Head Coach Greg Robinson Press Conference Transcript (Nov. 20, 2005)
On how the game (at Notre Dame) started…
“I liked the way that the first two drives went. On the first one Perry does a good job scrambling and got something going and then it stalled out. The second one, we complete a ball to Rice (Moss) and break the run and then stall out and make the field goa, but at least you feel like, you know what, we’ve got something going here. I liked that we started the game three and out (defensively). Because you remember they chose to take the football. That kind of caught me by surprise a little bit, and then came out in the no huddle, which they had not done this year, to our knowledge. I thought we dealt with that well. So there were some good things going on. Obviously the end result wasn’t what we were looking for.”
On Steve Gregory’s block field goal…
“Yeah, that was a big play. I think Steve and Tanard (Jackson) are both capable of doing that. They have a desire to get there. It’s one thing to be quick, but there are a lot of great athletes who can’t block a kick. Those guys have proven to be people who are capable of doing that. We’ve blocked a number of kicks this year, Kader (Drame) has gotten his hands on a couple. I’ve always felt that how you rush on an extra point or field goal says a lot about your defense. Because you don’t let yourself get discouraged and you continue to compete. So, I like seeing that.”
On his overall thoughts of the game…
“To really evaluate it I had to really go through it. We played 74 plays (on defense), four plays they had 140 yards, 70 plays they had 280 yards. Those four plays, 140 yards, one I thought they flat out earned. Stovall got up top of Steve (Gregory) and he was able to body him out but I thought it was a great throw and catch. The run that got out, we misplayed it. The thing I liked is that we were able to wipe it away and come back and they ran that play three or four times after that and we stuffed them. So at least we fixed a problem there. The crossing route that they hit was well designed. The way they play actioned and for the call that we had on you’d think they know our signals. They did a good job on that play. The way they set it up and the way we took the bait, they executed well. I say that there was 70 plays that I was really proud of our group, and there were four plays where I said if we could’ve got rid of a couple of those it would’ve been a different ball game.”
On SU’s injuries..
“We had some guys banged up, but I don’t think anyone is going to miss from this ball game.”
On the big Notre Dame run…
“We didn’t force the football back inside. We played it inside out and that’s not our style. We really had it contained, it was the second level, we played under a guy instead of turning him back to where all the help was coming. But I will say this, that play gave some visibility to three guys for anybody that’s studying film, if you want to watch Ryan LaCasse or James Wyche or Anthony Smith as far as their effort and pursuit ability, it showed up on that play because those are the three guys who ran him down.”
On if the team was nervous playing at Notre Dame…
“I mentioned something on Friday, I was asked at the Hall of Fame by one of the local reporters about the history of Notre Dame and the echoes and all that, and I just reminded her of why I came to Syracuse. This place has a lot of history and tradition, too, and the Dome can get loud as well. So I don’t think our players were at all intimidated. I think they appreciated what that place was all about but to be in awe or anything like that I didn’t sense that from any of our players in any way.
“I think we knew we had some things going and come on let’s keep playing. The kicking game, it looks like Brendan’s having a bad day and you know I see the protection and the right side was giving too much and he was feeling that edge collapse on him a little bit. They never got to it but they were close enough where it was affecting him. That hurt us. We covered well but we should’ve held the right side up better.”
On whether or not he planned on playing quarterback Perry Patterson the whole game…
“No not at all. To Joe’s (Fields) credit, he could see what was happening, we had some things going and he said, ‘Hey if you feel like he’s (Perry) moving then I understand that.’ Well then when I came back the next series to put him in and we were backed up to the 15-yard line in that environment in that end zone and I thought that wasn’t the right time to be putting him (Joe) in there. So from that point on, the third quarter turned out to be similar. Joe will play this week (at Louisville). We talked about it on the sideline during the game.”
On Louisville and thoughts on the final regular season game…
“This is a fine offense. The have a great running back and a great quarterback, and some receivers and a big offensive line. They have a defense that’s got the number one sack guy in the country (Elvis Dumervil) and I’ve seen him on film and he’s a real player. Each week is each week. I think you just go back to work and work to stop Louisville.”
On Damien Rhodes and his performance this season…
“The thing I’ve said all along is that I just wanted Damien to work hard and be the best he can be and I saw some things in that game where he ran aggressively. He ran over a couple guys. I think that’s good. He’s starting to get down under people and use his body to his advantage. There was a pass protection play I wanted him to do better on so he’s not done being coached. But, all in all, I feel that he has given his best this season and I think he has room to improve and I think he will. He’s matured, I see a maturity in him and I think that’s great.”
How they’ll treat this last week of the season…
“We are trying to get another win. That would be a marvelous thing to end the season with is to win. No moral victories, win. This will be quite a challenge, sounds like we’ll be on national television again (ESPNU). I’d like to see us win another game before this football season ends.”
