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The University of Mississippi Athletics
David Cutcliffe Weekly Press Conference
8/28/2000 | Football
Aug. 28, 2000
OPENING COMMENTS
It's been a hot preseason, which has been a test for our players. I am sure it is hot in New Orleans, and that both teams are excited about it being game week. We are playing an experienced, good Tulane team. We are going to have some people back and ready for practice today. This is the healthiest we've been in quite some time, so I am anxious to get on the practice field and see how we respond. We need to have a good week of preparation. We're deep into our preparation for Tulane, but we need to sharpen and polish things up.
Q. Because of the heat, do you practice the same way to keep the players used to it or do you back off to keep them fresh?
A. We're not going to be out there an extended period of time. We will get a lot done, but we're not going to change our tempo on the practice field. We are going to be conscious of our minutes on the field and make sure we keep plenty of water in them. They're talking about the next two days being between 102 and 104, with heat indexes around 115.
Q. Because of the heat do you expect to play a lot of people on both sides of the ball?
A. This early in the year, I think all of us like to play as many people as we can. That's one of the things we've challenged our squad with. We can't play people who aren't ready. We need a lot of people to step up and be sharp. We would like to play a minimum of two deep on both sides of the ball, and we intend on doing that going into this game.
Q. Do you think Tulane is a pretty tough task defensively for the first game with a guy who threw for 3400 yards?
A. Patrick Ramsey's a tremendous player. They have a great system on offense. They have experienced offensive linemen back and a great group of receivers. They feel good about their running backs and they should. Tulane has worked hard to become a little more balanced. But, when you can throw the ball that well, it sometimes becomes difficult to defend the run as well. We'll have to have a lot of people ready to play. They run a lot of plays and have a good tempo on offense. It's certainly a big challenge in our first game.
Q. How is Deuce's hamstring, and can you address some of the other little knicks that you had in preseason?
A. Deuce looks good. He's been practicing full speed for about a week. He feels even better today than he has at any time. The most serious injury we have is our offensive guard German Bello had his knee scoped and we'll get him back on the field today. Matt Koon, one of our offensive tackles, also had a little knee strain. He should be back on the field today ready to go. Robert Williams, one of our tailbacks, was out with a knee strain. He practiced Friday and Saturday. We expect him to be at full speed today. Joe Gunn should be back on the practice field. Eddie Strong, who's missed some time, should be back. Most of it has been nagging injuries, so hopefully we won't be faced with any long term situations.
Q. Talk about the leadership of your defensive ends this year.
A. Derrick Burgess had as fine a summer as any player I've been around. He worked hard. When we came in here, Derrick was injured and struggling. We took him off the field and got him healthy, and his leadership off the field in the weight room has been outstanding. Shane Elam is a guy you love to watch play football. He plays full speed and has a great motor. He works great in the weight room. Those two guys are going to have to provide at defensive end what Kendrick Clancy provided for us inside at tackle last year. We will have some people who can play at tackle, but our ends will have to set the tempo as Clancy did a year ago.
Q. Talk about Terrence Metcalf's progress moving to left tackle?
A. Terrence is a really good athlete for a big man. For a 300-pounder, you don't find that many who could play as many positions. Terrence could probably play center, guard or tackle athletically. He feels very comfortable outside at tackle. He's got the feet and the balance you need to be a pass protector. Terrence is a physical, strong guy. He gives us a good dimension at left tackle. He needs playing time there like anybody does. The more experienced he becomes, the better he will be. He's progressively gotten better. He's spent the entire spring and all of preseason at left tackle, so he's had lot of quality work there.
Q. Both of the quarterbacks have played by the numbers. Talk about how Romaro is progressing and if you'll try to get Eli some playing time as well as Morris. Or is it Romaro's until an injury occurs?
A. Romaro Miller's our starting quarterback. He's had a tremendous camp, and he's going clearly No. 1. Early in the season, I do like to get the backup, who's Eli Manning, some snaps for a number of reasons. If something should happen, at least you've already put him in the game. We played our No. 2 quarterback in some early games last year. Eli's proved he's ready to play. He's positioned himself to be prepared. Romaro had as good a camp as anybody on our team. He is so much more comfortable with what we're doing and able to do so many more things. I know he's excited and anxious to get playing because he truly knows and is comfortable in the system.
Q. Talk about Keydrick Vincent.
A. Keydrick Vincent has had a great summer as well. He trimmed himself down to the 325-range from 350 pounds. He's still a physical player, a very strong player. He's a good drive blocker and a guy with a lot of experience. He's a smart football player. Keydrick probably plays a lot better than people give him credit for. I am anxious to see what kind of year he can have. I think he's the kind of guy who can be an all-star player on the offensive line.
Q. Talk about Belton Johnson.
A. Belton had a good spring going, and then five days into the spring practice, he broke his ankle. But, he was making a move to become a starter early in spring practice. He came back, and it's phenomenal what he did in rehab. He's stronger, and he is a better physical specimen than he was prior to the injury. He spent a lot of time doing strength work. He's a very athletic guy with a great ability to be an outstanding pass protector on the outside. He's continued to improve his strength, where he's better as a drive blocker. Of course, it's unfortunate for Matt Koon to be out with an injury. If we can get Matt back healthy, I believe we will play with both those guys.
Q. Characterize the defensive side this year.
A. We are a faster defensive team than we were a year ago. We have good team speed. We're not really that big, but I think this team has an attitude defensively that they will play together extremely well. I think they'll play highly motivated. We're going to play a lot of people, so several different people will contribute. By playing a lot people, they've really pushed themselves. Our defensive staff has done a good job. Our defense is much more versatile. Our pass defense is more versatile and they know what they're doing. It will be exciting to see them play.
