Miles addresses Colorado talk, Bill Stewart points thumb, Neuheisel remains optimistic
Les Miles comments on rumor in Denver Post (Woody Paige) connecting him to Colorado: "Somebody needs to write articles. Somebody needs to mention names. I have little reaction.”
Bill Stewart says, “I need to do a better job” : "We've had a total self-evaluation of the program of all phases, starting with me to the assistants to the players. I need to do a better job."
"Am I finger-pointing? No, I'm only pointing this thumb at this guy right here. I am not pointing any blame at these players. But let me tell you, I was a player. If you're supposed to block, make a block and do it to the best of your ability. If you're supposed to hold onto the ball, do it to the best of your ability. If you're supposed to be somewhere in a formation, do the best you can."
Rick Neuheisel and UCLA are on 3-game losing streak, Neuheisel still optimistic, hosts Oregon State on Saturday: "It's a very big task for us. If we can harness the energy we played with last week ... we can put together a heck of a fight heading into the month of November."
"We realize it's worthwhile to keep our momentum going as a program. I know a lot of people are concerned, but it's a carrot and motivation and we look forward to playing in front of our home crowd."
Ruffin McNeill praises UCF true freshman quarterback: "Their quarterback, Jeff Godfrey, will be a standout player in this league for years to come. He is special. He is not a fluke and it is not luck. He is good.”
"Their (UCF) special teams outdid our special teams. I mentioned that to our team. Central Florida out-blocked us. The same adjectives I used to describe the defensive side of the football apply to our special teams. I have to get that straight as well. That falls back on me. I take full responsibility for it. We'll get that handled and fixed.”
“I thought they played connected on offense, defense and special teams better than we did. That was the first time I've been able to say on all three sides of the ball that someone was more connected during the game than we were.”
Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora makes it sound like his team is at a crossroads: “Each individual player has to make a choice on whether or not they want to get better each and every day or do they just want to go through the motions. We talked about the choices that we have at this point in the season, and I believe that this team has chosen to press forward and move on.”
“We did not play with enough passion and enthusiasm to get it done, which was very surprising to me. (Overcoming the 35-21 deficit) is something we can build on. That is the positive in it, that we can do a lot of good things. But we need to stop beating ourselves. We are our own worst enemy right now.”
Bill Lynch says Indiana was close against Northwestern: "There were some very good performances. I thought our defense continued to improve against a good offensive football team. I think overall both against the run and the pass. From a statistical standpoint, they got some rushing yards on about three runs. We let them split us about three times where they got 16, 17, 18 yards. Other than that I thought we were really sound against the run. I thought we did a great job of chasing Persa, who is a very good football player.”
"Statistically some of that is misleading, in that there are some things in our passing game where it is a decision made after the ball is snapped to see the coverages. Some of the wide receiver screens. Some of the other things that we do. I don't have that number, but I would bet there were 10 of those that were called that ended up being thrown and not run. So it is not necessarily run calls. The other thing to follow up on that. The fourth quarter kind of got away from us. I think we only ran the ball twice in the fourth quarter. That became a product of the score. We had the ball and we had a drive, got stopped and punted. They went on a lengthy drive that resulted in a field goal, and then we had a three and out. That was what hurt us. That three and out after their field goal with seven minutes to go. Then we gave it back and they went on another nice drive before we stopped them, but they chewed up the clock. That was part of the cause. We've got to run the ball more efficiently."
Art Briles says first win over Texas since 1997 was important: "It's a very important win for our university, without a doubt. But it was a big win, because it keeps us alive in the South."
Quoting Wisconsin DC Dave Doeren: "I'd like to be more opportunistic than we've been," he said. "We need to try to find some turnovers in there for our offense. Our offense is playing well. We need to make sure we're not giving up anything. If people get stuff, it's because they earn it."
Harbaugh: We kicked their ass every which way! Sark responds
Jim Harbaugh is one of a kind: “Dominating! We kicked their ass every which way! One hell of a job on both sides of the line! Dominant, dominant!”
(referencing Stanford’s record against Pete, Lane, Sark, and Nick Holt: "What are you guys, 5-1, 6-1 against that group (in his four-year tenure)? That's the highest-paid coaching staff around!"
Sarkisian’s response: “I guess when you win 41-0 you get to say what you want to say.”
Game Changing Coaches: - Week 9 (See more good stuff from Harbaugh and Sark)
Mike Stoops gets a shot at Harbaugh and Stanford this Saturday: "Jim is Jim. I know he's got a great wife and a great quarterback."
"They move their personnel around. They want to talk about being physical, but it's a game of manipulation when you play Stanford. They create so many formations. It's a very pro-oriented situation when you watch Jim's teams play, but it's more about manipulations than it is anything else."
