Head Coach Greg Robinson Press Conference Transcript (Oct. 29, 2006)
How do you begin to address the issue of the receivers and the dropped passes?
“It is tough. You just have to keep working on it. You have to try to grow and believe that the people you have in there are going to catch the football. I think that this has been the worst game in quite some time. I don’t know if the wind was a factor. The ball was on the money on several of those. Just get back at it and work to do the things that you have to do. Work that ball in and catch the ball, secure the football first. It happens. I remember at Denver one time where we talked about 14 dropped balls in a game or nine dropped balls in a game. If it becomes a consistent thing, then you have to address that.”
Why didn’t you go down the field much (in the passing game)? Was it the wind or the protection?
“I think that we did. I think it was in the second quarter when we went up right along our sideline. I thought that was to Donte Davis. There were a couple of situations where we looked for the deep ball and either there was pressure or coverage. I don’t think we were not looking for the deep balls. I think that it was their play, either in coverage or pressure that dictated some of the issues there.”
Did you see an encouraging things from yesterday’s game?
“There have been some encouraging things. Obviously on defense, I liked the hitting and I liked the aggressiveness. For the most part, it was more cohesive. The margin for error was very minimal in a game like that. The first pass they hit, if you really study it and watch it, it was a great throw and catch because we had very good coverage. Yes, you could have coached it to be a little bit better. All in all, it was a good hook-up. There was the drive where we had them backed up on third-and-14 and let them out. That is why third downs are important. You can get off the field there in a 10-3 ball game and it is looking like an outstanding defensive effort. All in all, I thought I walked away thinking this looks more like the defense that I envisioned us developing into. We have to go from there. On the offensive side of the ball, when you really looked at it, we never really got in sync. That was unfortunate. I think that the best thing right now is what I see on the defensive side of the ball.”
Is it discouraging that the offense seems to be heading down?
“No, I don’t feel like it is heading down. I think that they played in a tough game. I think that even against Louisville that there were some good things. I just think that there were penalties and certain things that set us back, but there were some plays in that game that I liked. It shows what we could be. In this game, I never really felt it. When I assess the game, Cincinnati’s defense against our offense, I felt like their experience came out and showed. They looked like the more experienced side of the ball. Our inexperience at times hurt us. They really got the upper hand. They have a good defense. What they did, the word pressure that I am going to use, I don’t mean blitzing, just different things that they did challenged us in the running game or passing game in ways that they were able to execute better then we were.”
The problems seemed to be the same on the offensive line despite the mix-up (in starters). Do you see that?
“Not really, I don’t think that the penalties that occurred on the offensive line – one was a holding call on Carroll Madison where in fact it was a tough situation. He blocked a defender but the guy penetrated through his arm and the play was going outside and as he felt that he tried to pull off but it gave the appearance that he snagged the guy when in fact it really wasn’t the case. Those are the kind of penalties that I don’t lose sleep over. They made a holding call on Justin Outten that, again, I think it was more of the appearance of what they saw than what really occurred. Time will tell. We send these plays in and they evaluate them. I will be interested to see if they see our perspective on this. They called us for illegal procedure up front in that situation too. For all that happens with movement, it is why I term kind of ‘ticky tack’. Then we had a personal foul down the field that you could make a case for. At the same time, it was very close to the whistle and it was just a guy down the field that couldn’t see where the tackle had been made. The penalties just weren’t flagrant, throw them down in pass protection, holding penalties. I didn’t see that. I give Cincinnati credit. They are quick. They did apply a lot of pressure. They brought some different pressure and they created some of that.
“I think that we are going to stick with this group for another week. Marvin McCall was a starting football player in the very first football game and broke his hand. We rated this player as one of our top five offensive linemen. As time went on, he was out of the loop for awhile. Then we started playing him at guard and center and said he needs to be back in that lineup but we felt that Justin (Outten) maybe had been doing better than some other guys. We have been working on trying to get the right combination of people on the field. I think that this group has a chance as they play longer together to get more productive. That is where it is at right now. As I mentioned yesterday, there are changes for a reason. You are trying to do the right things. Sometimes, as coaches, you aren’t always right either. I think that the intent is right and good. I think that this group, we have to give them a chance and see if they continue to grow over the next couple of games and be productive.”
(Running back) Curtis Brinkley had a knee injury and it had nothing to do with coaching decisions (that he did not play very much against Cincinnati)?
“Curtis got hurt back in the Louisville game. We had just gotten the turnover where Tanard Jackson caused the fumble on the sack. The ball was first-and-10 on the 12-yard line. We had the run where Curtis ran on the right side and we had a holding call on us. On that play, Curtis tweaked his knee. He played some more and it bothered him throughout the week. He was not 100 percent. We were a little concerned going into the game. When you talk about a skill athlete and their legs and not being 100 percent, you have to be careful. We saw him early in the game and felt that he wasn’t really at 100 percent to be running a risk. So we went with Delone (Carter). When Curtis is well, he will be right back in there.”
