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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Head Coach David Cutcliffe's Weekly Press Conference Transcript
11/12/2001 | Football
Nov. 12, 2001
OLE MISS HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE'S WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE
OPENING COMMENTS
We're excited to get back in game week operations and preparations. I know our team has been looking forward to that. The open week came at a good time, but I'm sure that like everyone on staff, they're ready to get back competing. We certainly know we're playing an outstanding Georgia football team. This will take our best week of preparation in all phases. They present problems with their great talent and an outstanding scheme. They've got a lot of weapons in all those areas, so we're going to have to play extremely well. We know we have a great challenge in front of us with a three-game push. It's a brand new season for us, and as I said, we're going to have to have an outstanding week. I'm looking forward to getting back on the field today. We were hoping to get everyone back healthy. I still have some concerns about some people - Lanier Goethie, Robert Williams, Yahrek Johnson, Marcus Woodson. So we're still without some of our numbers, and we'll have to see when we get on the field how the rest of the squad is. But hopefully we'll be heathier than we have been in quite some time. We need to get off to a good start.
Q: Talk about the health of Josh Copper and Chris Collins.
A: I want to see today. I expect them to be out there today, but I hope that I see a more full-speed player than we've seen in the past couple of weeks with the rest time. I think Chris is pretty close.
Q: Are these the types of injuries you have to play through?
A: Often times, once you have an ankle injury, you're going to keep it to a degree. Even an open date doesn't present the time to get off of it, particularly with some of the lineman. You're pushing so much, and putting so much pressure on that joint, it takes them a little longer. Often times, guys have it and play with it the rest of the year.
Q: Is there still an emotional disappointment from the Arkansas game?
Q: How do you approach this three-game stretch and the SEC West race?
A: Our focus is on ourselves. There are many scenarios. Everybody has presented that to them. It didn't take me to do that. And I understand the circumstances surrounding conference races. But I think that rather than focusing on things we can't control, our focus in on these three game one at a time. They're all extremely important conference games, therefore they're all huge. And we're trying to have the very best football team that we can have. We're going to focus on nothing but Georgia this week, and that is plenty enough to focus on.
Q: What is the difference between this year's Georgia team and last year's?
A: They're very similar teams. They have a lot of talent. They obviously lost some good football players a year ago - a number of good football players in the interior of the defensive line. They've had quality depth for quite some time. I don't see any difference from a talent standpoint. They're a very aggressive football team. They're throwing the ball more and more effectively. They're throwing for over 300 yards-per-game, so they're a very dangerous offensive football team that I know is also dangerous when you put it in any of those backs hands. Jasper Sanks and Musa Smith are both guys that can beat you running the ball. So that's also a great concern. They've had great balance all year long.
Q: How would you grade Eli Manning after eight games?
A: I think he's played extremely well. He's been tough. He's been competitive. He's been a good decision-maker. His physical skills have been outstanding. I said coming in that he's a very well prepared quarterback, and I expected him to play well and do his part. Nothing more than that. You gauge a guy by his performance on the practice field, and if a guy is consistent, then you know what to expect on gameday. The think I've been most pleased about is, as a young quarterback, his consistency.
Q: Compare Eli and Georgia quarterback David Greene.
A: I thought David Greene was an outstanding prospect out of high school. We really, really liked him a lot. They both have good size, and are very accurate throwers. He has displayed great poise under pressure, and great toughness. I see a lot of similarities in these two young quarterbacks. There is no throw they can't make. They throw well on the move. They throw well from the pocket. They'll stay in the pocket well. They're both competitive. I think David Greene is an outstanding player, and certainly I think Eli is.
I think (Greene) is in a good system - a system that, much like our's, relies on the quarterback. He studies the game and has the physical skills to be very, very successful. It's also very evident he's a product of hard work himself. I'm not surprised by him, because coming out his senior year, I liked him as well as I did any quarterback in the country. I thought he was outstanding and played in a good offensive system. He showed great poise in high school. His success hasn't surprised me a bit.
Q: Talk about the redshirt/backup player scrimmage you had last Thursday.
A: We scrimmaged all our redshirt freshmen and quite a few of our backups last Thursday in a game-type situation. First of all, it showed them and me that they're not in as good a shape as they thought they were. It's a little different than performing on the look teams. They were some positive things on both sides of the ball. I saw good line play up front that was encouraging. Chris Spencer, Tre Stallings, Bobby Harris, Tony Bonds and the young guys have made some progress. Defensively, McKinley Boykin stuck out very quickly in the scrimmage. He's an extremely explosive, quick guy. That was encouraging. Michael Gibson showed some quickness that I hadn't seen from him. I could tell they're stronger. There were some great hits in the secondary. Kelvin Robinson made some outstanding plays and tackles from the safety position. Corner play - Travis Johnson and Tavarus Horne - was positive. Very quickly you saw Mike Espy and Taye Biddle show up at wide receiver, and it was good to see our quarterbacks get it to them. And I thought both young backs ran the ball well. We got a lot of positive work out of that. I know it was great pictures for them to see. It motivated our whole team. I think the upper classmen got into it as much as the young guys did. I thought it was a very emotional scrimmage, and we played with great intensity.
Q: After Arkansas, are you focusing more on stopping the run?
