Head Coach Doug Marrone Post-game Quotes (Nov. 26, 2011)
Syracuse vs. Cincinnati
November 26, 2011
Syracuse, N.Y.
Carrier Dome
Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone
Opening statement:
“Obviously, I’m upset. I don’t think I can even explain how I feel. Losing four straight games is unacceptable. We got beat in all three phases. They outrushed us. They threw for more yards when it counted. They out-physicaled us. They made plays; I thought their running back did a heck of a job. Defensively, they did a nice job in coverage. Early, we were not able to win or hold up long enough in the protection to get the ball down the field.
“We missed some throws that could have made the game close. We went back to basics and put stuff in that we had in day one, so the players can go out there and lineup and we weren’t able to execute. So that’s what we’ve done, and we have to look to do whatever we can do to win. We’ll look at all the options this week at what gives us the best opportunity, but I don’t have a lot of answers right now.”
On what went wrong against Cincinnati
“I don’t know if we had a lot of things going for us because we came out after three straight losses. We have a lot of issues that we’re trying to get better with: being physical and going out there and playing every play with the type of intensity that you need to execute. It’s comes down to the same thing, we just have to change some plays and change some calls because obviously we can’t execute what we’re doing even when we have guys open or guys coming free.”
On Cincinnati’s running game:
“Both quarterbacks ran the same schemes. It wasn’t like one quarterback was doing something different than the other one. They were both running the same type of schemes in the same situations. We have to do a better job. We tried to keep it as simple as possible. That’s what we talked about all week. I didn’t want to go in with a lot of checks, which we’ve had going into a lot of other games. I wanted to lineup and make the checks very simple in case they lined up in empty, which they did a couple of times. Just lineup and go play and give our kids the opportunity to make some plays. We tried to do that, and obviously we didn’t get that accomplished.”
On the start of the second half:
“We kicked off, they go 70 yards. Then the next play Pead makes a great cut and scores a touchdown. That’s not a very good way to start the second half when you’re only down four. They went bounce-left, and our guy came in free and didn’t make the play. Our one and two and our cutter got blocked, and the next thing you know it was a 70-yard return. You can’t make a lot of mistakes on that. Then on the next play they went wide right and Pead hit the breaks, and we didn’t have any contain on the back side pursuit and he went in for a touchdown.
“It all depends on how mentally tough you are. If you’re mentally tough, it hurts but you go out there and you play extremely hard and get after it. If you’re not mentally tough, then you have issues. I think each person handles things individually. For me, I was ready to get back in there and get after them.”
Was there a defensive scheme that they used to get so much pressure on (senior quarterback) Ryan Nassib?
“No, they never changed a thing. They covered us, and doubled us a little bit. (Junior wide receiver) Alec (Lemon) was doubled a couple of times when he was the number one read on the route, and we wound up holding the ball a bit. It’s the same thing, we need a little bit more time and a bit more protection. Sometimes we need better progression. But it’s a combination of things and I give them (Cincinnati) credit.”
On his team’s play in the opposition’s territory:
“The last two games, we haven’t been able to score in the red zone. We got the ball at our own seven-yard line and went about 60 yards before going out on downs around the 30-yard line. In the red zone, you have to make plays. Everything’s tighter and everything’s faster. If you’re a team that isn’t making plays in the field, it becomes more difficult to do it in the red zone. The teams that make plays in the red zone are the higher efficiency teams. Right now, we haven’t been able to make plays down there. We’ve been down there a lot, we just haven’t been able to score touchdowns. You can’t have missed assignments and you can’t have penalties, and we talked to the players about it. We had a missed assignment with people coming free. I don’t think we had any penalties down there, but we weren’t able to execute and score. It’s frustrating because we could have gotten the game back to 10 at one point.”
From 5-2 to now 5-6, can you put the last four weeks into perspective?
“Like I said, you have no idea what type of feeling it is. Trust me. At least my feeling. You can ask anyone else. I guarantee you don’t have any idea how I feel, and how I’ve been feeling.
“I can’t believe that I’ve disappointed the fans, the people, everyone. It’s my responsibility, and that’s why I don’t think people can understand it. If I was selfish, and didn’t care – maybe.
“I care too much about this community, where this program was, where I want to take this program, the administration, the faculty and the players. Right now, I feel like I’m letting them down. So you don’t really know how that feels.”
On the opportunity that the team has to become bowl eligible
“I told the players afterward, we have opportunities and we have to take advantage of it. How many times do you get a chance in the bottom of the ninth to have a chance to hit the ball? It’s not going to be a home run, but for us to go to a bowl game is important. We have to play better, so I don’t know what type of game it’s going to be. I just know that our focus has to be on ourselves right now.”
Why was (offensive coordinator) Nathaniel Hackett on the sidelines and not in the coaches booth today?
“We’re just trying to make sure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to give our players a chance to win. He’s down there during practice talking to the players. We wanted to make sure that we had the eye contact. We’re doing everything we possibly can. If I have to bring all the coaches down or put them all up there, whatever it may be, we’ll do whatever it takes.”
