Coach Pasqualoni Press Conference Quotes
10/2/2000 3:02:56 PM | Football
"Playing at Cincinnati was his first game and I don't think he was as sharp as he could've been. Against East Carolina and BYU he played the way he played against Kentucky in the Music City Bowl (in which he was named the game's MVP). He has great balance and it is hard to knock him off his feet. He is able to move laterally very quickly."
On the first and second halves of the BYU game:
"In the first half we had great field position and we made some big plays. In the second half we didn't score, but BYU never had very good field position. We might not have done a great job scoring in the second half, but BYU had a long way to go to score in the second half."
On not playing as many reserves in the second half vs. BYU:
"In preparing for BYU we wanted to keep the game under control. It is sometimes hard to keep control playing some second and third team guys because they don't get as many practice reps with the game plan. In playing BYU we wanted to do to maintain control of the game and playing the personnel that we did enabled us to do that."
On the first two series of the BYU game:
"On their first possession they started at the 27-yard-line and they had to punt from their six. We started with good field position on the 43-yard-line. They are a great defensive team, so we were stopped on the first couple plays. Troy Nunes was able to scramble for nine yards on third down. We had the ball at the 38-yard-line and that gave us the chance to run the fake field goal. Completing that fake allowed the offense to stay on the field and then we put together a solid series of plays that enabled us to get the ball in the endzone. That fake field goal was an awfully big play."
On the Pittsburgh receiving corps:
"Antonio Bryant and Latef Grim are really good players. Grim has scored touchdowns on us in every game that he has played against us. Bryant is an excellent wide receiver. They are both exceptional wide receivers. We'll have our work cut out for us."
On the Pittsburgh offense:
"They have a very good running game. Kevan Barlow is a very good back. They throw the ball well and they have good receivers. We are going to try to play good defense and not give up the big play. They will throw the ball deep a lot."
On the progress of the SU offensive line:
"The offensive line is making the progress we hoped they would make. They are going to get better and better. They are a very close-knit group. They have good chemistry and that is very evident. They are playing with passion and excitement for the game."
On Troy Nunes and the SU passing game:
"The biggest criticism of Troy Nunes is that he can't throw the deep ball and Troy can throw the deep ball. As a quarterback Troy has great judgement. Pat Woodcock turned some strong gains into big plays, but Troy had to get him the ball. Troy played a very good game against BYU. If you look at his first half number they are probably some of the most impressive numbers of any quarterback who has played here. He didn't throw an incomplete pass in the first half. He played well and he can play better. I feel good for Troy because when we haven't played well he has taken a lot of the heat and the fact that he played good shows that he should get some of the credit."
On heading into the BIG EAST conference schedule:
"It is good to go into conference play after having this win. I think we've made some progress and now starts the nitty-gritty of BIG EAST play. It is going to be really tough and intense every single week. Hopefully we can have a good week of practice that will lead to a good game."
On Pat Woodcock's play at wide receiver:
"Pat (Woodcock) is good at getting yards after the catch. He was a running back in high school. He has excellent speed and really quick feet. He can stop-and-go in a heartbeat. Getting a short pass and turning it into a long gain is almost like tossing him the ball on a sweep. He also has the speed to run by defenders to get open. Hopefully he'll have more opportunities to make big plays."
On James Mungro's 61-yard touchdown run:
"That was pretty good. I'd put it in the category of being pretty. P.J. Alexander and Sean O'Connor made great blocks and James Mungro slid in between them. It was a well-blocked play and James made it a great play by breaking some tackles."
On improvements that still need to be made:
"When we watched film from the Cincinnati and East Carolina games there were corrections that needed to be made. Those corrections hurt because they lost us the game. This week we'll watch the BYU film with the same intensity because we still made some mistakes. Even though we won, it does not diminish the importance of making corrections."
On the play of running back Dee Brown:
"I think Dee Brown has played really well, he's been terrific. He runs hard. He makes blocks. He plays different positions. He will play fullback again on Saturday. He is a steady player and we have a tremendous amount of confidence in him."
On the Pittsburgh defense:
"They are like East Carolina in the fact that they blitz so much. They use a lot of zone blitz and people have had problems moving the ball against their scheme. They have an excellent group of linebackers led by Amir Purifoy."
On the current SU winning streak against Pittsburgh:
"What happened last year, the year before and the year before that is not going to have any consequence on what happens Saturday. Every year you have to play the game. Every year each team is different than they were the year before."
On wide receiver Johnnie Morant:
"We are working very hard with Johnnie Morant. There are some things he is confident in and some things he needs to work on. Hopefully as the season continues you'll see him in the ball game."
