Head Coach Doug Marrone Coach vs. Northwestern
Syracuse Football
Syracuse vs. Northwestern
September 1, 2012
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Head Coach Doug Marrone
Opening Statement:
“Obviously it was a difficult game. A hard fought game for both teams. I give Northwestern credit. They’re a good football team. I give our kids credit. They fought. I think that there are a lot of good things happened out there. Early on, I thought on special teams we had to create two situations and got six points out of it. They created two situations and wound up getting 17. We must contain on both punts. Obviously an errant, a line of scrimmage throw and the tipped ball. We’re going to concentrate on the things we did well. We’re going to work extremely hard. We’re going to get better. Just like I told the kids, we will be a good football team.”
On his reaction on the way the kids fought back:
“On the two that we created, we had opportunities to score. We didn’t convert those early in the game. We converted field goals. We knew number five was a heck of a back. We didn’t want to go into the game where we would punt it to him. Northwestern did a nice job. They double teamed our guard and our tackle. Our left guard couldn’t get outside. They were contained and they wound up making a nice run. The second time around, we really felt that we had him back there. Then they broke our containment to the field. They made a good play. After that, we made a decision that we weren’t going to kick it to him, no matter whether it was a kickoff or a punt. The kick off, there were some nice things there. The kickoff return, we will have some opportunities there. The pass behind the line, that’s something that we have to do a better job on. That’s a free touchdown. That’s giving someone a free touchdown. There were some penalties. We jumped off sides too much. Outside of the end of the game with the late out of bounds, you can see the anxiety in there. Not that you ever accept it but they are jumping off sides, something that gets you. I’m not going to say hey, we don’t have a lot of things to clean up. There are a lot of good things out there and that’s what we are going to focus on. We feel that we’re going to be a good football team. The tipped pass, everyone in this room has seen it. You go down and you catch it. You are trying to make a play. It’s happened quite a bit. We almost got a tipped pass at the game at the end. I think those are the things that just happen. Yes, we did give up a lot in those opportunities. It hurts. We’ll get better from it. I promise you that.”
On cornerback Keon Lyn’s play at the end:
“Honestly I did not get a good look at it. I will say this. We had Big Ten officials for the game. I really thought they did a good job. Not having gone back and watched the tape, my overall opinion as I walked off that field, I felt very, very good about the job they did. You are concerned about that during the week. I give Bill Corrolo, who is the head of the Big Ten officials, John who was the referee today, I thought they did an outstanding job calling the game.”
On opening things up at the second half:
“We missed some opportunities in the first half. We had some opportunities there and we missed them for some reason. We made a couple of little adjustments. Northwestern made an adjustment. They just started making plays. I think that’s why you saw us get those yards. That’s the direction that we’re going offensively. “
On the emotional swing of the game:
“I think you can ask anyone in this room, it’s not different than what anyone goes through in this room, emotional swing wise. You get up. You try to keep yourself up. You try to go back. You try to battle. You keep fighting. I think we’re all used to that. I think everyone’s been in there, whether its football, baseball, basketball, whatever it may be. I think you go through it so much, on the field, not to say you get used to it but you expect it at sometimes.”
On quarterback Ryan Nassib’s passing today and will that be the plan going forward:
“I can’t comment on what we’re doing going forward because I haven’t even looked at or gone over the game plan. We want to make plays and do whatever we have to do to score touchdowns. If it’s throwing the ball 70 or 80 times a game, we’ll throw the ball 70 or 80 times a game. That’s all I have to say to that. I’m not trying to be rude or anything. We threw the ball a lot, we had a nice day throwing the ball.”
On wide receiver Chris Clark’s play:
“Chris has really done a great job the last week and a half to two weeks. We are happy. He got hurt out there, I thought he was not going to come back in the game. He is a tough kid and came back and played. We are excited. We are looking forward to getting Alec Lemon and (Adrian) Flemming back. But Jeremiah Kobena did some good things up there. We have some guys now and they’ll just get better and better each week.”
On Ashton Broyld’s lack of snaps and playing time:
“I think it’s more circumstantial. It’s not what we talked about as a staff going into the game. We’re trying to get out there and go. Northwestern made a little bit of a change and kind of hurt the one package that we felt we were going to go in there with him. That’s exactly how that happened.”
