Head Coach Doug Marrone Press Conference Transcript (Sept. 10, 2011)
Syracuse vs. Rhode Island
September 10, 2011
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Head Coach Doug Marrone
Opening statement:
“Obviously we’re excited that we won a football game. Give a lot of credit to Rhode Island. They did a nice job. They came in and played hard, and we made a lot of mistakes on the offensive side and the defensive side. We put a lot of pressure on the players during the week and put a lot of pressure on them during the first quarter, especially offensively going for it on a couple of those fourth downs. The ones that we missed, on the third down and the fourth downs, it was poor decisions; people coming off blocks, we missed some hots where the quarterback got hit and got sacked. We missed some formational calls and on defense we didn’t wrap up at times. We gave them a lot of yards in penalties, which led to touchdowns. There was one drive with 30 yards in penalties, and they ended up scoring.
“I was happy to see (senior wide receiver) Michael Acchione come up and make a play for us. (Junior linebacker) Dom Anene made a play for us, and people need to realize that those people have been with the program and played very well for us today. We had a couple guys go out with cramps on the defensive side of the ball, so we have to do a better job there. As far as I know right now, there are no major injuries that have been reported to me after this game.”
On characterizing the first half for the offense?
“You don’t like to go for it on fourth down, which we were doing moving the football. I tried to challenge them from that standpoint to see if we could get it going. We had a drop coming out in the second half. In the first quarter we came out trying to throw the football. That was the game plan going into it. We had some big plays down the field. We had some good out-cuts. But then we had some penetration and then we went to empty, and we made some poor decisions on the declaration on who was down and who wasn’t and a guy came in free and hit the quarterback, even though we got it off and made the first down.
“But you start to get a bit rattled, so it’s on everyone. It’s on the offensive line, it’s on the quarterback. It’s on everyone. It’s easy if it’s one person because you take that person out and someone else goes in. A back missed a protection, an offensive lineman missed a protection, so it’s pretty much everyone. We had a lot of things there because we didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s no excuse from our standpoint.”
On whether Syracuse was relying on the passing game in the second half going with what worked or was there something about the defense that shut down the running game?
“We came out right off the bat trying to throw it. That was the game plan from the beginning. They’re a single-high defense, they play two safeties on the side. They’re basically four-four. What we wanted to do was go deep. We had been running the sale route early on in the first interception, and we had been throwing it to Alec Lemon. The corner did a nice job, and with hindsight 20-20 we should have went deep and scored the touchdown and threw it over his head because we had a guy open behind him.
“Again, we came out and fired a little high early on, and we have to learn to get into a rhythm and keep that rhythm going to be successful. At one point I looked up and we had about 100 yards and seven points, and that’s not what you want offensively.”
On (senior quarterback) Ryan Nassib’s playing during the game?
“I think we worked on pressure quite a bit during the week, and I think Rhode Island did a nice job. I thought at one point we had a good beat on them early on, but they kept mixing it up on the down and distance and personnel groupings. We thought when we went to 12 we calmed them down a little bit. He did some good things, and I think there are some things that he would like to have back.
“We knew going in that (junior wide receiver) Alec Lemon and (senior wide receiver) Van Chew could have a big game. We talked about that. I think that they came up with some big plays, but we needed to make more plays. What really hurt us were the drive stoppers on the third-and-ones and the fourth-and-one because if we could have got over the top we would have been in better shape.”
On whether or not he is concerned with the level of discipline after the penalties?
“It would be foolish of me to say, ‘No I’m not concerned.’ I am concerned. We are constantly talking to those players during the series telling them not to get involved in the push after. I think the officials did a nice job. The two officiating crews that we had the past two games really had control of the game, and we have to do a better job. We really do.”
On (freshman linebacker) Cameron Lynch’s play?
“He played well last week, and we have a lot of our younger players playing well. When you look at the total snaps, we have a lot of young kids out there, and we have to grow week-to-week with them. I would say that Rhode Island created a lot of challenges with the quarterback being able to run, and we were in a lot of different checks. Then all of a sudden (freshman linebacker) Dyshawn (Davis) goes down and we’re moving linebackers and moving boundary corners. (Sophomore free safety) Jeremi Wilkes came out for a bit, so there’s a lot of stuff going on and all the checks that are involved with a game plan like this. There’s a whole lot more than just lining up and playing football with the kind of team that we faced.”
