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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Quotes From Cutcliffe's Press Conference
9/20/1999 | Football
Sept. 20, 1999
OPENING REMARKS:
"Well we're coming off a tough loss. I think everyone was disappointed in may things. I think the thing that was the biggest issue was that we didn't play as well in any phase of the game as we would have liked to have played. They were things that hopefully are correctable that we can make strides. I think it is very important that we keep improving as a team and we don't have any choice but to get back out on the practice field and be and reach a point where we can be as good as we can be this week against a fine Auburn team."
Q: After evaluating the game over the weekend, what did you decide to help gain some consistency?
A: I think the biggest thing from our consistency stand point is the level that we are going to have to practice at is going to have to be much more consistent. We've got to get some people on the field on a consistent basis. I do think that some of our missed practice time has been indicative of the way we've played. We are going to have to address that fact and get out on the practice field. We have to get people ready to play that we are practicing with and then while we're practicing, obviously, I have to do a better job of coaching them on the practice field, getting across what we want done.
Q: After looking at the film, what are your comments on the game?
A: There were too many mental errors. There weren't as many physical errors as there were way too many mental errors. We put ourselves in some tough positions on both sides of the ball. We took care of the football. We made yards when we did things the right way on offense. Defensively, in the first half, we really managed them well, made them one-dimensionally. We played the run well most of the time with the exception of the option during the ball game on defense. There were too many big plays. We don't want to be as dependant on offense with just big plays and we don't want to give up some of the big plays that we have given up. Certainly we have to address the third down situation on both sides of the ball. Then our consistency in the kicking game has to be improved.
Q: What are the situations with Tim Strickland and Anthony Magee?
A: Anthony will be day-to-day. We'll have to see how he responds to treatment and we are going to see how Tim Strickland responds and see if we can get back out on the practice field with people who are going to be lining up to play. It's been an unusual year, a little frustrating for the players, frustrating for the coaches but you are dealt the cards and you have to go play with them, whatever it is that you have.
Q: How long will Syniker (Taylor) have the cast on his arm?
A: Syniker will be at least another week or so, maybe two weeks with the cast. He's getting more used to playing with it but that doesn't change the fact that it's still there and he's got to have that hand protected where it is broken. There's nothing we can do about that right now.
Q: Is there any advantage for Auburn knowing the players as well as they do?
A: Their staff certainly doesn't need a personnel scouting report. They know these players. I don't know if that is an advantage or not an advantage. I've never been in quite that situation before. I think they do obviously know these players and quite a bit about their ability levels. I don't think that's as big an issue as just going out and getting it done on the field.
Q: Were you surprised by the Auburn-LSU game?
A: They (Auburn) continue to get better. They are extremely talented up front on defense and in their secondary they are playing well. They are playing extremely hard and with a lot of enthusiasm and confidence. You could see their confidence grow in the Idaho game early when they went out to a big lead. You certainly saw that at LSU and their offense has continued to improve. They have good weapons in their kicking game, their punting and place kicking game are real solid. They are hitting on all cylinders in all areas and playing extremely well.
Q: Do you have to play better to win rather than playing on emotion this game?
A: I don't know that emotions in the game will play into it. Certainly, everybody's talked about the game, looked at this game on both sides. I think once the ball gets kicked off I think its going to come down to the fact that we've got to improve. We've got to play better. WE have to put ourselves in the position to make plays and that goes back to the practice field and preparation. I don't think there is anything more important than our preparation physically. I do think there will be a lot of talk and a lot surrounding the ball game but that's not going to be indicative of the out come.
Q: Do you think that you may have looked past Vanderbilt last week?
A: I don't think we looked past Vandy. I think any of our players or coaches that looked at Vanderbilt on tape knew that Vandy was a much improved football team. They took Alabama into the fourth quarter with the lead and capable of putting themselves in a position to win that ballgame. Coming back last week. They didn't play well at all early against Northern Illinois but coming back from a 25-point deficit told you something about their team. They believe they can win. Their quarterback is playing extremely well. He is a talented youngster that's a good football player. They have some other weapons on offense. Defensively, we all know their traditionally a good defensive football team. I think our focus was there. I think our energy was there. It's not an effort thing. I don't believe in saying that we've got to go back and work harder. We can't work harder than we worked as players and as coaches. We have to work smarter and work better. That's our challenge. We put ourselves in position to win that game this past weekend, but we just couldn't pull it off.
Q: Have you cautioned the players at all this week not to be offensive to Auburn or Tuberville.
