Head Coach Doug Marrone Press Conference Transcript
Syracuse vs. West Virginia
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, N.Y.
October 10, 2009
Opening Statement:
“First I’m disappointed to come up here and to, obviously, play a game of football like that. We opened up with a turnover, which is disappointing and then let them return it 60 yards, which is also disappointing. We put our defense on the short field and our defense had to come out and make a stop. They get the ball again, third down and eight, there’s a chance, we need to stop them and we had our hands to the face by one of our defensive ends and they get a first down automatically from that. Then if they get the field goal, they make it, worst case scenario, 10-0, but then we jump off sides, we give them first down. Then we have the quarterback in our grasp and we let him go and all of the sudden, its 14-0.
“In the quarterback situation, here’s exactly what happened. I just didn’t feel comfortable with the way (graduate student quarterback) Greg (Paulus) was responding to the questions we were asking on the sideline. I don’t know what the right word is, but I told Greg he’s our quarterback, he will start versus Akron. We’ll get him settled down in this bye week, which will be good for us. Ryan went in there and played and obviously we expect Ryan to go in there and win the game for us. We like our quarterbacks, Greg, Ryan and (redshirt senior quarterback) Cam (Dantley). What happened to Greg would have happened at any other position on our team. I’m excited to make sure we can get Greg back for the bye week and get him straight. He’s our starting quarterback, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
On whether quarterback Greg Paulus had a concussion:
“No. I just think as a coach, I had a feeling. I don’t want to put one word on what my feel was for how he was responding, but I just felt that it was best to go in a different direction for the rest of the game.”
On whether the questions were asked to Paulus at halftime:
“No, during the course of the game. I was concerned about some of the questions I and some of the coaches were asking and how he was responding to it. ‘Why would you do this? Why would you do that?’ It’s just not characteristic of how my experience with Greg has been in the past, therefore I felt uncomfortable about the situation and made the switch, knowing that Greg will still be our starting quarterback. We’ll just move on from here.”
On whether Paulus was injured:
“No, not to my knowledge.”
On whether Paulus was lacking confidence:
“I don’t know, I wish I could be specific and tell you exactly and be able to give you that word that I was looking for, but it just wasn’t like it’s been in the past with the correspondence.”
On why he chose not to go for it early on fourth down:
“It’s my responsibility to make sure the players have the opportunity to win the game during the whole course of the game, not to lose the game for them early on.”
On whether Paulus had a good week of practice:
“Greg had a very good week of practice.”
On what he thinks about when the team is down on the scoreboard:
“You start thinking about the amount of possession time you have, you think about the type of team you’re playing offensively, as far as what they do – Do they run the ball? Do they turn the football over? Then you start calculating in your mind how many possessions you can get back with three-and-outs and with turnovers. That’s why I chose to punt the ball with 12 or 13 minutes left, thinking I could get four possessions out of them, put them back in there, and then not lose the game with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter. If they get five touchdowns, then you can’t get enough possession time. There are formulas out there that we go through.”
On whether (quarterback) Ryan Nassib was responding the way he wanted:
“I didn’t ask him the same questions. It’s not like when a quarterback comes out every series, we have a series of questions we go through and if he doesn’t respond the right way, we pull him. There’s a series of things that go on in the game, and I said I just didn’t feel comfortable with the responses and I made a decision.”
On (quarterback Greg) Paulus’ interception:
“I wasn’t able to get an answer on that. That’s not where the ball goes. Obviously I was upset. I’ve said it publicly, and I’ve said it on the radio show, I’ve said that we’re trying to make sure that we don’t make bad decisions when things don’t happen. We’re trying to make sure we protect the football, and if worst, take the ball up and go, keep the ball in front of you and never throw the ball. I said it on the radio show – never throw the ball across your body or back behind the field.”