On how to fix the turnovers before the Southern California game next week?
“We had one turnover last week and one turnover this week. One was a fumble and one was an interception. The mistakes last week were in the offensive line and the blocking. We were on the right people, we just didn’t block. Then we made a poor decision on identifying who we need to get, and that’s why you saw two guys come in free.”
On (senior wide receiver) Michael Acchione and the work he has put in and the way he played today?
“It’s what we’ve done. They’ve (walk-ons) been such an important part of this program, from (senior fullback) Adam Harris who’s one of our captains, who was initially a walk-on who became a scholarship player. Acchione was a walk-on who became a scholarship player for us this year. Don Anene going in there and playing. I said early on that if he went in there, we wouldn’t worry. He made some plays out there. They are great stories.
“People focus on some of the negative things, and I can understand that. But sometimes there are great stories out there that get overshadowed because of the mistakes. I hope that due to the mistakes in this game that people like Acchione and Dom (Anene) get credit for the way they played. If you talk to Van Chew and you talk to Alec Lemon, they’ll give them a lot of credit because Acchione’s out there every day. He’s plays hard every single day. “
On what he liked about (wide receivers) Alec Lemon and Van Chew today?
“They did a nice job. We can move those guys all over. They did a nice job during training camp, and we’re close to breaking tackles with them. I think we needed to get a little bit wider in our splits. We made an adjustment at halftime to get them a little wider to get those three and four yard gains. We widened our splits at halftime and Alec was able to get out wider.
“I think Van has been a good player for us. I’ve been saying it since two springs ago, and I think he’s a quality wide receiver. He’s very reliable. He’s good on the deep ball and catches the ball extremely well, and I think he’s one heck of a football player, at least from my standpoint.”
On what was different against this year’s FCS opponent and how they were able to hang with you for so long?
“You have to give Rhode Island credit. They played well. Each game is different and each team is different. We didn’t get the momentum going the way we liked to go. But I told the kids that we’ll have time to correct this stuff. We’re not good enough not to enjoy a victory, and that’s the one thing that’s important for our players. That’s what I told the players and that’s what I told the coaches. I’ve been in this business long enough when if you walk out of here and you hang your head after a win, you’re not going to be in this business for too long. Granted, I say that, but I do realize that we have a lot of things to catch up on. It’s always good to make the corrections after a win. We need to start making those corrections and grow and get better week to week.”
On the adversity and how the team is still able to make plays?
“I said it last week, but nobody really believes me, so I don’t know if I should comment on it again. I sat here last week and told you that it’s all the things that we do off the field that keeps us in games, and makes us strong and makes us able to deal with adversity. I said that last week and nobody really believes me, so for me to say it again this week, you probably won’t believe me again. Maybe by the end of the year, when we talk about structure, discipline and practicing, we have a good mentality about us (you will believe it).
“What I need to figure out is how we take that mentality of how we deal with adversity and all the things we do off the field, and become better focused on the field with our execution. That’s going to be the key for our football team to get better as we go on.”
On how (Rhode Island) quarterback (Steve Probst) did with his feet and what SU was able to do on the last possession?
“It was frustrating from the standpoint getting them out on the perimeter because Coach (Scott) Shafer had some great calls, and we didn’t edge it. We made mistakes in the ability to go outside the pocket when we were running pressure right into it, which would’ve pulled him up. You can see our frustration from that standpoint.
“He did hurt us. We ran up the field, got around him. He was able to make some key first downs on some drives, especially when we had some unsportsmanlike penalties. He made some tight throws. That corner route was a heck of a throw. He threaded the needle with a dig right over the middle. We knew he was a very good quarterback.
“Now, at the end, we were able to contain him on the outside and keep him in the pocket, and pressure him up the middle. That’s how we were able to get him.”
On what allowed (sophomore linebacker) Marquis Spruill up to have a big day, especially the sacks in the fourth quarter?
“I thought he started well. He started fast. In other words, right off the bat they tossed the ball, and you see him come through and make a play. I think he was ready to go, and that’s how you have to be. Once you get on a roll as a player, you have to keep it going. When you’re not on a roll as a player, you have to get yourself going sometimes. Offensively sometimes it’s a matter of getting a person the ball. “Again, from a strategic standpoint, there are a lot of things that that we did not do as well as we should on offense and defense.”
