Coach Pasqualoni's Quotes Prior to Pittsburgh Game
“You go back to last year, he started the season off with an injury that I thought kind of slowed him down. On top of that, he then hurt his shoulder, he had a hamstring that was kind of a nagging thing. He’s not a complainer – he never really mentioned it or talked about it. But I think it kind of got him behind schedule. On top of that, I think, overall – we didn’t put the ball on the short field for him very much, either, last year. So, I think it was a combination of things. I think the difference is, the season ended, and he made the decision that, in the off-season, he was going to get into the best condition he’s ever been in. I think he made the decision that he was going to work even harder than he had worked in the off-season program to make himself a better athlete – bigger, faster, stronger, every day. He lost weight. I think it’s really helped him. I think he feels good – he feels fresh every day. He’s playing with great confidence in what he’s doing, and making excellent decisions. He’s taking some chances, but taking good chances. He hasn’t made a bad decision as to where he places the ball, yet. He’s taken a few chances, but they’ve been chances that maybe you’d take. Fortunately, he hasn’t thrown an interception yet, but I’m not going to get into that because I don’t want to jinx him. It’s one thing when you throw the ball and it’s not a good decision and it gets intercepted, and it’s another thing when you throw the ball and you have an opportunity to get it in there, so he takes that shot, and maybe somebody on the other team makes a great play. Just knock on wood that he can stay healthy and keep going.”
On the fans at the Carrier Dome on Saturday:
“I think the BC game and Homecoming is always a really big weekend here. The fans were great. They obviously are a big factor and help a great deal. I thought they were a big part of the momentum and the enthusiasm and the passion with which the game went on on Saturday. So it was great to have the fans there.”
On playing another road game after losing at Virginia Tech:
“We’re going to play a very good team. They played extremely well in all areas of the game against Rutgers. They’re very tough. So we have to go one preparation practice day at a time. We’re not going to change anything or our approach. The only way we’ve ever done it is to just go one day, so we’re going to take today and go through the personnel – they have great personnel. Obviously, Rod Rutherford is probably the leading quarterback in this league right now. If there’s a better wide receiver in the country than (Larry Fitzgerald), I don’t know what team he’s on, outside of Marvin Harrison with the Colts. I’d pick Marvin, but other than that, I think you’d take this guy no matter what league you’re playing in. I think the fullback is the unsung hero of this team, (Lousaka) Polite. I think he is a heck of a fullback. Defensively, I’d say 95 percent of their total snaps on defense this year have been pressure in one form or another. You have to absolutely take it one day at a time, and that’s what we’ll tell the team.”
On special teams:
“We were doing the same special teams routine we’ve done every year I’ve ever been here on a Friday. And the last thing that you would ever expect to have happen – and it’s never happened in I don’t know how many years – no one’s ever got hurt on a Friday. It’s hard to believe you could get hurt on a Friday. But, we were in our field goal kicking routine, and he’s (Collin Barber) banging every one through. We get back to about the 16-, 17-yard line, and he bangs it through, and he comes out of the kick holding his leg. He says, ‘I think I hurt something.’ And he couldn’t make the next kick, so the trainer put ice on it. They felt that, by the morning, it would be okay. But in the morning, it was as bad, or even worse. I thought that Ricky Krautman would be the best prepared to do this. Obviously, Ricky struggled. I think Ricky’s going to be a good kicker, but he struggled a little bit. Brendan (Carney) has done this in high school, and he made a few kicks on Friday. And he went in and banged it right through. And he looked pretty good doing it. But it was a very unusual thing.”
On Walter Reyes’ performances in the last few games:
“I think we’ve been playing against pretty good defenses. I thought Walter had a real solid performance on Saturday. I think one of the great plays he made on Saturday was that he caught a little ball and turned a third down into a first down. He went for the first-down marker – he put his head down and drove for the first down, and I thought it was a big-time play. Walter’s doing a lot of things for us besides just carrying the ball. He’s catching the ball extremely well, and he’s blocking in protection extremely well. The way I look at this, Walter had a pretty solid all-around game – excellent performance – and I wouldn’t put it all on just the number of yards he gets, because there’s a lot more.”
On Pittsburgh quarterback Rod Rutherford:
“The number one problem you have with him is that he has a really good wide receiver who he can throw the ball to. So, if he’s in a little bit of trouble and he just gets it up in the air near this guy, he has a chance to go up and high-point the ball – he has an excellent vertical jump. I think he has very good timing on the jumps to catch the ball, and obviously very good hands. Rod has somebody who he knows that, the pass might not be perfect, but if I get it near him, I have a chance. The second problem is, Rutherford is an excellent runner. He’s not only a strong-armed guy, he’s an excellent runner. If you drop too many in coverage, I don’t know how you contain him – that’s the problem. If you rush too many, and coverage is too thin and you stay one-on-one, that’s not always the healthiest thing to do either. I don’t know what the exact answer is. I think we’ll probably just try to change it up and do a little bit of everything.”
On defense:
“I thought Saturday, outside of the quarterback scrambling for a couple of first downs on third down, I thought the coverage was, overall, pretty good. Some areas need some improvement. We need better communication back there in regard to what everybody’s doing. But, I would say that we’re going in the right direction, but we’re going to have to improve it this week against the operation – the quarterback and the quality wide receiver we’re going to see this week.”
