Ole Miss Football Weekly Press Conference Transcript

Sept. 29, 2003

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Head Coach David Cutcliffe
Opening Comments:
It's obviously difficult coming off a disappointing loss. We have a lot of things to do. We're pretty banged up after this one. Chris Spencer looks questionable at this time. That's a pretty severe loss, to lose your starting center and the player who rotates as our No. 1 guard. We'll work him, but that will be a day-to-day thing, and it doesn't look good at this time. We're pretty bumped and bruised. We had a lot of snaps in that game, with officially 82 or 83 snaps in that game, but we had about 88-90 snaps that were played.

We have a big challenge ahead of us. Florida is very athletic. They play a lot of people on both sides of the ball. They are very fast football team. They will be a big time test for us. We have a lot of work to do before we'll be prepared to go down there and compete.

Q: Where did you see the game slipping away on the game tape, and was it one thing or is it tough to say?
A: I don't think it was any one thing. If it were one thing, you'd have a better chance of fixing it. Most of the things I see are correctable. It's a combination of things. It's being in the right places and using the right technique. It's being mentally alert. Defensively, leveraging the ball and tackling. When you allow big plays, and I think we gave up nine plays of 15 or 20 yards or more, those things are devastating. We haven't played well, and have no consistency. That's technique and execution. Execution is my job. I have to do a better job of coaching all around. We had some things on offense where we scored on nine of 13 possessions, but it could have been better with better execution. That falls back on the coach and is my responsibility.

Q: Coach Driesbach said after the game he was evaluating the scheme and personnel. Do you see any drastic changes there?
A: I think you evaluate and re-evaluate constantly. You re-evaluate everything you do and who you are doing it with. I don't see any drastic changes with personnel. We don't have that many answers, so there aren't that many changes we can make. From a scheme standpoint, we have to make sure we understand what we're doing and we are in the right places. We aren't going to junk the system, but within the system, we have to make sure we're doing the right things often enough.

Q: Can you talk about Chris Leak and playing at The Swamp?
A: I knew about Chris Leak and saw him play when he was really young. He's an extremely talented football player. He's extremely accurate and poised. He has all the things you would want in a quarterback. He can make all the throws and has athleticism. He has shown tremendous poise to be a true freshman. He's played in some tough environments already and played against some tough teams. He's more of a veteran today than he was at the beginning of the season, and he does a good job.

We all know playing at Florida is one of the toughest assignments a team can draw. They play well wherever they play, but they play extremely well at home. They have a very vocal crowd and that will be an issue. It takes great focus and concentration. The most difficult part is playing a bunch of fine football players and a well-coached football team on the road.

Q: Can you talk about Danny Bell and some of your younger players possibly getting more playing time in the secondary?
A: Well, obviously none of us played great. Kelvin Robinson had a pretty good football game. Danny Bell is still rusty and learning. I don't see any drastic changes there. Charles Clark is finding his way into the game. Trumaine McBride played in situations for us. We're going to continue to build on that. We haven't decided all of those things at this time.

Q: What options do you have at corner?
A: Those guys are competing hard. We're going to keep the competition open there and try to improve. I don't necessarily see any changes in the starters, but we're always trying to stir it. I want to see people compete to start. If someone can play better, then that's the way it works. I don't foresee any big changes there.

Q: Last year's Florida game was one of the highest points of your career and for the Ole Miss program. In your mind, did you see a lot more success coming than you have had since then? Where do you think things went a little south?
A: I don't know if they've gone south. Obviously you're going back and playing out last season. I'm not going to review everything that's gone on since then, because we've done that enough. We played well that day. We played well on defense. Both defenses played well honestly. We didn't get a lot done offensively, but we made the plays we needed to win that game. It certainly was a big win for our program. We just keep playing tough football teams. The SEC every week is competitive. Since that time, we've played some good football teams. We've been fortunate to win some of those, and some of those we haven't won. You just keep competing and trying to raise that bar to the next level. That's not an overnight process.

Q: At Tennessee you had to use a freshman quarterback. How difficult is that? Obviously Chris Leak had some success against Kentucky, but how difficult is that over the long haul?
A: It's a challenge. You see a significant difference as the season wears on. Early in the season, it's new for them. College football, and SEC football, is a significant difference. He came from a good area of football and a good high school football program, but it's still different to play in the SEC than it is at any level in high school. There are adjustments that have to be made, and you ask yourself how much do you put on them and how fast do you move them along. He seems to be handling it extremely well.

