Meet the Press: Cincinnati Week
11/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 30, 2009
Coach Wannstedt Press Conference
November 30, 2009
Cincinnati Week
Opening Statement:
“Obviously with the extra day, since we played Friday, it gave us the opportunity to move in the direction of Cincinnati from a preparation standpoint. That’s where are players are at. That’s obviously where the coaches are at. The only comment that I have looking back, and it’s really nothing different from what I said after the game, is that we just didn’t make enough plays in some critical situations to give ourselves a chance to win the game in a very tough environment on the road. It’s as simple as that. You can chop it up and analyze it in any way that you want. That’s the facts and that’s really what happened in that football game.
“We have 18 seniors this year. It’s probably the biggest group of seniors that we have had since I’ve been here. Most of these kids are guys that came in as freshmen during that first full recruiting season when I first came to the university. So it’s been really neat seeing these kids grow as young men, and also become better football players and build this program up over the last five years. It’s really exciting for them, when you think about what’s happening here come Saturday at noon. It’s an opportunity to play their last game in front of a home crowd, a sell-out crowd, on national TV and ultimately to play for the Big East championship. It’s a great script for our football team. It’s a great script for our seniors. Now, we obviously have to take care of our business to make sure that we are prepared to go out and play the best game that we’ve played all season.
“Cincinnati is an excellent football team, in all areas. We all know about their offense. Statistically they are the top scoring offense in our conference. They have a lot of talent, a lot of guys that will be playing on Sundays. We know that. I’ve been just as impressed with their defense. With them graduating as many players as they did from last year’s defense and to still be leading the conference in tackles for loss, they are playing as well as they have all year and really have gotten better. I think that’s worth bringing up. Their special teams, they have an outstanding kicker. (Jacob) Rogers was an all-conference kicker. He’s doing everything this year. He’s doing the punting, he’s doing the field goals, and he’s doing the kickoffs. They have the most explosive return man in our conference and one of the most explosive players in the country in Mardy Gilyard. He returns the punts for them and he returns the kickoffs. So for our special teams, we have a challenge there.
“Our kids were great yesterday. We had good meetings. We got off to a good start. Our coaches got a jump on things because of the extra day. We just have to make sure that we handle our preparation in the correct way — Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — and don’t get ahead of ourselves. Saturday will be a big day. There will be a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement. We have to make sure that we are prepared and give ourselves a chance to play at the level that we need to play at.”
On the challenge of getting pressure on quarterback Tony Pike:
“We’re second in the Big East in least amount of sacks given up, Cincinnati is first. That tells you, one, that they have a good offensive line. Two, I’ve always believed that teams that don’t give up very many sacks, a lot of that has to do with the quarterback and what you are doing on offense. If the quarterback is going to go back there and hold the football, I don’t care who’s blocking for you, you’re going to give up sacks. I think that what they do on offense, it’s a high tempo offense. The ball comes out quickly. I think that’s what has helped us a lot this year. The offensive line is improved, but I think that we’re doing some things offensively that give Bill Stull the chance to get the ball out quickly. That’s very similar to what they do. How do you slow them down? You have to tackle well, for sure. They have great athletes. They are going to make plays. They are going to move the ball. Also, you can’t just do one thing. You have to give them a variety of looks on defense, and you have to make them earn it.”
On Tony Pike and how he was able to be effective in last year’s game:
“I thought that our pressure was good. He made some great plays. Their receivers made some great catches. We watched that game last night. We busted a couple of things. We busted two coverages and one led to a touchdown. We had them third down and long once, and he scrambled out and they made a great play down the sideline. Those things happen. He makes plays. He’s a better athlete than what people probably give him credit for. I know we underestimated him last year. We won’t this year. He’s back. He’s playing extremely well.”
On moving on from the West Virginia loss:
“It’s been tough. You have to look at the big picture. You’re talking about 18-19 year old kids. You’re talking about exciting stuff on campus. That Notre Dame game was as hyped as any game that we’ve had here in awhile. (Then) we go from that to playing our backyard rivals. Then we know that coming up the next week is playing for the Big East championship. That’s a lot for an 18-19 year old kid to constantly be at the level that you need to be at emotionally to play as well as you can play. With that said, there’s a great expression that players bounce back after a tough loss a lot quicker than coaches do. I know that. These kids were in here on the weekend bouncing around on Sunday, and in here getting treatments on Saturday. They’re looking forward to playing this football game.”