On Troy Swittenburg:
“What we’re trying to do is make sure that we’re utilizing everybody. Troy, in high school, was an excellent tail back – has excellent speed – and we always considered Troy to be a corner. We put him at strong safety back in the spring – he and Diamond (Ferri), to see how that would go. He plays on third down. He’s more or less the nickelback. So, he plays a lot, and we just thought we’d try to see how he’s doing as a corner. So, he played corner on Saturday, Tommy (Whitfield) played corner on Saturday, Tanard (Jackson) is ready to go at corner, Terrell (Lemon) is ready to go at corner. On third down he played safety, and on first and second down he played corner, and sometimes we took him out and rested him.”
On team’s emotion:
“I think all we’re looking to do is go to Pittsburgh and play in a consistent fashion. I don’t worry about the up-and-down part of it – I think they’ve been pretty steady. I’m not so sure we’ve been way up there or way down there. I didn’t see them get too down after Virginia Tech, and I don’t see them too up after BC, which tells me that they’re kind of somewhere in between, which is where you want them to be.”
On Pittsburgh and Syracuse:
“I saw them (Pitt) score 42 points in one half against Rutgers. They played lights out, up and down the field. I see two teams that are going to be prepared to play. I see two pretty solid teams. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. The sun doesn’t shine much in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh can be cold, it can be cloudy, it can be a tough place. Every time I’ve ever been there it’s been tough. That goes back to my freshman year in college. That was my introduction to Pittsburgh – getting whacked around – at Forbes Field, the last game ever played there. That’s the kind of game we anticipate this is going to be.”
On Brendan Carney:
“I go back to the last game as a reference point, because that’s what I think last games are. Based on the last game, I’d say (he’s) pretty solid. I hope that we can go to Pittsburgh, playing outdoors, and he can punt the ball the way he did Saturday. But, I think that as a first-year guy, a redshirt freshman, I think he’s growing and maturing, and I think he’s getting better every single day.”
On Pittsburgh’s punting unit: “It’s the best operation in the BIG EAST. Sure it bothers me. You saw one of the biggest plays in the game was the punt out of the end zone. That’s field position. That’s a big play. Sure, we’re concerned. I’m hoping he (Carney) can go and compete with this kid from Pittsburgh, who’s an excellent punter.”
On Johnnie Morant being back from injury: “Any time you’re hurt, it’s going to slow you down. He feels much better. The timing, I would say, between the wide receiver and the quarterback is better, which I think you saw on Saturday. He was actually able to run by people on Saturday. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Player Quotes
Anthony Smith
Sophomore
Free Safety
On Pittsburgh’s offense:
“They have a real good quarterback who we’re concerned about containing. We’re going to work real hard at practice on that. They also have a real good wide receiver who we’ll pay much attention to. I think we’ll be fine.”
On being named BIG EAST Special Teams Player of the Week:
“We did a little bit of change this week – we went full go every day on special teams. We just wanted to simulate what it was going to be like in the game, and I think that helped.”
On the Pittsburgh game being the first road game since the loss to Virginia Tech:
“It’s a different frame of mind. We just take it one week at a time. You put the games you’ve played in the past and look forward. That’s basically what you have to do.”
On losing to Pitt last year:
“You can’t go too much off last year because, if you keep thinking about the past, you’re really not looking forward. So, you just take it one day at a time, one practice at a time, and just prepare for the team each week.”
On Larry Fitzgerald:
“He’s a playmaker. He just makes things happen, even when the quarterback makes a bad throw. He just goes up and gets it and makes a tremendous catch. His awareness – he can always make things happen. His height advantage, it’s too his advantage when he’s facing smaller cornerbacks and smaller secondaries. When he wants to, he can take it to his advantage and use it.”
On importance of the Pitt game:
“We’re on the right track right now, but if we get this win, and have the off week to rest our bodies and prepare for next week, I think it’ll get us rolling.”
On the fans’ response at the BC game:
“They responded real well this weekend. They all knew it was a big rivalry. It helps the team emotionally, and they give us a lot of enthusiasm and make us want to play hard. They help a lot.”
Rashard Williams
Sophomore
Wide Reciever
On Pittsburgh’s defense:
“I haven’t watched the film yet on them, but I know they’re a real good team because they’re winning. After we watch film this week, we’ll see how their defense is.”
On the Pittsburgh game being the first road game since the loss to Virginia Tech:
“You just have to put the loss behind you and move on. If we concentrate on what happened last week, this week will be out of mind.”
On going with a passing game against Boston College rather than rushing the ball:
“When we run the ball well, we just keep it on the ground. By keeping it on the ground, you protect the ball more. This week, we just had to step up with the pass and did what we had to do.”
On R.J. Anderson: “R.J. is a leader. He’s playing real good. He’s making the right reads, the right checks, and I think he’s playing excellent. There’s nothing else we can ask for. The coaches put him on the field and he calls the play and feels out the defense, and he does what he has to do – make the right reads and the right calls.”
On importance of fans: “They made us feel real good. I wish we could have a Homecoming every week, the way all the fans were there and rooting us on. That would get us hyped, with the fans being there for us and having us win the game.”
