Meet the Press: Coach Wannstedt Previews Cincinnati
11/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 29, 2010
• Pitt-Cincinnati Rivalry Page
Dave Wannstedt Press Conference
November 29, 2010
Cincinnati Week
Opening Statement:
"It's not a secret what happened in that football game against West Virginia. When you turn over the ball as many times as we did, you have no chance to win and that's exactly what the film showed. I thought we had a good game plan, and the turnovers will kill you every time. That was the difference in the game. Now we have to get focused for Cincinnati this week.
"When you look at Cincinnati, they are just as explosive as they were last year on offense. The difference this year for them has been turnovers. I believe they turned it over four times last week against Connecticut. When you look at all of their numbers, they're leading our conference in scoring and they're leading our conference in offense - first downs, third downs. They are moving the football and scoring points.
"This will be as big a challenge as we have had defensively all year long. Offensively it will be the same thing. We have pretty much moved the football against every opponent, and when we've gotten stopped it's mainly because of penalties and turnovers. We have to correct those things, which we have. We met with the players and we practiced a little bit yesterday. We don't have control of things (Big East race) right now; we know that. We have an awful lot to play for this week and our kids understand that. We are going to need a good week of practice, a good week of focus to go up there and play on the road come Saturday."
On the cause of turnovers:
"I'd have to go through each turnover. I can tell you that Dion Lewis carried the football almost 300 times last year and lost one fumble in the bowl game against North Carolina - he fumbled out of the end zone. It's not a fumbling problem with Dion Lewis, but for some reason he lost a couple on Friday. That's not a problem with him.
"With the quarterback scenario, I think that Tino Sunseri really played well. When you look at the overall game, yes, the one turnover was costly, but he did a lot of good things in that game. I thought that he made good decisions and made some plays on his feet. I thought against the best defense in the conference, and one of the better defenses in the country, he stepped up and made plays. There were a lot of plays left on the field that we can improve on, and will. Unfortunately you throw an interception, and it gets run back to the two-yard line. That's a tough deal. I thought that Tino Sunseri overall played well."
"You have to keep coaching and keep believing that you're going to eliminate those problems. Concerning the running backs, Dion Lewis has not been a problem. I'm not concerned about him.
"Ray Graham, he's put the ball on the ground a few times the last couple of weeks. We know that and he needs to correct that. He is well aware of that. David Walker is out there coaching the principle of ball security in practice and in pregame warm-ups. It's being addressed. Obviously the only solution over a long period of time is that if you put the ball on the ground you can't play. It's as simple as that. I don't feel that Ray Graham is in that category. He just plays reckless. He's a young kid, a true sophomore. He's a young player right now."
On importance of finishing with a winning record:
"It's important to these kids - the seniors and the junior class who is getting ready to step into the future. They're all well aware of it. Our seniors want to go out on a good note. There are all the reasons in the world to have a good week of preparation and to go out and win this game."
On the mood at practice:
"It's good. It was tough starting off (Sunday's workout) for everybody, as I would have expected. We actually put the pads on, went inside and we got after it pretty well. In the last half hour of practice there was energy back and the kids were coming back. They were highly disappointed, as we all were. We have to move on.
"We moved on to Cincinnati as fast as we could. We did a couple of drills against each other - Pitt versus Pitt. My talk to the team was pretty short yesterday. It's pretty clear to our kids. They do understand what wins and loses games. It is clear what happened in that football game and why we didn't win. We moved on to Cincinnati as fast as we could."
On Zach Collaros and Cincinnati's strong passing game:
"They make plays. They have receivers in Marcus Barnett, Armon Binns and D.J. Woods. They are explosive, and Zach Collaros does a great job of making decisions. He can throw the ball from sideline to sideline. We always talk about how many quarterbacks can do that and do it well. Collaros can do it.
"They'll run him on quarterback draws. They're running a lot of the read-option stuff. They're running a little bit more than what they ran in the past. They run a little bit more of a West Virginia scheme to be honest."
On West Virginia making a concerted effort to strip the ball:
"I don't think there's a reason for it (the fumbles), because it hasn't been a problem - particularly with Dion Lewis. We're coaching the same thing. The one did get torn out from guys trying to strip the ball. I think we face that every week."
On the future of the Pitt program:
"I'm not concerned with job security right now. We're just trying to beat Cincinnati. We're not going to graduate very many players this year. We have a great future ahead of us. We have a lot of recruits committed and a good young team coming back next year."
On TCU and Big East expansion:
"I know that TCU is an outstanding program. I have not talked to Steve Pederson or anyone about it. I don't even know if it has officially happened. At this time, I don't have any other comment."
On Cincinnati's running scheme:
"Isaiah Pead keeps you very honest from a defensive standpoint. We recruited him so I know him pretty well. In high school he broke all of Archie Griffin's records up there in Columbus. He was a very productive back in high school and he's very explosive now. He's one of the top backs in our conference. They will hand him off the ball enough and run the ball enough, which forces you to go back to the same old philosophy - stop the run before you get ahead of yourself. They're very balanced on offense. He catches the ball well. They'll spread him out and throw him the ball deep; they'll throw little screens to him. From a running back standpoint he's not one-dimensional, just a ball carrier. He can run around and they'll throw it to him. He has great hands."
