I can't tell you anything more than that because it really wasn't. Just the way it all happened, it just got landed on in a way – that's how it happened."
On if he knew Brinkley broke his leg as soon as he saw it:
"No, you don't really see and you know. Curtis knew. You can't really tell (from the film). It's just kind of a tackle coming in on him. He's been in on hundreds on those before and everything was fine. It was a freak-type thing."
On how emotionally down is Brinkley:
"Curtis and I sat and talked today and he's very disappointed – very, very disappointed. But at the same time, as we talked about it, he has choices here. It's a negative you want to turn into a positive. You have to find a way to turn this into a positive. You know what it is going to do is give him more time. He's going to miss four games, plus this bye week. He has a tough load of classes this semester, so we're going to see if we can do everything to see if he can really make it in school to make up for the time that he's going to miss for football. I think he's determined to do better. We talked with the team and it's no different than when Delone (Carter) was hurt or whoever is out with something like this for a period of time, uou need that support around for you. The hardest time for an athlete is when he's injured."
On if Doug Hogue is the premier running back:
"He's the guy going in second, so he is the guy who is going to step up right now and we'll figure out where we go from there."
On other position changes:
"We talked today that it's fortunate that we have a bye. I don't want to do something emotionally and make a decision quickly. We are going to work hard to make the right decision. I don't want to start shuffling people around just to do that. I want to think long term effect on that. So I don't want to do anything too quickly."
On what he saw in Doug Hogue against Buffalo:
"I thought he did a good job. Some of the issues I had earlier with Doug were just the total offense and understanding where he belonged on different things and protections and stuff like that that are really important. He has come a long way in regard to that. He did a good job of blocking the other day. In the running game, I thought there were times when he was very aggressive and then there were a few plays where he was somewhat tentative. The more reps he gets, the more comfortable he'll be. He was obviously productive. I would like to hope and I do believe that with time he'll be more productive."
On Dowayne Davis's status:
"Dowayne is feeling very good today and I think he'll be alright."
On if Brinkley's career is over:
"No. I don't think that way at all. A broken bone is a broken bone. It really is what it is and many, many, many players have come back from that. I promise you that he'll be ready to go."
On the bye week coming at a fortunate time:
"We're fortunate to be in a bye right now because we have a number of players out – I think five players from the week before and a player or two from this week. Hopefully, we'll get some people back. Time will tell. I'm not sure right yet. Hopefully, we'll be able to recuperate some of our guys."
On what he hopes to accomplish this week:
"It's really more about specific areas. Without going into great detail, on both sides of the ball there are young players who we have to keep elevating their games. So there is a lot of teaching that has to go on and some of the older players can use a rest. But we need to get the younger players who are truly participating in the game – we have to elevate their games. The thing I find with younger players is that they can only absorb so much. They sit in their meeting for an hour and they do their best to pay attention and you're not always sure of what they are getting. I tell our coaches all the time that we have to find out how informed they are, how uninformed they and how misinformed they are. That's part of the process. So we have a week to really elevate our team in teaching them and bringing them along here. I think that can happen on offense, defense and kicking game."
On changing offensive philosophy:
"We’ve had the option up in every game this year and he (Andrew Robinson) has run it before. It has been up in every game and so has run the quarterback draw. He didn't run it very well against Washington because it wasn't blocked very well. My point is that these plays have been called and we were just more successful with them."
On why they were more successful:
"On offense when you run an option it's because it's a numbers game. If they have too many here or not enough there and you go out with the option they have a problem and that's really what happened in that case. In the quarterback draw it was similar situation. We were back there in the pistol and he drops, the running back goes forward and it looks like he's going out for a pass and he is lead blocking and the quarterback takes it goes. Their team is rushing up the field and basically it's a draw. We ran it twice and I thought it was a great block by Paul Chiara on both cases and that's part of it. (smiling) I think Andrew will tell you it's about his speed."
On what about receivers Taj Smith and Mike Williams and what stood out on film:
"They blocked well and they caught the ball well and that's about all we ask them to do. Those two players (Taj Smith and Mike Williams) have been good for a couple of years for us and it's good to see them both stepping up at the same time. Rice Moss made a couple of plays that were important and Lavar Lobdell early in the first series makes a catch that's important. We're getting more consistency out of our receivers and we just have to keep working."
On the development of (offensive tackles) Tucker Baumbach and Jonathan Meldrum:
"They're still young, but they have done good things. I can't tell you they have arrived because they have not. They both played a number of plays in that game. It's competitive. I think Cory Chavers knows that and Larry Norton knows that and they're competing their tails off to maintain their playing time. Those new guys are chomping at the bit to get in and they did some good things in the football game, obviously."
