Charlie Strong knows the challenge of winning at Pitt
Charlie Strong is well aware that Louisville has lost ten consecutive conference road games. Heading into Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh, Strong is putting a huge emphasis on stopping the run.
“We will see exactly where we stand as a football team. We’ll see exactly who we are, what we’re made of. Anytime you go on the road, you have to pack your defense, you have to pack your togetherness, and you have to go compete. If we're going to get this program where we want to, you have to go play well on the road.”
“I think what helped this team was going out to Oregon State and playing on the road. We’ve lost 10 straight road games within the conference, so we need to do something. You have to play well on defense. Defense allows you to take the crowd out of the game.”
“Not only will Pitt’s offensive balance pose a tough challenge for the Louisville defense, but Strong knows Pitt is stout against the run.”
Strong added, “Against the run, they are #1 in the conference and #9 in the country in stopping the run. Only two teams have rushed for over 100 yards against them, Miami and Utah.”
“We have been very competitive in each game this year. It keeps going back to how well our seniors have responded. I don’t know how good we are, but we just need to continue to get better.”
Kick-off on Saturday is set for 12 pm EST. Louisville is 4-3 in Strong’s first season as head coach. The Cardinals will finish at Pitt, at Syracuse, USF, West Virginia, at Rutgers.
Dooley explains how the Vols are like the Germans in WWII
During his press conference today, Derek Dooley compared his Vols’ team to the Germans in World War II.
"Right now we're like the Germans in World War II. Here comes the boats, they're coming. You have the binoculars, and it's like, 'Oh, my God, the invasion is coming.' That's what they did, they were in the bunkers. It's coming, they call Rommel -- they can't find Rommel. (Pretending to speak into a radio.) 'What do we do? I'm not doing anything until I get orders.' (Pretends to look through binoculars.) 'Have you gotten Rommel yet?'
"All right, and the Americans were the exact opposite. We hit the beach, and we were on the wrong spot. 'What do we do? I don't know, but these guys are firing and we better hide over there and blow some stuff up to get up there.' They weren't looking for (help). That's where we've got to make that transition.
"I don't want the German people to get upset at me. I'm not attacking them, but that's what happened. You had one group, they weren't worried about what the plan was and orders and all that. When the war hits, things change. You've got to go. You had the other group, and they go, 'Wait a minute. They told us the invasion was way further north' where we had the empty tanks and we were hidding Patton out. 'We weren't ready for this, now what do we do?' 'We better wait until Rommel tells us what to do.'
Dooley said the Vols biggest problem right now is stamina. He said, “The biggest thing we have to do is improve our stamina. Physically, emotionally, intellectually. It’s not really a physical issue. It’s more of a mental thing. It’s not just youth. There’s just so much inexperience. We have juniors out there that have never played. Experience is a better word than youth.”
Tennessee is 2-5 and travels to South Carolina this weekend. Germans @ 10:00 min mark of presser...
New Vandy OC Des Kitchings: I was surprised, timing and decision
Vanderbilt head coach Robbie Caldwell has made a change to his offensive staff by making running backs coach Des Kitchings his new offensive coordinator. Jimmy Kiser will continue to coach the quarterbacks.
Caldwell informed Kitchings of the move on Sunday.
Kitchings said, “I was (surprised). That (timing) and just the decision. I’m not coming to work on Sunday thinking I’m going to be the offensive coordinator.”
Vanderbilt is coming off a 21-7 loss to South Carolina. The Commodores are ranked 105th nationally in both total offense and scoring offense (18.8 points per game).
Caldwell said, "Des is a great coach, who is a student of the game. He has a great deal of experience and has paid his dues here. In my years of coaching, I've never seen someone take to it as quickly as he has. He is excited and our staff is excited. I think our players will be refreshed and ready to play for him."
Kitchings (33), is in the 7th season of coaching. He has served as the running backs coach on the Vanderbilt staff since 2008.
