Weekly Press Conference - Oct. 31
10/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 31, 2006
Head Coach, Guy Morriss On who will be playing center: "Yancy [Boatner] didn't do too bad really. He played a couple of snaps that were off the mark a little bit but we can fix that. He played pretty well. Who's going to start? I don't know. It depends on who's healthy and who's not. They're both hurt but whoever is least hurt, I guess, that's who's probably going to start." On Shawn Bell's torn ACL: "[Director of Sports Medicine] Mike [Sims] grabbed me before I left [the locker room after the game] and he told me that he felt like it was probably torn just from the examination they did after the game and on the sideline. I figured pretty much [Shawn was out]. Mike knows what he's doing. "I don't know that feeling sorry for him is the right terminology. We all go into the game knowing that things like this happen. I feel for him in the fact that he was close to a lot of records and obviously he wanted to win these last three and be the guy to take us to that bowl. Some of his goals he won't have a chance to achieve now. That's going to bother him, I think, in the end, that he didn't get the chance to finish his senior season. But I wouldn't say that I feel sorry for him, no. And I don't think he feels sorry for himself." On Bell continuing to travel with the team: "We'll take him. I don't think you can keep him home. He can be a tremendous asset. Shawn wants to be a coach anyway so we're going to start him a little early. I think he can have a really calming affect on Blake early in the game and he can be another set of eyes. They're buddies and they talk about things all the time. Shawn is just like another coach to him. I think it will be beneficial to Blake, and all of us, to take him with us. He's still on my nickel. I'm going to put him to work. He's going to be a great coach. He really will." On Blake Szymanski: "Am I confident? Absolutely. I am ready to play today. That's what we signed Blake Szymanski for. We think he's a talented kid. Everybody has to rally around him and support him, step our game up. So yeah, I feel very confident we can go out there and win." On preparing Szymanski: "To me, I think you start with his demeanor, his mindset. He's a very confident kid; he's a good student. I've seen him in practice; he barks at those linemen, and he barks at some receivers. He's even barked at Coach Hays in a positive kind of way. I like that about quarterbacks because I've played with a couple that did a lot of barking, and you respect them for that. Then the intangible stuff - his film study is good, and the guy wants to win. "And he's got the physical tools to do it. He's got a tremendous arm, and he's got good foot speed. He was a free safety in high school. He played both ways as a quarterback and a free safety. He returned punts and that tells me a lot about his toughness. You don't find too many coaches that are willing to put their starting quarterback out there as a punt returner or a free safety. There are some things that we may see from him that we didn't see from Shawn [ "I think that Texas Tech knows this kid because they tried to come in on him and steal him away from us in the end. They've had to do their homework and see that he can scramble and run so that has to be in the back of their minds; I would imagine. They have to deal with another dimension with bottling him up and stopping him from wanting to take off." On how well Szymanski knows the system: "I think he [knows the system] and I think most of the coaches feel that way, that he's gotten enough reps. He's in every meeting and hearing the same coaching points. I think we get him through that first series and he settle into a rhythm. Then we just go play. We don't have a choice really." On Szymanski being ready to be the starting quarterback: "The factor you aren't sure about is when the lights come on, which way is he going to go? I think I know which way he's going to go and I feel confident that he's going to play well. But we don't know. Pressure makes the pipes burst. You know what I'm saying?" On playing a team with such a similar offense: "I think it's going to come down to execution and who wants it the most. Some of our stuff is a little different. Lee [Hays] kind of modified it over the course of three or four years he's been in the system now. But pretty much, things are intact. On "I think I have kind of a unique relationship, a good relationship working together. He's a pretty good judge of character and talent, I think. I respect his opinion and that weighed pretty heavily in the decision. "He told me that he felt pretty confident they knew obviously the system. That's what I was looking for first and foremost at that particular time. And I didn't really get into character issues and all that stuff. With Mike it was, `Did they have the knowledge that it's going to take to coordinate at this level?' "We were aware of them before we talked to Mike. But he has good things to say about both of them actually, Wes and Lee." On playing a morning game: "I'm in hog heaven. Oh yeah. We get to get up and get it on. We don't have to wait around in a hotel all day. Get up and play; that's just the way I like it. I get up early everyday. I like to get up and get it on." Offensive Coordinator, Lee Hays On Blake Szymanski: "Blake has a pretty good arm; he's accurate. Blake does some things better than Shawn [ "He's got a big, strong, accurate arm and if you want to blitz him, he'll take off. I like that part. ... Over the past five or six weeks, his development has been great. He was at a point this summer when I was a little bit concerned. And then he's turned it up a couple notches and has spent the same amount of time as Shawn has in the meeting, watching films, and things like that. He'll be fine. "We kind of talked to Blake the first time Shawn got hurt. I was assuming Blake was going in, and the first thing we said was, `Use your strengths. Don't be afraid to pull it down.' I never have a problem with the quarterback pulling it down, as long as he's getting plus 10. I'll take that all night. But it wasn't too the point when we told him to sit