Sept. 30, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. - Tuesday afternoon, UCF head coach George O'Leary met with the media to discuss last week's game at UTEP and the Knights' upcoming home game against SMU on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Bright House Networks Stadium.
During Tuesday's press conference, O'Leary discussed many topics including some player's injury status, the quarterback situation and the game plan for SMU.
On the team holding a players only meeting on Monday
"I think it gets to a point where they have to determine what kind of football team they want to be. Coaches can talk all the time and it sounds like rhetoric, but it is a player's game. The thing that bothered more than anything was that they (UTEP) didn't do anything different than we had practiced."
On true freshman QB Rob Calabrese's play at UTEP
"I think that one bright spot was Calabrese. Michael (Greco) was not 100 percent, and he makes a living with his feet. Calabrese got the start and had three or four passes dropped that were big plays. I think he plays fast, and I like quarterbacks who play fast. This week I am listing (the quarterbacks) either/or. I think you have to constantly evaluate Tuesday's, Wednesday's and Thursday's practice and grade it. You go as your quarterbacks go for the most part."
On Michael Greco's injury status
"He is practicing full time. He is listed as full (speed), but he doesn't seem to be running at full speed. He is getting the same amount of snaps as Calabrese is getting, and I told the quarterback coach I want to see the grade after every practice on every play, and we will make a game-time decision on that. We are the kind of team that you are going to have to have a couple quarterbacks available, and those are the two we are going with."
On having six turnovers at UTEP
"The thing about it (the running backs), it is almost like they tease you. They go for 10 (yards) and the next play they act like freshmen. I think that they missed some things that they should have picked up. I am not going to put up with fumbles, you can book that one. That is just careless, especially when they lead to points. You talk about a game where we had six turnovers. The turnovers led to 31 points. It was 27-7 at halftime, and 17 of the points were off of turnovers. That is where you have to look at your whole team, as far as the chemistry and if the offense and defense are playing together as a whole. Right now defensively, that is where our maturity is. I don't really care where the ball is, they are on scholarship to play defense. No matter where they go on they field, we have to execute."
On injuries from the UTEP game
"We lost a couple of guys this weekend. Rocky Ross is out for the year. I will put in a red-shirt for him. It should be legitimized by the injury. Cory Hogue is out with the same injury that he had to the other leg, compartment syndrome. The doctors can't explain it. We landed on Sunday morning around five, and he was taken right to the hospital and operated on. Pat Brown is back, and he is practicing as of yesterday."
On defending SMU's offense
"I have them down for 15 runs in the last two games, so you better defend the pass. Our people have to step up on defense. The guys that I am counting on are the secondary and linebackers who have the experience. They have got to start playing up to the expectation level. We have been giving up too many big plays there. Linebacker wise, I think they have been consistent. I am more concerned front wise, where we have enough talent to be getting more pressure on the quarterback. We have guys out there with rotation and we have to keep pressure on the quarterback."
On defending the 2007 C-USA Championship
"They (the players) use the expression back-to-back. You never defend anything, you always attack it. I hate the word defend. You should always be attacking. That is the way football is played. I never tell our people we want to defend this; we want to attack it. Put the pressure on the people with the ball. Our offense has to put the pressure on the defense and keep attacking. You have to stop worrying about if this or that happens. Let's go get it."
On Johnell Neal
"Pound for pound, (he's) the toughest guy on the football field. I mean he got hit with four bullets. He came in to see me on Sunday night and told me he wanted to have a get together and I told him to have a team meeting. He wanted to call some kids out I guess. I think that is the best kind of pressure, peer pressure. They came out on Monday and today and practiced like they should, but they practice well every week."
On game plan for SMU
"The best way to keep a team like that off the field is to have the ball. We have to worry about 10 yard movements, not big plays, just moving the chains and get that possession time on our side. They are going to have some completions out there by the nature of there offense, but we have to make sure there are no yards-after-catch. Offensively we have to take advantage of what is out there. If they have more than we can block then we need to throw the ball. As I have told the coaches, we are at the stage where we have to do the things we have to do, and the kids who can't pick it up, we have to get others in there."
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