On whether this is a game that snowballed:
“I don’t like to use the words ‘stepped back’ or ‘here we go’ or ‘we’re progressing.’ I think people tend to do that. What I did see is this – we have to do a better job of handling adversity, and I told the players that. We get ourselves into a situation where we’re down by seven for whatever reason. Then all the sudden, the next unit comes on the field, the defense after that and we get the penalty – we jump off sides, we miss a sack, and therefore see both sides of the ball creating errors that cause us to get behind. When you start to evaluate them, it’s the little things. I’m big on little things. For me, practice, we’re always harping on the kids with the little things, but it’s more than that. It’s how you present yourself. It’s how you hold your head up high, it’s how you shake someone’s hand. I really believe that and I keep challenging our players that every little thing you do in your life, whether it’s the right way to eat, to use the right fork, the right spoon, I think it carries over. We’re not doing those little things. Whether we’re a gap short, whether we just miss a tackle, whether we don’t wrap up, whether we jump off sides, whether we drop the football, whether we don’t read the coverage right – there’s a lot of things going on during the course of the week. We execute our times well, and if not, we correct and we get it done the way it should be. But then when we get in the game, it’s not at the level we need it to be to be a winning football team. We’re not playing winning football. I would love to say, ‘Boy, they got us with this scheme’, or ‘We have to do a better job coaching and running these types of plays or get the ball vertically down the field more.’ At the end of the day, we have to stop beating ourselves and stop hurting ourselves. I keep telling the players it’s a recurring theme. I was asked a question in the spring, ‘You come out every day and you say the same thing,’ and we do. We just have to try to change things up and make sure that our players understand that, and I think they are. I think they’re starting to get it, just by the way I address them.”
On whether there was a time where the team seemed unmotivated:
“No, I don’t see that during the course of the game. There’s so much pride and so much that’s gone on at this great school, and I talk to the players about that. I leave that to the motivation. It’s expected of them. We try to inspire and paint pictures for where we are in the game. Like I said before, ‘Here we go, we’re going to score, we’re going to stop them on three, we’re going to create a turnover, we’re going to onside kick.’ We try to put a vision in their head of how we’re going to get back into it or how we’re going to score. We do quite a bit of that, which I think a lot of people do.”
On losing in front of Syracuse legend Jim Brown:
“I feel bad playing poorly for the fan who lives down the street from Manley Field House. I don’t look at it as far as whoever might be here, I look at it as ‘This is our team.’ I said it in the beginning, this is the community’s team, this is the school’s team, this is the lettermen’s team, this is everyone’s team. I feel bad for all of them and I try to explain that to the players. There are a lot of people out there who are counting on us to be successful just so we can wake up tomorrow and have a smile on our face. We have a responsibility that it is important. Those little things are important and that’s what I keep harping on.”
On whether this is a good time for a bye week:
“It’s always that cliché, like ‘Hey, it’s the perfect time for a bye.’ I’ll tell you this, from this standpoint, we are banged up. (Senior center) Jim McKenzie was out, (senior offensive guard Ryan) Bartholomew went in at center. (Sophomore offensive tackle Nick) Speller gets hurt, we move someone over. They’re all prepared to play those positions. It’s not a big thing for us; we knew exactly what we were doing in there. This is my goal for the bye week: the coaches will meet with the players, we’ll look at the cut-ups, look at the things that we’ve done and be able to show the players that it is those little things that are kicking us in the butt. Once we start doing these things better, obviously we’ll start winning football games. We’ll start getting ahead and not always have to deal with this adversity. From a standpoint of injuries and what we’ll be able to show our players, they’ll get some rest and they will come back ready to play.”
On his evaluation of (sophomore quarterback) Ryan Nassib’s performance:
“Greg Paulus is our starting quarterback, Ryan is our second string quarterback. We expect both of those players to be productive players and play for us. We love the leadership that Greg gives us, the ability to win games greater than Ryan does, or Cam or Charley, and that’s why Greg’s the starter. Do I think Ryan did a nice job? He did a good job of knowing the plan, but that comes a lot from Greg. Greg does a lot of work and supports Ryan and does a lot of work for Ryan as he prepares for the game plan. From this respect, I would say that Ryan Nassib went in and we still had the whole game plan in place, and I think that’s a credit to (offensive coordinator) Coach Spence, the offensive staff, Ryan Nassib, and Greg Paulus.”
