Press Conference Quotes 9-29
Monday Sept. 29 Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Bobby Petrino
On the Texas game “We reviewed the video of the Texas game. We got beat by a better football team, they executed very well offensively. Their defensive front really handled our offensive front and made it very difficult to execute running the football. I think we held our own on special teams. We got better in some phases of it and punted the ball well and we returned the ball well on kickoff. Overall, it was certainly a disappointing game. One that we thought we could have been in and a little more competitive, but again, you can’t take anything away from Texas because they executed real well. Up front on both sides of the ball, they were more physical and faster than we were. “
Florida“Now we have to get ready for the Florida game and we are working hard at that. They are a good football team and everyone knows they have a quarterback that can run the ball, is very physical, and can throw the ball. He’s a little upset right now, so we have to make sure we do a good job of preparing for them.”“We have to play better defense. We have to play better offense. We have to work together, so that we’re able to dedicate ourselves to running the ball. You have to be able to come up with some stops, so eventually you get four or 5 yard gains and by the time you’re running the ball more in the fourth quarter they become bigger plays and we haven’t been able to do that. I’m not sure that we are executing well enough on offense right now to ever be in a shoot-out, so we just have to play better defense and score points when we get down in the critical zone and score points when we get down the 20-yard line going in. That’s certainly been something that’s really hurt us.”
On how the team can bounce back from the two losses“The first thing we need to understand is that the last two teams that we’ve played are very good football teams. You see what Alabama did in Georgia the other night in the first half going up 31 to nothing. We can’t panic. We’ve got to make sure that we stick to our beliefs, to our fundamentals, and how we’re going to build this program and just keep grinding and working hard and I think our players will do that. I think that they will come out and practice hard and continue to work at getting better. Certainly we have to see more improvement. You know the problem, sometimes, is when you get in a game like that there are areas of improvement, but they don’t show up on the scoreboard. We just have to evaluate that and when we are watching the video and they haven’t shown up on the scoreboard yet, but I still think there are areas we have improved at.”
On the positives of the Texas game“Certainly we have talked to them about the special teams. There have been some individual performances. Defensively, the other night, if you take out the one, long quarterback run, I think the stat was we held them to 3.2 yards per attempt. But, we gave up big, easy plays in the passing game. So, we have to be able to put the two together and be able to stop the run and defend the pass. That’s something we have to work with.”“Michael Smith still continues to work hard and run the ball for us. We’re getting him into the secondary sometimes and we need to win some one-on-one battles with the safeties. Again, that’s something that happens more in the second half and the fourth quarter, when the safeties start wearing down a little bit, but we haven’t been able to get to that yet.”
On the quarterback sacks“There was a combination of things. One was we got beat one-on-one a couple of times, right after those quick ‘swim’ moves, where they jab step outside, try to do a quick swim move and then you get beat. There was a few times where we held the ball too long. We have to get the ball out of our hands and make sure we have enough time. We should have moved up in the pocket, instead of running to the left, where the defense makes a tackle and he’s actually in a good position, it’s just the quarterback moves in the pocket the wrong way. We had another time where we had a communication problem. It was just a combination of things and when you do that, you know you’re not executing well.”
On Florida:“They [Florida] have always played really well. They are going to play inspired. They got a lead the other day, and I think Ole Miss’ defense played really well. They got some turnovers, kept them close and they made some real big plays down the stretch in the game. Florida is very talented defensively. They got big 6 ‘4, 6 ‘5, 300 pound guys inside, some fast guys off the edge. I think they’re middle linebackers are going to be as good as anyone we have faced so far. They do a heck of a job both on the run game and the pass game, so it’s going to be another good challenge for us. We have to step up and play better.”
On Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin:“He’s challenging because I think he has caught 16 balls and had 21 rushing attempts and they put him in motion and hand him the ball. He’s a real threat as a receiver, running his routes and catching it, but then again, running after the catch. We’ll have to know where he is on every snap. Understand what they try to do with him because he aligns in different spots in motion. He’s certainly, between him and [Tim] Tebow, someone that will give you a lot of headaches.”
On Florida quarterback Tim Tebow:“He is certainly someone that we will have to keep in the pocket. Earlier in the year, I think he had, I think, 127 yards rushing. He has been sacked a few times and has been made to lose yardage and that helps a little bit. We have to be able to stop the quarterback running game. The plays that they design, call, and they’re going to run the ball and then you have to be able to sprint and contain him on the drop back when you know that he’s just going to go on his own. So, there’s really a dual-threat on what type of runs he does and scrambles that he just makes happen.”
On Arkansas tight end D.J.Williams:“D.J. [Williams] is a very good football player. He’s starting to draw a little more attention from the defenses as far as coverages go. He’s a guy that we count on to get open and catch the ball. He’s caught the ball very well in traffic, he still runs with the ball very well after the catch. He’s working harder to improve his run blocking and helping us in the running game and that’s something that’s important to him. He wants to make sure that he can do all phases of playing the tight end. We still need to keep utilizing him and getting him the ball whenever we can.”
Free Safety Elton FordOn being a Razorback playing as a freshman“It’s been a great opportunity to play as a freshman. Most guys don’t get the opportunity like I’ve gotten. Playing as a first year takes time developing, especially with a new coaching staff. I feel that we are growing and game by game we learn new things. I feel that we are going to be good.”