What happened with the timeout before halftime?
“We got greedy. I should say I got greedy. It was third-and-20. I was feeling that if we get them stopped with enough time and get them in a punt situation. I made the timeout call before really glancing to see the seconds on the clock. When I saw seven seconds I thought ‘whoa’. I thought that we had more like 15 seconds. The play took longer than I thought it did. All of a sudden there is seven seconds and I call timeout. Now I gave them a chance and they are thinking seven seconds and why attempt a punt? It looked bad. We got out there and intercepted the ball when in fact it gave them another opportunity to make a play. I would not have called that timeout.”
Can you talk about the inexperience on offense?
“Our offensive line is a new offensive line. Other than (center) Justin Outten, just about everybody else is playing with just a minimal amount of playing time. Cincinnati returned their whole defense basically. They looked like they had been playing together for a couple of years. We had young receivers out there playing. We had a freshman tailback. Those are young players. When you couple all that with going on the road and then you look at their group, they looked very in sync and were firing on all cylinders. That is just how I saw it.”
Then do you need to keep throwing out young players?
“Right now, some of it is happening because of circumstances. I think that Curtis (Brinkley) has a little more experience than Delone (Carter). I am not in any way inferring that Delone didn’t do something right or miss something. We lost Taj (Smith). We feel like that the two young freshmen receivers have done some things that we are encouraged by. The other day I am not certain that they were totally in tune to everything that was going on out there with Cincinnati’s defense. The line is the same way. That is who we have out there playing. That is what we are doing. They are going to continue to improve. I believe that because you see flashes. Sometimes that is how it goes. It is two steps forward and one step back. One step forward and two steps back. Three steps forward and one step back. Sometimes it goes that way until you grow to where you are comfortable and consistency level is maintained for a greater periods of time.”
Do you plan to get (quarterback) Andrew Robinson in more series?
“The bye week I am going to get him more work where we can get him in groove. I don’t want to make statements about that because the moment you start to imply that you are going to put in a backup quarterback, you could give the connotation that you are chalking it up. I don’t want to do that. This football team has worked too hard. At the same time, I would love for an opportunity to get Andrew in there. Those things weigh on me. Our intent is to win, win and win to get into postseason play. In a perfect world it would be to get there doing that and to get Andrew in the game too.”
(Fullback) Tony Fiammetta got his first short-yardage attempts since Iowa. Was there some therapy that was needed?
“That (the Iowa game) seems like ancient history to me. When we gave Tony the ball, it wasn’t really in the attempt to be therapeutic. It was the intent to get him to make the first down and he did. When we were backed up, it was just to get us out of the hole and, quite frankly, I thought they blew the whistle a little quick on Tony on that play. He got out to the five and kept turning and popped up to the seven but they said his forward motion stopped at the five and that is how they saw it. When you study it, he is still pumping it. Steve (McDonald) got banged up and Tony did a nice job.”
Is there one way of analyzing the drops such as running before the catch?
“I can’t tell you I saw that on any one of them where it was running before the catch. I haven’t talked to the players yet. Sometimes in wind, and there were gusting and swirling winds, and a couple of balls, Perry (Patterson) threw them in like a laser, which is how you have to throw in the wind because you have to cut the wind. We didn’t snag them. I would be making it up if I told you I had it down. I have seen (tight end) Tom Ferron catch the ball when it is right there on his hip. I looked for his head looking around but it wasn’t the case. He got it and lost it. I thought that (wide receiver) Donte (Davis) could have caught that football. I think he would tell you the same thing. The point I’m making is that we can sometimes over-analyze it. We are going to get back out there and work hard on concentrating and focusing on catching that football. First things first and obviously it is important to do. In this ball game, it jumped up and grabbed at us a little bit.”
What do you look to do during your bye week?
“I think that first of all, there is going to be a little rest for the team. They are going to lift and run on Monday. We are going to practice on Tuesday. They are going to lift and run on Wednesday and we are going to practice on Thursday. They don’t need to go out and pound for three days of practice. They are going to get Friday and Saturday off and come back on Sunday and ready to go. Physical rest and mental rest, and emotionally get a little rested. I think that it is good for the coaching staff to be able to early in the week, take a look at South Florida and take a look at Connecticut and Rutgers. Then as the week ends, we get back on South Florida. Then, I think that is also an opportunity for recruiting. The coaches are going to get out for a couple of days and finalize our in-season recruiting. They have been out a number of times all ready. On Thursday nights they go out and come back Fridays before the game. It is another opportunity in that regard to get that done. The coaches are going to have a chance to get out Tuesday with their kids and go trick or treating. That is a good thing, also.”
Are you going to dress up (for Halloween)?
“(smiling) Why would I have to?”
