Head Coach Scott Sharfer Transcript
Syracuse vs. No. 1 Florida State
October 11, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Head Coach Shafer
Opening Statement:
First off, congratulations Florida State. For our kids to beat the No. 1 team in the country is a difficult task, but I really believed that we could beat this team and we didn’t get that done today. I saw some good things that were encouraging, but we need to do a good job of understanding just how important it is that when we have opportunities, we have to make them. We had a couple of dropped interceptions today and I always tell the kids that interceptions can change games and pass breakups give the opponent another opportunity and that’s what happened on a couple of those today. We have to learn how to finish those opportunities.
“I thought that there was some very good growth. I’m very proud of and very pleased with my offensive staff and the way they worked together to come up with a very good game plan against one of the best teams in the country, obviously No. 1 right now. I was extremely pleased with the way they worked at it and the way the kids went about the approach together, unselfishly together, as a team, as a unit. There were some very encouraging things out there. So we look forward to taking the encouraging traits from this game into the Wake Forest game. Understanding we have a tall task in front of us with a very good defense at Wake and an excellent offensive mind in Coach Clawson.”
On true freshman quarterback AJ Long:
“I thought both Austin (Wilson) and AJ (Long) did some good things for their first extended playing time. AJ was just the way I thought he would be. He really loves to play the game, he’s really a fun kid to be around out there. There’s never a sense that he’s tightening up or anything so I was really encouraged by the way he played. Did he make mistakes? Yes. But all-in-all, the opportunity to be baptized by fire against No. 1 in the country I thought the kid did a pretty darn good job.”
On quarterback Austin Wilson’s injury and wide receiver Steve Ishmael’s play:
“Don’t have an update on Austin other than I can tell you I just sat with him a couple minutes, sat with his mom and dad and they’re going to take him over and check him out really well. We’ll see how things are later. He took a lick there, you guys saw it. Hearts and prayers out to him but he’ll be okay. He’ll bounce back. He’s a tough kid from Pennsylvania. First time I ever met him he had a black eye from a scrap he got into on the basketball court. So he’ll be alright, he’ll be okay. Thanks for asking.
“Steve Ishmael, we’re starting to see some things out of him that we saw out of him when we saw him in the recruiting process. I remember when Coach McDonald came to me and told me about him, I was really excited that we turned on the tape. It’s one of those things, the things we saw on tape we’re starting to see every week. He’s starting to play with a little more confidence. He’s starting to learn how to get off press coverage which isn’t easy when you move up to this level. So I’ve been very pleased with him. I’m very pleased with a lot of these freshmen that are helping out the old guys.
“The other thing I was extremely impressed with was the way our older kids took these younger quarterbacks under their wing and just said go out there and play. I’m really proud of that. It’s one thing to talk about it but to see it happen throughout the course of the game when something didn’t go well and to see those big guys put their arms around them and encourage them up, that was good. So we got to coach them up and got to go get that victory at Wake Forest.”
On the SU offense in the red zone and the difficulty it’s had finding the end zone:
“Same thing I told you last week, we haven’t put the ball over the goal line enough. I have a ton of them (specifics) but we have to catch the ball better when the ball hits us in the hands. We have to put the ball out in front of us, it’s finishing the execution. You can go down to each and every one of those plays whether it’s a run or a pass play and say this wasn’t good enough. You can’t do that because it’s not any one specific thing. If it were you’d point that out to me from a statistical analysis. At the end of the day we haven’t gotten across the goal line well enough and we have to fight our butts off to do a better job of that every week.”
On what Syracuse proved today despite the loss:
“We came up short, we lost the game. We go out to win every week to win a game. I like the way we fought and all that but I’m really not all that into those type of victories, those moral victories. Moral victories don’t count at the end of the season. At the end of the season it’s a win or a loss. We didn’t get it done. We came up short, that’s on me and we have to find a way to get it done next week.”
On if Austin Wilson’s injury is a concussion…
“He has an upper body injury.”