Playing against different quarterbacks“That’s football for you, each week it s going to be a new challenge, it’s just how you prepare.”
On Tim Tebow“I know he is a great player, and I give him credit. I just feel if we come out as a defense, we attack, and prepare well for him as we would. I believe we have one of the best coaching staffs as far as preparing for our opponents, we’ve just got to play and execute and we’ll make it happen. “
Did you learn anything from playing Colt McCoy“Yes we can correct it, we just have to know as a unit were the quarterback is at all times. As a unit defensively we need to come together. If we see the quarterback running, we all need to run to the football. Colt McCoy did a good job as far as controlling the Texas offense. I feel that we didn’t contain him as well as we should have.”
The first 4 games“It’s been a good experience; I enjoy playing the game and continuing to develop. I believe in the next couple of games, very soon you’ll be hearing big things from me. It’s certainly opened my eyes. I wasn’t expecting the outcomes of either two (loses.) I feel like we had a good plan we just didn’t execute. (We need) to stay focused, don’t put your head down, and just believe, believe in the system.
Leadership“The quarterback Casey Dick, Michael Smith, Jonathan Luigs, I feel like the whole senior crew, it’s their last year, they’re trying to get to the next level. Individually they need to have good seasons, and as far as the whole team we’ve got to be productive so they can be looked at.”
Center Jonathan Luigs On the tough Losses“The past two weeks have been tough for the team and myself, I’m just trying to be a leader and get this team going in the right direction. There’s really only one way to go and that’s up. We’ve seen the lowest of the low, and now we’re just looking to turn this around and we’ve got to start with Florida this week.”
Running game troubles“It was really just falling behind during the ballgame, we keep saying it week in and week out. When you get behind by that big of a deficit you’ve got to fight the clock trying to get back into the game, and the quickest way is through the air. Obviously, we’d like to be more balanced and be able to establish the run and keep the defense on their heels, but that’s not the way it’s gone the past two weeks.”
Too many Sacks“Really it’s just getting the guy in the right area, and winning the one on one battles. We know how to do it all week leading up to the game, it’s just when we get to Saturday we have mental errors or beat one on one. It’s going to take more practice and more preparation going into it and being able to put it together on Saturday.”
Turnovers“You definitely don’t want the other team scoring when you have the ball. If you are going to turn it over, just let them fall down and give the defense a chance to stop them. With the young guys we have, and as many struggles as we’ve had offensively, it’s really hurt us to give the other team gifts like that and give them opportunities to score when we have the ball.”
Frustration of being a senior during a rebuilding year“It’s tough, especially if you look at the last 2 losses and the way we lost. It’s embarrassing to be on the field, it’s embarrassing for us as a team and for the state of Arkansas. You’ve got to put in your dues and just seeing the progress the teams made may not be on the scoreboard, but just us as building a team and our character has been good, but I think we’re ready to start winning.“It’s getting the younger players growing into SEC football players. The strides they’ve made up front offensively, you may not be able to see it, but on the film you can see us coming together more as an offensive line and really starting to learn from our mistakes. Like I said, it’s going to be a work in progress we’ve got a long way to go. You really have nowhere to go but up.”
Florida coming off a Loss“I think Tebow’s going to have his team rallied. You could see from the comments and the way he talked to the press after the game and the attitude he has, they’re going to come in here ready to go and really look to rebound and turn their season around and still have hopes for an SEC and National championship. That just means were going to have to come out and play that much harder and be ready for a battle.“We crossed paths a couple of times, not enough to build a friendship. I just knew he carried himself in a good way, he’s definitely a leader. He’s got a lot of eyes on him, and he’s looking forward to performing, so we’re going to have our work cut out for us Saturday. He’s just a guy who cares, a guy that knows how to lead, a guy who’s making those steps to turn a team around and rebound from a loss. I think Florida’s a team who had high hopes of going undefeated and whenever they face an obstacle like that they’re just going to have to rebound and have their ‘A’ game this week.”
Linebacker Jerry Franklin “I was on the scout team last year, so I was really anxious to get the season started this year.”
Transition to the Field“It’s a little easier than I thought it would be. Getting used to the speed became easy for me, because I practiced against Darren McFadden last year, seeing the speed became a lot easier.”
What do you see from Florida?“We’ve seen what Florida’s like. They’ve got a lot of play makers on their team and we’ll try our best to slow them down. I believe Tim Tebow’s a lot more physical of a runner than Colt McCoy is. I think they do a lot of the same things, they’re both dual threat quarterbacks.”
Leadership on Defense “We have leaders, but we have to come together as one team.”
Motivation of the Losses“We’re alright. We’re just going back to work trying to work harder. If we’re not doing something right we just need to work harder and try to fix. It’s not really that hard, if you keep losing like we keep losing, you want to get it turned around, you want to fix it so it’s pretty easy to keep going.
Specific Improvement“First, everyone is put on an individual assignment we need to run full speed to the ball. Little things like that we can fix in practice.”
Texas“They simply outplayed us. That’s what I believe, they simply outplayed us.”