Q: Did Peyton have a good running game to protect him that year?
A: We ran the football effectively. We had an experienced offensive line and leaned in that area a great deal of the time. As the season wore on, that balance we like became more evident.

Q: Is Eli better this year than last year?
A: I think every player gets better every year if they work like Eli Manning has worked. I think he is a better player right now than he was a year ago. I think he was a good football player last year and the year before that. There's no substitute for playing experience and time. He's a very conscientious young man. He takes coaching and anything from a critique standpoint seriously and tries to raise his game each week. I'm excited for them that he's done that. But, you can't do that by yourself. Our team around him needs to continue to improve because that helps a great deal. I think he's a better product because of his work ethic and desire to continue to improve. I think he continues to do that.

Q: Would it surprise you for him to do well at the next level? Are there ways now where he's better than Peyton at this stage?
A: It would not surprise me. I think he will do extremely well at the next level. I think he will continue to grow with the game and be a great quarterback at the next level.

I don't get into comparing them because they are different teams and different circumstances. They are very similar. He has a great understanding of the game just like his brother.

Q: You mentioned how well the defense played last year against Florida and that defense had some of the same problems later in the year it's having now. What was different in that Florida game and how do you recreate that defense again?
A: You'd love to recreate it, but these things don't happen by themselves. We made the plays we had to make in critical situations. In a lot of those critical situations lately, we haven't made the plays we would like to make. A lot of those are close calls. Whether it's confidence or different little things, who knows? We are going to have to make plays in critical situations for a chance to be successful.

Q: Did you think that Florida game was a turning point last year?
A: I don't think I took that game as a game that defined a turning point. A lot of people like to define those points, but I don't think they happen in a football game. They happen over time as you field depth and start seeing the continued success you want. I've never used those games as benchmarks to say we've arrived.

Q: Talk about losing double-digit leads in the fourth quarter.
A: That's a good question. The first thing you look at is making sure you don't have a conditioning problem, and I don't think we do. I don't think it's been energy or an effort problem. I thought that would be to our advantage this year with veteran players. You have to make key plays in critical times, and that's the difference maker. I don't think we've gone conservative and sat on leads. I think we just didn't make the plays we needed to make to be successful. Whether they are playing smarter, better or harder, I haven't seen us let up. But, there's something there and I'm trying to put my finger on it.

Q: Can you talk about kicking six field goals in the red zone and how that plays on emotion as the game wears on?
A: I don't know if it becomes an emotional thing. There wasn't any one thing that led to kicking field goals in the red zone. I studied that hard. We had some penalties in critical times and we missed connections on throws at critical times. They made plays in critical times. It wasn't one consistent thing, so it goes back to execution. I thought the scheme and plan was good in the red zone, we just didn't execute. We spend enough time working on it in practice that it should have been executed better.

Q: You have faced some unconventional offenses to this point before entering the SEC portion of the schedule where teams line up and go at you. Do you expect to see some of these teams add what they've seen to their offense?
A: We might see some of it. I couldn't blame them if they did. We are going to play some physically powerful and more gifted teams than we have played in the early part of the season. Some of our players understand the game's about to get more physical whether the team is throwing or running. We have a new challenge in front of us. Balance has been hard for us to defend. We stop the run and Texas Tech comes in and throws at us 64 times. That's a third more passes than most real passing teams with throw. You want to get someone one-dimensional supposedly. We didn't hold up and didn't get enough hits on the quarterback and do all of those things you think will happen when you lay your ears back and go. I don't know what opponents will take from that. We have to fix ourselves and be ready to manage any type of offense they might throw at us.

Florida is very versatile. They have the ability to be powerful and they have speed at receiver and talented backs. They have a lot they can do offensively.

Q: Do you feel like you win and lose as a team, or do you think one side didn't do enough to win the game?
A: We always talk about team responsibility. You win and lose as a team. There are days the defense gets hot and the offense does not, and the defense has to rise up and win the game. The kicking game has to kick itself in and play a part in it and make a play that can help win the game. I really never look at it that way because that's frustrating. We didn't get it done and we could have. The offense was hot and it was their day to get it done. I don't let that be a problem because there will be a reversal of fortunes. Strange things happen, you just have to do your job and take care of your business. If you do that, you'll be fine as a player.