On preparing the defensive line for Zach Collaros:
"They do have a lot of the three-step, the quick passing game to spread you out and get it out right away. Surprisingly, though, when they get to third down they throw the ball vertically and get it down the field. It's going to be a challenge for our defensive line, as it is every week, to get to the quarterback. Zach Collaros presents an even deeper challenge from the standpoint that he is athletic enough. He's not just going to tuck the ball and run; he's capable of doing that. A lot of his big plays this year have come off of pressure, moving around, finding a receiver and making a play. The last three quarterbacks that we'll face -- against South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati -- are all very similar from a physical standpoint, running, scrambling and passing. They're all big-play type of quarterbacks.
"He knows the offense. He can read coverages. He's very confident with what to do as a total offense. He was comfortable last year. Last year, he came in and they ran him a little bit more. He won those (four) games when (Tony Pike) was hurt. He knows what he's doing."
On Jabaal Sheard being named to the AFCA All-America Team:
"That's a great honor for Jabaal Sheard and for our team. I think his numbers speak for themselves. He's had an outstanding year, particularly under the circumstances when Greg Romeus went down. There was a lot more responsibility put on him. There were a lot more expectations that we all had that he needed to step up as a leader. I think he is excellent at doing all of those things."
On the value of a bowl game, especially the extra practice:
"You cannot get enough of that. In spring practice now, by the time you get the pads on and you count the spring game, you're looking at 10 to12 full-speed practices. Anything that we can get done in addition to training camp and the spring is valuable. The (benefit of a) bowl game will be in those areas from the standpoint of player development. Right now we only played four or five out of the 25 freshmen, so we have roughly 20 players that we've redshirted and who have waited their turn. All of a sudden they come alive and the competition increases. We'll use the time wisely."
On the cornerbacks:
We have to get them coached up, and fast. Armon Binns, the one receiver is the most productive receiver in our conference right now, and from what I'm hearing he's going to be a high draft pick. Ricky Gary has played steady all year. He got caught in the one jump ball situation on Saturday. Antwuan Reed needs to bounce back a little bit. He has played steady, we just need to keep coaching him up and get more out of him. He has good ability. I think when you get four or five pass interference penalties, it will shake your confidence up. Now is not the time to have a lack of confidence going into this week. Using Buddy Jackson is an option. K'Waun Williams, the freshman who played a little bit - he played a few snaps on Friday. We're not going to make any whole-sale changes, but we're going to try and play as many guys as we can."
On Cameron Saddler:
"Cam Saddler twisted his back. It was just spasms. He was out there yesterday and practiced."
On Lucas Nix not starting against West Virginia:
"It was just something in house."
On the expectations for this season:
"We obviously had higher expectations. I really thought that we felt like we needed to get a big year out of our best defensive player, Greg Romeus, and the way that he trained we believed that we would get a first-round draft pick type of year out of him. That was a little bit disappointing. I used the phrase in training camp that (injured player) Dan Mason was a linebacker who would fit into the Scott McKillop or H.B. Blades mold. Dan Mason has that attitude and ability. We had a couple of little setbacks there, but then Brandon Lindsey and some other guys stepped up.
"Obviously, with Dion Lewis and the expectations and all the hype - I don't think anything that was said or written was out of line with his performance last year. I think it was all legitimate. For whatever reason, we just never get on track with our running game. There were some setbacks there.
"The whole thing with the development of a new quarterback, the three new linemen and the new tight end and a new wide receiver; I knew it would be difficult. I knew that we had the least amount of starters returning in the conference, out of anybody. I knew we were a young team and that it would be a work in progress. (But) you don't expect to turn the football over. That's the one thing that really disappoints me. For the most part, over the last three years we've always run the ball and protected the football. We might not have been as wide-open as we would have liked, but we've always protected the football very well.
"These two conference games that we lost, I thought that our football team was making progress defensively from week one. Our passing game was making progress, and then the turnovers obviously set us back. That's very disappointing. The progress that our kids made at certain positions - Jordan Gibbs, Mike Cruz, Devin Street, Brandon Lindsey, Max Gruder and Tristan Roberts. All these guys are new starters. I thought these kids worked extremely hard and made some progress in the right direction."
On settling the offensive line:
"It does take a little longer than normal. I think that we made the one adjustment with Lucas Nix going to guard and the change with Jordan Gibbs. It's easy to say that this guy isn't performing at the level you want him to perform at. What's your alternative? Unless you feel really good about someone with experience and ability, and he's ready to step in, it sounds good. But if you set the team back then it's not the right decision. Our guys made progress. West Virginia is a really good defense. We gave up two sacks. If you look at the numbers, we came out aggressive against those guys. We were making plays and the turnovers killed us."
