Head Coach David Cutcliffe Press Conference Transcript

HEAD COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE
OPENING COMMENTS
I was pleased with our effort and focus for four quarters against Murray State. After looking at the tape, I saw a lot of positives. Our kids were into the game. We were able to play 68 players, which is always a positive, and a great way to open the season. There were a lot of positives in execution in all three phases. Certainly, there are some things that we need to improve on before Saturday. We need to minimize some of the mental errors that we had and we don't want to put the ball on the ground as much as we did offensively against Murray State. We are going to face a tough challenge this week, and we know that. We are playing a talented and deep Auburn team. Our team is young, but now that we have played a game, we have something to build on. I am anxious to return to the practice field. We have a lot to do, but fortunately, a few days to work on the things we need to accomplish.

Q. Can you give us an injury update?

A. "Mitch Skrmetta is day-to-day with an ankle. Lanier Goethie is a little banged up with an ankle. He should be back tomorrow. German Bello is still questionable. We should get Brian Lester back today. Outside of that, everything is much the same as it was."

Q. How do you evaluate their (Auburn's) young quarterback, who is young too?

A. "He played well. He's very athletic and has a strong arm. He made good decisions. They are very experienced in the front, which always helps any young player. They played a lot of people and they are talented and deep at the skill positions. They are talented at running back, even though they are somewhat new."

Q. Eleven different receivers caught a pass this weekend. Is that something you would like to see every week?

A. "We've developed depth to play at receiver and I think that is important, as the heat is a factor in the early part of the season. Hopefully we don't lose anybody, but if we do, at least we have some players with experience. Eli did a nice job of making decisions and spreading the ball around."

Q. With all the changes you had on the offensive line and two redshirt freshmen starting, how would you evaluate their play?

A. "The offensive line played well. We protected the quarterback well. We were able to play eight people early. We brought in Cliff Woodruff early, and we played Matt Koon and Gus Carwell. It took some pressure off of them (Doug Buckles, Marcus Johnson), to be able to rotate different players. Hopefully we will be able to continue that. There are mistakes and things we need to improve. They needed to play and see a game at full speed, particularly Marcus and Doug. They will get better with every snap. We were a little slow starting with our run blocking, but it picked up as the game went on. Most of the execution was positive, but we need to correct some of the mental errors quickly."

Q. Is Matt (Koon) ready to return to the starting lineup?

A. "We have to see. Matt is sore and hasn't played a whole lot. We have to work him back into that mode. Right now, I don't foresee that changing. Obviously, anything can change during this week, but it's going to be who we think is best prepared to start the game."

Q. Did you have any unexpected surprises, anyone jump out at you?

A. "We didn't have any individual surprises. Along, I have said that Matt Grier is a playmaker, and everybody saw that occur on the field Saturday. When he had opportunities, he made plays. He's one of those guys that needs to correct some mistakes as well. I was glad to see our receivers make some big plays. That was a question going into the game, as to where we stood based on practice performance. They improved starting last Wednesday and held up during the game. I don't know if I was surprised to see that, but I was pleased with their performance."

Q. One of the plays was (Jason) Armstead's kickoff return. Could you talk about his development and what role you see him playing?

A. "Jason Armstead is a talented young man. He is definitely going to be a part of our return game. He displayed his abilities there. He had one nice punt return and a couple of other great chances in punt returns. He's dangerous in both kickoff and punt returning. He's a guy, who we are going to have involved in our offense. He's been hurt and missed quite a bit of practice time. He's still learning, but I think you will see him get better each time offensively. Jason's an exciting player who gives you everything he has."

Q. What kind of injury has he (Jason Armstead) been fighting?

A. "He had a strained MCL on his knee during camp and he returned gameweek."

Q. Talk about Chris Collins and the improvements he's made. He's almost a different person and do you see him becoming the number one guy on this team?

