Oct. 17, 2006
ORLANDO - UCF Head Coach George O'Leary discussed the Golden Knights' status at the mid-way point of the 2006 season and their upcoming contest with Rice at his weekly press conference on Tuesday at the Wayne Densch Sports Center. The game with the Owls is the first of six-consecutive Conference USA match-ups for the Golden Knights that will conclude their regular season.
UCF won last year's first-ever meeting between the two squads, 31-28 at Rice Stadium, clinching the C-USA East Division title and the right to host the inaugural league championship game at the Florida Citrus Bowl.
On Pittsburgh game:
"What can you say except that I do not think we could have played any poorer than we did play in a lot of the phases of the game. When things go bad, they go bad. When you look at the first 22 plays of the game - they returned the opening kick off back. Should have we made tackles on that play? Yes. We did not. Then we are moving the ball offensively and we fumble the ball for a turnover. They comeback and score there so it is 14-0. You are still in the game. Then, we come back and we were on the nine yard line going in, we have points on the board either way and we throw a pick and they returned that 62 yards. All of a sudden it is 21 to nothing and we dug our selves a major hole. My feeling on that sideline was that we need people to step up and rise to the occasion and we did not get that done. I have addressed that with our football team and there are certain playmakers on the team that need to step up."
"When things went bad, we never recovered. I thought at halftime went in and addressed it that we are basically in a second half game. Let's go out and get things done right. We never, I thought, got moving after that 21-0 onslaught in the first, seven, eight, nine minutes that we sort of caused ourselves in all three situations."
"Setbacks are going to happen in games. It is how you react to the setback and we reacted very poorly to the setback I thought. Those are going happen anytime during the football season. You have to forget that and move on to the next play."
"We have a six-game season left as far as the conference season is concerned. Everything that we set for goals - as far as winning the division and getting to a bowl game - is still out there. That is what I finalized my statements with to the players after our meeting on Sunday - that all those goals that we set initially as a football squad are still out there to get things done. Again, that is where I am looking - ahead. I have been at the game to long to worry about what spilt milk is behind us, but I am very intent on what is happening in front of us. More so, from an attitude standpoint and making sure we are in the right frame of mind to win games."
On The Rice Game:
"Rice won a real Donnybrook against UAB on Saturday, scoring with no time left to beat UAB. UAB had picked the ball off on the six-yard line. The kid was running with it and fumbled to give Rice another chance to score."
"I think that Rice has an outstanding receiver No. 81 in [Jarett] Dillard, who really has been impressive on film. He makes a lot of tough catches against pretty good coverage. He is one you have to be aware of. Again, we have to line up, bone up and start playing like we practice. Again, I am more concerned about where we are as far as an attitude, making sure we are in the right frame of mind."
Do you think that there will be any attitude carryover from the Pittsburgh game?
"Not really, I think that the players know. I walk into a room and you could hear a pin drop. They understand, but I don't think they understand why things occur, so I made it very clear why I thought things occurred. I think young kids need to go through it. Older kids, when you have a bunch of them playing, they understand what has to get done."
"You watch the Auburn-Florida game the other night. Auburn did not play very well the first half, but you see the statement that was made by the kid at the end of the game. The seniors took over in the locker room. As a coach, you can go up and raise Holy Kane all you want, but I think their peers have to step up. I think that's what we have to get done here. The problem is, we don't have a lot of those kids that are playing right now, that are older kids. There are not playing themselves. I think that statement the kid made is so true - the seniors took over. That's what we need to get done here, collectively with our group. I've addressed our senior class with it and our playmakers that are out there that I expect to make plays and work through problems. Sometimes you have to remind kids where they are at in the program and what roll they are playing. That is where I have spent most of my time this week, making sure everybody understands what our goals are and what is out there is still out there. I don't see that carrying over. I think players are really resilient, I really do, but I think coaches are not. It takes me two or three days to get over something like that. I think every time you lose, if you put the time in and the energy in that you are supposed to, you die a little. And, I do. It's hard to get to sleep. It's hard to do anything."
How has the rotation of the offensive line helped with conditioning?
"I think that playing more guys keeps guys fresher. I feel a lot more confident about more guys on the field now. I think the key is that if we could have stayed in the game plan, we were running the ball fairly well. It was like four to five yards a clip, which those turn into nine to ten yards as the game progresses. We had to sort of get away from that a little bit, basically to try to get points on the board and get back into the game."
"I think that offensive line is progressing, but I would like to see more consistency in their pass protection. Again, they had four sacks, but two of those sacks I thought the ball should have been gone by the quarterback. I am going to make a decision during the week as far as the quarterbacks because I do think that you have to reward productivity during the week and, again, try to keep the guys that can move the team the best on the field. Right now, obviously, like we have done every week, the last two weeks, we will evaluate who is actually moving the team the best in practice and go from there. It does not matter who starts, they both are going to play. It is a matter of I like to reward people that do better than someone else, that is what life is about."
What are your thoughts on Linebacker Steven Baker in that past few games coming off his knee injury?
"I think that he came back and he is trying to give what he has. I think he is a tough kid. Obviously, he is not at 100 percent yet. A couple of those plays in the open field looked like me trying to tackle somebody. I think that he is a kid that I would trust with anything. When he is healthy, I think that he is a good football player. When he is not, we have to watch what we are doing with him as far as the scheme is concerned and how many downs he actually gets. I think that he has a chance to be a very, very good football player if he can stay healthy. He is a smart guy, you only have to say something once and he understands what you are doing. Others, you have to tell them, show them and do it 100 times, he does not take that many reps to be a quick steady learner."
Is Steven Baker one of the leaders that might have been?
"There is no question. There is no question on defense because we are so young anyway - we only have one senior out there playing. I think between him and [Chris] Welsh. Even though Baker, Baker can graduate this May or August. But, Baker is a guy that kids gravitated to because he carries himself that way. He carries himself with a lot of confidence and obviously he is not at a 100 percent right now. But, he is one that I thought would have controlled the huddle. Between the two of them, I was looking at him as I looked at last year with [Paul] Carrington and Frisner Nelson - that type of deal. A couple of guys on the field that can control some of the other players who do not have the awareness or know how to get some things done on their own"
What types of problems is Jarett Dillard going to give our defense?
"You better know where he is at. He is No. 81. I will tell you that he has been very impressive on film. We did not see him last year because Rice ran the ball all the time and stuff, but I think that the people who have played them this year - from UCLA to Texas to pretty much everybody that has played them - he has made some outstanding catches, tough catches where there have been people draped on him. I think they have settled into a quarterback. They were playing around with two of them earlier, but that guy has been making some plays for them."
"Again, as I told our players, it is a conference game and that is what it is about. We need to move on. It is a six-game season and all of our goals can be reached. We just play one at a time and Rice is the next opponent."
On the glass being half-full at the mid-way point of the season:
"I have always said that, at times I wonder. I do think that every goal that we set earlier in the season - to win the division, to play in the conference championship game, and to go to a bowl game is still out there. We have made it harder for ourselves, I think, with some of the games. We have played a couple of teams that were probably more talented then we were overall."
"Also, there are a couple of games, where I thought that if we do what we are supposed to do and take advantage of opportunities that maybe the scores are different. Right now, it did not turn out that way. We just have to move on. Again, you are always looking ahead. That is what I do. I said my peice on Sunday night. The players understand exactly where I stand. A lot of times in coaching, I don't think that happens. Every senior understands where they stand and what I expect of them as a role on this team. We have to go from there. I do not expect them to be much better players but I do expect them to have more team management skills to help us win. I think that has to happen for us to win."