Meet the Press: Coach Wannstedt Discusses the Rutgers Game
11/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 12, 2007
Dave Wannstedt
Rutgers Week
November 12, 2007
Opening Statement:
I think I should start off by saying that we had a productive bye week. We had an opportunity to get some work done from a team standpoint, most of it against ourselves cleaning up a few things that we felt were necessary. We also had an opportunity to get a few players back healthy, not necessarily somebody who was out, but someone who might be banged up or is tired, which is going to happen around this time of year. So I think the bye came at a good time from that perspective and it did give us a couple extra days, particularly as coaches, to take a good look at Rutgers and start formulating a game plan a little bit ahead of schedule. We had a good practice last night. We'll get back into our normal schedule on Tuesday and we look forward to this challenge. We've had our problems the last couple years against Rutgers and I feel like we know them better now than we ever have. They're an outstanding football team. They have the leading back in our conference and one of the leading backs in the country, a Heisman trophy candidate, and they play a style of defense, from a pressure and movement standpoint, that can give you a lot plays. We've got to be physically ready for a physical game and at the same time be sharp mentally to be able to handle what they throw at us.
On Rutgers' physicality being the primary concern:
From an offensive standpoint for sure; they run the ball on the perimeter somewhat, but for the most part Ray Rice is a between the tackles runner. Their offensive line is huge. I mean they are big and physical and strong. That was a foundation that they set a couple years ago and that will be a challenge.
On Ray Rice:
For his size he is very powerful and he has great balance. He can make a four or five-yard run that when you look at it on tape you would say that there's no space for a back to make four or five yards. He doesn't bounce a lot of things; he'll make big plays, but he does not force the big play. He's very disciplined and he'll take the four or five-yard run knowing that opportunities will come as the game goes on. He has to be as durable a back as anybody who is playing in college football today. I don't have the exact number, but every time you look at the stats he's carrying it what seems like 30 to 35 times a game. And they think nothing of giving it to him that many times. So he has shown that he's a tough guy. He's shown that he's durable. It's going to be a big challenge for our defense.
On Mike Teel:
Teel is a guy that got some experience early. Two years ago, they would play him sporadically with Hart, who was the starter. They would play Teel from time to time; he got his feet wet a little bit, got some game experience. This is his second year starting now. He's a very accurate passer, you can see that. He understands the offense very well and doesn't make bad decisions. Every once in a while a ball will get away from him, as it does with all quarterbacks, but he makes good decisions and really manages the game well for what they want to do on offense.
On guarding against sluggish play after the bye week:
I think you need to do enough full-speed work during the course of the week. I think if you're working just against the scout team where the pace isn't what it would be and what it will be on Saturday, you might have a tendency to come out and start slow. We have it structured this week, and we did last night, where we're going to get enough [first offense vs. first defense] full-speed work to try and keep our edge that way. And then it's also a matter of where you're at as a team. We can't afford to come out and start slow, we can't afford to be flat and our players need to understand that. Coaches, players, everybody needs to understand the urgency of this game and come out and play as good as we can play.
On the Rutgers defense:
When they pressure, they're going to pressure 30 to 40 percent of the time. I would expect at least that much against us. They play man coverage and they'll lock you up and they're going to put pressure on you and they're going to make your quarterback throw into tight coverage. If you can make the throws, you're going to have a chance to complete some balls. Syracuse was not much of a man (coverage) team and we knew Louisville would be a man team. We knew that Cincinnati played man and I expect to see different blitzes and different stunts, but a similar mentality this week with Rutgers defensively that we've seen the past couple weeks. And we haven't scored many points, so why not?
On the unpredictability of the college football season and the Big East:
Every conference across the country has been -- what's the word? -- parity. I don't know, but it has evened out a little bit. The expression `any given Saturday' is true. All you have to do is look at the box scores. It's happened every week. A year ago in our conference, there were two or three teams that I thought -- that I know -- were better than everybody else and were some of the top teams in the nation. This year with Connecticut playing better and Cincinnati coming back, our conference has evened itself out a little bit. There are a lot of different theories why, but it has happened. And you said it, it's not just happening in our conference, but all over the country.
On Rutgers' receivers:
I think that they have a lot of talent. They're big play receivers, but the running game with Rice gives those pass plays an opportunity. And now you have a quarterback that can make the throws and you really have a nice combination. You can't go into this game and say, `hey, all we have to do is stop the run.' They have receivers and they have a quarterback who can make plays in the passing game. I know they are in the top 20 in the country on offense. Even the game they lost to Connecticut two weeks ago, they had 400 yards offense, threw for 300 and ran for over 100. They're very productive in both areas.
