Head Coach Doug Marrone Press Conference Transcript (October 17, 2011)
Opening Statement
"We had a good bye week, with a lot of self-evaluation and a re-focus and a re-dedication that we talk to the players about. We’ve had good practices and we’re healthier than we’ve been. We had a few bumps and bruises yesterday, but nothing that should hold anybody out of the game. Obviously we have a great challenge, playing probably the best team since I’ve been here, and that’s this West Virginia team. When you look at their offense that’s eleventh in the country and their defense that’s sixteenth in the country, they obviously pose a great challenge to our football team. And we’re looking forward to going out there on Friday night and doing our best."
Do you think about the similarities between last year and this year heading into the West Virginia game?
"I think I would be naïve not to think that we had gone to Morgantown (last year) and might have caught them off guard a little bit. I think it was a noon game. But I don’t think that will be the case this year. For one thing, when we won last year, only about half of our team was there last year and the other half wasn’t there. And I think they have a lot of players who were there, and they’ll be ready to play.
"Plus, with it being a Friday night game on ESPN, which is probably our equivalent of Monday Night Football because most other teams are in hotels and if they’re done with their meetings, they’ll probably put the game on and watch it, so it’s probably the most watched game among our peers than any other game. So I don’t think last year’s situation really pertains as much to this year’s game."
How healthy is the secondary and is the unit ready to face the West Virginia offense?
"We’re healthy, and it will be a great challenge for us. They have a very good receiving corps. When they catch the football, they can take it to the endzone any time. (Quarterback) Geno Smith is playing extremely well right now; I think he’s made great improvements in what he’s been able to do. That’s really been the key for them.
"For the receivers, you can see how much they think about them – they both handle punt returns and kick returns which shows you the ability they have when they get the ball in their hands. So that’ll be the challenge for the secondary to make sure we keep everything in front of us, and it’ll be a challenge for our special teams to keep those runners in front of us, also."
With both teams coming off a bye week, does game-planning become more delicate and does the game become more of a chess-match between coaching staffs?
"I think from the standpoint of what both teams do, I don’t think so. You can’t, at this point in the season, scrap everything you’ve been doing and try to do something else. I can’t speak for West Virginia, but for ourselves, we’re trying to make sure that we evaluate what we’re doing well and try to keep doing those things well and continue to get better. We want to try to put our players in the best position where they can make plays in all three phases. So I don’t think, at least from our standpoint, that you’ll see a lot of changes."
During your evaluations have there been any “light-bulb moments” or major discoveries?
"Sure, there are always things that you catch. Not any that I’m willing to share, but you catch things that you’re doing well and that you’re not, or plays you thought you might be calling a lot but you’re not actually calling as much and you might need to call more of. From the standpoint of the players, you see what’s been giving them difficulties and where the breakdowns are occurring and why. You think about how to get some people more help – and that’s in all three phases from a scheme standpoint.
"Those are things we’re looking for when we’re evaluating where we are today. As far as past references to what we were before and what we thought we were going to be before the season, we need to understand how we’re going to continue to grow and what we need to do a better job of to move up and be more consistent. And that’s really been the theme for the players: paying more attention to detail and becoming a more consistent team.
"When you look at things from a fragmented standpoint, or segments of games, we’ve been able to do some good things at times. So we need to continue to build upon those good things. And then, when something goes wrong, we need to understand the genesis of why it went wrong. Is it something that we could have seen during the week or something we should have recognized before we got out on the field to play? Those are the things that you look at. Obviously, you spend a large amount of time on that because it’s exactly what you need to do. Right now, from a coaching standpoint, we have a better sense of what we’ve done well and what we haven’t and what we need to continue to improve upon, as well as recognizing what the players have done well and what we need them to improve. Really, for us, it comes down to paying more attention to detail."
Did the running back rotation behind (senior) Antwon Bailey become more set in the week off?
“The week off is kind of a misnomer; it’s not like our kids have had the whole week off. Early in the week they had the chance to get more acclimated to the academics and make sure they’re fine there, and then we practiced Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. (Freshman) Adonis (Ameen-Moore) got a little banged up yesterday, so we’re probably going to hold him out of practice today, but we expect him to play in the game.”
