Coach Wannstedt Looks at the 2007 Backyard Brawl
11/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 26, 2007
Dave Wannstedt
November 26, 2007
West Virginia Week
On the interceptions against USF:
Looking back on our game against
On Matt Grothe's 80-yard touchdown run:
We should've had a safety in the middle of the field. Actually, we missed a tackle at the line of scrimmage. We should have come in there and wrecked the play - we didn't. We probably could've reacted a little bit quicker. We were in man coverage with a safety in the middle of the field and, because of the motion, we were out of sync and weren't aligned perfectly and he outran us, to be quite frank with you.
On the defense's formation on USF's fake punt:
We had a block on that particular play. I read the statement (by USF coach Jim Leavitt) and went back and looked at it. We ran three different variations of our punt rush and it was completely different than what we had done last year. What they did, they must have audibled and made a check on the particular play because we had a block on from the left, so we were bringing six guys from the left and they ran to our right. That was the only time we ran that block, though. The rest of the time we were standing there with linebackers and we were looking for the fake.
On Pitt's holding penalties:
The whole officiating thing, it does no good to comment on it. We evaluate it, we give our opinion and we turn it into the league and then we get a response back later on in the week, probably tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.
On getting a response from the Big East regarding the officiating of the
I think anytime you have those judgment calls, that's what they are. Everybody has an opinion. If the ball is on the ground or not, that's pretty clear, but on holding calls and pass interference calls, that's one person's opinion opposed to another. You can't win those battles, you just hope that they don't happen very often and you hope that they don't cost you a game - that's the difference. They're going to happen, you just hope it's not a difference in winning and losing the game.
On Nate Byham's knee:
Nate Byham is going to have surgery. He will not play this week.
On the defense's performance against USF:
As we make plays up front, we'll play good defense. I said it before that the quarterback was 75 percent of everything they did. Every play, he (Matt Grothe) was the focus - run or pass. And even though
On what makes the Pitt-WVU rivalry so big:
It's been 100 years. I don't know how many teams we've been playing for 100 years. There's a lot of great stories behind this game. I think it's also the point that you just made, the location is one thing. They are recruiting a lot of the same players that we are, so the kids know each other. I think that always brings a rivalry to life - when the kids know each other and know who they're going against.
On what stood out about the rivalry to him as a player:
My senior year (1970), I can't remember exactly what our record was - close to .500 - they were 5-2 and went down there and played them in Morgantown, Bobby Bowden was the coach and we won the game 35-7. Even though we had a few wins previously that was the first win that - I can remember the next week as a player, I was a senior captain - we could say that we beat a good football team on the road, we might be a decent team. Psychologically, I think that game had a lot to do with the turning of their program back then.
On whether he was recruited by
Yep. Bobby Bowden did.
On LeSean McCoy setting the freshman touchdown record:
I'm sure he was aware of it. Someone brought it to my attention on the sidelines because at that point in the game I had kind of lost track of it. I think you're always looking for positives that you're building on and when you can come up with a positive that's a freshman, it's real exciting. The expectations of him coming in were obviously that he would contribute early and make a difference and make an impact and I think he has exceeded that. He has not reached, by any means, his full potential. He has a lot of room to improve and now that he's been in the system and he goes through an offseason and a spring practice, he's going to be an exciting player here in the future.
On Maurice Williams:
You have to remember that he never played receiver before, he was a quarterback back in high school and a defensive back. He went through the transition of college and the addition of changing positions. He's going to benefit so much from a good offseason. He's a great kid; he has a lot of ability. He makes plays in practice and does things in practice that you don't coach and that's what you're looking for. He has the ability to go up and make the one-handed catch. As a matter of fact he had one Sunday. We went and practiced Sunday night and he went out and made a big play. He's probably at about 50 percent of knowing what he's doing; we're trying to keep him pretty limited. His transition from quarterback to receiver and being a freshman in college is better than I thought it would be at this point.
On what his message will be to the players this week:
Find a way to win this game. Regardless of how many wins we have at this point, you're talking about playing a team that some people have ranked as the best in the country. In addition to the big rivalry, the 100th year, if you go down there and win this game that's how people will remember this season. It's a great opportunity.
On what it's going to take to beat WVU:
It's a team effort, it really is. To beat these guys, you have to play very well as a team in all areas. You have to play some field position and when you have some chances to make plays with the special teams, you need to do it. Offensively, we have not been able to run the ball against these guys - we were forced into a passing game. It's tough to outscore these guys. Turnovers come, the sacks come, the negative plays come and the drive killers. And then defensively, last year we made the decision that we weren't going to let them run the ball in the first half and we were going to find out if Pat White could throw it. So we came out, if you remember our scheme in the first half, I think (Steve) Slaton had 40 or 50 yards and I don't know what Pat White had, but they threw it. He completed three big passes on us and that was the difference in the game. I would hope that we're a little quicker physically and maybe a little sharper mentally. You have to force them into a few turnovers. You have to take advantage of field position. When we get a chance to score we can't kick field goals; we have to score touchdowns. That's how you beat them.
On the keys to West Virginia's recent success:
When two players on your team are preseason hyped for the Heisman Trophy, you know they have some talented players that are well coached. Their speed is just so much different than what you're going to see at any other time during the year, particularly at quarterback. The guy (Pat White) is a great player for what they do.
On how much the rankings and implications of this game will motivate his players:
Well I think that's all part of it. There are plenty of reasons to be motivated about playing this game. I'm sure everybody might look at it a little bit differently, but because of where they're ranked is something that every kid and half the coaches here haven't had the opportunity to play somebody who is ranked No. 1 in the country, or No. 2 in the country. That's not something that happens everyday and if you go down there and perform well and win the game, it's something that you'll talk about for the rest of your life and people will talk about you for the rest of your life.
On West Virginia's improved defense:
We were talking about that this morning, they are playing very good defense. They don't give up many big plays. They're playing the run extremely well; I know they're in the top 10 in the country in defense. Statistically their defense combined with their offense, there are not many weaknesses and it forces you to play well in all three phases.
On adjusting to
It's a little bit different and I thought we had a good plan on offense last year; we did some good things, we moved the ball, but we just couldn't hold up on defense. If we could've played better defense last year, I thought that our plan, particularly throwing the ball, we felt good about it. I thought Tyler (Palko) and the players executed well. We put up some points and we moved the ball. When we fell behind and we had to exclusively go to the pass, that's when the turnovers and the sacks come in. As I said earlier, they force you to play well in all phases to beat them. And you have to be physical with them. If you watch the South Florida game that's what they did, they hit them and they were physical.
On how many points Pitt will need to score to win:
The paper would tell you that we're going to have to score more, but you never know how a game's going to unfold. I've gone into games where you expect it to be in the 30s and it wasn't, and vice versa. You just play it out and see what happens.
