Cutcliffe's Comments on Tuesday's Practice

Aug. 25, 1999

"I am pleased to say that we got word from the NCAA today that Syniker Taylor will be eligible for the 1999 season. We did hear something positive."

"As far as the scrimmage goes, until you look at the tape, you never know, but I though we came out a little sharper on offense in the open field. We moved the football and sustained some drives. I thought that was positive."

"The negatives offensively are without question, not getting the ball across the goal line. That's a problem with discipline. We were not taking care of the ball like we would like. We had a couple of big fumbles and we can't afford to let that happen."

"Defensively, I see a lot of the same people showing up. I think our seniors on the defensive side are really setting the tempo and that's a pleasing thing. We'll have to see the tape to see if we improved on some of the things we're looking to improve upon".

"I thought our kicking game, again, got positive work. We got to look at some different returns and some different things. We put ourselves in more of a game situation in the punting game and Reagan King was very adamant that he came through in a big way. I thought Les Binkley, who right now will be our starting placekicker, was also very consistent and had a good day. So those are encouraging things in the kicking game."

"We have a lot of work still left to do. I thought our attitude was much better. I think we came out with an attitude to push ourselves. We have still got to many people out. I know we got a few people banged up today and we will have to wait and see. I know that McAllister got banged up a little bit, but it looks like he should be fine. We've got to start getting some guys back. I'm looking toward the end of the week or the first of next week when we certainly need to have our squad in place and ready to go."

Q: Talk about Deuce and the injury.
A: He just landed on his shoulder and they just took him for x-rays for just a precaution and the x-rays were negative.

Q: Does it cause you to hold your breath on that kind of stuff?
A: It's just football. You always worry about it but I just manage to keep it out of my mind most of the time. It's just part of the game. I think more things happen when you play in fear than when you just go out there and compete in the game as you should.

Q: How much of a domino effect will Syniker being back have on your secondary?
A: Syniker gives us a lot of versatility. He is a guy that can play corner or safety. He gives us an opportunity to look at a couple of different combinations of people. We will talk about that. That's one of the things we'll talk about tonight. We'd planned until this point that he would not be there but now we can plan for him to be here this season.

Q: Can you tell us exactly what the NCAA cleared up?
A: Because of the Buckley Amendment, I can not get into that. The NCAA rules on eligibility and he was ruled eligible.

Q: Has (Les) Binkley gained some range?
A: I don't think there's any question, not just in two-a-days, he's done that since he's been here. He worked hard during the off season and he's worked hard in the weight room. He came in January and had a great off season and started a really good work ethic then. I was really pleased with what I saw of him from the very beginning this fall. He's got plenty enough range. The thing I like about him is that he is consistent and smooth.

Q: Do you remember him from Tennessee?
A: Oh, yes. You end up with 20 placekickers and you never get looked at realistically.

Q: Do you think you've improved in depth?
A: Well, I think we've developed some. As I've always said, competition is healthy at every position and I think we have developed some quality competition in the placekicking area.

Q: When will you start focusing in on Memphis?
A: We've already done a lot of planning but tomorrow we will start the general plan with the players. We will start moving more in that direction starting tomorrow.

Q: Are those casts on Armegis (Spearman) and Syniker's (Taylor) hands precautionary?
A: They are precautionary, just trying to keep situations from getting worse. As I said, Syniker has a crack but Armegis is purely precautionary to keep his wrists and hands settled down.

Q: What's the deal with (Charles) Stackhouse?
A: Just an ankle and we are not going to take a risk. I don't want an ankle that will be an ankle all season. I want him well. He's a guy that knows how to practice. He's a contact player, he loves contact. He's not one that has to prove to me whether he is going to be a physical football player and I want him well.

Q: Was Kevin McKenzie here today?
A: No, not right now. There is a situation and I will address that probably tomorrow.

Q: Talk something about (Terrence) Metcalf and how much you have used him in practice.
A: It picked up today. I'm not going to say much on Terrence today until I see the tapes. We put him in today in a lot of the scrimmage situations and I'm anxious to see how he responded.

Q: Are you getting closer on a center decision?
A: It seems right now that Ben Claxton is our starting center at this time. I'm anxious to see how well he did today. He's gotten better and better. Charlie (Perkins) has also gotten better. That's the encouraging part about it but right now Ben is the number one guy.

Q: Are you pretty close to settling on most of the starters at certain positions?
A: Well we're pretty close. We'll meet tonight and look at it, starting to look at it and see whose competing but you can't tell everything until you get that opportunity.

Q: Is there a difference between David Morris and Eli (Manning)?
A: Well you have one that's been here and the other is a true freshman and we're trying to work him in as much as we can but right now Eli is third and David is second.

Q: Talk about the wide receivers.
A: We have to get some folks back healthy, we're kind of doing it by committee and just wait and see whose ready that practice. It's good to see Corey (Peterson) out there. Jamie Armstrong's coming back helped. Maurice Flournoy was a little banged up today so we pulled him out after he had been in there a while. But there's a group of guys and we are going to play a lot of people there. Corey, and if we can get Grant back, then we're still day to day. Grant's feeling really good. He just has to get to the point where he can cut loose and go.

8/25/1999 | Football