(pleased with offensive progression in win over UCLA) "I thought we played with a lot of balance as a team. Offensively, that was our biggest production of the year. It was good to see that type of balance, I think our run game has really come on the last couple weeks, and I think that will bode well for us down the stretch."
"Overall, really pleased with the win (but I'm) disappointed we didn't score more points. Red zone efficiency wasn't great. Going on the road and getting three points in a lot of those situations against a really good team will hurt you. We just have to convert more. The points didn't equate to the way we moved the football."
Richt's promise, Saban's request, Tubs is frustrated
Mark Richt says, “We are going to end up turning this thing around.” : “I think that the game this Saturday was a game that could have gone either way, but it didn’t go our way. People are tired of hearing that, and I’m kind of tired of it myself. I don’t like the record myself. But we are going to keep banging, and we are going to end up turning this thing around. I thought it was going to happen on Saturday, but it didn’t.”
“So what are we going to do? We are going to go back and make sure everything we’re doing is the very best it can be. I am very encouraged with our new athletics director Mr. McGarity, Greg McGarity. I think he is very intent and excited about looking at every facet of our program and helping me and us make any type of changes that can help us. Of course, him being at Florida for some time certainly gives him the credibility of knowing what the national championship team looks like . . . I am excited about some of the things Mr. McGarity and I have talked about.”
Nick Saban makes specific request for his statue outside Bryant-Denny Stadium: "I haven't seen it. It isn't up yet. They had some problems. They didn't have much to work with [laughter]. It's a little more difficult than the other ones they had to do. I don't even know when it will be done. The one thing I was really adamant about was I didn't even want it put up unless all of the players' names were on a plaque or something with the statue. That should be a symbol of what the team accomplished, not what a coach did."
(on if Alabama is his last coaching stop) "I don't have many stops left, but I'm sure happy to be here. When I took this job, this was going to be the last thing that we do. I'm happy. I used to be driven for the next job. Even when I wanted to be a NFL head coach in previous years, when I got the opportunity, it wasn't what I thought. The league had changed a lot since I was last in it as an assistant before there was free agency. When I took this job, it was like, 'I'm happy to have a really good job at a really good place, and I want to develop relationships and be there for a long time.' "
Tuberville frustrated with 4-4 record, fininsh by hosting Mizzou, at Oklahoma, Weber State, Houston: “Everybody says … (the offense has changed). It’s not any different offense. It’s just we’ve tried to get the best out of some of the players, like our running backs, we possibly can. And to go along, too, to help the defense, because we knew we were going to struggle on defense. We don’t have quite the defense it takes right now to win the Big 12. It’s obvious by looking at it. So when you’re trying to work the offense to try to help the defense, sometimes that takes away from what you really want to do. Each week, it’s a different struggle.”
“We haven’t really struggled scoring points. We’ve just been inconsistent. It all goes back to offensive line — all new offensive line. We haven’t had as much time to throw the ball as we’d like. We’ve had receivers in and out.”
Apparently, Todd Grantham didn't want Chas Henry to make that game-winning field goal:
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These guys can coach
This week's group of Game Changing Coaches truly deserves the recognition. Read about what they did and we think you'll agree.
Every Tuesday during the season, we recognize the coaches involved in the most outstanding coaching performances from the past weekend. This is our third year of this award winning series.
This year, we are very proud to have Family Relocation, rated the #1 moving company in the country by coaches wives, as the title sponsor of Game Changing Coaches.
Family Relocation has been helping coaches move for nearly 100 years. Regardless of how far you’re moving or where you live, if you want your move to be handled professionally, trust the team at Family Relocation. You and your family will be glad to you did.
See the coaches we have recognized for Week #9 right here.
Urban's evaluation, Gundy wants permanent towers, Lane's presser
Urban Meyer evaluates the Gators’ win over Georgia: “The plan to win…play great defense. We’re not playing great defense. It’s just the way it is. We’re just not. It’s third downs and red zone. So #1, we did not accomplish. #2, turnovers…we did. We created 4 turnovers and gave the Florida offense great field position on many occasions. Red zone, we were 5 of 6. Kicking game, I don’t count it. 6 of 9 goals reached. 2 punts inside the 10 yard line. A game winning field goal, however we allowed a kickoff retuned past the 50 yard line at the most critical time in the game, which absolutely cannot happen.”
Gundy asking for permanent video towers: In the wake of the tragedy at Notre Dame, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy said today he plans to ask for the construction of permanent video towers at the Okie State practice fields.
Memphis coach Larry Porter says Tigers got to reevaluate plans: "Losing does have a momentum of its own. First and foremost, I've got to start with me and my staff. We have to be very critical of what we're doing (and) not necessarily second-guessing ourselves, but just continuing to analyze what we're doing and trying to find ways to put our team in position to be more successful.''