On how Tim Lester did in his first game as Offensive Coordinator:
“Tim and the offensive staff did a great job as I already mentioned. United, like I knew they would. Unselfishly, like I knew they would. I’ve known these guys for years and they came together and they worked their tails off to come up with a great game plan and I thought they did have a really great game plan and I thought the tempo was good and I thought as an offensive staff, getting their players to play for the first time with a couple of those young kids with some older guys that have been around. I thought they did a very good job at that. Obviously we didn’t score enough points in the red zone.”
On the running game and how Long’s ability to run contributed to it:
“I thought Tyson Gulley ran the ball well. I haven’t seen a stats sheet but I thought he ran the ball well. I thought our kids up front blocked well and had some good push and some good movement. We had some opportunities to have some even bigger gashes up in there where I saw us knock the No. 1 team in the country back extremely well. There wasn’t one point-and-time in the game that I felt like their front four got after us in a systemic way. I felt like our kids continued to really fight physically on both sides of the football. I see 83 yards for Tyson Gulley, our 162 rushing yards, so that’s a pretty good day and I think AJ (Long) brought some things to the table, as well with his ability to move his feet.”
On how the positives of this game carry over into next week and the next game:
“You always take the positives and you accentuate those and you go to work on them. It’s hard as a coach and a competitive person, as a player, for our kids to feel good about it. You don’t feel good about it when you lose. You feel horrible. Once we get to the tape and get through a Sunday meeting where we’re all beating ourselves up then you move forward and say, “You know what? This is good, this is pretty good, this is pretty good.” Then you go after those things hard and make them better the next week.”
On staying even in scoring with Florida State in the second half, 14-14:
“There were a few wrinkles. I thought the offense made a couple little adjustments that were good. More than anything, we stayed with what we thought we could do. They did, they continued, the consistency level got better. In the second half there were a couple of situations where I thought we were a block away from a bigger run. So it was good to see that. It was really just staying true to what we thought we could do and it was proven to be the case in a lot of those game plan type, schematic things that we looked at. Defensively they got us on a couple of really athletic plays, on the jailbreak screen. That kid, is a good player, heck of an athlete. I thought we were going to get him here and we were going to get him there and good players, just like their quarterback, we had some good stuff. I thought (defensive coordinator) Coach (Chuck) Bullough had some really good calls and the kids were coming through clean and free. That quarterback does a nice job making plays go a little bit longer than you’re used to. They make it hard on those kids on the back end. We’re going to take the positives, build from them, and put together a great plan for Wake Forest.”
On rating this offensive performance amongst previous games:
“I really can’t do that. I have to go watch the film. The only rating that we’re looking for is increased productivity and improvement which you can truly measure. Whether it’s maintaining blocks or being in tempo with our throws, sometimes there are incomplete passes that you can say that was better, we were in rhythm. All we’re going to try to do is get a little bit better in each of those small targeted points that we look at each week from individuals to positional groups, and obviously offense and defense and kicking.”
On SU’s development on the defensive front throughout the year and the pressure in the backfield, particularly Micah Robinson:
“I thought the same thing, there was some pretty good puncturing going on by our kids. When we lost (defensive tackle) Jason Bromley last year (New York Giants draft selection) there was some great concern there but I think those kids as a unit played real well and that they fought to learn how to play the game the way (defensive line) Coach (Time) Daoust asked them to. I saw some good things out of Micah (Robinson) too. I have the worst seat in the house to see offense and defensive line play until you watch it after the game but I saw some good things and I love the way Micah (Robinson) competes. He kind of is a leader in that room. When (defensive tackle Eric) Crume was out, we asked those other tackles, John Raymon, to get more reps and I know John was playing high at times but then I saw some good puncturing there with him. So it just goes back to what we always talk about, that next teammate stepping up to the plate and saying we’re counting on you.
“Nobody cares you had a dozen injuries going into this game. Nobody cares about that so we have to move forward and find the next guy to step up and bring the team along. That’s what our kids have done a good job of. It’s never as good as we want it to be but I do like the way we’re fighting. Guys like Micah Robinson pulling guys along by the way he talks to them in the room and in the locker room so I’ve been pleased with the brotherhood of some of those things and that showed up on tape at times today. I thought we played at times up front nose-to-nose with them. They got a couple runs, a couple missed tackles. The better teams, the better athletes you play, you always have a few more missed tackles and hats off to those kids at Florida State and that ability level that they have and their coaches do a great job with them.”