September 10, 2011
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Head Coach Doug Marrone
Opening statement:
“Obviously we’re excited that we won a football game. Give a lot of credit to Rhode Island. They did a nice job. They came in and played hard, and we made a lot of mistakes on the offensive side and the defensive side. We put a lot of pressure on the players during the week and put a lot of pressure on them during the first quarter, especially offensively going for it on a couple of those fourth downs. The ones that we missed, on the third down and the fourth downs, it was poor decisions; people coming off blocks, we missed some hots where the quarterback got hit and got sacked. We missed some formational calls and on defense we didn’t wrap up at times. We gave them a lot of yards in penalties, which led to touchdowns. There was one drive with 30 yards in penalties, and they ended up scoring.
“I was happy to see (senior wide receiver) Michael Acchione come up and make a play for us. (Junior linebacker) Dom Anene made a play for us, and people need to realize that those people have been with the program and played very well for us today. We had a couple guys go out with cramps on the defensive side of the ball, so we have to do a better job there. As far as I know right now, there are no major injuries that have been reported to me after this game.”
On characterizing the first half for the offense?
“You don’t like to go for it on fourth down, which we were doing moving the football. I tried to challenge them from that standpoint to see if we could get it going. We had a drop coming out in the second half. In the first quarter we came out trying to throw the football. That was the game plan going into it. We had some big plays down the field. We had some good out-cuts. But then we had some penetration and then we went to empty, and we made some poor decisions on the declaration on who was down and who wasn’t and a guy came in free and hit the quarterback, even though we got it off and made the first down.
“But you start to get a bit rattled, so it’s on everyone. It’s on the offensive line, it’s on the quarterback. It’s on everyone. It’s easy if it’s one person because you take that person out and someone else goes in. A back missed a protection, an offensive lineman missed a protection, so it’s pretty much everyone. We had a lot of things there because we didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s no excuse from our standpoint.”
On whether Syracuse was relying on the passing game in the second half going with what worked or was there something about the defense that shut down the running game?
“We came out right off the bat trying to throw it. That was the game plan from the beginning. They’re a single-high defense, they play two safeties on the side. They’re basically four-four. What we wanted to do was go deep. We had been running the sale route early on in the first interception, and we had been throwing it to Alec Lemon. The corner did a nice job, and with hindsight 20-20 we should have went deep and scored the touchdown and threw it over his head because we had a guy open behind him.
“Again, we came out and fired a little high early on, and we have to learn to get into a rhythm and keep that rhythm going to be successful. At one point I looked up and we had about 100 yards and seven points, and that’s not what you want offensively.”
On (senior quarterback) Ryan Nassib’s playing during the game?
“I think we worked on pressure quite a bit during the week, and I think Rhode Island did a nice job. I thought at one point we had a good beat on them early on, but they kept mixing it up on the down and distance and personnel groupings. We thought when we went to 12 we calmed them down a little bit. He did some good things, and I think there are some things that he would like to have back.
“We knew going in that (junior wide receiver) Alec Lemon and (senior wide receiver) Van Chew could have a big game. We talked about that. I think that they came up with some big plays, but we needed to make more plays. What really hurt us were the drive stoppers on the third-and-ones and the fourth-and-one because if we could have got over the top we would have been in better shape.”
On whether or not he is concerned with the level of discipline after the penalties?
“It would be foolish of me to say, ‘No I’m not concerned.’ I am concerned. We are constantly talking to those players during the series telling them not to get involved in the push after. I think the officials did a nice job. The two officiating crews that we had the past two games really had control of the game, and we have to do a better job. We really do.”
On (freshman linebacker) Cameron Lynch’s play?
“He played well last week, and we have a lot of our younger players playing well. When you look at the total snaps, we have a lot of young kids out there, and we have to grow week-to-week with them. I would say that Rhode Island created a lot of challenges with the quarterback being able to run, and we were in a lot of different checks. Then all of a sudden (freshman linebacker) Dyshawn (Davis) goes down and we’re moving linebackers and moving boundary corners. (Sophomore free safety) Jeremi Wilkes came out for a bit, so there’s a lot of stuff going on and all the checks that are involved with a game plan like this. There’s a whole lot more than just lining up and playing football with the kind of team that we faced.”