Q. Talk about Tulane's defensive team
A. Their defensive team returns all of their starters and a lot of people who played from a year ago. They're very experienced, and they play really hard. Their linebackers played really well against us a year ago. They're both playmakers. Their secondary has got some outstanding speed and ability to make plays. They were a physical team, and they do a lot of things up front. Anytime you have veteran experienced players, you are going to have a defensive unit with a lot of pride. They play with a lot of pride.
Q. Do you think it helped Romaro to have Eli behind him pushing him, giving him competition and how do those two get along?
A. They get along great. There's no question that competition is good at every position on a team. Romaro is very aware that Eli is a quality player, and it helps anybody who's No. 1 to have a quality player behind him. They're tremendous friends. They spend a lot time together at quarterback meetings. They both have great respect for each other, so there's never been any problems. They're both competitors, and they should be competing against each other, but off the field they're very close friends.
Q. Talk about last year's game against Tulane?
A. We didn't do a good job of scoring in the red zone last year. We had some turnovers down there, didn't get the ball in and had to kick some field goals. We weren't as efficient as we could have been offensively. Against a team that plays so well on offense, we better minimize our mistakes on offense. We can't afford to have penalties and turn the ball over. We've got to be consistent. Certainly, playing a team like Tulane, you better take advantage of your opportunities.
Q. Have you talked to the team about the preseason rankings and all the hype surrounding them and how much do you think they've thought about it and how have they handled it?
A. I don't know that they've given it a lot of thought. It's something we have to talk to them about. Preseason rankings are nothing until you earn them. It's just a prediction. That's all we have right now is a prediction of where we should start. We've got a lot of things to prove to ourselves. We're not necessarily holding ourselves to the standard of who's predicting what we'll do. What we have to do is hold ourselves to our own standards. This team has to be focused that way to be as good as we can be.
Q. Are you pleased as a coach with where you are?
A. I don't think any coach is ever pleased. We've still a ways to go. Depth is a concern for most programs. There are very few programs that feel comfortable with their depth. We are still not as deep as we would like to be, but I think that's the case with most teams. We have quite a few players on our squad. Our numbers are up to above 160 counting our walk-ons. With as many people in practice, we can separate a lot of drills and do what we call "split teams." We get a lot of repetition, which helps us. Every NCAA squad goes through camp with the maximum of 105 players. That's what you can bring to preseason camp prior to school.
Q. How many walk-ons do you have?
A. We have 83 scholarship players at this time. I don't know the exact number, but we probably have 75 or 80 walk-ons in our program.
Q. What do you try and do to prepare for first game situations?
A. You try to cover every situation that you possibly can and try to put your players in those situations before it could happen in the game. We played some game-type scrimmages where we actually rehearsed all the situations on the sidelines. Anything can happen during a game and you have to be prepared for every unexpected situation.
Q. Talk a little bit about Omar Rayford.
A. Omar Rayford is a very talented young man. He's still got a lot to learn about our system. From an ability standpoint and being able to go get the ball, he's got tremendous speed. He's got great strength at wide receiver. He's got outstanding hands.
Q. What color is the team going to wear, and what color do you want the fans to wear?
A. I've really never made a big issue about what the color the fans wear to the game. I love both of our colors. I haven't made a final decision on what color we're going to wear.
Q. Coming out of preseason practice how many times have you felt like "Ok we're ready"?
A. I've never felt totally ready for a game, because there's just a mystery of what to expect. We've been practicing against ourselves all spring and preseason. There's nothing there, other than looking at yourselves, to test where you are. We don't have a scrimmage against an outside opponent to test ourselves. I think having an experienced team at key positions, makes you feel more ready. We have some veteran players at key positions, and that makes you feel a little better.
Q. Talk about the kicking game.
A. First of all, I don't think people realize about Tulane, and how outstanding their kicking game is. They've got a great punter who was tremendous in our game a year ago. He averaged 44 yards a punt. They have an outstanding field goal kicker, who was named second team all-conference. The kicking game is extremely important to us. We are more athletic in the kicking game. We've got better speed in all of our units. Deuce McAllister is a great return man in the punting game and the kickoff game. He will be a continued factor for us there. We are breaking in a new kickoff man. That's an area we want to improve on. Lee Rogers right now is going to handle that duty in the opening game. I want to see us improve there quite a bit. The kicking game is often critical in the outcome of the early games.
Q. Talk about Tremaine Turner.
A. We worked Tremaine quite a bit at fullback in the fall of his freshman year for depth purposes. He did a good job. He worked there in the spring kind of by necessity with both Charles and Toward out. We thought he was the best player there. He's not a real tall guy, but he's a very strong, physical player. He's quick. He can play fullback or tailback. I like him at fullback because he's a tremendous receiver and runner, as well as being able to block at that position.
Q. Last year Tulane had quite a few yards against you but not many points. Is that the way you have to play this type of offense?
A. We never like to give up a bunch of yards. But, I would rather give up yards than points. A lot of the teams that throw the ball quick and on time and spread the field are able to possess the ball and make first downs. Obviously, you want to try and minimize the yards, and most importantly, keep them out of the end zone. They'll get some different looks and see some different things from us, but I am sure we will as well from them.
Q. Is the key to keep them from making the big plays and give up some of the smaller plays?
A. That's true in any game against any style of offense. You have got to tackle well and minimize big plays. They're going to move the ball some because they are good and any good offensive team will do that. But, we'll have to try to minimize the mistakes and keep them out of the end zone.
Q. Are you going to work Syniker on offense any?
A. Right now, we haven't worked him any on offense. He knows enough if we needed him, he could move back over there. He's coming off not being in spring practice, so we are trying to let him get more comfortable at safety.
