.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Weekly Media Press Conference Transcript
9/8/2003 | Football
Sept. 8, 2003
Press Conference Transcript in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
HEAD COACH David Cutcliffe
Opening Comments
It's difficult in these times not to sound like you're using coaching clich?s about getting better and all the things you need to do to improve. But, from the standpoint of our team, it is about work. It's about practice, it's about performance, it's about expectations that all of us have of each other. A lot of things went wrong Saturday, and a lot of things went right at times. We're certainly going to try to build on the right and eliminate as much of what we did wrong - although there is never perfection - and try to put ourselves in a position to win.
Saturday was disappointing, but today is Monday and it's another opportunity for us to go back to work. I expect people to have great attitudes and great energy and go about getting better. We're playing a team that a year ago played us well. They have some good football players. I know they do, and they did a year ago. They are hungry as well. There will be two hungry football teams on Saturday, and we'll try to be the hungriest.
An injury update before I take any questions. Mario Hill was hurt during the game and I'm sure of his status this week. I'm still not sure of Eric Rice's status. Rick Razzano was hurt last Thursday in practice, and tried to go on Saturday but couldn't. I don't know what his status will be for Saturday. Bryan Brown and Trumaine McBride are day-to-day. Marcus Johnson got banged up in Saturday's game, but continued to play. Tre' Stallings, Doug Buckles and a number of other people are going to be evaluated. We've got to get them well somehow this week because we need people playing at full speed.
Q: Talk about Travis Johnson. Is he coming in from where he left off last year or is he having to earn his position?
A: Travis has continued to work in preseason drills. He's done scout team work and all of our drill work. He's had a great attitude throughout all this. I expect him to step in and be ready to play. Whether he starts or not depends on how everybody practices this week. I expect him to be competing for a starting position.
Q: Talk about the team's senior leadership and how it will help the squad bounce back and become more consistent.
A: Our seniors have been good, for the most part. Our captains have been excellent. It's got to be than just four persons, it's got to be everyone. Leaders are not seniors only. We have some veteran players that are underclassmen. This is the time that you are tested and I expect them to respond. We'll talk about that in meetings this afternoon. I have no reason to believe they won't respond.
Q: We saw Jamal Pittman run the ball a couple of times this Saturday. Does he want to be the feature back and do you want that?
A: You may have to ask Jamal that question, but every player wants playing time. Jamal has to work hard to continue to earn that playing time. He had a really nice run and I was tickled to see that. He's a very talented young man, and I hope he takes this as a challenge and try to put himself in that position.
Q: Talk about the passing game after the first two games.
A: Our pass protection has been good. We had two sacks Saturday. We had one where our player got beat quickly, so we didn't have the chance for the route to develop. Our other sack was a missed assignment where the player didn't hear the call and the pass rusher got to him before the route developed. Eli didn't get hit as much this game as he did in the first game, and even then he only got hit three or four times. He's played extremely well. At the end of Saturday's game in desperation situations, he threw two interceptions. That's entirely different situations. He's done a great job taking care of the ball. He's put the ball where it's supposed to go and when it's supposed to go 95 percent of the time, and that's hard to beat. He's competing hard. Without the dropped passes, he's got two 300-yard plus games and a five-touchdown game on Saturday, but that's football. That's part of it. You just deal with it, and you keep working hard and getting better.
Q: Talk about opening up at home against a non-SEC opponent in Louisiana-Monroe.
A: It's not unusual to open up with a non-conference game at home. Normally, we open up the season at home. We're excited about our home opener, and it really doesn't matter who our opponent is. It's great to be home and play in front of the home crowd.
Q: Is there any comfort is splitting these first two games on the road?
A: I don't know if I can take comfort in any loss to this point. We expected to go and play well in these games on the road. I felt like we had a team that was capable of doing that. As I said, there are some positives to build on. This isn't all negative. Our players played hard and intense and physical. We're trying to be more physical as a team. It's just a matter of consistent execution, and that's my job and my responsibility and I won't duck that. We have to find a way to avoid inconsistencies.
Q: Talk about why the misdirection plays were so successful for Memphis Saturday.
A: Their throw-back across the field was a well executed play. Sometimes it works great and sometimes it's a disaster. You hope it works great, and it did for them. On the touchdown sweep, we had a missed call on that play which resulted in an assignment error. One of the things you try to do is maintain containment. Whoever is responsible for containment has to be there or you're going to get burned.
Q: Was it a case of over-pursuing the ball or lack of execution?
A: We do pursue the football, but we still have people in position to make plays. They hurt us early with a bootleg, but after that, people played their responsibilities and they didn't complete another one after the first score, which was a misdirection bootleg pass. It's just a matter of playing your responsibilities.
Q: Are you looking at defensive personnel changes or tweak what you have?
A: You have to be objective about it. When you are not doing as well as you'd like to, you look at personnel, what you're doing, how you're doing it, and how you're practicing. We have to take all of that into account. Right now, I don't see major changes from a personnel standpoint. But, there may be adjustments. We're always open for competition. If someone steps up and puts himself in a position to play better, then so be it.
Q: You talked about Travis Johnson earlier. Talk more about how he's used his time to get back on the field and what you anticipate from him.
A: As I said, Travis maintained a good attitude. His drill work has been excellent and he hasn't lost his focus or concentration. He's taken the right approach in preparing himself. His conditioning is good. He's put himself in a position to be ready to play.
