Coach Pasqualoni Post-Game Quotes
November 30, 2002, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
On Miami:
"People have asked me why I think Ken Dorsey is the best quarterback in the country and I think you just saw it. People ask me why I think Willis McGahee was better than the great backs in the country. Brown at Colorado, Johnson at Penn State, I think those kids are great, but this guy McGahee is a great player. These kids have made these plays in every game they have played this year. They have great skill, they have great speed and if you're out of wack just a little bit, they're going to get you."
Was this Ken Dorsey's best game?:
"Well, he's played some really good games. I've been impressed with him in every game he's played. He threw the ball extremely well today. He's made these kind of plays all the way through and I think the thing that's the most impressive about him is that in his career, they've had turnover at the tailback position and they have a new tight end. When Santana Moss and Reggie Wayne left and this new group of guys came in, he really didn't miss a beat, the team really didn't miss a beat. They make it look easy, he makes it look easy, but it's not easy to do. He's done it for four years. He's done it with everybody, anybody they've had and they've had a lot of turnover in the skill positions and in the offensive line. I think that we faced a really good football team with an exceptional quarterback today."
What does rest of year hold for Miami?:
"I don't know. In college football you never know what's going to happen, but if you're going to beat this team, you have to bring your A game, that's for sure. Your A game in a lot of areas because they're awfully good. I don't know if they have a weakness."
On the "Fake Punt":
"That wasn't really a fake. That was, I thought, good preparation on Miami's part. We took the controller into the boundary and we sent him into the rush and I'm sure that they had built into the punter coming into this game that if we did that, it left the gunner out there alone, to take a shot and throw him the ball. So that's what they did and it wasn't a pretty pass but it was complete. There's some risk in throwing that, but I'm sure they felt that they needed to get that play on film for other people to see. They had four punts blocked this year and I'm sure they're trying to control the rush a little bit with something like that. So, I don't blame them for that at all, that was more us than them."
Did Larry (Coker) mention something to you after the game about that?:
"No he doesn't have any say in anything like that but I understand exactly what happened."
On Troy Nunes' status:
"The doctor said that it was a little bit loose and painful but I have not talked to the doctor after further examination. I want to go in there and do that right now. Yeah, it's his knee."
Is there a sense of relief that it's over?:
"No, I don't feel relief. I don't feel good. I wish we could have played with a little bit more exactness today because I think that is really required. I wish we could have just played a little bit better. We've given up some big plays all year and we gave up big plays here. The second play of the game was a big play. I don’t feel relief at all. I feel a sickness in my stomach to be honest with you."
Would you say that nightmare is over with?:
"Well, I'm a little more optimistic than that I guess. We came into this game feeling that we would battle and we would fight. I thought that at times the offense moved the ball pretty well. We just gave up the big plays. We'll go back to work on it and see what we get."
On going for the field goal at 21-0:
"Twenty-one to nothing, it's the first half, I wanted to get something on the board. I was still optimistic at the half that we could make some adjustments, especially on defense, and come out and settle down and play. We had 30 minutes to go. When you get that three and then come back and score the seven, now it's 21-10 at halftime. So, I think that's the appropriate thing to do at that time. I'm still optimistic at that point that we can play a little better on defense. Now we come out the second half and we get beat for a touchdown. Those things aren't supposed to happen, but it happened. I'm optimistic that we can prevent those things from happening and get back in the game so that's the reason we went with a field goal."
What has to be done now?:
"What has to be done before spring ball is go back, obviously, and get into recruiting. There are a lot of recruits here today, there are a lot of great kids here. You recruit with tremendous intensity through the signing date, the first week in February. In the mean time you're working on quality control. Go back through and really break everything down. Take a great look at exactly what happened and why. So the quality of recruiting and the quality control is what you do."