Kitchings said, “In football, you have to win first down and third down. If you win first down, you have a good chance to win third down.”
Vanderbilt travels to Arkansas this Saturday.
Mack Brown ticked at presser: Playing hard at TX doesn't count. Winning counts.
Mack Brown is frustrated with the inconsistent play and the personality of his football team. The Longhorns suffered a terrible 28-21 loss to Iowa State on Saturday.
Today, Brown stated, “Playing hard here doesn’t count. Winning counts.”
“We’re immature. We have some entitlement on our team, like we had in 06 and 07. We have to fix that.”
Explaining the loss to Iowa State, Brown said, “I saw a desperate Iowa State team and a team coming out of Lincoln feeling too good about themselves. It’s not about talent level. That has nothing to do with it. If you have enough talent to beat Nebraska in Lincoln, you have enough to beat Iowa State in Austin.”
“8 months after playing a conference title and for a national championship, our coaches are not stupid. They understand we shouldn’t have lost to Iowa State in Austin.”
“Coach Muschamp felt we probably did too much. Our defensive line got tired, so we should have played more people. In talking with Coach Davis, we should have stayed more balanced and kept with the running game longer.”
“I’ve been really hard on the coaches, really hard on the players. My job is no different that and CEO that’s trying to get results.”
This Saturday, Texas hosts Baylor, who is ranked and bowl eligible after defeating Kansas State 47-42.
“It won’t be a week where we have to worry about respecting Baylor. You just turn on the film. 47 points, 42 points, they are ranked and we are not.”
Skip Holtz says 3 plays separate Bulls from 6-1 record
Skip Holtz is ready for the stretch run in his first season as the South Florida head coach. The Bulls are 4-3 with games remaining against Rutgers, at Louisville, Pitt, at Miami (FL), and UCONN.
Coming off a huge road win at Cincinnati, Holtz said, “They have remained extremely determined and passionate about getting this thing done. I talked to them tonight about how we’ve played 1171 plays thus far this year when you look at offense, defense, special teams, everything included. And really you are 3 plays from being 6-1 and 3-0 in the league. 3 plays separate you from 4-3 and 6-1.”
“What I want to make sure, at the end of the year, over the next five games, we’re not sitting here with the same regret as we are sitting here with at the halfway point. I’ve told them if you don’t like where you are, then change it. Let’s quit turning the ball over. Let’s start playing a little bit smarter.”
South Florida is 62th nationally in turnovers lost (13) and 87th nationally in turnover margin (-0.43).
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Joe Schad searching for Auburn airport guy
On December 13, 2008, a video that now has over 659,000 hits made its way to YouTube. As Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs landed at the Auburn airport, he was greeted by some bozo.
You remember that guy yelling, “Boooo. We want a leader not a loser. Boooo. Give us (Turner) Gill not Chizik. 5-19. 5-19 is not what we need. Hell, I’ll take Brady Hoke or Patrick Nix. Any of them! Not Chizik!”
Now, ESPN’s Joe Schad is trying to locate this individual. Schad just tweeted, “Anyone personally know the Auburn airport guy or who he is? Message me.”
We can’t wait for this guy to step to the forefront. In two years, Gene Chizik is 16-5. The Tigers are now ranked #1 overall in the latest BCS standings.
Former Auburn head coach Pat Dye recalls when Jacobs told him his plan to hire Gene Chizik. Dye recently said, "When he called me to tell me he had chosen Gene to be our next coach, I couldn't believe it. He said, 'I decided to hire Gene the day he left Auburn (for Texas).'"
Here is the video from December 13, 2008. We hope Schad can gets an interview with this heckler.
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Chizik not talking about 8-0 or rankings, Shannon feels no relief despite win
Gene Chizik doing everything he can to keep Auburn focused on the right things: "This is a step-by-step, day-by-day process, and I know that sounds like coaching clichés, but that is what it is. We are not going to talk about where we end up ranking-wise. We are not going to talk about being 8-0. We are not going to talk about any of that. We are going to talk about Ole Miss next week starting (Sunday), and that is how we will proceed."