A. "Our receiving corps has quality depth and Eli's ability to move the ball around is a positive for us. I don't know if any one person is going to dominate, but Chris Collins, a year ago as a true freshman showed a lot of flashes of what you saw Saturday. He is a better conditioned athlete after going through summer workouts here. He is a big, fast guy. He is about the same weight, but he has proportioned himself differently. He is a guy who made a difference this spring by catching the ball more consistently. I have always known that he could catch the ball and run with it afterwards. He got the opportunity a little more the other night. He is much more confident and he could certainly end up being a great football player, because he has a solid work ethic and a great competitive spirit. He needs to continue to build on that."

Q. Has Omar Rayford earned his way back into the starting lineup?

A. "We are not addressing that right now. They are all going to play, so that is not a big issue with us right now. Nobody played poorly. I want to see them all block consistently at that position. We will evaluate them at practice before we make any decision about who is going start the next game."

Q. Do you expect a similar scheme offensively from Auburn as you saw from Murray State?

A. "They are similar. Auburn has a bigger package and they will more be physical. They have the ability to come running at you more than Murray State does, dictated by their personnel. Auburn has big powerful offensive linemen and tight ends. They possess speed and the ability to run screens and spread offense as well. We don't know exactly what we will see, but we know it will be a more power offense than what you saw against Murray State."

Q. Do you believe that (Lorenzo) Diamond is only 250?

A. "He's a big guy. As a group, their tightends may be as big any athletes in the league."

Q. Yesterday, Tommy said they (Auburn) were as basic as they could be running their offense and defense. How basic were you guys Saturday?

A. "We were pretty basic in what we did. We didn't change anything necessarily so Auburn wouldn't see it. Our job was to try and take a young team and execute. Auburn didn't use a lot of their package. We have watched them the last couple of years. We know that there are things that will show up in this week's game that we will have to be prepared for."

Q. Along the same lines, now that you have a game under you, can you and Don (Lindsey), not to tip your hand, try some more things?

A. "We had seven players start for the first time in their careers on defense Saturday. That makes a big difference to get a game under your belt to see what they are capable of doing. We will grow a great deal from that standpoint. We will always do what our players can do physically. We try to get them in the situations. We will have adjustments every week. There will be certain things that will change every week from that you think are best suited to help you stop that opponent."

Q. How many defensive linemen did you play Saturday, and if we have some hot weather as we typically have during September in the midday, how many linemen would you play?

A. "We have six that are in the rotation and possibly a seventh. We may have played nine or ten. Heat always is a factor. We will substitute early where we have people that are ready to play. The key to that, is that they have to be ready to play. You can put people on the field if they haven't earned it. That always a work in progress as far as I am concerned. I pay attention and put a lot of stock in how a guy is going to practice. If they don't practice well, that is going to reflect in their playing time."

Q. How much do you have to sit the players down and stress to them how the games are going to get tougher? Do you even need to tell them that?

A. "The older players do a good job of explaining to the younger players who have not been to an Auburn before. We will talk about it some, but they know about it. Particularly early in the season, we need to focus mostly on Ole Miss. We need to try to be as good as we can possibly be. That's why practice is so critical for us right now, to show improvement on the field to show that we are going to maintain that work ethic and focus. The best chance for us to do well on the road, is to be as prepared as we can coming out of this week's practice. We realize we are jumping into Southeastern Conference play. They look at the same tapes that I look at. They know that we are playing a very talented and deep Auburn team. If you want to do well, you have to play well."

Q. When did Trey Fryfogle work his way into starting?

A. "He started playing well this spring. He didn't waste time his redshirt freshman year. Trey is a a hardworker, as evidenced by his winning the irnonman competition for us. He worked extremely hard in the offseason and made numerous big catches for us in the spring. Throughout camp, he was one of the more consistent players making the big plays. He's a very strong young man and he has greater speed than people realize. We feel very good about be dependable."

