Weekly Press Conference Quotes
September 23, 2002 | Football
Opening comments:
"We are getting ready to go this week up to West Virginia. We're going to entertain a West Virginia football team that is different from anything we have entertained over the years with Coach Don Nehlen. Rich Rodriguez has come in and installed new schemes and really on both sides of the football they look a lot like us. They are built for speed and normally over the years you get ready for a West Virginia football game, you get ready for 20-25 toss sweeps coming downhill at you with two tight ends. Those things are not there anymore."
"They have a nice bunch of athletes... Avon Cobourne is still running the football up there and we have been trying to tackle him for the last 15 years, I think. Rasheed Marshall is the quarterback that is built along the lines of Shaun King and Woodrow Dantzler. Rich Rodriguez is trying to recreate those two quarterbacks that he's had a lot of success with and this young man is really good. They are doing a nice job on defense and I think they are still trying to find their way around on defense somewhat. All three games we have on film from this year are a little different on the defensive side of the football. They're fast and not as physical as they used to be, where they would just line up and push on you. So the problems are different and I'm just hoping that we can go up there and find a way to win."
On West Virginia changing its turf:
"It is field turf, which everyone is a big fan of especially the players. The last time we were up there, I believe that we had three broken legs on the offensive line by the time we got back on the airplane. So that is a lot less likely to happen. The AstroTurf they had was very sticky, it gave very little and if you got hit in the lower leg, you were not coming up. The field turf is just a wonderful product, the players love it and we have played on it at Army. "
On injuries:
"We are going to play this game without our starting center [Doug White] and probably our starting safety [Travis Heath]. Other than that, I think that we will be able to get the rest of them on the plane. We had three or four pretty badly sprained ankles that probably with the week off gave us a chance to heal up. Terrance Copper is taking a cortisone shot today to try and clear out some of the inflammation in his ankle and probably get him back on the field, which will be a big plus."
On Marvin Townes as Art Brown's back up:
"Marvin is about a half step faster than Art. He is still in the developmental stages and really needs to grow physically. At times last week, he was doing some of that. If he will do that, then you will see an exceptional running back. Our offense needs both of those young men to go in and make it where it is a non-event whoever's in the game. We did some of that last Saturday; this is what I thought we could to grow into. So we've got to keep moving in that direction. I am going to take a look at Damarcus Fox on some kickoff returns. His knee is back at 100 percent. Marvin is good on kickoff returns, but I think Damarcus is better. So we maybe splitting some duties back there and see if we can get Damarcus a touch or two."
On how the bye week benefited the offense and QB Paul Troth:
"We went a lot of 11-on-11 or good-on-good this week. It was an opportunity for us to show our defense the team that they will see two weeks from now in Army, because Coach [Todd] Berry is basically running our offense intact. At the same time, every snap of 11-on-11 that Paul Troth can get will help his progress. Paul had a good week of practice."
On getting Richard Alston, Richard Hourigan and Edwin Rios into the game at the same time:
"The wide receiver position over the years has evolved where there are no starters and no bench warmers, just eight men that have to go play. We script some things for Richard Alston; for the rest of them we just call the play and whoever happens to carry the play in we expect them to execute. Getting them on the field at the same time is not what we are trying to do. It's just whoever is there, please execute and please catch the football. I would like Richard Alston to touch the ball six to eight times a game if possible."
On the backup quarterbacks and how they are shaping up:
"So far we have not been able to get Desmond [Robinson] on the field like we thought we could. At some point, we've to got to get him on the field and two things will happen: it will help Desmond and I know it will help Paul. Every possession and snap is so precious and in the mean time we have a learning curve that is very steep and severe going on with Paul Troth right now. So you just kind of hate to take a rep away from him. It is something that we have to work our way through. We have 10 football games left and it will work itself out."
