Weekly Press Luncheon Quotes
October 17, 2005 | Football
Oct. 17, 2005
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina University head football coach Skip Holtz addressed members of the media prior to this week's game against Conference USA match up with Memphis. The following are selected comments:
On The Road Victory Over SMU:
"The win on the road against SMU was an awful big win for us, for a number of reasons. It got us not only a road win, but a conference road win, which we can build on as we go into Memphis this weekend."
On Breaking Down Aspects Of The Game:
"When you sit down and look at the game on tape, breaking it down, we played solid in the kicking game, but we didn't do anything special. We didn't do anything negative, so it wasn't like the last couple of weeks where we had something happen to us, whether it be a punt return, a kickoff return, or something happen to us. I thought that the kicking game was solid."
On The Play Of The Defense:
"The real show on Saturday was the way that the defense played, especially the secondary. They played absolutely tremendous. When you look at a quarterback that SMU had, Jared Romo, who was throwing the ball extremely efficient as he had only thrown one interception going into that game, and for our defense to come up with four interceptions was really big. (Secondary) Coach (Rick) Smith has done a great job in developing those guys in the back end. We are playing a lot of players back there and they are all just continuing to get better and better.
"We put in some wrinkles going into that game. Coach (Greg) Hudson (defensive coordinator) had put in a nickel defense and a dime defense where we started playing more of our secondary players and not as many as our linebackers. We had to get a few more athletes in place, because when you watch SMU's passing game, they were very good at ball control, getting rid of the ball in a hurry, high-percentage passes and doing those type of things. Our defense had a really good scheme against them with a couple of coverages, because we had different athletes running around. We played more man free than we have and we just felt like we needed to get more athletes on the field."
On The Defensive Positional Breakdowns:
"The two guys that really stood out from the naked eye just watching the game were Pierre Parker and Demetrius Hodges. Pierre Parker was all over the field. He had two interceptions and a bunch of tackles. Pierre Parker is really starting to grow up and mature as a safety and really doing some great things for us. Hodges, a senior, had two interceptions and 36 of what call `bonus points'. He had a lot of tackles, two picks and is really playing well for us. Those two really stood out and played exceptional.
"Up front, Marcus Hands had his solid game. (Mark) Robinson played his best game so far this year. He really did a nice job up inside and he is continuously getting better.
"At the linebacker position, both Chris Moore and Pierre Bell saw quite a bit of action. Both of them played very well and it is nice to see Pierre Bell continue to progress and do some of the good things we knew he was capable of. At outside linebacker, Richard Koonce and Josh Chilsom played very well for us.
"In the secondary, all three safeties played really well for us. We had Kyle Chase starting in place of Zach Baker and really did a nice job stepping in there.
"We played four corners in this game (Demetrius Hodges, Erode Jean, Travis Williams and Kasey Ross). Kasey Ross played all 73 plays. I was really pleased right now with the way that we are playing in the secondary."
On The Offensive Positional Breakdowns:
"On the offensive side of the ball, it is a little more frustrating. We probably ran the ball a little too much in that game, looking back in hindsight. When we went into a 17-7 lead at halftime, we felt like we would run the ball a little bit more in the second half, try and sustain some drives and put some things together and eat up the clock. We ran the ball some, but I don't think that we ran it as efficiently.
"The one thing that we continually do pretty well, because of the guy under center, is our passing game which has been very productive for us. I think that quarterback James Pinkney gets better each and every week. He is getting a better feel of when to throw the ball, get into his secondary reads, and when things aren't there and the pocket starts to collapse, he is starting to scramble either sideways with eyes up to make something happen north-south to make some yards running with the football.
"With Aundrae Allison, we were trying to give him a little bit of a rest, but when (Robert) Tillman went down with a hamstring and we were in a tied ballgame in the fourth quarter, we went back trying to get him the ball a little bit. He made some big things happen for us there in the fourth quarter, especially those final two drives to get the ball there inside the red zone."
On The Importance Of Communication On The Offensive Line:
"I didn't feel like our offensive line played very well. I don't think it was a thing where they didn't mentally show up, not know what they were doing, or even playing the game too aggressively. I just don't think that we communicated very well. SMU was doing some things, moving some guys around, and all five of those guys have got to be on the same page. On one play the guys on the left were blocking it one way and on the right the guys were blocking it another way. So, we just weren't all on the same page. I don't think that we were communicating well enough on the offensive line, which concerns me going into this week with Joe Lee Dunn (Memphis defensive coordinator) with all the crazy things that he does like standing guys up and moving them around. This is going to be a huge week for us to communicate up front.
