Nov. 6, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - UCF head coach George O'Leary met the media on Tuesday in the interview room at Bright House Networks Stadium for his weekly press conference. O'Leary discussed the Knights' 47-13 home win vs. Marshall and the upcoming road game at UAB.
UAB will host the Knights on Saturday night at Legion Field. Kickoff is set for 7:30 and the game will be televised nationally on CSTV.
Below is a transcription of selected comments from the press conference. All-access subscribers can listen to the press conference by clicking on the link above.
Opening statement:
"Just to recap last week's game, I thought it was a solid effort offense, defense, and the kicking game. Again, a great home venue as far as our fan base and student body was concerned. A solid game in all areas, the big thing at this time of year is coming away without any injuries, which I think is really important to sustaining what you are doing. That is where we are at. We go up to UAB Friday to play a UAB team Saturday night. Again as I told the players, each game is a critical game because we have to control our own destiny as far as what we are doing and not be concerned with what other people are doing. We have three games in conference left and they are all extremely important from a consistency basis and just that mentality and focus each week."
What kind of protection is going to be needed to stop UAB linebacker Joe Henderson and safety Will Dunbar from blitzing?
"Well, we run enough protection. We just have to take care of business there. We work extremely hard on blitz protection and coverage and making sure that we understand the weaknesses of it. As I tell our defense all the time, you live by the sword and you die by it. If they protect you, then you better have good coverage because you have guys exposed one on one out there, but we work every day. Today, we went UCF vs. UCF just on blitz protection and full go. I think your protection rules should take care of what you see and there are enough protections to be able to handle that."
Are we getting close to playing a full sixty minute game?
"I think the last three weeks we have come real close to playing sixty minutes. I think the kids that put four quarters together for the last twelve quarters together for the last twelve quarters that we played. Unlike earlier, where I thought we put a half together. I think that we are a lot more consistent. I know that we are as far as production."
How has the increased in second half scoring help balance the offense?
"I think it all depends who is on the field and who is playing. I like to get on the board first, especially when you are playing at home, it keeps the crowd in it. It is even more important when you are playing away to get on the board early. It all depends on how much possession you have. Right now, I think the offense and defense are feeding off each other. I think it is nice to get turnovers and take the turnovers and do something with them that is what we have done offensively. Offensively, we have gone out and we have improved our first down ratio, so the field position has worked out keeping longer fields out there for the defense. That is what I look at, field position and both sides playing off each other. The kicking game has kept us in fairly good field position with pretty good coverage concepts."
What does Head Coach Neil Callaway bring to UAB?
"This is not Neil's first rodeo, he has been around. I knew him at Georgia. I knew him at Auburn. He has done it, seen it and been there. Again, I think he is playing with a lot of young players now and there is no question from a scheme standpoint. He knows what he is doing and he has coaches that are coaching. You can see their defense is very enthusiastic and they have taken couple of teams, Florida State and Mississippi State. They played extremely hard and in fact were leading in those games, when I watched tape on it. I think like everybody else, you get some injuries and the next guy they put out there is not as good as their first guy. He will get that going down there. He knows what a program is supposed to look like."
You have made some changes on the offensive line. How has those changes affected the team?
"We are playing seven or eight guys now on the offensive line. I think moving [Josh] Sitton in at guard has solidified the inside a little bit more. It has given the opportunity for Jah Reid to go in at tackle. The good thing is that there are only four seniors and only two on defense, so we are fairly young in a lot of areas. I hate using that term young because once they play, they are not young anymore. As I told the freshmen, they are sophomores from an eligibility standpoint. I think the big thing is that the more people that can play, the better the morale, the better the locker room. That is important, especially this time of year."
Is it good to see Phillip Smith getting some time against Marshall?
"We have to play him more. It is on me, I keep trying to keep getting him in the game, but he needs to play more. He does things in practice that you go...whoa. He has great quickness and great sideways movement and he just has to get in the game more. It is tough to pull Kevin [Smith] out, but I think that we have to get Phillip in the game more. I have talked to our offense about getting him in every other series or something like that. Where Phillip has to improve is in his pass protection. We check so much, you do not want to get him out there and make sure that he is protecting the quarterback."
How has the defense played as far as generating more interception?
"I think it goes hand and hand with the rush. I think really what is starting to help us out is rolling those eight guys. Obviously of the eight, there are four better rushers then the four others. At times, you like to see all four of those guys out there. I think the rotation is keeping fresh legs out there. I think anytime that you can pressure the quarterback. You have to transition to the ball and the guys are reading the indicator pretty well. Reading the ball and ball level pretty well and breaking on the ball."