November 26, 2011
Syracuse, N.Y.
Carrier Dome
Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone
Opening statement:
“Obviously, I’m upset. I don’t think I can even explain how I feel. Losing four straight games is unacceptable. We got beat in all three phases. They outrushed us. They threw for more yards when it counted. They out-physicaled us. They made plays; I thought their running back did a heck of a job. Defensively, they did a nice job in coverage. Early, we were not able to win or hold up long enough in the protection to get the ball down the field.
“We missed some throws that could have made the game close. We went back to basics and put stuff in that we had in day one, so the players can go out there and lineup and we weren’t able to execute. So that’s what we’ve done, and we have to look to do whatever we can do to win. We’ll look at all the options this week at what gives us the best opportunity, but I don’t have a lot of answers right now.”
On what went wrong against Cincinnati
“I don’t know if we had a lot of things going for us because we came out after three straight losses. We have a lot of issues that we’re trying to get better with: being physical and going out there and playing every play with the type of intensity that you need to execute. It’s comes down to the same thing, we just have to change some plays and change some calls because obviously we can’t execute what we’re doing even when we have guys open or guys coming free.”
On Cincinnati’s running game:
“Both quarterbacks ran the same schemes. It wasn’t like one quarterback was doing something different than the other one. They were both running the same type of schemes in the same situations. We have to do a better job. We tried to keep it as simple as possible. That’s what we talked about all week. I didn’t want to go in with a lot of checks, which we’ve had going into a lot of other games. I wanted to lineup and make the checks very simple in case they lined up in empty, which they did a couple of times. Just lineup and go play and give our kids the opportunity to make some plays. We tried to do that, and obviously we didn’t get that accomplished.”
On the start of the second half:
“We kicked off, they go 70 yards. Then the next play Pead makes a great cut and scores a touchdown. That’s not a very good way to start the second half when you’re only down four. They went bounce-left, and our guy came in free and didn’t make the play. Our one and two and our cutter got blocked, and the next thing you know it was a 70-yard return. You can’t make a lot of mistakes on that. Then on the next play they went wide right and Pead hit the breaks, and we didn’t have any contain on the back side pursuit and he went in for a touchdown.
“It all depends on how mentally tough you are. If you’re mentally tough, it hurts but you go out there and you play extremely hard and get after it. If you’re not mentally tough, then you have issues. I think each person handles things individually. For me, I was ready to get back in there and get after them.”
Was there a defensive scheme that they used to get so much pressure on (senior quarterback) Ryan Nassib?
“No, they never changed a thing. They covered us, and doubled us a little bit. (Junior wide receiver) Alec (Lemon) was doubled a couple of times when he was the number one read on the route, and we wound up holding the ball a bit. It’s the same thing, we need a little bit more time and a bit more protection. Sometimes we need better progression. But it’s a combination of things and I give them (Cincinnati) credit.”
On his team’s play in the opposition’s territory:
“The last two games, we haven’t been able to score in the red zone. We got the ball at our own seven-yard line and went about 60 yards before going out on downs around the 30-yard line. In the red zone, you have to make plays. Everything’s tighter and everything’s faster. If you’re a team that isn’t making plays in the field, it becomes more difficult to do it in the red zone. The teams that make plays in the red zone are the higher efficiency teams. Right now, we haven’t been able to make plays down there. We’ve been down there a lot, we just haven’t been able to score touchdowns. You can’t have missed assignments and you can’t have penalties, and we talked to the players about it. We had a missed assignment with people coming free. I don’t think we had any penalties down there, but we weren’t able to execute and score. It’s frustrating because we could have gotten the game back to 10 at one point.”
From 5-2 to now 5-6, can you put the last four weeks into perspective?
“Like I said, you have no idea what type of feeling it is. Trust me. At least my feeling. You can ask anyone else. I guarantee you don’t have any idea how I feel, and how I’ve been feeling.
“I can’t believe that I’ve disappointed the fans, the people, everyone. It’s my responsibility, and that’s why I don’t think people can understand it. If I was selfish, and didn’t care – maybe.
“I care too much about this community, where this program was, where I want to take this program, the administration, the faculty and the players. Right now, I feel like I’m letting them down. So you don’t really know how that feels.”
On the opportunity that the team has to become bowl eligible
“I told the players afterward, we have opportunities and we have to take advantage of it. How many times do you get a chance in the bottom of the ninth to have a chance to hit the ball? It’s not going to be a home run, but for us to go to a bowl game is important. We have to play better, so I don’t know what type of game it’s going to be. I just know that our focus has to be on ourselves right now.”
Why was (offensive coordinator) Nathaniel Hackett on the sidelines and not in the coaches booth today?
“We’re just trying to make sure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to give our players a chance to win. He’s down there during practice talking to the players. We wanted to make sure that we had the eye contact. We’re doing everything we possibly can. If I have to bring all the coaches down or put them all up there, whatever it may be, we’ll do whatever it takes.”
