Head Coach Doug Marrone Press Conference Transcript (Sept. 26, 2009)
September 26, 2009
Syracuse vs. Maine
Carrier Dome – Syracuse N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“Thanks everyone for staying. It was a long football game. I give the University of Maine credit; they came after us early on with a lot of different things. Some people call them trick plays or things like that, but we have to defend those plays both from the special teams and the defensive standpoints. We lost two possessions in the first half that came by them converting two fourth downs, and they ended up scoring on both those conversions. At halftime, obviously, we were down 17-13 and I talked to our players about keeping up composure and sticking with the game plan and keeping relaxed. We told our players to just relax. We were in good shape and we had to execute. We didn’t execute as well as we should have in the first half. I said to just be alert, play football, have a good instinct, know what they’re trying to accomplish on the other side of the ball. I give credit to Maine, they did a nice job. Our players came out, we wound up scoring, and we wound up getting a play (an interception) by (junior linebacker) Doug Hogue. (Senior running back) Delone Carter came through and held the ball at the end when we needed to. More importantly, I thought (graduate student quarterback) Greg Paulus played an extremely good football game. He went 21-of-28 and two touchdowns. Ball security was good and wound up plus two. Possession time was about the same. It’s still disappointing in the third down conversions. That’s something I have to do a better job with.
“I’m happy. We’re two-and-two. This team hasn’t been two-and-two, or .500, since 2006 and I told the players, ‘Go ahead and enjoy it. Get ready to come back to work and make the corrections on Monday and then let’s get ready for our next opponent.’ Here we are.”
On whether he was mad at halftime:
“No, and when I say I’m not mad – football is a 60 minute game. I don’t get mad, I never lose my cool. I try to stay calm. People learn at halftime and understand. You can ask the players, I’m very calm with the players. I feel good about the plan, and all we have to do is execute.”
On what adjustments had to be made on defense:
“They did a nice job, they came out with empty (backfield) and unbalanced (formations). (Warren Smith) was the quarterback for most of the game. We thought they were doing something. Obviously, before the game, we saw (Smith) warming up and knew he was going to be the quarterback. We were ready for that, and I think they did a nice job. We just had to make sure that we had our checks in and that we communicated and had our operation correct on defense and we wound up being able to stop them.”
On former Syracuse coach Dick MacPherson’s theory that there’s no such thing as a bad win:
“I believe that. We haven’t won a lot of games here so I’m going to enjoy this win. Are there things that we can correct? Absolutely. It’s the way we had it against Northwestern, but I know one thing, I have a smile on my face and I’m going to be excited to make corrections come Monday with our players and get together with our coaches and find out how we can do a better job of getting our players to understand what we want out of them. We won a game and it’s hard to win a football game. You know, you’ve seen what’s gone on here the last four years.”
On quarterback Greg Paulus’ performance in the second half:
“Greg plays great day-in and day-out. He went 21-of-28, and had ball security and composure. I said it during the week, I feel better and better every day I’m with Greg. His foot work is improving, his arm is improving, his ability to see the field, concepts, make plays – I am excited about the direction that Greg is heading. I’m excited about the direction of where we can go, and we have to do a tremendous job of coaching and executing.”
On whether there was a play that stood out that showed Paulus’ growth:
“It’s amazing when you get a player who hasn’t played that much. I get a lot of those questions; everyone wants to put it on one play. It’s really practice. Honestly, I see him at practice. I see when he sees something and he’s able to go to something right away. I see his foot work improving. I believe that what you do in practice, you’re going to do in a game. If he doesn’t see something in practice, and we don’t want him to throw the football to a certain individual because of the concept of the route doesn’t go that way, or we try to practice and teach it, and he doesn’t get it, then we take it out of the plan. I see Greg becoming more and more comfortable. If someone asked me to point out one play, it would be plays in practice – the way he threw an alert post for a big play, which he hadn’t thrown in the time I’ve been with Greg. I see him making great decisions at practice and in my mind when you go into a game, I know he’s going to make the proper decision because I’m a big believer that if you do it at practice, then you’ll do it in a game. I really see a tremendous growth in this quarterback from the first time that he stepped on the field this summer until now. I see it in a lot of other players, too. (Sophomore wide receiver) Marcus Sales stepped up and he made a big play for us, and it was good to see that. We’re going to need players to step up for us. We need them both on offense and defense for us to continue to get better each week.”
On the difference between the first and second half:
“More possessions is the first thing that comes to mind, and being able to get a big play. We started the game off with a drop for what could’ve been a first down. The second possession, we scored. There was another possession in there that we kicked a field goal and we wound up kicking a field goal again. There were probably two possessions where we were stopped. The one was a drop in the first possession, and the second possession was a second-and-seven and we had a four or five yard gain with another drop. It stalled the drive for us and we couldn’t convert on third down. I would say the answer to that question is that we had more possessions and we made some big plays.”
On whether he was surprised by the unexpected plays Maine was making:
“I don’t know about other coaches. We went back and looked at the games from 2005 and 2007 and all the games that they played to see what they tried to do. I know that if we stopped those plays, we had good field position and were able to get ahead early in this game and we weren’t, so hats off to Maine. They did a nice job. They converted and we didn’t.”
On (senior nose tackle) Arthur Jones’ injury:
“To be honest, I tried to come out here so fast so you guys wouldn’t be here late. I didn’t even stop in the training room. That’s the truth. (In the game) They just tell me in or out. I don’t ask any questions. Is he in? Is he out? How long is he out for? Is he in or out? He’s out, move on. It’s either play or go.”
On the impact of penalties on the flow of the game:
“You always want to get into a rhythm. You try to get into the rhythm, that’s the main goal. When you have penalties, it’s discouraging.”
