Head Coach Greg Robinson Press Conference Transcript (Oct. 2, 2005)
How does playing a game like that (against sixth-ranked Florida State) with such speed and intensity help you prepare for the next few weeks?
“Well, again, it’s easy to say….I’d like to believe it helps you. Time will tell. I think that going into that environment and playing that team…You know that saying, if it doesn’t kill you, you ought to be better from it? I’d like to believe that there’s truth to that.”
So far this year, Syracuse has been causing turnovers. Yesterday (against sixth-ranked Florida State), it was guilty of committing them. How do you turn that back around before the next game?
“Well, first of all, when you talk about defensively, we had two turnovers, both in the first half. And, quite frankly, we missed a major opportunity for another in that half that turned into seven points the other way, so to me that’s three. Then there’s an interception opportunity in the fourth quarter that’s right to us and we don’t make the play. That’s four. And there’s a fumble situation on the last play of the half that would have been 35 seconds we would have had the ball, but quite frankly, I’m not quite certain that we don’t have that ball, and that’d be five. There’s another situation in there where we caused a fumble that we didn’t get.
“We just need to be more opportunistic. We really do. We’re putting ourselves in position to make those plays and we have to make them. There is making plays, and then there is what we call those MOBP – Missed Opportunities for Big Plays. Obviously you start your drive, or the second drive, whatever it was, inside the twenty-yard line and you fumble the football. That’s unfortunate – you can’t do that.
“We talk about ball security all the time. Sometimes I think we have a tendency to forget about the quarterback. We had already made the first down. You can’t get greedy. The interception on the screen pass, it was bad. We weren’t functioning very well. The back got out late, the line got out late, and he throws that ball and the linebacker gets it. Then the kicking game situation…I’d like to believe that we’ll get that fixed immediately. Again, I believe in that. I believe in not turning the ball over and in getting turnovers. We just have to get out and focus with regard to getting that back on track.”
Will you put an extra emphasis on ball security this week?
“We do that all the time. We really do – I’d like to believe I do. I don’t know if I do that enough with the quarterback, but I promise you, there’s guys doing up-downs all over that field for showing air with the ball and we really, really coach that extremely hard. I have to give Florida State some credit, and give the wind a little credit, too, for the kicking game situation. The one we didn’t do a good job on the punt return, Steve Gregory is really thinking, ‘This is a deep, long punt, and I know I’m protected. These guys are holding these guys up in a way that I can catch this ball.’ And there’s a guy screaming down the field that we had double-teamed and he beat the double-team. That’s on us – that’s coaching and players not executing right there and it created that situation for Steve.”
What impact does it have on the offensive scheme when you have trouble establishing a running game?
“We believe in the running game. With that team (sixth-ranked Florida State), it was going to be somewhat uphill – they were loading it up again. We’ve got to be able to mix it up and I think a balance sometimes is going to come into play, but that’s sometimes easier said than done. That all sounds great. I want us to get our running game established so that we have balance and get it going.
“But let me say, there’s some good running plays in the ballgame (against FSU), and there’s some situations that could have been better. That happens every week, but I’m telling you, when we did what we’re supposed to do and blocked them (FSU), there were some plays to be made.
“At the same time, that teams flies to that football. A TV announcer asked me, ‘Maybe you should go to the option in the second half?’ But the point is, if you start running sideways against that team…Everyone has their thoughts, whatever, but we want to establish our running game. What does that mean? That you have to come out and run the first eight times and be productive? That can be a mistake. It isn’t that easy. What I want to see is our offense flow and move the football. Control the football. Whatever that takes, let’s do it. That’s what we’re working hard to do.
“I say this about Florida State – that was an excellent defense. I really liked their defensive tackles going into the game. As I studied their defensive ends on film, they are good players – really good players. I see those linebackers and they’re everything they’re everything that we thought. That safety is a big man who is sideline to sideline. You know that Florida State always has cornerbacks. They’re an outstanding defense.”
In the long-run, is it better to play tough teams and lose or play easy teams you know you can beat?
“I don’t know that. Coach Mac should answer that. I’ve coached, how many games now, four? He’s got 400. You answer that, Coach. I don’t know. I really don’t. You know what? We’re healthy. We came out of that game healthy. I think you go down there in that environment and it’s hot, it’s all that, and our guys came out of it fine. I know this – we’re in condition, we’re in shape, we can take the pounding that we had to take against that football team. We got banged around a little bit, but we came out of it fine. So we have our health and we fought.
“One thing about that game now, there was no…I have to quote Ernest Hemingway: ‘Man can be destroyed but not defeated.’ That football team – we got beat, but they did not break our will. We were in a fight. They were the better team yesterday, obviously.”