October 11, 2014
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse Head Coach Shafer
Opening Statement:
First off, congratulations Florida State. For our kids to beat the No. 1 team in the country is a difficult task, but I really believed that we could beat this team and we didn’t get that done today. I saw some good things that were encouraging, but we need to do a good job of understanding just how important it is that when we have opportunities, we have to make them. We had a couple of dropped interceptions today and I always tell the kids that interceptions can change games and pass breakups give the opponent another opportunity and that’s what happened on a couple of those today. We have to learn how to finish those opportunities.
“I thought that there was some very good growth. I’m very proud of and very pleased with my offensive staff and the way they worked together to come up with a very good game plan against one of the best teams in the country, obviously No. 1 right now. I was extremely pleased with the way they worked at it and the way the kids went about the approach together, unselfishly together, as a team, as a unit. There were some very encouraging things out there. So we look forward to taking the encouraging traits from this game into the Wake Forest game. Understanding we have a tall task in front of us with a very good defense at Wake and an excellent offensive mind in Coach Clawson.”
On true freshman quarterback AJ Long:
“I thought both Austin (Wilson) and AJ (Long) did some good things for their first extended playing time. AJ was just the way I thought he would be. He really loves to play the game, he’s really a fun kid to be around out there. There’s never a sense that he’s tightening up or anything so I was really encouraged by the way he played. Did he make mistakes? Yes. But all-in-all, the opportunity to be baptized by fire against No. 1 in the country I thought the kid did a pretty darn good job.”
On quarterback Austin Wilson’s injury and wide receiver Steve Ishmael’s play:
“Don’t have an update on Austin other than I can tell you I just sat with him a couple minutes, sat with his mom and dad and they’re going to take him over and check him out really well. We’ll see how things are later. He took a lick there, you guys saw it. Hearts and prayers out to him but he’ll be okay. He’ll bounce back. He’s a tough kid from Pennsylvania. First time I ever met him he had a black eye from a scrap he got into on the basketball court. So he’ll be alright, he’ll be okay. Thanks for asking.
“Steve Ishmael, we’re starting to see some things out of him that we saw out of him when we saw him in the recruiting process. I remember when Coach McDonald came to me and told me about him, I was really excited that we turned on the tape. It’s one of those things, the things we saw on tape we’re starting to see every week. He’s starting to play with a little more confidence. He’s starting to learn how to get off press coverage which isn’t easy when you move up to this level. So I’ve been very pleased with him. I’m very pleased with a lot of these freshmen that are helping out the old guys.
“The other thing I was extremely impressed with was the way our older kids took these younger quarterbacks under their wing and just said go out there and play. I’m really proud of that. It’s one thing to talk about it but to see it happen throughout the course of the game when something didn’t go well and to see those big guys put their arms around them and encourage them up, that was good. So we got to coach them up and got to go get that victory at Wake Forest.”
On the SU offense in the red zone and the difficulty it’s had finding the end zone:
“Same thing I told you last week, we haven’t put the ball over the goal line enough. I have a ton of them (specifics) but we have to catch the ball better when the ball hits us in the hands. We have to put the ball out in front of us, it’s finishing the execution. You can go down to each and every one of those plays whether it’s a run or a pass play and say this wasn’t good enough. You can’t do that because it’s not any one specific thing. If it were you’d point that out to me from a statistical analysis. At the end of the day we haven’t gotten across the goal line well enough and we have to fight our butts off to do a better job of that every week.”
On what Syracuse proved today despite the loss:
“We came up short, we lost the game. We go out to win every week to win a game. I like the way we fought and all that but I’m really not all that into those type of victories, those moral victories. Moral victories don’t count at the end of the season. At the end of the season it’s a win or a loss. We didn’t get it done. We came up short, that’s on me and we have to find a way to get it done next week.”
On if Austin Wilson’s injury is a concussion…
“He has an upper body injury.”
On how Tim Lester did in his first game as Offensive Coordinator:
“Tim and the offensive staff did a great job as I already mentioned. United, like I knew they would. Unselfishly, like I knew they would. I’ve known these guys for years and they came together and they worked their tails off to come up with a great game plan and I thought they did have a really great game plan and I thought the tempo was good and I thought as an offensive staff, getting their players to play for the first time with a couple of those young kids with some older guys that have been around. I thought they did a very good job at that. Obviously we didn’t score enough points in the red zone.”