On how to fix the turnovers before the Southern California game next week?
“We had one turnover last week and one turnover this week. One was a fumble and one was an interception. The mistakes last week were in the offensive line and the blocking. We were on the right people, we just didn’t block. Then we made a poor decision on identifying who we need to get, and that’s why you saw two guys come in free.”
On (senior wide receiver) Michael Acchione and the work he has put in and the way he played today?
“It’s what we’ve done. They’ve (walk-ons) been such an important part of this program, from (senior fullback) Adam Harris who’s one of our captains, who was initially a walk-on who became a scholarship player. Acchione was a walk-on who became a scholarship player for us this year. Don Anene going in there and playing. I said early on that if he went in there, we wouldn’t worry. He made some plays out there. They are great stories.
“People focus on some of the negative things, and I can understand that. But sometimes there are great stories out there that get overshadowed because of the mistakes. I hope that due to the mistakes in this game that people like Acchione and Dom (Anene) get credit for the way they played. If you talk to Van Chew and you talk to Alec Lemon, they’ll give them a lot of credit because Acchione’s out there every day. He’s plays hard every single day. “
On what he liked about (wide receivers) Alec Lemon and Van Chew today?
“They did a nice job. We can move those guys all over. They did a nice job during training camp, and we’re close to breaking tackles with them. I think we needed to get a little bit wider in our splits. We made an adjustment at halftime to get them a little wider to get those three and four yard gains. We widened our splits at halftime and Alec was able to get out wider.
“I think Van has been a good player for us. I’ve been saying it since two springs ago, and I think he’s a quality wide receiver. He’s very reliable. He’s good on the deep ball and catches the ball extremely well, and I think he’s one heck of a football player, at least from my standpoint.”
On what was different against this year’s FCS opponent and how they were able to hang with you for so long?
“You have to give Rhode Island credit. They played well. Each game is different and each team is different. We didn’t get the momentum going the way we liked to go. But I told the kids that we’ll have time to correct this stuff. We’re not good enough not to enjoy a victory, and that’s the one thing that’s important for our players. That’s what I told the players and that’s what I told the coaches. I’ve been in this business long enough when if you walk out of here and you hang your head after a win, you’re not going to be in this business for too long. Granted, I say that, but I do realize that we have a lot of things to catch up on. It’s always good to make the corrections after a win. We need to start making those corrections and grow and get better week to week.”
On the adversity and how the team is still able to make plays?
“I said it last week, but nobody really believes me, so I don’t know if I should comment on it again. I sat here last week and told you that it’s all the things that we do off the field that keeps us in games, and makes us strong and makes us able to deal with adversity. I said that last week and nobody really believes me, so for me to say it again this week, you probably won’t believe me again. Maybe by the end of the year, when we talk about structure, discipline and practicing, we have a good mentality about us (you will believe it).
“What I need to figure out is how we take that mentality of how we deal with adversity and all the things we do off the field, and become better focused on the field with our execution. That’s going to be the key for our football team to get better as we go on.”
On how (Rhode Island) quarterback (Steve Probst) did with his feet and what SU was able to do on the last possession?
“It was frustrating from the standpoint getting them out on the perimeter because Coach (Scott) Shafer had some great calls, and we didn’t edge it. We made mistakes in the ability to go outside the pocket when we were running pressure right into it, which would’ve pulled him up. You can see our frustration from that standpoint.
“He did hurt us. We ran up the field, got around him. He was able to make some key first downs on some drives, especially when we had some unsportsmanlike penalties. He made some tight throws. That corner route was a heck of a throw. He threaded the needle with a dig right over the middle. We knew he was a very good quarterback.
“Now, at the end, we were able to contain him on the outside and keep him in the pocket, and pressure him up the middle. That’s how we were able to get him.”
On what allowed (sophomore linebacker) Marquis Spruill up to have a big day, especially the sacks in the fourth quarter?
“I thought he started well. He started fast. In other words, right off the bat they tossed the ball, and you see him come through and make a play. I think he was ready to go, and that’s how you have to be. Once you get on a roll as a player, you have to keep it going. When you’re not on a roll as a player, you have to get yourself going sometimes. Offensively sometimes it’s a matter of getting a person the ball. “Again, from a strategic standpoint, there are a lot of things that that we did not do as well as we should on offense and defense.”