Q: In the first two games, the receivers have had a lot of dropped passes. Is there a reason for that?
A: That's a tough question to answer. You hope they all have good hands and are capable of catching the football, and I know they are. We've had some good catches from the same people that have also had some lapses and dropped the ball. The only thing you can do is to carry it from the practice field to the game field. In practice, we try to put them under as much pressure as we can. We do a lot of catching drills, and we want them to maintain focus from the start to the end of practice. You just keep working at it. I've been around where you have drops for a while and then they disappear. I don't know if there is any reason for it. I just know that you have to put the receivers under pressure, and you have to make practice as much like a game as you possibly can, so conditions don't change from practices to games in terms of their approach.
Q: You said before the season this team was capable of winning the SEC West. Do you still believe that?
A: Yes, I do. I think we've been capable of winning it. We've been close. We got to find a way to win the close games and big games. We've got to seize the opportunity. We've played two football games, and our goals are still the same. We want to try and win every game we play, but our goals haven't been altered a bit.
Q: What are your thoughts on ULM starting a true freshman at quarterback?
A: I don't know if they are starting a true freshman quarterback this week. I don't think that is the case. To be honest with you, I spent a lot of time last night looking at their defense. I have not focused on their offense yet. I don't think that (starting a true freshman at quarterback) is the case, but again I can't comment on something I don't know the answer to.
Q: Does ULM run a defensive scheme similar to ours?
A: It is similar. It is much the same alignments, but people do different things within those alignments.
Q: Talk about ULM head coach Charlie Weatherbie.
A: He's a very good football coach. He's had to come in and do things in a whirlwind fashion. When you look at tape, one of things you see is that they play extremely hard. They are well coached. That's what I expect from his football teams. I have great respect for him and the job he has done in the past.
Q: Have you ever been involved with a game like Saturday?
A: We had a little bit of it last year against Vanderbilt. We had a big lead going into the final quarter, and we collapsed for a while and scored late to win. It's unusual what occurred. We moved the ball into good field position a couple of times in the fourth quarter, so we had our chances. They did everything right and executed big plays in the fourth quarter.
SENIOR QBELI MANNING
Q: What is the role the seniors have to play as leaders?
A: We have a lot of seniors on the team, and it is our responsibility to pick everybody up when things aren't going our way. We have played a lot of games, and we should know how to stay in a game and keep everyone together and bounce back when we need to.
Q: Have the seniors talked since Saturday?
A: No, we have not had a chance to get together and communicate. It is something we are going to do. It is a long season and we have only played two games. We have a lot of improvements to make. We have to keep improving and it starts today at practice.
Q: What happened in the fourth quarter?
A: It is hard to say. It was not just one thing. We made some mistakes. We had some penalties that were costly, we dropped some passes, and I took some sacks. It made it hard for our offense to move the ball. We moved the ball decently, but we just weren't able to get into scoring position. We had mistakes that pushed us back and stopped drives. Our offense should be better than that. We should be able to produce points in the fourth quarter that will help us hold our lead.
Q: Talk about the coverage the teams are presenting you as far as giving you more opportunities to tuck and run the football.
A: I am not a quarterback that likes to run. I do not look to run a whole lot. Sometimes, depending on the coverage and what happens up front with the rush, you step up into the pocket and you see an opening and run. I try to do that when it comes up, but I am a quarterback that is going to look to pass first, and then if nothing is open or if there is a running lane, then I will take the opportunity and tuck it and run."
Q: Are teams presenting you with more of an opportunity to tuck and run?
A: They are dropping into coverage a lot. That is what they have always done. It all depends on the rush and if guys are not opening up holes. It depends on what the offensive line is doing and how the defensive line rushes to open up holes and how the linebackers are dropping. I just have to evaluate what the defense is doing and go from there.
Q: Talk about Louisiana-Monroe's defense being similar to Ole Miss.
A: I have watched a little film and it is similar to our defense. They have an eight-man front with two rovers that are standing at the snap. It is somewhat similar, but they do some other stuff in three-wide sets and four-wide sets with three down, and they do a lot of good blitzes. We will have to do some work to pick those up. They do some good stuff so we will have to be ready for them.
Q: Taye Biddle took responsibility for his drop after the Memphis game. What does that say about his character to you?
A: It is hard to go out and take responsibility. I know Taye was down. He wanted to catch that ball, it just didn't happen. You can't blame anything on him. It was just a physical mistake. It was nothing mental. He played a good game and made some big catches before that. It is just part of the game. He is a young player and will have a lot more chances to make some big plays for us, and I know he will come through.
Q: How is the moral of the team right now?
A: We will have to see at practice today. We just have to get a mind-set that we are not going to lose any more games. We should be able to bounce back from this. We have to practice better, become more physical and play better football. We are not doing the things that we know we can. We are making little mistakes that are hurting us. We have to be more disciplined and be smarter when we play.
Q: Is it frustrating for you, as a quarterback, to go out there in the third quarter and build a lead and then see the defense give up 23 points in 15 minutes?
A: It is frustrating that our offense didn't score in the fourth quarter. I knew Memphis had a strong offense. We knew they were going to be able to put some points on the board. They have a lot of good players on offense. I knew we had to score more points, but we just weren't able to do that. We have to help our defense by moving the ball and not putting them in bad field position. We needed to expand the lead more than we had it and we did not do that.