Last year the team pressured Geno Smith well and forced him to throw three interceptions. What will you need to do this year to have similar success?
"I think you need to try to keep him off balance, whether it’s a matter of coverage or trying to get to him. But I think he’s done a much better job, from what I’ve seen, of being able to find receivers and know where he’s going. They’ve done a much better job in their play-action packages. They still have the ability to run the ball; they’re very dangerous there. But for any quarterback, not just Geno Smith, if you can get them off rhythm or make them go to the second or third throw, you give yourself a chance. But if they get into a rhythm, especially this offense, they’re very dangerous. That’s why they’re offense is ranked 11th in the country."
Last year it seemed important to establish the running game against the West Virginia defense. Is that a similar goal this year?
"Any game you go into, you have a philosophy of what you’re trying to establish. I would think that 90 percent of the time, if you’re a team that starts with two running backs in the back field like we do, you want to establish some type of running game where you can be consistent and not have those tackles-for-losses. One of the things that we talked about in our self-evaluation is that we haven’t been able to get ourselves out of unmanageable situations, so if we jump off-sides and make it first and 15, it becomes very difficult for us to go and convert.
"Defensively, they’re ranked 16th in the country, so they’ve done a good job. They have very good football players out there. They have a unique scheme – one that we’ve seen now for at least two years – and they’re very good at playing it, so it’s just a matter of executing and not so much a matter of a “chess-match.” It comes down to the players executing the plays."
Despite having a new head coach, is West Virginia still the same kind of team with the same approach and same philosophy that you played last year?
"It’s difficult for me to go into and make statements about their program. But I would say the same elements are still there. They still spread the field. They still have dangerous skill players on the field where if you commit yourself to one, the other one can hurt you; if you commit yourself to coverage, the run can hurt you; or if you’re going after the quarterback, then you’re one-on-one in some situations. So that’s the pressure they put on you from an offensive standpoint, and they do an excellent job of that.
"Defensively, it’s still the same situation. They have very aggressive players. They’re very good and solid up front. They have a good mixture of coverage and pressure. They know exactly what they’re doing and what’s going on. So I don’t know if I can say it’s a different team, but they’re still an explosive team. I think that’s the best way to put, at least from my eyes. When I look at this team, it looks a lot like last year with their explosive players all over the field. And the same on defense – they can pick a ball off and run it in, and I’m talking about linebackers and defensive linemen who can do it because they have great speed everywhere.
"So, I look at them not necessarily the same type of team because I don’t want to knock any of their coaches who were there or are there, but I will say this, I think the biggest difference in their team is their quarterback play. Geno Smith has gotten much, much better. However that’s happening, I don’t know, but I know from watching film that he’s a lot better than he was a year ago."
Can you give an update on (senior defensive end) Chandler Jones?
“Chandler’s been practicing and getting a little bit better each day. We all can understand that when a young player comes back – and even a veteran player and even at the next level, the level above us – it takes some time to get back in it. So I think it’s unfair for me to say that Chandler’s going to go out there and play at 110 percent. That’s what our goal is, but from practicing, we do see him getting better. I think the proper phrase would be that we do see a little rust on him, but I was very happy from the first time we practiced until yesterday, to see that yesterday we took a step forward. And now we’ll have to see how it’s going throughout the week, as he continues on, and to see if he can play at the same level that we all expect him to play at."
Is there something you can do, similar to the process last year as the season progressed, to get the receivers, specifically (senior wide receiver) Van Chew, out in the open a little more?
"We’re trying. We’ll have some opportunities, but then it’s just a matter of being able to make a play. We’re not canning those players obviously, and we need Van to play well for us for the team to be successful. So that’s one of the goals that we have is to make sure that we have enough in there so that he can do those things to really help us out. That’s one of the things we’re trying to accomplish, and he’s had a good week."
Can you speak about (senior quarterback) Ryan Nassib’s play through this point in the season?
"Obviously, we’re happy with Ryan, but in the same sense there's always room for improvement. I think the faster we can win, and the more things we can do. Winning at the receiver, I think that will help him. The better job we can do running the football and play action will help him also and be able to take some stress of him. We're very happy with how Ryan is progressing at quarterback."