A: I think you talk to them about it. I believe in telling players the truth and tell them what we feel about handling that and they'll manage that well . It's not something that has been dwelling on their minds. They'll manage that well. I don't think it's a distraction, I've said it all along. I guess the more people talk about it the more the game will be on their minds. One of the challenges you have as a coach is getting them to think about what they are getting ready to do on Saturday. I think they'll get reminded a lot of what they're getting ready to do on Saturday. The biggest challenge is going to play a good football team on the road in the Southeastern Conference. That's always a great challenge.
Q: Did the score of the LSU-Auburn game surprise you?
A: I think any time you see lopsided scores in our conference, they're surprising. I didn't have much knowledge of either team physically because I hadn't seen either one before getting to see very little of it on T.V. before getting to see it on tape. It's like a lot of games that get lopsided. Auburn made the plays they had to make. LSU had some turnovers early in the game it kind of mushroomed into that type of ballgame. Auburn playing as well as they did didn't surprise me. I knew that had good players and they do a good job.
Q: How has Romaro Miller adjusted to your system this year?
A: Romaro has continued to get better. He played real well at times last Saturday. He's like a lot of our team right now, we just need more consistent play. He threw the ball well, had some big plays in the game but we can all get much more consistent. He is adjusting and getting more comfortable, the more he plays in the system the better he will get.
Q: How do you prepare for the trick plays that the other guy comes up with?
A: I think the biggest thing with trick plays is that you stay sound. You never know when you're going to get a trick play or a trick situation but as long as you're mentally sound and in good positions to make plays that's all you can do. You have to play your responsibilities and if you play your responsibilities well, generally you're in good shape to make a play on any type of play.
Q: After several shockers last week, does that show you that the conference is a lot more wide open and the best team on that day will win?
A: I think you are seeing more and more parity in college football period. I'll go back to being prepared and practicing well. We feel like we have enough ability to be in any game we play. We also are smart enough to realize that any team that we play is also in the ballgame. There are very few games that you play anymore that you just feel like that you are going to so mismatch people physically that they don't have a chance. There may be some teams like that out there in the country but there are very few teams that are along those lines. When you play in our conference, whether you're playing at home or you're playing on the road, you are going to have to play well in all three phases to win games.
Q: Talk about Grant Heard's performance last week.
A: We wanted to see and find out just how he would respond in a game situation. He practiced last week and he's obviously still not quite full speed and we have to continue to look at him. I wanted see how he was going to be after the ballgame and I haven't' seen him yet, but we'll see how he is in practice today to see if he can move forward. If he goes in the opposite direction and gets worse, we have to make a decision. Whether you can make a decision based on whether he can compete and do the things he has to do to be able to play. It will be interesting to see how his knee responds. If it gets worse, we'll try to see if he can apply for a medical redshirt.
Q: I there any reason to change your players late in the game?
A: If you had all your starters out there, you are better than at any time. We're obviously playing with guys in new position and new players playing and those are the cards we are dealt with. Those guys are practicing hard and playing to be the best they can be and I'll go back to playing a lot o people. It's proving to be beneficial that we are playing a lot of people because we have lost some people, fortunately not for a great length of time, but we keep losing people for a short period of time, whether it is for practice or ballgame , but you'd like to have one of those years every year where you stay intact from a health standpoint with your starter and your back-ups, but it's not very often that happens.
Q: Is this a game you try to keep your players' emotions in check since you have seven more to go?
A: I think you have to treat every game the same. I know that's coach's talk and all games, rival games are important and there are big games early in your schedule. This is our fourth ballgame and the thing we have to do is to focus and continue to focus on Ole Miss. Just how good can we be and I think if we keep right focus and perspective that we play every week to try to be as good as we can be and you are better off disregarding the Saturday before, whether you won by 50 points or lost by 50 points or three points. You're challenge is to go out and be consistent on the practice field in your effort, your intensity, your approach each week of play. Whether you're in the NFL or high school or college, I think that is something you have to strive to do.
Q: Are you going to be relieved when this game is through?
A: I don't know if relieved to get the game out of the way would necessarily be the approach I have. Any tough road game that you play, you hopefully go play well and give yourself a chance to win. You never look forward to going play a real good team on the road often but it's something that you have to do to be as good as you can be. I think our players will hold themselves in check from an emotion stand point and we don't have to worry about it being a major affect on our team with any long term effects. We just have to go play this game. Our focus will be, as much as it can be, on improving Ole Miss.
Q: Is there a way to channel the emotions leading into this game with Auburn?