On how encouraged he was by the play of the offensive line:
“I was happy. I was worried. I know that you guys in the media come and ask me that everyday but I never come out and say, ‘Golly guys, I’m really, really worried about that right side.’ I had a concern for those kids. There was a lot of inconsistency during practice. I was trying to find out whether it was an inconsistency because you are playing against the same players all of the time and they really know you in and out. We had four new kids play. (Ivan) Foy, (Rob) Trudo, (Lou) Alexander and (Sean) Hickey, and Andy Phillips played quite a bit. I thought they did a nice job. I really did. I thought Sean Hickey did a great job with having the blind side of the quarterback there. They have some pretty good rushers on that team. They were mixing it up pretty good, inside or outside. He didn’t play like a guy playing his first game from what I saw on the sideline.”
On what he found out about his team this game:
“I was proud of the way they fought back I fortunately haven’t been part of teams that have been down by 20 something points and didn’t fight back. Does anybody in this room expect us not to fight back? I don’t think any of you guys expect us not to fight back because you’ve seen it before in this team. It’s a credit to the team. It’s a credit to this community. That’s why those kids fight out there. They fight for themselves. They fight for the community. They fight for the University. They fight for the alumni. They fight for everyone else. When this football team, doesn’t fight, it’s a problem. Right now, they’ll fight. They believe in what they’re doing.
“As far as the specific players (you asked about) I saw a lot of good things out of Markus Pierce-Brewster for the first time he was playing. I thought Ryan (Nassib) really was throwing the ball well. The past two or three days, he’s really stepped it up a notch throwing the football. So I was excited about that.”
On wide receiver Marcus Sales’ play:
“He had 11 of catches. He had over 100-yards. I think that Marcus can do a better job. I really do. Marcus has been out of football for a year. He’s come back. I think he got himself off to a good start. Each week we have to get better each day and raise our level.”
On quarterback Ryan Nassib’s leadership in today’s game:
“Ryan can handle a lot. I don’t worry about Ryan Nassib being able to handle anything. He ran the ball. They did a nice job of changing up their scheme and he ran the ball. Ball security out of the pocket was better and his footwork was better. He threw the ball really well. I don’t have a lot of issues with Ryan. Neither do I have them with a lot of the guys on the team. I have to do a better job and make sure we show these kids what we have done well, this is what we’re building on and here’s what we have to do a better job of. Then we move forward.”
Syracuse vs. Northwestern
September 1, 2012
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Head Coach Doug Marrone
Opening Statement:
“Obviously it was a difficult game. A hard fought game for both teams. I give Northwestern credit. They’re a good football team. I give our kids credit. They fought. I think that there are a lot of good things happened out there. Early on, I thought on special teams we had to create two situations and got six points out of it. They created two situations and wound up getting 17. We must contain on both punts. Obviously an errant, a line of scrimmage throw and the tipped ball. We’re going to concentrate on the things we did well. We’re going to work extremely hard. We’re going to get better. Just like I told the kids, we will be a good football team.”
On his reaction on the way the kids fought back:
“On the two that we created, we had opportunities to score. We didn’t convert those early in the game. We converted field goals. We knew number five was a heck of a back. We didn’t want to go into the game where we would punt it to him. Northwestern did a nice job. They double teamed our guard and our tackle. Our left guard couldn’t get outside. They were contained and they wound up making a nice run. The second time around, we really felt that we had him back there. Then they broke our containment to the field. They made a good play. After that, we made a decision that we weren’t going to kick it to him, no matter whether it was a kickoff or a punt. The kick off, there were some nice things there. The kickoff return, we will have some opportunities there. The pass behind the line, that’s something that we have to do a better job on. That’s a free touchdown. That’s giving someone a free touchdown. There were some penalties. We jumped off sides too much. Outside of the end of the game with the late out of bounds, you can see the anxiety in there. Not that you ever accept it but they are jumping off sides, something that gets you. I’m not going to say hey, we don’t have a lot of things to clean up. There are a lot of good things out there and that’s what we are going to focus on. We feel that we’re going to be a good football team. The tipped pass, everyone in this room has seen it. You go down and you catch it. You are trying to make a play. It’s happened quite a bit. We almost got a tipped pass at the game at the end. I think those are the things that just happen. Yes, we did give up a lot in those opportunities. It hurts. We’ll get better from it. I promise you that.”