On how the opponents wide receivers from previous games will help the team prepare for West Virginia's receivers (Bailey and Austin):
"It's a little bit different. I think West Virginia has more than just two. The other thing is that West Virginia puts more stress on you playing the whole field than the other two teams (USC and Rutgers). There are fewer things that you can disguise playing the field is spread out that way. That will be a great challenge for us.
"Each week, we play against great receivers and now we're playing against multiple great receivers, so we have more players out there that we have to be alert for. To know where both of those kids are, it's very difficult with the type of offense that they run. If you commit to try and take one of those players away, which we've tried to do against some of those other teams, and force the quarterback to throw to those other receivers, well, this quarterback has thrown to those other receivers. That's the challenge of what goes on with this team, but from a schematic standpoint, it's much more difficult to take these guys out of the game because they are all over and they are spread out across the field."
On the status of cornerbacks Keon Lyn and Ri'Shard Anderson:
"I think the casts are getting smaller and smaller as the injuries get better, so we're trying to protect our players the best we can."
On the Schwartzwalder Trophy:
"We've talked to the team about it, obviously. It's very important. Coach Schwartzwalder was a great player at West Virginia. He was born and raised in that state. There's been great competition between the two schools.
"I know when I was a player here, and (former WVU head) Coach Nehlen and (former Syracuse head) Coach MacPherson know each other, I always had a lot of respect for the game, I always had a lot of respect for West Virginia and their fans and I always had a lot of appreciation for them. I just love the fact to be able to compete with them.
"When I first took the job here, we hadn't beaten them in a long period of time, and we were able to do that last year. That's something that we were proud of, but that was last year. Now we come to this year.
"Coach Schwartzwalder is a great representative of both institutions. We feel fortunate to have him here as a coach and the job that he did here, and I'm sure that West Virginia is proud that he was born and raised in West Virginia and played football at West Virginia.
"Everyone knows, and it's been written multiple times, about the type of person that Ben Schwartzwalder was as far as what he did for this country, which he really never talked about publicly about the type of war hero that he was.
"You have two teams going against each other with a common denominator in Coach Schwartzwalder, who's a great representative of both programs. It's an honor to have a trophy named after this game."
"We had a good bye week, with a lot of self-evaluation and a re-focus and a re-dedication that we talk to the players about. We’ve had good practices and we’re healthier than we’ve been. We had a few bumps and bruises yesterday, but nothing that should hold anybody out of the game. Obviously we have a great challenge, playing probably the best team since I’ve been here, and that’s this West Virginia team. When you look at their offense that’s eleventh in the country and their defense that’s sixteenth in the country, they obviously pose a great challenge to our football team. And we’re looking forward to going out there on Friday night and doing our best."
Do you think about the similarities between last year and this year heading into the West Virginia game?
"I think I would be naïve not to think that we had gone to Morgantown (last year) and might have caught them off guard a little bit. I think it was a noon game. But I don’t think that will be the case this year. For one thing, when we won last year, only about half of our team was there last year and the other half wasn’t there. And I think they have a lot of players who were there, and they’ll be ready to play.
"Plus, with it being a Friday night game on ESPN, which is probably our equivalent of Monday Night Football because most other teams are in hotels and if they’re done with their meetings, they’ll probably put the game on and watch it, so it’s probably the most watched game among our peers than any other game. So I don’t think last year’s situation really pertains as much to this year’s game."
How healthy is the secondary and is the unit ready to face the West Virginia offense?
"We’re healthy, and it will be a great challenge for us. They have a very good receiving corps. When they catch the football, they can take it to the endzone any time. (Quarterback) Geno Smith is playing extremely well right now; I think he’s made great improvements in what he’s been able to do. That’s really been the key for them.
"For the receivers, you can see how much they think about them – they both handle punt returns and kick returns which shows you the ability they have when they get the ball in their hands. So that’ll be the challenge for the secondary to make sure we keep everything in front of us, and it’ll be a challenge for our special teams to keep those runners in front of us, also."
With both teams coming off a bye week, does game-planning become more delicate and does the game become more of a chess-match between coaching staffs?