"In saying that, Coach (Steve) Shankweiler (offensive line coach and offensive coordinator) made a huge point to me when he said `you have to realize that three of these guys have never played offensive line here in the past and two of them didn't even play the position.' Chris Sellers was a defensive end and Guy Whimper was a tight end/defensive end. They are not only playing for the first time this year, but they are playing offensive line for the first time. Then you have a guy like Matt Butler that has not played a lot of football here. We've just got to continually get them to talk to each other. and get everybody on the same page."
On Re-Establishing A Running Game:
"I thought that Chris Johnson ran hard, but I don't think that he made a lot of things happen with the ball under his arm. I don't think there were a lot of holes, but I don't think that we made a lot of things happen either."
On The Play Of The Wide Receivers:
"When you look at it overall, it was nice to see Bobby Good come back and do the things that he did. It was also nice to see Phillip Henry make some of the plays that he did, having a 123-yard day. Obviously the big one was the 80-yarder, but it was nice to see him emerge as well.
"We have been trying to work to get as much speed on the field as we can, and moving Tillman to the outside opened up a window for Jerek Hewett and Phillip Henry to step in. Last week it was Jerek Hewett that had the bigger day, and this week it was Phillip Henry's turn. Those guys are really starting to mature and doing some good things, and give us some athleticism and a couple different threats on the field."
Previewing The Memphis Matchup:
"This week going into the Memphis game, it poses some new challenges for us as a football team. The step that we have to learn right now is learning how to handle winning. We talked to the team about this, because this is not something that you have to address until you win a couple of football games. I don't think that we handled it well on Saturday.
"Looking at the Memphis game, the obvious thing that stands out is DeAngelo Williams. He alone is running for 180 yards a game and they are rushing for 275 yards a game, which doesn't match up well for us because we are last in the conference in rushing defense. I would much rather be facing a team that throws it on every down right now, with the success that we've had against the passing teams than the rushing teams. We understand the challenge we have. DeAngelo is a great back and they are doing a lot of different things with him. They are really using their mind and are experimenting in a lot of ways. They moved a wide receiver to quarterback last week and he is either running the ball, running the sweep or he is running the option to get the ball to DeAngelo Williams.
"With all of the quarterback injuries that they have had when they lost their starter and their backup, they have started to think outside the box a little bit on what they have to do to continue to move the ball and give themselves a chance to win. They put the ball in their best athlete's hands as much as possible. They moved the receiver (Maurice) Avery to the quarterback position and he throws the ball well enough to turn and throw it out there on screens and jump balls.
"When you look at their receivers, especially Ryan Scott who is 6-4 and can go up and get it, they are not really out-running everybody, but out-jumping everybody instead. They are not asking Avery to make perfect strikes, but instead telling Ryan to go up and rebound it, or if the ball is up in the air, go up and get it.
"They are going to pose some problems for us on the defensive side of the ball and we have a challenge in front of us."
On The Defensive Schemes Of Joe Lee Dunn:
"When you look at the number of yards per carry, when you face a Joe Lee Dunn defense, it concerns me. I have had the opportunity to play him three years when he was at Mississippi State. He creates an awful lot of problems to you as an offense. You can't run a traditional offense against him. He has run that defense for a long time - he knows it and he keeps it all up in his head. Every time that you try to do something to hurt him he has got an answer with something that he is going to do. He plays a high-pressure defense where he puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback, and they try to put a lot of pressure on the offensive line as far as assignments are concerned. On top of that, the athletes that he has running around in that scheme right now make them pretty darn good defensively."
On Responding To A New Found Success:
"We went into the locker room leading 17-7 at halftime and we lost our focus. They thought that we were going to win the game, and it was way to jovial, upbeat and happy. We have got to maintain focus, maintain what we are trying to get done in the second half and remember that all these games are 60 minutes. When we went out there in the third quarter, we did not maintain the same enthusiasm and intensity we had earlier in the game, on either side of the ball. Fortunately, when we had a tight game in the fourth quarter we were able to bring everybody back and regain our focus again. It was a very valuable lesson for this team to learn. If we can take that into this week, learn how to handle a two-game winning streak and maintain the same blue-collar approach, focus, and energy that we had before winning - then it was a valuable experience."
