Oct. 21, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. - Tuesday afternoon, UCF head coach George O'Leary met with the media to discuss the Knights' upcoming trip to Tulsa. The Knights and Golden Hurricane take the field at 8 p.m. on Sunday night in front of a national audience on ESPN.
O'Leary addressed the media about Tulsa's top-ranked offense in the country, improvements the team has made on its bye week and the growing rivalry between the two schools. On practice
"We have been practicing since last week against our selves as far as getting better especially offensively in some execution areas such as throwing the ball, timing and route running. Defensively, we have been trying to get the scheme worked on that we need to do. We have been (studying) Tulsa since Sunday night."
On Tulsa's defense
"Watching Tulsa play, they are basically a team that likes to get up on you real quick. Their defense changes dramatically when they get up. They are pretty much a base defense, but once they get up they send the pressure packages because they have you playing left handed as far as just throwing the ball. That is when some of the scores get really out of whack. You have to have patience and stay the course. That is what we have done when we have played them in the past. Possession time is very critical when you play a team like this who is scoring in such long range. On UCF's offense
"(Michael) Greco is back to full speed this week. He wasn't the first two weeks (after an injury). I asked him where he was at and he said 60-percent with his knee. I don't care what quarterback you have, 60-percent of anybody isn't good enough. Where I want to see us improving is our young backs. We have to get them playing more, and that is what I have been disappointed in. Sometimes you go with the experience, but we have to make sure some of these guys get on the field so we can see what they can do. They do impressive things in practice. They need to start seeing time, and they will this week."
On Tulsa's offense
"I think they are a fast break offense like in basketball. They break you down one on one a lot, much like a wishbone offense does in the run game, and they do it in the passing game with a lot of criss-cross action. Defending them, you have to be able to get after the quarterback with just your front four. Second, can (we) sustain drives so it is not three and out and our defense is put in poor position out there."
On improvements in the passing game over the bye week
"We solidified where some of the problems are and have spent a lot of our practice time on those areas. I thought the light bulb finally came on as far as some of our receivers and the quarterback as far as the intent of the route. People were getting their hands on too many balls, and what that means is we are not getting off coverage. We had to work on getting out of our cuts, which are young mistakes. They are so intent on running the routes that they forget they have to run it at full speed sometimes. That creates a problem for your quarterback, because his window of error is very tight."
On rivalry between Tulsa
"I would say so. I am sure they know we are coming to town. We have played them three times, but we haven't gone out there yet. They are ranked now, and I am happy because I have ranked them. I don't know how you can take a team that is ranked number one in offense and 7-0 and not rank them. I think sometimes (teams) are up there because of who they are, not what they are. They are a good football team that does a good job of executing."
On East Division of C-USA
"We are in the hunt. We have a great opportunity to control our own destiny and that is what I am selling to our players. People remember what you do in November and not in September. You need to finish strong. We also need to stay out of injuries."
On turnovers "When we don't turn the ball over offensively, we are in the game. South Florida, Miami and El Paso with six turnovers, you can't make up that ground on anybody. I don't care what kind of defense you have. When we control the football, we are getting into the fourth quarter with an opportunity to win against any competition. That is what's key this week. We have to move the ball, but we cannot afford any turnovers. You can't give them extra possessions."