Weekly Press Conference Luncheon
November 23, 2004 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. ? East Carolina University head coach John Thompson addressed members of the media prior to this week's game against N.C. State in Charlotte. The following are selected comments:
On game versus Memphis:
"I was so proud of our guys. You get down 21-0 and you get down 28-7 and they keep battling and they keep coming. The simple thing was we just did not make enough plays. That has been a thorn in our side. We had some opportunities to make those plays. We get an interception when we need one, we have it in our hands, we come down and it falls in their chest."
On James Pinkney:
"Offensively, when you look at James Pinkney, he played exceptionally well we thought. When you look at his stats you see he had four interceptions but two of those were Hail Marys right at the end and one of them was a deflected pass on an interception. He still had five or six drops but I say this every week, the guy is a warrior. He can be a great quarterback, he has gotten so much better."
On Durwin Lamb:
"In a span of less than 10 plays, Eric Butler goes out with a knee injury and he is out for the season. His backup, Dashaun Stephens goes in and suffers a season-ending injury and we were left without our stinger, our strong side outside backer. We put in Durwin Lamb who had not played that position since August. Durwin Lamb is a true freshman and we put him in at stinger. Fred Tate did an unbelievable job coaching him from the sideline, getting him adjusted in everything he did. He played 77 plays and was productive for 77 plays."
On Travis Williams:
"He can do some things with the football. He played special teams, played offense and played corner. I think he played thirty-something plays at corner and covered real well. This guys is going to be a very, very good player."
On playing N.C. State:
"I don't think very many people at all have to say very much about this football game. As yesterday indicated with our players, I think there is a different sense in the air. I don't think there is a lot of love lost at all. This is my first and last opportunity to be a part of this rivalry but I am looking forward to Saturday. With games like this, you know you are going to get their best preparation and practice from our guys. It is going to be fun coaching this week and I want it to be fun playing this week."
On preparation for Saturday:
"We are going to treat this like any other game as much as we can. It is not a normal game and to say that it is any normal game would be foolish and it is not that way and our players don't look at it that way. We are excited. We are going to go hard to the last whistle just like we did Saturday night. Nobody is going to do anything different. We are looking forward to the game."
On N.C. State quarterback Jay Davis:
"When you replace Philip Rivers in its own right there is a lot of scrutiny and there is a lot of pressure on you. I have seen him do some good things but I wouldn't be surprised if we se both quarterbacks in this game, they have both played in a lot of games. Marcus Stone is a very good quarterback also. They have also had two weeks to get things ironed out. I know that he is very capable of getting the job done. We have got to get him out of sync, get him out of rhythm."
On stopping the run:
"Like we do with everything, it starts with the running game. T.A. McClendon is the hardest running back that we have faced all year long. He reminds you of what you watch on Sundays with that type of size and effort that he runs with. If we can somehow get them out of their running game and do some things and maybe we can get to Davis a little bit also."