A: Obviously you try to improve on specifics and get better defending the run. Arkansas has obviously gotten better running the football and pose a lot of problems scheme-wise - their ability to run so many different types of options and a power running game and a zone stretch and all the different things. Each team has a little different running game. But there are specific things that we've talked about all year long, like being consistent, playing downhill with the linebackers, our secondary supporting at the right places at the right time. All those things are things that we need to get better at to consistently defend the run. There were plays in the Arkansas game that we played real well. We just weren't consistent, and that's a challenge for our team this week. Our preparation needs to be outstanding. We know going on, and I've seen up close and personal, how capable Georgia is.
Q: What are your feelings on the current overtime system in college football?
A: I think it takes some real serious thought, and I don't think that I have the total answer. I think you're at a point after living it, that we need to evaluate it very closely. I'd like to see the American Football Coaches Association get involved. I have some recommendations for the rules committee. Right now, I tend to favor the NFL overtime, because it brings into it more of a true team concept with the kicking game. I know there is a coin toss, but there is a coin toss in the other one. If you have to play defense, then your job is to try to stop them, then you get into the punting game. The entire team is involved. I'm not even so sure if you keep playing after 15 minutes of an extra quarter if it's a tie. A tie game is sometimes a tie game. Putting the ball down there in the red zone and taking that approach, I'm not so sure if that is the right way to decide the winner. And I know this is coming from the guy that lost it, but I think Houston (Nutt) probably has some similar thoughts as well.
Q: What do you think about backing it up to maybe the 35 or 40-yardline?
A: I think punting and playing the game means something. I know we're trying to decide a winner, and nobody likes the tie. It's like the 'kissing your sister' comment. I'm not sure if it's not curing a lot of things. I hadn't thought about it until after this thing. Statistics that occur in those overtimes and all those things, I'm not sure if it doesn't get out of whack. If we can't decide after five quarters if one team can't beat the other, I'm not sure. I don't know what you do with ties, but you figure it out. They have to decide who wins conference championships in hockey, and they've got all kinds of ties. I don't know.
ELI MANNING'S COMMENTS A. No. Peyton used to pick on me more than Cooper did. I kind of ran to Cooper for help sometimes. Peyton used to liked to torture me and make me cry. But, I don't think they ever needed my help for any of their battles.
Q. What would Peyton do? You often here about his intensity on the field, but you also here about him being the occasional prankster too?
A. He would pin me down and try to make me name all the teams in the SEC. I finally had to just memorize all the teams in the SEC. He would make me learn my football stats.
Q. Your Dad said that ya'll talk every Thursday night, you and Peyton. Coach Cutcliffe said Peyton liked to talk a lot about football, and he said you were laid back on that. How much to you and Peyton talk about football when you talk, and how much do you just talk about normal brother things?
A. We mix it up. I'll ask him about when he played Georgia, and we will talk about that for a little bit. Then I will probably ask him about whom they play this week. We will talk about what our game plan is, and stuff like that. It's going to come up obviously with two people who play football, but we also just talk about what is going on in each other's lives as well.
Q. After eight games as a starter, how would you evaluate yourself?
A. I think I am playing well. I am not making a lot of big mistakes. I am being smart with the football. I am playing smart football, and I just have to keep doing that.
Q. If there is one thing that you feel you need to improve on, what would that be? If there is anything?
A. I have fumbled the ball a couple times, which is not a good thing. I need to work on knowing when to go down with the ball and when to throw it away. Sometimes if there is nothing else I can do, I just need to go down and take the loss of yards and get back up and make a play.
Q. What has been the biggest surprise for you on and off the field?
A. There haven't been too many surprises so far. I've learned that you have to take care of your body. Playing out there on Saturday takes a lot of your energy.
Q. Are you pleased with your condition?
A. Yes. I am not getting tired in practice.
Q. With three games left, is the focus any different now than from game one or is it still the same?
A. We definitely take it one game at a time. Obviously we are focused this week on Georgia. It's a huge game for us. We've put ourselves in a position to have a good season. We just have to keep on competing hard. You never know what can happen. We have to worry about Georgia right now and play to win.
Q. Talk about Georgia?
A. They are a good football team with talented players. They are big and strong, and they do a lot of good things. We will have to go out there and compete and execute. They played well Saturday, and Auburn's a good team. They played a good game and just fell a little short. You can't get much closer than that. We know they are going to come out ready to play this week.
Q. Last year that game was the most you played in during the regular season. Do you remember anything from that game that you liked or is it a totally different situation?
A. I don't think that little playing time against them last year, will make any difference this year.
Q. Based on what you said earlier, in that you are still playing for the title, and the Auburn/Georgia game made it a little more difficult, did it sting?
A. It stung a little. But, it doesn't change anything about us. There is a still a chance we can win the West, and we would like to go 9-2 on the season, so Georgia's a big game for us. We have to go out there and play our game and hopefully it will go our way.
Q. Have you all moved on from the overtime game against Arkansas?
A. We've definitely moved on from that.. We've had a week to deal with it, and now our focus is on Georgia. It hasn't come up anymore.
Q. How long did it take to move past that mentally and physically?
A. It did take some time. All last week people were asking questions about it, and walking around campus people wanted to talk about it. We've had a week off, and we've been working hard and now we are ready to get back on the field.
Q. You are five years younger than Peyton and seven years younger than Cooper. It's been well documented about the battles on the basketball court. Did they ever try to sway you one way or the other?