Q: Did you get a chance to watch the Florida-Kentucky game? What are your impressions about the way they came back?
A: I have seen tape of it. That tells you they are well coached. They have character and ability. They turned it up a notch in the second half and it paid off for them. They just kept playing and competing like a well-coached team will do, and they found a way to win.

Q: Is that an area you feel your team has a ways to go?
A: We had a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter against Memphis and an 11-point lead with eight minutes to go in the Texas Tech game, so obviously I'm not getting it done from that standpoint.

Q: You have talked about how well practices have gone. How do you transfer that from the practice field to the game field?
A: I thought we prepared well for this Texas Tech game. Some of our practices haven't been gems like I would want early. Most of the time we practiced well, and I am looking at that. Do we take too much out of them on the practice field? Are we around them too much and over coaching because they are on the field by themselves at game time? Do we become a crutch? You have to evaluate and re-evaluate everything, and we're in that process.

Senior QB Eli Manning
Q: Was last year's win over Florida a win you thought the team would build on?
A: "Obviously it was a big win for us last year. It was an early win in SEC play. We thought with that win we had some momentum going on the SEC. Every SEC game is tough and we got on a streak where we did not play as well and were losing games. We have to get better. It is going to be a tough challenge this week. We have to go out and have a good week of practice and play smart football."

Q: Where is the confidence of the team right now?
A: "It is tough coming off a loss. We are 2-2 right now; obviously, we would like to be in a better position. We have to get better. Our offense is doing some good things; we have to get better in the red zone. We are hurting ourselves on a lot of plays. We have to get in a rhythm. Hopefully we will be clicking and have a good week of practice. We need to go in the Swamp and not make mistakes. It is going to be a tough game; a physical game and we need to get ready for it."

Q: What is like standing on the sidelines watching the other quarterback throw for 661 yards?
A: "I know our defense is trying. They were trying to make plays and were doing the best they could. You don't like the other team to keep scoring points and making first downs. It can get frustrating, but I know our defense is doing their best. When it is going to be a shootout like that, our offense has to produce points; we can't just keep settling for field goals."

Q: Was it almost like being in the twilight zone?
A: "No, not quite. That is the kind of game it was. We knew they were able to throw for a bunch of yards and had a good offense. We knew it might be a shootout. That is the kind of game we were prepared for."

Q: Would you be surprised if the Florida game was the same and came down to the fourth quarter?
A: "I really don't know what kind of game it is going to be. I know Florida's defense is good. They do some good stuff and last year we struggled against their defense. It is going to be a challenge for our offense to move the ball and get first downs. We have to watch a lot of film and figure out what we are going to do. We need to play physical football. Hopefully our defense will play well. I know they will be prepared and we will just have to see what happens."

Q: What kind of challenges does the Florida defense present?
A: "They do a lot of good stuff. They play a lot of zone defense and cover two defense that they play a little differently than most teams with the way their cornerbacks play. It gives us a challenge that is a little different than what you normally see. We will have to have a good plan for that. They also have talented players. It is tough to run against them. We have to play smart and when we have a chance for a good play we have to take advantage of it."

Q: What is the problem with scoring in the fourth quarter?
A: "I don't know. We are staying with the same game plan. We are trying to make plays; that is just the way it goes sometimes. I think we are playing hard. We have to continue to make plays. We have to stay with the same game plan. I don't know if there is something wrong in the fourth quarter, if we are getting tired or anything like that. That is just kind of the way things have been going."

Q: Do you feel like you are pressing to make plays?
A: "No, I don't think I have been forcing too many plays. I had one early in the game in the red zone. I forced a ball that got intercepted. Besides that one, I don't think so. The last interception was a force, but with only 26 seconds left you are trying to make a play and you do not have a whole lot of time to take underneath routes. That was a situation where we told everyone to go deep and I would try to find an open guy. Maybe right then it wasn't the time to force it, yet. I still had some time, but eventually you are going to have to force one in there and try to make a play."

Q: Did you have a chance to see Peyton play in Gainesville?
A: "Yes, I saw him play there one time."

Q: What challenges do all of the crowd noise present an opposing quarterback?
A: "It will be a challenge. It is going to be loud. We are going to have some crowd noise at practice during the week. I know I am going to have to be louder in the huddle, so everyone can hear me. I am going to have to be louder at the line of scrimmage when I am calling my fronts and changing my plays. I will have to make sure everyone hears me and can hear my cadence, so we can get off the ball at the same time. We have played in loud stadiums before, so we should be used to them, but there is a difference playing in a loud stadium when you are not playing at home."

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