Q. Talk about special teams and what you saw early?

A. "Our special teams played well. Our kickoffs were more effective. Jonathan Nichols did what we asked him to do in the extra point area, not attempting a field goal. He was good and on rhythm. Cody Ridgeway can punt the ball much better than he did. He was a little fast and he got it off in an unbelievable time. He will relax and have some big games. Our return game for the most part, was good. That's the fourth kickoff return for a touchdown we've had. I would like to keep that going. Our punt return game can be better. As I said, the punting can be better, but the punting game wasn't really tested. We didn't finish as good as we started. We are never pleased about giving up an 81-yard punt return. That didn't need to be given up. We had people in position and if we would have done what we were supposed to we would have stopped him. If they would have done what they were coached to do, that never would have occurred. That is something we will correct and work on today."

Q. I saw where (Mitch) Skrmetta and (Bo) Hartsfield caught passes. What is (Doug) Ziegler's health status? Did he play?

A. "He started the game and played. He's healthy, he just didn't catch a pass. I don't know if he got himself open."

SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK ELI MANNING
,Q. After watching the game film, did you find any mistakes that you felt could be corrected?

A. "I made a couple of misreads. I got excited and did not read the safeties, one of those came on an incompletion. I need to get back quicker in my drops. One time on a running play I got tangled up. I did not get back quick enough and I got stepped on. Those are things I need to work on. I need to get back quicker from the center and little things like that."

Q. Talk about the relationship you have with your father and brother.

A. "It is really just like any brother/father relationship. They talk to me after the games and wish me well. They are supportive of me and congratulate me. If I have questions I can always go to them and ask them about anything. Really they are there for me and support me. If there is anything I need or anything I want they will try to help me out."

Q. Talk about your performance, did you expect to have such a good start?

A. "I really didn't know what to expect when I got in there. I knew we had players that could make plays and I knew we had a good offensive line. I really need to give them a lot of credit. They were giving me all the time in the world to throw and they were making all of their blocks. The backs were making all of their blocks. The receivers were getting open, so I have to give a lot of credit to those guys. They were making big plays."

Q. You completed passes to nine different receivers, is that something we will see in every game?

A. "Definitely. I feel comfortable with all nine receivers. I am not picking a favorite and throwing to him everytime. I am trying to make my reads. I am reading the safeties and the defenses and where it takes me is where the ball goes. I am not getting a guy in my head and thinking I am going to him everytime. We rotate in a lot of receivers and I am trying to get the ball to my backs and my tight ends. Whoever is open gets the ball."

Q. On Saturday, how much would estimate Murray State played man vs. zone and what do you anticipate Auburn will do?

A. "Murray State blitzed a lot so they were playing a lot of man coverage. Our line picked that up and our receivers were playing one-on-one. Our receivers were winning the battle on getting open. Auburn does a lot of eight-man front and a lot of blitzing also. We have not gotten into all of their game film. I have seen what they did in their first game and what they did against us last year, but I have not seen any other game film on them yet. They do some good things on defense, they have a lot of athletes. I just need to watch film and prepare for what they might do."

Q. Were you surprised you were as sharp as you were in your first game?

A. "I do not know if I was surprised. During practice I have been doing well and working hard. I do not know if I have ever completed 18 in a row in practice. I just went out and competed and did not really worry about it. Again, I want to give credit to my offensive line and the receivers. They got open and made the catches. They made it easy for me. When the receivers are getting open that well, I can just put it out there and they made good grabs and making plays with the ball after they caught it."

Q. Was there any point after the game where you thought you were glad the first game was over (due to all of the attention)?

A. "Yeah, I am kind of glad it is behind me. I was ready to play Murray State for a long time. There had been a lot of talk about it and a lot of waiting around. I was ready to get that game over with as far as people expecting things. It was good to get that first game under you belt. Now we need to just keep on preparing. Auburn is going to be a tough challenge for us, they have some good players. We need to keep our heads level, work hard this week and go out there ready to play on Saturday."

Q. Have you ever crossed paths with Jason Campbell along the way and what do you know about him?

A. "I have never met Jason Campbell. I have heard about him from recruiting. I think he is a good player. I do not know a whole lot about him. He won the starting job at Auburn, so obviously he is making big plays. I guess we will see on Saturday."

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