"I think from the standpoint of what both teams do, I don’t think so. You can’t, at this point in the season, scrap everything you’ve been doing and try to do something else. I can’t speak for West Virginia, but for ourselves, we’re trying to make sure that we evaluate what we’re doing well and try to keep doing those things well and continue to get better. We want to try to put our players in the best position where they can make plays in all three phases. So I don’t think, at least from our standpoint, that you’ll see a lot of changes."
During your evaluations have there been any “light-bulb moments” or major discoveries?
"Sure, there are always things that you catch. Not any that I’m willing to share, but you catch things that you’re doing well and that you’re not, or plays you thought you might be calling a lot but you’re not actually calling as much and you might need to call more of. From the standpoint of the players, you see what’s been giving them difficulties and where the breakdowns are occurring and why. You think about how to get some people more help – and that’s in all three phases from a scheme standpoint.
"Those are things we’re looking for when we’re evaluating where we are today. As far as past references to what we were before and what we thought we were going to be before the season, we need to understand how we’re going to continue to grow and what we need to do a better job of to move up and be more consistent. And that’s really been the theme for the players: paying more attention to detail and becoming a more consistent team.
"When you look at things from a fragmented standpoint, or segments of games, we’ve been able to do some good things at times. So we need to continue to build upon those good things. And then, when something goes wrong, we need to understand the genesis of why it went wrong. Is it something that we could have seen during the week or something we should have recognized before we got out on the field to play? Those are the things that you look at. Obviously, you spend a large amount of time on that because it’s exactly what you need to do. Right now, from a coaching standpoint, we have a better sense of what we’ve done well and what we haven’t and what we need to continue to improve upon, as well as recognizing what the players have done well and what we need them to improve. Really, for us, it comes down to paying more attention to detail."
Did the running back rotation behind (senior) Antwon Bailey become more set in the week off?
“The week off is kind of a misnomer; it’s not like our kids have had the whole week off. Early in the week they had the chance to get more acclimated to the academics and make sure they’re fine there, and then we practiced Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. (Freshman) Adonis (Ameen-Moore) got a little banged up yesterday, so we’re probably going to hold him out of practice today, but we expect him to play in the game.”
Last year the team pressured Geno Smith well and forced him to throw three interceptions. What will you need to do this year to have similar success?
"I think you need to try to keep him off balance, whether it’s a matter of coverage or trying to get to him. But I think he’s done a much better job, from what I’ve seen, of being able to find receivers and know where he’s going. They’ve done a much better job in their play-action packages. They still have the ability to run the ball; they’re very dangerous there. But for any quarterback, not just Geno Smith, if you can get them off rhythm or make them go to the second or third throw, you give yourself a chance. But if they get into a rhythm, especially this offense, they’re very dangerous. That’s why they’re offense is ranked 11th in the country."
Last year it seemed important to establish the running game against the West Virginia defense. Is that a similar goal this year?
"Any game you go into, you have a philosophy of what you’re trying to establish. I would think that 90 percent of the time, if you’re a team that starts with two running backs in the back field like we do, you want to establish some type of running game where you can be consistent and not have those tackles-for-losses. One of the things that we talked about in our self-evaluation is that we haven’t been able to get ourselves out of unmanageable situations, so if we jump off-sides and make it first and 15, it becomes very difficult for us to go and convert.
"Defensively, they’re ranked 16th in the country, so they’ve done a good job. They have very good football players out there. They have a unique scheme – one that we’ve seen now for at least two years – and they’re very good at playing it, so it’s just a matter of executing and not so much a matter of a “chess-match.” It comes down to the players executing the plays."
Despite having a new head coach, is West Virginia still the same kind of team with the same approach and same philosophy that you played last year?
"It’s difficult for me to go into and make statements about their program. But I would say the same elements are still there. They still spread the field. They still have dangerous skill players on the field where if you commit yourself to one, the other one can hurt you; if you commit yourself to coverage, the run can hurt you; or if you’re going after the quarterback, then you’re one-on-one in some situations. So that’s the pressure they put on you from an offensive standpoint, and they do an excellent job of that.