A: I think our focus should be really good on the practice field. I think that's a plus. I think it's a plus that it will be talked about a lot. The game will be on their minds, but I don't know that you gain any edge once the ball's been kicked off. Emotions very seldom win ballgames. Proper techniques and being where you are supposed to be and making plays and playing hard, that's what wins games.
Q: How do help the players deal with hearing about the game from everyone around campus?
A: I don't think it hurts you to have people talking about the upcoming game. That's going to be on their minds, so people are going to make it be what's on their minds. My biggest challenge may be keeping their focus on class, doing what they've got to do as student-athletes, not just totally focusing on football.
Q: Is Vanderbilt that much better offensively than last year?
A: I thought Zolman was a good player by the end of last season. They are better in every aspect of what they're doing. They are doing the same things they did last year, but they are in the system for the second year and that makes a huge difference. When you're coming in and teaching a system, as they had to do in the first year, you're just working your way through it and there's no one there to give examples of how to do it and this is how it should be done and after a year you have experienced players. They returned all their players and now they have good pictures in their mind of what they're trying to do and I thought they were much improved. I think he's (Zolman) a good player. He's what I call a fast twitch athlete. He's got good feet and a good delivery, very accurate with the ball. He stood in their against the pressure very well. I'm not taking anything away from them. I just think our execution was not as good, in any of the three phases, as it could be. I think Vanderbilt is a much improved team on offense.
Q: Are you worried by the fact that you lost in overtime will effect the team this week?
A: I think that is our (coaches) job. I think you better concern yourself with it. I don't know if worry is the right word. I don't worry about it because I think we'll manage that and we'll go back out to work today and our focus will change but we have to correct our mistakes and learn. We better learn when we lose because if we don't, then we're in trouble. You learn from the things you have to do better to win. It's tough to lose close ballgames. That overtime is a funny feeling, but I like overtime better than I do that funny feeling when you don't know what to do when the game's over 31-31. You've got everyone standing around looking at each other and walking off the field. I've never liked that. I never knew what to say to the players when it was 31-31. Oh well, we shouldn't have played that one, now we go on to next week. That's just part of the price you pay. You've got to be ready to accept those things and move forward..
Q: Are you surprised by anything at this point in the season?
A: I learned something every day without question. I think you are learning as a coach constantly anyway. Things change, times change. Certainly I'm learning about how I want things done and what I would like to do better. I'm a pretty good check list guy and I've kept a pretty good check list through the years and I try to take good notes and learn >from my mistakes because I ?ve probably made more than most people have and hopefully don't keep making the same mistakes twice. All the tough things that go along with the territory, that hasn't been surprising. I can manage myself that way and I love the competition. It gets my juices flowing even more, I don't know if I could live without that part. I know that when you don't play as well as you would like there is only one way to fix it and that is to go back to work. That's what we intend to do.
Q: Are the hours any longer?
A: No, I couldn't get anymore hours out of a day than I always have. I've always tried to figure it out but I can't do it. They're always going to be longer for me because I have to work that way. Some people don't have to work that way but that's just my style of doing things. I may manage to stay a little busier than I used to, but not a whole lot.
Q: Talk about Justin Coleman?
A: Justin made some good plays in the game. He worked hard at improving and I think that he is an indication that if you practice with intensity and if you practice hard you get better and I think Justin see himself getting better and he did some surprising things in the game.
Q: Is it easier to fix mental mistakes than it is to fix physical mistakes?
A: I think it is always easier, if you are athletically good enough to do something, to coach a youngster to trying to be in a better position, better technique, not blowing an assignment. All of those things that their physical things allow them to do. I think that when you have physical mistakes, and a guy can't do something, that has to be corrected >from a coaching stand point. We have to put people into positions that they can handle. That is part of evaluating your abilities on both sides of the ball and on the kicking game. You ask people what they are capable of doing. They are two different things. I think most coaches would probably like the challenge of having the physical specimen that can be corrected from a mental stand point, that is football. Football is not a perfect game. I don't think you ever strive for perfection because once you do that, you are never going to reach what your goals are. I think you strive to minimize the mistakes and put people in the field to play as aggressive and as hard as they can play. As long as I've been in football, unless somebody tells me difference there's going to be busted assignments and you just try to minimize them as much as you can and not make the same mistakes twice.
Q: Are the majority of the mistakes mental?
A: Some of it's mental, some of it we just have to be better with technique. You can't lose focus. It was a combination of things and that's one of the things we are trying to do hard as a staff, evaluate the difference between the two, what can we do, what can we not do, what is causing this or that to occur. Those are the challenges of coaching, to try to come up with the answers just as fast as you can and correct those mistakes.