Randy Shannon says he feels no relief in beating UNC for first time: “It ain't going to change. There's going to be somebody tomorrow who is going to say something, so it doesn't make a difference. It's not a relief. It's just the way it is in Miami. You have to move on.''
“Guys played with a lot of emotion, a lot of enthusiasm. They had fun. This is a team that is creating its own identity.''
Mark Dantonio gets ready for stretch run at Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, at Penn State: "One thing about that football team is we found out how to win close games. All the games were close, starting with the fourth game against Cincinnati. Guys made plays down the stretch and that's what's happening to our football team right now. Guys are making plays down the stretch and I think that speaks to our players' leadership on the field.
Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone says simplying schemes was key to beating WVU: “You lose a game like we did last week (Pitt), this is no time to expand. We really stressed the little things and simplified the game plan.”
Texas Tech used ‘The Wildcat’ against Colorado, offensive coordinator Neal Brown explains: “Really the reason we got into it, there’s a little bit of deception invovled because it’s hard (for the defense) to find the ball,” Tech offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. “The other reason is we wanted to get a downhill run. We feel like our backs are pretty physical guys and we want to get them running downhill, and then we can build off the package. It’s good for play action, and we can get some good screens.”
Bill Stewart says WVU overlooked 'Cuse, Kelly says Irish won't fall apart
Bill Stewart says West Virginia took Syracuse lightly, cost the Mountaineers: "Like, 'It can't happen to us. It can only happen to South Florida. It can't happen to us. We're West Virginia. Well, bingo."
“(We were beaten) between the ears, from the shoulders up. I know they were not nearly as impressed with Syracuse before the game as they were after the game," he said.
"I am not pleased in the mental approach in the Mountaineers’ football game after cautiously being reminded over and over by the coaching staff. I’ve coached longer than these players have been on this earth so, they better trust their old coaching staff. They worked very hard, and I know they were not nearly as impressed with Syracuse before the game as they were after the game."
TCU head coach Gary Patterson trying to get seniors to 40 wins, Frogs host UNLV: "I'm just trying to get to 9-0. I can get my senior class to 40 wins if we win this weekend."
Dabo Swinney says Clemson (4-3) is 18 points away from being undefeated: “This week, we really threw and caught the ball a lot better, which allowed us to have the rhythm that we needed on offense. As a result, we were better on first-down, which led to I think our best game of the year on third-down. Sixty percent on third-down, you’re going to be pretty good.”
“I’m not real happy where we are. I wish we could go back in time and change a couple of those plays. You’re 18 points away from being undefeated. That’s where we are. That’s frustrating.
Brian Kelly says Irish won’t fall apart like last year: ''Last year you lost to Navy and you lost the rest. That means this football team fell apart.'We're not going to let this team come apart. I just talked to them from my heart -- here's what I see. Here's what happened. Here's what's going to ave to happen as we move forward.''
Dooley frustrated, but will make sure to have fun: "Well, it's not very fun when you're not winning. But every now and then, if you crack a smile it's not the end of the world, either. I just think perspective is always important and keeping a positive attitude is always very important, but it doesn't mean that it's fun. The fun is in getting it right and winning, so I'm not really trying to have fun -- the way to do that is perform well and win football games."
East Carolina linebacker Dustin Lineback describes Ruffin McNeill: “Coach Ruff is a players’ coach to the max,” senior linebacker Dustin Lineback said. He’s all about family, he’s all about doing the right thing and being professional. It’s really a blessing to play for him.”
“He loves being here. He wants to be here. He’s not going anywhere unless they get rid of him. The camaraderie around the players and the coaches is unbelievable. It’s way stronger than it ever was since I’ve been here. You don’t let him down because he cares so much.”
