Sept. 20, 2005
ORLANDO - The following are quotes from UCF head coach George O'Leary at Tuesday's press luncheon.
Opening Statement: No one is more disappointed than me in the performance that we had on Saturday (against USF). As a head coach, the buck stops with me, and you are always searching for answers. Football is a game of blocking and tackling and we were not very good at either one of them on Saturday night. Offensively and defensively, we didn't tackle, we didn't block and we didn't sustain. That is what I thought was the difference in the game. There were so many missed tackles and bad field position because of it. We also got some penalties that caused us poor field position on kickoff returns. As I told the players, there are nine games left and those are conference games. I expect them to go out and compete one (game) at a time. I have always told the players that it is an 11-game season and you play one at a time. I don't think you can forget a game like that, but you can't harp on it either. You have to move on to the next game and make sure you are ready to play that one.
As far as Marshall is concerned, they are 1-1, and they have a new head coach, but pretty much run the same offense and the same defense. A little bit different defense than they had past year, but pretty much the same offense. We have to go out and execute. That has been the word of the week. The players got back to practice today and had a good practice as far as moving on. Once the game is over, I cover the game with players, (but) I don't continue to harp on the game. I think the next season starts and that is what I am looking into with the Marshall game.
Question: What was the biggest problem against USF?
O'Leary: I think when you look at reasons why (we lost), the big thing I saw is that we had no success early in the game, and that is where your leadership and experience has to takeover, and it didn't. We didn't tackle very well. We had so many big plays that we gave up because of lack of tackling and poor tackling. That was the exact opposite of the first game we played. It is something you continue to work on as a staff. The big thing that I emphasized to the team was that we had opportunities in that game and we didn't take advantage of them. Every time we did something well, we took two steps back. Guys were there to make tackles and we didn't do it.
Question: Was the performance against USF the fault of the players or coaches?
O'Leary: I think it is a little bit of both. When I evaluate tape and look at what I saw, I think we had guys that got their reach in instead of running through tackles. I thought their defensive line really took our run game away. They put an eight-man front up there, and when they do that, you have to be able to throw the ball and make completions. We were sort of looking for something good to happen in the first half, create something to happen, and it never did. I can see why people are disappointed. They should be. No one is more disappointed than me and I told that to the players. I truly expected us to go out and play a good game fundamentally. Tackling and blocking were the emphasis for the week and we did neither. I didn't leave it on the players. I leave it on the coaches, too. When you don't play well, you have to examine the whole thing, and obviously I go back and make sure we covered everything we were supposed to cover. I think it is a lesson learned as far as the team is concerned. You have to play well fundamentally if you want to be successful and we didn't do that in any phase. The only phase I thought we had some success in was special teams, and we have been playing well in those areas.
Question: What catches your eye about Marshall?
O'Leary: They have a young quarterback (Bernie Morris) is who is doing some better things. Last year they were sort of one-dimensional at the quarterback position, he (Stan Hill) wasn't as much of a runner. This kid will do both. He will run and throw. I think their running back (Ahmad Bradshaw) is a good running back. They have a massive offensive line, about 320-340. They are pretty big up front. Defensively, they have a bunch of new players. They have seven new players up front. There is no question that we can't be three and out in this game. That is what hurt us Saturday night. There were a lot of three and outs, and we are not that kind of team. I do expect our offense, which has more experience than our defense, to sustain drives. We did that against South Carolina and that was the difference in that game. Saturday night, our defense was on the field for 83 plays to our offense's 60. Time of possession was like the South Carolina game - the opposite way. We can't have three and outs because we have to sustain drives; and also for field position.
Question: What changes can you expect from Marshall with a new coach in Mark Snyder?
O'Leary: He changed the defense some. That was his background at Ohio State. They are doing a little bit different coverage concepts. Offensively, they kept the same coordinator there, so they are very similar to what they were last year. Defensively, they are a lot more of a 50 front than they had been last year. Last year they were more of a 4-3 team. That is the only real difference I see is coverage concepts. He has a lot of young players, a lot of JC players, working through positions too. They should be 2-0 coming in. The Kansas State game, the kid threw an interception, when I thought they were going to move a little bit left and kick a field goal to win the game. They legitamently should be 2-0. The William & Mary game was a tough game. William & Mary played very well against them, so I am anxious to play this one. Anytime you play as bad as we did last week, you are anxious to play the next one.
Question: What kind of fan support do you expect his week at the Citrus Bowl?
O'Leary: I appreciate everyone that went to Tampa (for the USF game), but that is what it should be like every week. I know they (fans) have a tough time because we haven't won a game yet, but I think the big thing is to have the trust that we will get the right thing done, and it get it done the right way. I would think that it is a home game and we will find out what kind of support we really have.