Weekly Press Luncheon Quotes
October 02, 2006 | Football
Oct. 2, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina University head football coach Skip Holtz addressed members of the media prior to this week's game against Virginia. The following are selected comments:
On The Bye Week:
"We gave the players a hard week last week. We went back to spring practice and back to the basics. We did a lot hitting against each other for the open date."
On Virginia's Defense:
"We spent Thursday getting ready for Virginia. We have our hands full this week. Virginia has done a nice job especially as a defensive football team. I think they are extremely competitive and very strong. The strength of their football team would be up front, on the front four. Their defensive lineman are great too. Virginia has given up about two yards a carry. If you take out about two or three plays that have gone for long yards where a running back breaks a few tackles and makes a great play. I think defensively they are extremely feisty up front with their front seven. Their linebackers are very active and their secondary is extremely complicated.
"Through four games Virginia has run 17 different coverage's. They give you a lot of looks than anyone we have played to this point. They move a lot of guys around into a lot of different places. Normally when they get hurt, it's because of a missed assignment and not because they get beat. Statistically they give up 12 first downs a game, which is unheard of. Our defense has given up 23 first downs a game and while our offense is averaging 20 first downs. They have played Georgia Tech and some really good football teams. I think defensively this is a very strong Virginia football team. Unfortunately, I think they were put with a short field a couple times in a couple of games this year and they gave up some points early on."
On Virginia's Offense:
"This is a team that is searching for its identity. I think they are starting to come into their own as they have made some changes at quarterback. They have played three different quarterbacks and have made the decision to go with the freshman. He is the most athletic, mobile, agile, quarterback of the three because of the way he can run and move. He's going to make some mistakes. When you see him in the game a week ago when he first started, he wasn't as comfortable as he was last week against Duke. I'm sure with this week of practice under his belt and a full week of film study he'll come in here and be a lot better then he was a week ago. You will see improvement from him each and every week and that's what scares you. Their offensive line is going to look as good as any we are going to play. They have had some unfortunate things happen to them in the early stages but I think they are starting to establish themselves a little bit as an offensive football team."
On The Upcoming Game:
"It'll be a great challenge for both our defense and our offense. When you look at them statistically, they are one of the better defenses in the country. People look at their record and say well they are 2-3 and have lost a couple football games, but I think they are a lot better then their record indicates. This should be a heck of a challenge this week.
On The Injuries:
"I have a couple of concerns on the injury front. I was hoping with the off date we would have the opportunity to get some people back again. Aundrae Allison and Chris Johnson did not practice last night. Brandon Setzer and Shauntae Hunt are still out, so we still have a number of players that are sidelined with injuries. We are not sure if they are questionable, doubtful or day-to-day as of right now. We are going to have to see as we go along.
"The other thing that concerns me is a flu bug going through this football team now. We had 19 players (11 with the flu) miss practice last night. Hopefully it's a 24-hour bug and it will get in and out of their system. It will be hard to get through practice Tuesday and Wednesday with the number of guys we have over there at the student health center, trying to get IV and fluids back into them. They lose their weight and lose their strength. I think they will be fine by game-time, but I worry about the interrupted preparation for the game."
On ECU's Special Teams:
"There were a lot of changes we looked at over this open week. Our kick-off team is better then we were a year ago, our kick-off return team is better then we were a year ago. Our net punt is better. The one area in special teams where we are not better is in our punt returns. I don't think it's as much with our return game as much as we haven't been catching the football. I think you want your most explosive guy back there that has the chance to put the ball in the end-zone, but at the same point in time it doesn't do any good if we don't catch the ball. We're averaging four-yards a return and that is not as good as we were a year ago. Hopefully we can get more out of our punt return game."
On Virginia's Offensive Line:
"Their strength is talent and athletic ability. They are extremely young on the offensive line, but they are all about 6-6 and 300 pounds across the board. They are a great looking group. They are very talented, athletic and young. They are inexperienced so they make some mistakes. When you watch them on film, a mistake here and there may be making a difference in their wins and losses but if you look at them overall they are a very talented offensive line."
On ECU's Defense:
"I feel better with our performance over the past six quarters. We still have to go out there and play the game. This is still a talented and powerful Virginia football team. We have to remember they are coming out of the ACC and we're in a building and growing progress. We can't go into the game thinking we're very confident.
"Our defense played well against West Virginia and did some very good things, but that doesn't make you a very good defensive football team. What makes you a good defensive football team is when you can consistently do it week after week and that's the challenge that we have right now. We don't want to be the one-hit wonder where we look back and say we had one good week against West Virginia. The reality is we still gave up 27 points and that's too many, especially against a defense that Virginia has that will be way too many. I'm excited about the defensive growth of this football team. A lot of the younger guys are starting to mature into their roles. We can still improve from where we are now."
On ECU Running Game:
"We have been breaking down film by plays. We looked at what we were doing and trying to find the problem, and some of it's the running back and some of it's the offensive line. Other times it's the defensive personnel that we are playing. We have played some very good defensive football teams. I think UAB is one of the best defensive teams we have played all season. Navy is also very good and they don't always get the credit they deserve for their defense.
"It's been a combination of things. We have looked at moving a lot of personnel around. We have taken a look to try to find the right chemistry mix. We want to get the right players on the field at the right time and in the right position. It's unfortunate Chris Johnson hasn't been able to practice during this open date, but Brandon Fractious has done a lot of good work. With Dominique Lindsay out, a guy like Brandon Simmons may have a chance to play a little bit more of that roll for us. He's a bigger and more physical back. He's breaking tackles. He's not a guy that anyone really knows right now, but I think due to the injuries to our running backs this is what we are down to at this point and he will definitely play on Saturday."