On the running game and how Long’s ability to run contributed to it:
“I thought Tyson Gulley ran the ball well. I haven’t seen a stats sheet but I thought he ran the ball well. I thought our kids up front blocked well and had some good push and some good movement. We had some opportunities to have some even bigger gashes up in there where I saw us knock the No. 1 team in the country back extremely well. There wasn’t one point-and-time in the game that I felt like their front four got after us in a systemic way. I felt like our kids continued to really fight physically on both sides of the football. I see 83 yards for Tyson Gulley, our 162 rushing yards, so that’s a pretty good day and I think AJ (Long) brought some things to the table, as well with his ability to move his feet.”
On how the positives of this game carry over into next week and the next game:
“You always take the positives and you accentuate those and you go to work on them. It’s hard as a coach and a competitive person, as a player, for our kids to feel good about it. You don’t feel good about it when you lose. You feel horrible. Once we get to the tape and get through a Sunday meeting where we’re all beating ourselves up then you move forward and say, “You know what? This is good, this is pretty good, this is pretty good.” Then you go after those things hard and make them better the next week.”
On staying even in scoring with Florida State in the second half, 14-14:
“There were a few wrinkles. I thought the offense made a couple little adjustments that were good. More than anything, we stayed with what we thought we could do. They did, they continued, the consistency level got better. In the second half there were a couple of situations where I thought we were a block away from a bigger run. So it was good to see that. It was really just staying true to what we thought we could do and it was proven to be the case in a lot of those game plan type, schematic things that we looked at. Defensively they got us on a couple of really athletic plays, on the jailbreak screen. That kid, is a good player, heck of an athlete. I thought we were going to get him here and we were going to get him there and good players, just like their quarterback, we had some good stuff. I thought (defensive coordinator) Coach (Chuck) Bullough had some really good calls and the kids were coming through clean and free. That quarterback does a nice job making plays go a little bit longer than you’re used to. They make it hard on those kids on the back end. We’re going to take the positives, build from them, and put together a great plan for Wake Forest.”
On rating this offensive performance amongst previous games:
“I really can’t do that. I have to go watch the film. The only rating that we’re looking for is increased productivity and improvement which you can truly measure. Whether it’s maintaining blocks or being in tempo with our throws, sometimes there are incomplete passes that you can say that was better, we were in rhythm. All we’re going to try to do is get a little bit better in each of those small targeted points that we look at each week from individuals to positional groups, and obviously offense and defense and kicking.”
On SU’s development on the defensive front throughout the year and the pressure in the backfield, particularly Micah Robinson:
“I thought the same thing, there was some pretty good puncturing going on by our kids. When we lost (defensive tackle) Jason Bromley last year (New York Giants draft selection) there was some great concern there but I think those kids as a unit played real well and that they fought to learn how to play the game the way (defensive line) Coach (Time) Daoust asked them to. I saw some good things out of Micah (Robinson) too. I have the worst seat in the house to see offense and defensive line play until you watch it after the game but I saw some good things and I love the way Micah (Robinson) competes. He kind of is a leader in that room. When (defensive tackle Eric) Crume was out, we asked those other tackles, John Raymon, to get more reps and I know John was playing high at times but then I saw some good puncturing there with him. So it just goes back to what we always talk about, that next teammate stepping up to the plate and saying we’re counting on you.
“Nobody cares you had a dozen injuries going into this game. Nobody cares about that so we have to move forward and find the next guy to step up and bring the team along. That’s what our kids have done a good job of. It’s never as good as we want it to be but I do like the way we’re fighting. Guys like Micah Robinson pulling guys along by the way he talks to them in the room and in the locker room so I’ve been pleased with the brotherhood of some of those things and that showed up on tape at times today. I thought we played at times up front nose-to-nose with them. They got a couple runs, a couple missed tackles. The better teams, the better athletes you play, you always have a few more missed tackles and hats off to those kids at Florida State and that ability level that they have and their coaches do a great job with them.”