Lane Kiffin says Oregon will probably win it all: "What you're going to see is people are going to start copying them like they always do, every #1 is once they start making a run. I'm sure people are going to start copying that. They're probably, I would think, going to run the table and win it all."
(on if defense play good enough to win) "As crazy as it sounds, yes. We did not play very well at all on offense. Some people may say, 'What are you talking about? You scored more on them than they had given up all year long.' That doesn't matter. You have to score more than that to beat those guys. Our defense may some mistakes, we didn't play great, but if we had done what we should have done on offense, I still think we could have won the game and it wouldn't have gotten as lopsided as it did, late."
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Around the country - Monday afternoon
Utah head coach Kyle Whittinham talks about TCU: "You don’t need to say much. We don’t need to harp on that (last year's blowout loss) at all. We hold the advantage 3-2 at this point. They got us last year, but the previous four games were extremely close."
(on if an undefeated team should play for the national championship over a 1-loss team) "Yes. Absolutely. How can you not, if you run the table, (have an undefeated team in the national championship). How can you not put those teams #1 and #2 if they are the only two undefeated teams. I don’t see any way around that."
$386: The average price on StubHub for a ticket to LSU / Alabama in Tiger Stadium.
Mack Brown praises Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder: “Bill Snyder is one of the great coaches at all-time. We’re great friends. He is what Coach Royal is to us. He’s a living legend. He’s one of the best coaches in the country.”
Paul Johnson says, “That was their trademark” in reference to VA Tech special teams: "They probably have not been as productive the last couple of years as they have been before. That was their trademark but they are still very good on special teams and they can change the game at any time, be it blocked kicks or returns. They cover kicks well."
Houston Nutt says Rebels have to get back up against ULL: “We’ve just played top 15 teams back to back to back and gave tremendous effort. We have to get back up for this one. We’ve got to reach down and give more.”
Quoting Vanderbilt head coach Robbie Caldwell: “It’s kinda like the keystone cops. We’re managing to shoot ourselves in the foot.”
“We’re not quite a no huddle, up tempo team. We’re on the bubble of it. We’re back and forth. Right now, we need some playmakers to do that.”
(on long-term plans) “We’re all kind of debating that right now, what our plan for the future right now. We have one in place, but I’m not ready to present it right now.”
Dooley explains what happened at South Carolina: "On defense it was a very similar script as Alabama. Played pretty good and then gave up just five huge plays -- three of them in the fourth quarter, which was the difference in the game. It all came down to either poor execution of the defense or an inability to tackle the runner, and we've got to get better at those things."
Charlie Strong's Monday press conference:
In case you didn't have a chance to watch
This weekend there were a number of extremely impressive performances led by some great coaches. Take a minute and check out this week's Game Changing Coaches.
We are very proud to have Family Relocation, rated the #1 moving company in the country by coaches and their wives, as the title sponsor of Game Changing Coaches.
Family Relocation has been helping coaches move for nearly 100 years. Regardless of how far you’re moving or where you live, if you want your move to be handled professionally, trust the team at Family Relocation. You and your family will be glad to you did.
Monte compliments Chip Kelly, Canales explains style and new motto
Monte Kiffin compliments Chip Kelly, says it’s not the tempo, but their execution: "That guy is such a good coach. I respect him so much just from watching their tape. It's the discipline they have. The offensive line does a great job. The receivers do a great job of downfield blocking. They don't beat themselves very often."
"I mean, you're hanging in there, but then they just get you. You get a lot of guys up to stop the run and then, they play-fake. You can't get beat like that. Arizona State played them like that and they get four or five big plays. I don't think it's so much the tempo, it's really just that they execute so well."
North Texas interim head coach Mike Canales talks about his style and new team motto, North Texas defeated WKU 33-6: “The only way I know how to coach is to have high energy and show emotion. That is what I brought and I expected [the players] to play a certain way. If they were not going to meet our expectations, then we were going to leave them home.”
“Our motto is going to be that we are going to lock the gate and go to work. If it is at 2:40 or 2:50 or whatever time we are going to practice, that gate is going to be locked. There is a time to play and a time to work, and we are going to work. I am going to demand a lot and expect a lot.”
Ralph Friedgen pumped up about Terps’ special teams play: "One game [Clemson] we didn't play very well. In all the other games we've played, special teams has been a decided advantage for us."
"I'll bet you couldn't go to another college in the country and find as many wide receivers helping on special teams."
Ron Zook completely focused on Saturday’s game against Michigan, not rankings: "You'll see my last (ballot). I hope we're on that last one because that means we have continued to improve.”
"It doesn't matter who's ahead of us or behind us. It's what are we going to do right now? The only thing I want our guys thinking about is this next game. This is a critical game for us."