On cornerback Keon Lyn’s play at the end:
“Honestly I did not get a good look at it. I will say this. We had Big Ten officials for the game. I really thought they did a good job. Not having gone back and watched the tape, my overall opinion as I walked off that field, I felt very, very good about the job they did. You are concerned about that during the week. I give Bill Corrolo, who is the head of the Big Ten officials, John who was the referee today, I thought they did an outstanding job calling the game.”
On opening things up at the second half:
“We missed some opportunities in the first half. We had some opportunities there and we missed them for some reason. We made a couple of little adjustments. Northwestern made an adjustment. They just started making plays. I think that’s why you saw us get those yards. That’s the direction that we’re going offensively. “
On the emotional swing of the game:
“I think you can ask anyone in this room, it’s not different than what anyone goes through in this room, emotional swing wise. You get up. You try to keep yourself up. You try to go back. You try to battle. You keep fighting. I think we’re all used to that. I think everyone’s been in there, whether its football, baseball, basketball, whatever it may be. I think you go through it so much, on the field, not to say you get used to it but you expect it at sometimes.”
On quarterback Ryan Nassib’s passing today and will that be the plan going forward:
“I can’t comment on what we’re doing going forward because I haven’t even looked at or gone over the game plan. We want to make plays and do whatever we have to do to score touchdowns. If it’s throwing the ball 70 or 80 times a game, we’ll throw the ball 70 or 80 times a game. That’s all I have to say to that. I’m not trying to be rude or anything. We threw the ball a lot, we had a nice day throwing the ball.”
On wide receiver Chris Clark’s play:
“Chris has really done a great job the last week and a half to two weeks. We are happy. He got hurt out there, I thought he was not going to come back in the game. He is a tough kid and came back and played. We are excited. We are looking forward to getting Alec Lemon and (Adrian) Flemming back. But Jeremiah Kobena did some good things up there. We have some guys now and they’ll just get better and better each week.”
On Ashton Broyld’s lack of snaps and playing time:
“I think it’s more circumstantial. It’s not what we talked about as a staff going into the game. We’re trying to get out there and go. Northwestern made a little bit of a change and kind of hurt the one package that we felt we were going to go in there with him. That’s exactly how that happened.”
On how encouraged he was by the play of the offensive line:
“I was happy. I was worried. I know that you guys in the media come and ask me that everyday but I never come out and say, ‘Golly guys, I’m really, really worried about that right side.’ I had a concern for those kids. There was a lot of inconsistency during practice. I was trying to find out whether it was an inconsistency because you are playing against the same players all of the time and they really know you in and out. We had four new kids play. (Ivan) Foy, (Rob) Trudo, (Lou) Alexander and (Sean) Hickey, and Andy Phillips played quite a bit. I thought they did a nice job. I really did. I thought Sean Hickey did a great job with having the blind side of the quarterback there. They have some pretty good rushers on that team. They were mixing it up pretty good, inside or outside. He didn’t play like a guy playing his first game from what I saw on the sideline.”
On what he found out about his team this game:
“I was proud of the way they fought back I fortunately haven’t been part of teams that have been down by 20 something points and didn’t fight back. Does anybody in this room expect us not to fight back? I don’t think any of you guys expect us not to fight back because you’ve seen it before in this team. It’s a credit to the team. It’s a credit to this community. That’s why those kids fight out there. They fight for themselves. They fight for the community. They fight for the University. They fight for the alumni. They fight for everyone else. When this football team, doesn’t fight, it’s a problem. Right now, they’ll fight. They believe in what they’re doing.
“As far as the specific players (you asked about) I saw a lot of good things out of Markus Pierce-Brewster for the first time he was playing. I thought Ryan (Nassib) really was throwing the ball well. The past two or three days, he’s really stepped it up a notch throwing the football. So I was excited about that.”
On wide receiver Marcus Sales’ play:
“He had 11 of catches. He had over 100-yards. I think that Marcus can do a better job. I really do. Marcus has been out of football for a year. He’s come back. I think he got himself off to a good start. Each week we have to get better each day and raise our level.”
On quarterback Ryan Nassib’s leadership in today’s game:
“Ryan can handle a lot. I don’t worry about Ryan Nassib being able to handle anything. He ran the ball. They did a nice job of changing up their scheme and he ran the ball. Ball security out of the pocket was better and his footwork was better. He threw the ball really well. I don’t have a lot of issues with Ryan. Neither do I have them with a lot of the guys on the team. I have to do a better job and make sure we show these kids what we have done well, this is what we’re building on and here’s what we have to do a better job of. Then we move forward.”