"Defensively, it’s still the same situation. They have very aggressive players. They’re very good and solid up front. They have a good mixture of coverage and pressure. They know exactly what they’re doing and what’s going on. So I don’t know if I can say it’s a different team, but they’re still an explosive team. I think that’s the best way to put, at least from my eyes. When I look at this team, it looks a lot like last year with their explosive players all over the field. And the same on defense – they can pick a ball off and run it in, and I’m talking about linebackers and defensive linemen who can do it because they have great speed everywhere.
"So, I look at them not necessarily the same type of team because I don’t want to knock any of their coaches who were there or are there, but I will say this, I think the biggest difference in their team is their quarterback play. Geno Smith has gotten much, much better. However that’s happening, I don’t know, but I know from watching film that he’s a lot better than he was a year ago."
Can you give an update on (senior defensive end) Chandler Jones?
“Chandler’s been practicing and getting a little bit better each day. We all can understand that when a young player comes back – and even a veteran player and even at the next level, the level above us – it takes some time to get back in it. So I think it’s unfair for me to say that Chandler’s going to go out there and play at 110 percent. That’s what our goal is, but from practicing, we do see him getting better. I think the proper phrase would be that we do see a little rust on him, but I was very happy from the first time we practiced until yesterday, to see that yesterday we took a step forward. And now we’ll have to see how it’s going throughout the week, as he continues on, and to see if he can play at the same level that we all expect him to play at."
Is there something you can do, similar to the process last year as the season progressed, to get the receivers, specifically (senior wide receiver) Van Chew, out in the open a little more?
"We’re trying. We’ll have some opportunities, but then it’s just a matter of being able to make a play. We’re not canning those players obviously, and we need Van to play well for us for the team to be successful. So that’s one of the goals that we have is to make sure that we have enough in there so that he can do those things to really help us out. That’s one of the things we’re trying to accomplish, and he’s had a good week."
Can you speak about (senior quarterback) Ryan Nassib’s play through this point in the season?
"Obviously, we’re happy with Ryan, but in the same sense there's always room for improvement. I think the faster we can win, and the more things we can do. Winning at the receiver, I think that will help him. The better job we can do running the football and play action will help him also and be able to take some stress of him. We're very happy with how Ryan is progressing at quarterback."
On how the opponents wide receivers from previous games will help the team prepare for West Virginia's receivers (Bailey and Austin):
"It's a little bit different. I think West Virginia has more than just two. The other thing is that West Virginia puts more stress on you playing the whole field than the other two teams (USC and Rutgers). There are fewer things that you can disguise playing the field is spread out that way. That will be a great challenge for us.
"Each week, we play against great receivers and now we're playing against multiple great receivers, so we have more players out there that we have to be alert for. To know where both of those kids are, it's very difficult with the type of offense that they run. If you commit to try and take one of those players away, which we've tried to do against some of those other teams, and force the quarterback to throw to those other receivers, well, this quarterback has thrown to those other receivers. That's the challenge of what goes on with this team, but from a schematic standpoint, it's much more difficult to take these guys out of the game because they are all over and they are spread out across the field."
On the status of cornerbacks Keon Lyn and Ri'Shard Anderson:
"I think the casts are getting smaller and smaller as the injuries get better, so we're trying to protect our players the best we can."
On the Schwartzwalder Trophy:
"We've talked to the team about it, obviously. It's very important. Coach Schwartzwalder was a great player at West Virginia. He was born and raised in that state. There's been great competition between the two schools.
"I know when I was a player here, and (former WVU head) Coach Nehlen and (former Syracuse head) Coach MacPherson know each other, I always had a lot of respect for the game, I always had a lot of respect for West Virginia and their fans and I always had a lot of appreciation for them. I just love the fact to be able to compete with them.
"When I first took the job here, we hadn't beaten them in a long period of time, and we were able to do that last year. That's something that we were proud of, but that was last year. Now we come to this year.
"Coach Schwartzwalder is a great representative of both institutions. We feel fortunate to have him here as a coach and the job that he did here, and I'm sure that West Virginia is proud that he was born and raised in West Virginia and played football at West Virginia.
"Everyone knows, and it's been written multiple times, about the type of person that Ben Schwartzwalder was as far as what he did for this country, which he really never talked about publicly about the type of war hero that he was.
"You have two teams going against each other with a common denominator in Coach Schwartzwalder, who's a great representative of both programs. It's an honor to have a trophy named after this game."
