April 11, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery
UCF Spring Game
Head coach George O'Leary
On the game and your team's play today:
"I thought the offense was a lot more competitive than they were last spring. A lot of kids played today and we got a lot of subs in the game in the second half. I was happy with the quarterback play from Calabrese. I think it's obvious that a year experience has helped him. I was happy with the running backs. I thought Brynn Harvey looked very good today. We still have to work on consistency in the catching game; we dropped a few in the second half. Overall it was competitive. We kept it very basic offense and defense. I thought they went out and were productive."
On the play of the running backs today:
"I think Harvey and Murray are doing some good things out there. The other two guys carried the ball well too. I tried to get them in some with the first team, same with Weatheford. I thought it was handled well. We got done what we wanted to get accomplished. We got a lot guys in and ran a lot of plays. I was very pleased with spring ball. Defensively we were solid and offensively we are a lot better than last year."
On Charlie Taaffe's and his new offense:
"I think it's obvious that he spreads out the field more. I kept it very basic for both of us as far as offense and defense. Everyone got chance to play and I think we utilized our plays. We'll have to look at the film and see where have to go. If anything there were too many balls knocked down at the line. I think the quarterbacks have to move their feet more and there was probably too much push up front. We will get that corrected. Again, we played six quarterbacks today."
On Calabrese's play today:
"I thought he was on target. He had about three or four balls dropped today. We do have a couple receivers out, but that is something we have to work on. I think we got better in the spring but that is something we will have to work on over the next four months."
On the addition of your new recruits in the fall:
There were 105 kids out here and you're only allowed to bring 105 to camp. So I will have some decisions to make because we still have 17 recruits coming in. We have a lot of numbers out here. There are some guys who will be first day of practice or preseason guys. But that is up to the coaches sitting down, and you take the best 105 you can.
On getting the offense to score 77 points every game:
I think the point system was geared to the offense. Overall it was a good scrimmage. We saw some of the things we wanted to see maturity wise. With some of the freshmen quarterbacks and running backs I think you could see the difference from freshman to sophomore year. We still have to work on consistency with catching. But with the limited offense and defense that we had in there I thought they went after it pretty good.
Player Quotes 2009
Quarterback Rob Calabrese
On the overall offensive performance
"I thought it went real well. Offense did a great job. We came out strong in the first half, but struggled a little bit in the second half. I am happy with the offensive performance."
On his progression from last season
"I am a lot more comfortable compared to last year. It was all going so fast, but I have looked at film and learned what they are going to do and it has helped out a lot."
On utilizing screen plays
"I like the screen play a lot. It brings the defensive ends up the field and nobody is on the running back. It worked well and Brynn (Harvey) went untouched for a touchdown."
Defensive Tackle Travis Timmons
On the scoring system used in the spring game
"The defense knows that coach O'Leary used that system to help the offense and give them confidence. Everyone knows who won the game."
On the ability to get to the quarterback
"The refs were biased. They told us in the locker room to not even touch the quarterback. We had at least seven to 10 sacks that we ran by, but the refs didn't call them. We had a lot of batted balls because the defense was getting their hands up. It is going to be fun this year. I guarantee the defensive line is going to try to outdo themselves every play."
Defensive Tackle Torrell Troup
On going against the number two offense instead of the number one
"We would of liked to go against the ones, but it was okay because it gives the second offense a chance to go up against someone of a better level than them."
On the final outcome of the game and the overall performance of the defense
"The refs missed two of my sacks today. I think the defense should of won, but it is all in fun. We were active today. Guys were running to the ball and making plays. Assignment wise we still need to get better. We need to know our keys, read them and do our job. That is how we will be a good defense, if everyone does their job."