Nov. 16, 2010
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By Christian Edwards
UCFAthletics.com
UCF head football coach George O'Leary met with the Orlando media on Tuesday to preview Saturday's road game against C-USA rival Tulane. Here is a sampling of what he had to say.
On the state of the team...
"The kids are working hard. [We had a] tough game Saturday. I thought exactly what I said last week. It was a line of scrimmage game [vs. Southern Miss] and they played better than we did on both sides of the line."
About bouncing back after loss...
"The kids are very resilient. They understand what is at stake as far as two games left, and if they do what they are supposed to do, we win our division and host the conference championship. It is very clear what has to take place."
On playing assignment football...
"I thought they [Southern Miss] outplayed us and were a lot more physical than we were. Kids have a tendency not to see what they want to see as far as what is going on. I didn't see assignment football as much as they played better than we did upfront on both sides of the ball, that is what I saw. It had nothing to do with assignment as much as basically winning your battle."
On getting off the field defensively on third down...
"I think it is poor coverage and I think it is poor pass rush. Again, when you have a chance to make a play you have to make it. I like to tell it as what I see on tape, and that is what I see on tape. We have to play better on defense and we sure as heck have to play better on offense as far as line of scrimmage on both sides. That is what I see in the difference of the game last weekend. Again, this will be similar this week."
On Tulane...
"Tulane is playing better and better each game. I think last week's game [was] 54-49 and the week before they played Southern Miss very well. They run a lot of different things on offense [with the] power game [and] some option read stuff. Defensively, they are very stingy. They play run defense and their corners cover very well so we will have our work cut out for us."
On playing against different styles of offenses (running teams and spread teams)...
"You have to be able to adjust to it. We didn't play well and people don't want to say that. Players are usually the last ones that want to say that. We didn't play well last week and I think the line of scrimmage was the difference in the game. We had a chance to make plays and we didn't make them and they made more plays than we did [on the] defensive line and offensive line. That is usually where the game is when you face Southern Miss and UCF; it is a seven-on-seven game up front."
On the difficulty in being able to replicate the different offensive styles in practice...
"It depends on your scout team. We have got to the point now that we go against each other a lot [starting offense vs. starting defense] so we see good vs. good. The show team is over there for a reason. If they were any good they would be on the game field so I don't expect them to duplicate everything, I really don't. All I ask for them is great effort and to give us an initial read on defense and an initial read on offense. For the most part they have done a good job with that. They just can't simulate the speed that you are going to see sometimes on Saturday."
On simulating the offensive substitutions of the quick offenses by the scout team...
"We do that all right. There are enough of them. It is more the speed of the play once the ball is snapped."
On quarterback Jeff Godfrey taking significant hits vs. Southern Miss...
"He is practicing every day. I don't see any hangovers from that as far as what is going on. He was back to practice really on Monday and was playing full tilt. Again, I think he is a tough kid. I think that game was an experience for him where at times he showed his newness or freshman, and the [offensive line] didn't help him. Again, I think that is part of the learning process/learning curve and he will be better for it."
On the kicker's performance in changing the decision making on the field...
"Definitely. I have dealt with them now each and every game and try to make changes with them. At this level we are not asking for 55-yard field goals, we are asking to make 30-yard, 25-yard field goals. That's disappointing [on the missed field goals] but you just keep working with them hopefully someday it clicks but we are just running out of time with these two guys."
Was the missed kick blocked?
"No, it was a lousy, lousy kick. I thought he was trying to hit somebody in the corner with it. It looked like a pass. It was as bad a kick as you could imagine. He just yanked it, that's what happened. What's so frustrating with it is that we make all the kicks in practice but you have to be productive on Saturday. They have heard the lecture so hopefully it clicks. They both have strong legs. It's just not going in the right direction right now."
On the kickers...
"They have to make them. If they were missing them in practice I would have something to say, `Well they are just not good kickers,' but they make them in practice so they have to understand that confidence and success go hand in hand. You have to make those kicks. It's frustrating because it sort of puts you at a problem on the sideline whether [on] fourth-and-six you want to be kicking field goals [and] fourth-and-four you want to be kicking field goals because you are not going to make a lot of them at Division I football. You should be making a lot of them. They change the game strategy. This game is inside [the Louisiana Superdome]. There is no factor with anything else except putting the ball through the uprights. Just keep coaching them is all you can do."
On the play calling and playing in a domed stadium...
"Every time we go inside [the indoor practice facility] or practice inside there it is the same kind of turf. The biggest thing [in] playing in the Superdome is the vastness of it and not a lot of people there. Initially it was a little bit of a depth perception there but I don't see that being a problem."
Over the year have you had teams that you were really comfortable with on the road and some you have been apprehensive with?
"No. There is a sheet we put out, an itinerary, and they pretty much know what they have to do, when they have to do it, where they have to do it and what time they have to do it at. That's pretty much the way it is. This is not our first rodeo. We have been on I think four other trips this year so I think we are fine and Tulane is not a long trip. It's a normal Saturday game, 2:30 so we are looking forward to it. The big thing is they understand what is on the line. We have to go out and win the next two [games], and then everything that we talked about at the beginning of the year has been accomplished. At least [in] getting the home game back here for the conference championship. I don't care who we play. I'll make sure we are in it."
On the success and consistency of the kick return game...
"The returners have something to do with it. I think the kids that are on that unit take great pride in getting things done. Really [with] every one of the special teams, the kickers have been our problem this year, period - the punter and the kickoff. If we have any negatives it's normally not the people that are involved, it's the performer, the kicker. Like net punt, you have to kick it decent to get a good net punt. The kickoffs last week were shy of the 20, 18-yard line. You have to put that ball back in the corner so we can cover. That is my big thing this week is really staying on top of the kickers, the specialists, and [for them to] act like specialists."
Will you have any fun in New Orleans?
"Not me. We get in around three and are pretty much in meetings. I have been to New Orleans before where I had fun. This is business."
On the game vs. Tulane...
"We just have to go out and execute and we will be fine. That is what we have to do each and every week. We are not a team that can dominate on offense or defense. We are a team that has to feed off each other. Both have to be doing things they need to do and keep a short field for our offense and a long field for the defense and we will go from there. Very few teams today can just dominate one side of the ball, where they just control the whole game. You are going to have to get off the field on defense and you have to basically to score on offense. That is pretty much the way the game has worked out."