back and pass the football or anything like that. Now, there might be an incident but I think Blake is sharp enough to know that he has to push it down on a third and long or something like that." "The one thing that Blake has that Shawn didn't have the luxury of is the kids surrounding him know the system a lot better. Shawn never was the problem as far as knowing the system. It was always the other 10. Shawn was great at his reads. I can't think of a time, except for one or two or three times, out of 500 balls he threw, that he was wrong. It was always something to do with somebody not sticking his toe or somebody not stopping in zone. And Blake will have the luxury of those guys having eight games. If you're a redshirt freshman and everybody around you doesn't know the system, it's tough. And that's why I think Blake will be successful." On learning the new offense from "This is kind of a tough game for me, too, because those guys were really good to me, and a lot of those guys are my friends. And, you know, I hope they win every game except this one. Now the bad part is that I can't call them anymore and ask them about certain things. But we talk a little bit back and forth if we have a common opponent. If they played On "I never look forward to playing anybody, to be honest with you. I'm always wishing I had two more days or something like that. Now it's kind of a different animal because I know they know our offense. "Some of the things that are our bread and butter are also their bread and butter and [Texas Tech's] defense has seen 1,000 times so you have to be really careful. For me now it's more of a question of matchups, getting our best on a guy that we feel like we win on. The scripting is a little bit more detailed, down to the hash and who we're going to throw it to, who we're going to be lining up against and what motion we'll try to get so-and-so on so-and-so." Defensive Coordinator, Bill Bradley On "Basically in a nutshell what happened to us defensively was the first drive [Texas A&M] got us, they really formationed us to death and kept us on our heels. They did a good job of executing, and we couldn't get off [the field] on a couple of third and mediums. Then we started adjusting a little bit and played the run pretty good most of the night. Especially after halftime, we made some adjustments at half. The thing that really got was a couple of third and longs and then they converted. "The best thing we did on defense, I think we tackled well except for just a play or two. [Texas A&M] had about another four or five medium range plays where I think we had a few gap control problems and tackling problems. But for the most part, we shut On "Now we're playing a team that's throwing the ball so we have to get a different mind set. Then, [Texas Tech] will surprise you with the run. It's going to be a different approach this week; we'll have a good game plan for them which we already have in. If our guys can execute it, I think we're going to be fine. And we get to see that type of offense everyday when we go against each other in the spring and two-a-days. "We know what their offense is, and I think [quarterback] Graham Harrell is coming on a little bit better. He has a host of receivers to get the ball to, and he does a pretty good job of spreading it around. As we know, it's a passing offense with a surprise shovel pass or a little zone play or a slip screen. It's going to be important for us to read our keys and recognize formations, especially pre-snap looks. And we've seen enough of them so we should be able to recognize it."
Linebacker, Joe Pawelek
On the defense in the
"We were a little disappointed; that is the way you always feel when you do not come away with a win. We feel like we gave up too many yards and too many points to win. We are going to get back in the film room and get some more reps to fix the mistakes."
On filling in the gaps on defense:
"We did a much better job in filling in the gaps against A&M then we did against Kansas, but then they hurt us a little more on the outside. It was just one of those things where they threw a couple different things at us. We just have to get more reps this week and do a better job of executing the little things."
On the
"Last week we had a little trouble stopping the run, but I do not think that we will see much running this week with Tech. It will be a pretty familiar offense, since our offense runs the same offense as they do, so we will just have to focus on our assignments and go out and get the job done."
Quarterback, Blake Szymanski
On starting this week in place of the injured Shawn Bell:
"I just have to step in this week and be the man. It is unfortunate what happened to Shawn, but I have to focus on getting the job done. I have to find a way to give us the best chance to win and find a way to come out of
On the criticism for being inexperienced:
"I have to go out there and prove them wrong. I have not done anything yet, so they should not expect anything right now. At the same time I have a job to do and I am going to do everything I can to help this team win."
On feeling comfortable in the offense:
"It is going fine. I feel like I have picked it up pretty well, so now I just have to go out there and execute. I ran the spread offense in high school, so it is somewhat similar to what we run now. Obviously, this is Division I so things are a lot faster than what it was in high school, but I am excited about this opportunity."
Wide Receiver, Dominique Zeigler
On his long pass to Trent Shelton in the fourth quarter of the game with
"I was supposed to throw it to the backside, but at the last minute I saw Trent coming open and I tried to give him some room to run. Nine times out of 10
On playing with a red-shirt freshman:
"Everyone just has to pick it up: offensive line, running backs, and receivers. I know he is going to be pumped up for his first start, so we all have to go out there and make plays to help him out. Usually, when you get your first start, it is in the non-conference part of the season so you get to ease into conference, but he is getting thrown right into the middle of the fire this week. And we are confident he can get the job done."