On being ready to play in a championship game on Saturday:
“That was my talk to the team. I really thought long and hard about what was going to be my message. I’ve been in this situation a lot, on both levels. So I tried to give some examples. You can let your mind get really cloudy and you can start pressing. You have to make sure that you’re preparation is what it needs to be off the field. We have to take care of the details on the field. There were only two or three little things that I talked about with the team. This is the plan. This is what we all need to do. If we do these the next few days, we’ll be ready to play Saturday. Then Saturday we need to go out and find a way to play our best football game. We’ve talked all year that we want to play our best game the last game. It’s going to take that type of effort and execution.”
On Cincinnati’s defense playing so well, despite losing 10 seniors:
“We know about their offensive players, and their talent and their production. We know about their special teams. The one area that you can’t overlook is their defense. When you compare Pitt and Cincinnati and look at the statistics, it’s amazing how we are (ranked) one, two, and three, and they are one, two, and three, in most categories including defensively. They are leading the conference in tackles for loss. They have done a great job this year with their defensive football team. They are playing a different scheme. They changed coordinators and they are playing a 3-4 scheme now. So, they are doing some things a little bit differently than what they did a year ago.”
On believing that this game will be high scoring:
“You can’t afford to take that approach. Otherwise, you start forcing things. Rather than taking an easy check down, or a sure throw, you try to force something and you create turnovers. I think that’s what can happen in a game like this.”
On Mardy Gilyard:
“We know about his speed and his hands as a receiver. He has great run skills. I think that’s what you see on his kick returns. He makes a lot of plays in the passing game where he runs after the catch. That carries over to his return game. He has the burst to hit a crease, but he can also make guys miss and bounce it outside down the sideline.”
On Aaron Berry:
“He’ll play. He’ll definitely start. He practiced yesterday.”
On Cincinnati’s playmakers:
“(Mardy Gilyard) is their number one guy. D.J. Woods and their tight end had a big week last week. Tony Pike does a great job of throwing to the guy that is open and taking what you are giving him, from a scheme standpoint. They do a really nice job of that. They move their guys around a lot. Gilyard will be a split-end position and then he will be inside at the slot. You have to be aware of where he is at, but you have just as much respect for their other guys. You can look at the tape, game by game, and you can see great examples of all of them making big time plays. Our players see that on film. They know that these guys have talent.”
On being able to hang with Cincinnati in an offensive shootout:
“Every time we go on the field we think that we can score, on every possession. That’s the way it’s drawn up. That’s how we practice. That’s what our kids believe. You have to go out and execute.”
On being balanced on offense:
“Right now, after 11 games, we’re statistically in the top ten in the country in a lot of meaningful offensive categories. We’re balanced. If you look at the Big East, we’re first, second, or third, in almost every offensive category, running or throwing the ball. We’re doing what I envisioned us doing four years ago. We’ve done it consistently and at a high level throughout this season. Last week, we hit a bump in the road. We’ll get it back.”
On Cincinnati’s run game:
“Before the Illinois game, they ran it for 200 yards against West Virginia and Connecticut. They are capable of running it. They have talented backs. They have a good run scheme. Last week, with five or six minutes to go in the game, they’d only run the ball two times. They threw it every down. We know that we have to be ready to defend both. They’ll analyze our defense and they’ll make a decision on how they want to attack us, run or pass.”
On what enabled West Virginia’s defense to hold Cincinnati to 24 points:
“They tackled well. That’s going to be a big thing. They are going to get guys open and they are going to make some plays. This is a team that you beat not just in one phase (of the game). You have to beat a team like Cincinnati from a total team effort. Field position is going to be a big part of it. Offensively, making first downs and controlling the clock is going to be a part of it. It’s not just going to be what we do on defense. To beat a team like Cincinnati, you need to play well as a team in all three phases. That’s what we expect to do.”
On bowl games and expectations:
“The bowl games are good for practice time and for the development of our young kids. With our program, our expectations and our players’ expectations have changed. Just look at one year’s time. A year ago, everybody was doing back flips because we won nine games, and rightfully so. It was the first time (Pitt had won nine regular-season games) in over a quarter century. Now we’re at nine games and we’re pressing for more. We feel that we can get more. We want more. The kids want more. The fans want more. That is all part of winning.”