On former Pitt linebacker Clint Session's success on Sunday for Indianapolis:
It's great to see all of our guys do well. Clint, because he left here last year, a lot of the guys can relate to him. (Former Pitt cornerback now with the Jets) Darrelle Revis was here on Thursday and spoke to the team. He was out there at practice and it's neat to see those guys having success, particularly guys that these younger players can look up to and relate to. We need to get as many guys as we can into the NFL. I think that's good.
On playing on the road for the first time since the Louisville disappointment:
I think that our team going back to the Cincinnati game learned that finding a way to win a close game does wonders for your confidence. We've had a couple of tough games against Louisville when you go down there and feel like you have a chance. Without winning that game, there are still some things that you walk away with and point out some positives. We're confident enough that our football team believes we can beat anybody. We have to go out and play well and prepare that way. We're looking forward to this game, we really are.
On Aaron Berry and the return game:
I think it's something that most of the time the average fan might not pay attention to, but that punt return (vs. Syracuse) sets up that last score - the difference in the game. Any time that you can flip field position, whether it be offensively or special teams, that hidden yardage is critical to the outcome of the game. The best thing that Aaron's doing right now is that he's making good decisions and he's confident. He's handled enough balls by now that I think he's confident. Rutgers is using a spread punt; they've changed this year so they're using the rugby punt with the roll out. So it's a little bit different than what we saw last week against Syracuse, but we've seen it about half of the year so it'll be a little different challenge this week, but at least you know you have guys back there that can handle the ball and are confident with the ball in their hands. That's a real positive for your football team.
On any personnel or scheme changes on the return team:
No, we really didn't change blocking schemes much. Every week (special teams coordinator) Charlie Partridge will change up a pressure or two. The block that we come after them with will be different every week usually, but the return stuff doesn't change much. And a lot has to do with getting the ball kicked right. A few of the returns that he (Berry) had against Syracuse, the balls were line drives, there wasn't much hang time and he had a chance to field the ball and get a little bit of space. I've always believed that the good punt returners make the first guy miss. That's how I've always judged those guys for years. If a guy can catch the ball with somebody in his face and that guy tackles him and he can't make that guy miss, he might be the guy you want catching the ball but he's probably not the guy you want returning it. I think Aaron has that ability to make that first guy miss on his own. That's motivating for our return team too. If we can get guys who can run back kickoffs and run back punts and you're on that unit, you know that you have a chance to make a big play and help the team.
On the turf at Heinz Field:
The last game we played there against Syracuse, it was great. I know it rained (for the Steelers' game) against Baltimore on Monday night. Last year it was a little worn as we got to the end of the year. High school playoffs are what, the weekend of Thanksgiving? That's usually when it gets hit pretty good. They play Friday, we play Saturday and then the Steelers play Sunday. That's when it usually gets worn and a lot of that has to do with the weather. We were pretty fortunate there up until that Monday night game with the rain.
On Bill Stull:
He's progressing. He won't play this week, but he's making progress.
On Stull playing again this year:
We haven't really talked about that. In the conversations that I've had with Billy I've said, `Hey, when you're 100 percent and you show me that you can throw the ball, we'll see where we are at in the season and then we'll make a decision if you're going to play or not.' We don't want to do anything premature on that end.
On talking about a bowl berth with his team:
No. We have to try to find a way to beat Rutgers.
On Joe Clermond:
Joe has played steady all year. We don't have many seniors, but the seniors for the most part have been steady players and have played well all year. And I think they have to. If those guys had not been practicing with the right attitude and if those guys weren't out there making plays, it would be really tough for those younger players to look up to those guys and say this is how we're supposed to do it. That part of the season has been easy. There's not many of them, but the seniors that we do have, they're doing everything they can everyday.
On the bye week being a much needed rest for LeSean McCoy and Joe Thomas:
Joe will be back with us, he'll be ready to play. He's practiced with us everyday so the bye has helped us there. With these young kids I don't know how much rest they really need. When you're 18, 19 years old you can deal with a lot more than what you think. LeSean is fine. If we would have played last Saturday he would have been ready to go.
On whether Coach Wannstedt will be on the sidelines this week:
Yes, I will be back on the sidelines this week.
On comparing LeSean McCoy to Tony Dorsett:
He (LeSean) is an exciting player. The only comparison that I would make is that Tony was a guy that anytime he touched the ball you felt like he could win a game for you or hit the home run. LeSean's that type of player. The other comparison would be that Tony came in and performed at a high level in his first season. That transition from high school or prep school to college life is a big question mark and a big hurdle for a lot of these kids. Tony came in and handled that extremely well and LeSean has also. He's come in and dealt with everything that he's needed to deal with and kept his feet on the ground. He works extremely hard in practice and that's a similar trait.
