Head Coach Greg Robinson Press Conference Transcript (Nov. 25, 2008)
Opening Comments
“We're getting ready for the Cincinnati Bearcats and another real challenge for us. They're a really good 9-2 football team. They have a lot to be excited about and this is a very important game for them this week. At the same time, it's our last game and it's really important for our team to respond in the right way and take on this challenge. It'll be another great challenge.”
How good is Cincinnati?
" They are a very good football team. When you have 10 starters on defense and seven starters on offense who have been in your program for three or more years, that's a whole lot of experience. On top of that, these are players who have played a lot of football and a number of them who are very gifted players. When you watch that Oklahoma game, they were right in that game and all of the sudden it got away from them at the end. But, I thought they gave Oklahoma all they could handle."
What does it say about Cincinnati that they have used five different quarterbacks this year and still have the season they've had?
"I'll tell you, they should give the previous coach (Mark Dantonio) a lot of credit for recruiting good quarterbacks because they all can play. I mean that. Obviously, (Dustin) Grutza, look at him in that Oklahoma game. Then you look at (Tony) Pike and he's had a fine year and then the young kid, Chazz Anderson, did some good things in the Rutgers game. These are good players. I give Brian (Kelly) credit for doing a nice job coaching them up, but they're good players. This is a deep football team."
What is it that they are likely to do with their passing game?
"They really mix it up. They give you different formations and they're a really fine screen team, one of the better screen teams that we have faced. West Virginia has always prided itself with its receiver screens, but I think that Cincinnati is very efficient in that area and I think their offensive linemen do a very nice job in the screen game. They also have a multiple-faceted throwing game and they mix it up. They'll throw it down field and work those receivers. Those receivers are a gifted group and a number of them are very good after the catch. It just makes for a good passing game."
Do you feel like you're settled with your secondary group?
"Yes. Some of that change was due to injury, but this group played three quarters of the game together against Connecticut and then together at Notre Dame. I thought, for the most part, they played well. The other day, they did a nice job. They're getting a feel for how to play and how to play together. This'll be a nice challenge for us."
How much do last week's emotions play into this game?
"It's really easy to say, well, it's done and it's behind us, but it's not that simple. I would like to think that it would be a positive. To me, it has to be something of confidence boost to be able to come back and win the game in the fourth quarter. I think that there are a lot of plusses that we can build off of. That's what we need to do."
Could you talk about some of the walk-ons and their importance they've had on this season?
“I start off with a couple players on special teams from Niko Rechul to Frank Satterfield, who broke his foot. We really felt the loss of Frank Satterfield on our kickoff coverage. It was kind of like nobody really wanted to say he's a really good player on special teams, but I can see it and it was very clear. The moment he went down, over kickoff coverage took a hit for a little while. Niko (Rechul) has been nothing but a plus for us as far as his kickoffs. I hate to start picking out people because then I forget some. There are some seniors who have done a great job. Ryan Donnelly is a guy who has been in our program for four years and he's a local guy. It was great that he was able to go on that trip to Notre Dame because a guy with the name Ryan Donnelly, there might be some Irish in there (smiling). In a place like Syracuse, the walk-ons are so important the your program and so many of them do play vital roles for us and it's definitely appreciated."
Is there something offensively that happened in the fourth quarter you can take into this game?
"I go back to that first drive, the touchdown drive, it was a 13-play, 81-yard drive in the first half. That was a very good drive. Then we went dormant there for a period of time when we had four illegal procedures penalties in 17 plays. That shoots you in the foot. We didn't deal with the crowd noise. We worked crowd noise in practice, but really, when you got down to that tunnel end of the stadium down there, it affected us. There was a period of time where I thought we hurt ourselves as much as anything. I thought we got back on track and really looked very efficient, the drives of 69 and 68 yards, for two touchdowns."
Is there a difference energy level with the team in regard to a 'laying it all out on the table' mentality?
"I would like for it to be that way. There is always a different perspective. It really all comes down to today. We're going to work today. There are no guarantees to anything. It's all about our coaching staff delivering the right message and doing a great job coaching our players. It's another thing for our players to accept the responsibility and accountability that this is the last game of the season. They've just played a wonderful game and if they really want to make a mark for the senior class, they have to follow it up with another fine performance. It's every day, the same thing in practice, it's demanding and it's fighting the fight. It's not easy. We all have to suck it up and get going again and look toward this challenge and getting the proper perspective. If it were that simple, why would you have coaches? Our team has been one that responds very well and I'd be shocked if today, we didn't have really fine work."
In regard to Cincinnati, it really seems like the defense carried them through during all the quarterback changes?
"This defense is a very strong defense. They have 10 starters who are seniors, that is important. They've played together for a lot of years. On top of that, there are some very good football players in that group who are experienced. If you go back and look at the game they lost 40-16 at Connecticut, at the start of the fourth quarter the score was 17-16. How many quarterbacks played that week? That defense has done an outstanding job. They truly have."
This is your last game. How do you approach this game, personally?
"There is nothing personal about it. This is a team and I approach it like I did last week and the week before that and every other week before that. We are going to do everything we possibly can to prepare out football team to play a fine football game. All the rest of that stuff is good for you guys. I don't have time to be dwelling on all that kind of stuff. It's about that defense and about that offense and all those things that you better put your focus on."