Should Ryan LaCasse start to draw extra attention from opponents?
“I don’t know that. I don’t notice that they’re aligning differently. They should – Ryan’s playing very well for us. But they also watch the film of the other guy across the way. He hasn’t had the same numbers, but he shows up. Anyway, it’s easier said than done.”
If teams start aligning around LaCasse, do you feel you’ll have them where you want them?
“I haven’t had that feeling yet where we’ve had anybody right where we want them. I thought that with about four minutes to go against Buffalo. But other than that, I don’t know about having them right where we want them.”
You’ve said the offense is a work in progress. What progress do you see so far?
“First of all, I think that Perry Patterson has developed. His accuracy, his pocket presence, his knowledge of the offense and his competitiveness have developed. That’s a big stride. I think that Damien Rhodes is growing as a running back – as a running back and a receiver, I think he’s making progress. I think the tight end position is getting to be a functional group for us, which is important. It gives us some flexibility. The receiving corps going into this game, it was the first game all season that I felt they had some continuity and some flow through the week of practice. This was the first week, last week. Those are some good things.
“Quite frankly, I thought that the offensive line made some good progress against Virginia. They met their match the other day (against sixth-ranked FSU). They got beat the other day. They know it. They need to respond. Knowing the players that we have, I believe they will. Knowing the coaches that we have, I believe they will.”
There were some instances in the first half when Patterson didn’t have time to set up a play. Do you hold that against him?
“Oh, no. As a matter of fact, it makes me a little nervous when he tries to battle through it. They (FSU) did a good job of bringing those backers. All of a sudden, you’re dealing with five or six guys, and we’re going to be seeing more of the same. At least we know what to expect.”
How does your outlook change now that you’re moving into BIG EAST conference play?
“We’ve been in conference play (season-opening loss to West Virginia). Our back’s against the wall a little bit. I think it’s time. It’s time to get into the BIG EAST – let’s go. I’m looking forward to it and the team’s looking forward to it. That’s how I see it.”
Have you seen tape of Connecticut? What do you think of them as a team?
“It’s funny, that film from Army was supposed to get in here a few hours ago, but it didn’t make the flight. I don’t know why (smiling)…We’ve seen plenty of UConn. I like them – they’re a good football team. Randy’s (Edsall) doing a good job of coaching them and defensively they run around, fly around. We got to see them against Buffalo very closely and I’ve talked to you guys about them. They’re playing well and I see offensively that their young quarterback is doing a good job. He’s a good player. He’s a kid who has a good arm, he’s a tough guy and he can run.
“They have a tight end who I think is outstanding. Their offensive line…I like them. I think they’re well-coached. Their line coach does a good job. They have in their defensive scheme they can apply pressure. Offensively, they can mix it up with different styles. They’re doing a very good job and they’ve got momentum – they’re 3-1. They’ve scored a lot of points and haven’t given up many.”
Is the BIG EAST still up for grabs? Can anyone win still win the BIG EAST Championship?
“I believe that. I truly do. Come on. We’re playing our second conference game. Of course it is. This is football. Football is one week at a time. You just keep playing. I can say all of the coaching clichés, but I believe them. I’m looking forward to it. Let’s go, it’s time. We’re in league play. Let’s go. This is what the guys are all looking forward to. Unfortunately, we took a loss to West Virginia, but that’s what it is. We can deal with that. We just need to take care of business.”
How do you defend against the “Big Play”?
“Really, when you look at it, the one big play (against sixth-ranked Florida State) was a missed opportunity for us for a big play. And the next one was on the field goal. It was third down and 13 and we go to a three-man rush. We apply a little pressure and the quarterback steps up and throws into the wind – fires it down that field – and that receiver makes a great diving catch. That’s a good job on their part and our coverage obviously wasn’t good enough. I give them some credit.
“But, I also give our guys credit. They didn’t make a yard after that. Boom-boom-boom, and they kick a field goal. They made that play. Their (FSU’s) first one, that was what I termed ‘buzzard’s luck’ to you yesterday. That’s right in Steve’s hands and the wind or something got it just enough to…that was just misfortune. Then, late in the ballgame on third and 14 again, they put one up that I like to believe would be intercepted and we’re out of position. And then the play that followed it, we have some young kids who looked like young kids on that play. Our defensive group is growing. It’s a hard pill for them to swallow, to look up there and see 38 points and almost 500 yards and know what they were doing out there. That’s all right. We’re going to grow from that game. I’m not concerned about that – I look at those plays, the three of them and the three- not the first one, but the other two – I thought we had some young guys in there. They made a play and we didn’t make a good enough play on them.”
