(Opening Statement)
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to come out with a win. We had some chances, I do think our guys played hard but it wasn’t good enough. We definitely have not got off to good starts. I applaud our team for hanging in there and playing until the end but we have to play better football. Now was it a good team, yeah it was a good team. It was a good quarterback, they have good players, they have good pass rushers. We still had chances to win. So all of us need to dive in there from myself and coaches all the way down and figure out a little better plan that we can do and execute and execute it better because we gave up way too many yards, too many points, too many big plays and that can’t happen.”
(On the defense)
“Well, you know, I think we can play better so that is disappointing. I think we can challenge things more. They were able to move the ball at will for the most part. We had a couple good stops there in the middle of the game, that was good. We were able to get a couple sacks but we are giving up way too many big plays. We gave up way too many big rushes. We weren’t able to tackle people to the ground late in the game. We weren’t able to bring people down when we needed to. So those are things we have to get fixed if we want to try and win football games.”
(On the struggles on third down)
“We had some long yardage deals. When you are doing that, that is tough to do it. We were able to move the ball and score some points. When we had to pass, we weren’t as efficient pass-blocking and that has been a concern. We are down a little bit on some guys and we got to figure out a way to manage that better and make sure we are not allowing so much pressure on the quarterback in those situations. Those are just things we have to work through. Getting to manageable third downs would be the most important thing that we need to do and we had some negative things happened that pushed us back.”
(On the fumble and the replay)
“I thought it was a bad call. I don’t know how you overturn it. I really don’t. This has happened multiple times, so it was disappointing. I guess I was wrong. I think it was a fumble.”
(On getting to 3rd and 20 and backing Miami up and letting Cam Ward run)
“Yes, we have really been awful on third and extra long. It has been a bad down for us and it shouldn’t be. So if you have to blitz and get the quarterback down or need to play tighter coverage – either one of those things needs to happened and it is not happening. Believe it or not, it has really hurt us and that should not happen. So, it needs to get fixed.”
(On working on tackling)
“We have been working on tackling a lot for the last couple of weeks because we haven’t been great at it even before now. Wrapping up? You have seen our bodies, our shoulders, our arms, tackling higher and not so low and getting more guys to the ball – all of those things need to happen. Sometimes there were big piles in there and we need to get in there and get it done. Without question, the tackling was not good late in the game. So that needs to be fixed.”
(On Miami’s quarterback)
“A great quarterback can make a great difference, and he is a great one. I think the poise he has is not very common. He is able to stand in there and deliver the ball under duress without flinching ever. When you do get a shot on him, it is hard to get him down. He doesn’t really go down right away. You have to wrap him up, spin him down and hope more people get there because he is not going down. He is a very strong individual. I give him a lot of credit. I knew coming into the game he was a great player. He has done it seven weeks in a row now. He helps his team win football games and scores a lot of points, buys time, makes plays and never gets rattled. Hats off to him, he is a phenomenal player.”
(On making adjustments on the defensive side of the ball)
“We need to adjust, there are some things we need to do differently. As the head coach, it’s my job to make sure those things get done. I think our guys are working hard, we tried to correct some things the last two weeks. I do think our coaches have put the effort in. I just thing we’re going to have to continue to change some things and I’m going to have to make sure that those changes get done and we go out there and try to get better. We’ve tried to take the approach that we need to challenge things, guard things tighter, make them make plays. I didn’t know if that happened as much as I would like in this game. I thought we got better in the game as it happened, but that needs to happen from game one to the very end. And if we lose, we need to lose challenging things and getting beat in a one-on-one matchups. Obviously, you need to have some intelligence in that and not go overboard with that, but I just feel like we can defend things better, so we have to get a better plan.”
(In the second half going more tempo in the second half, is that something you’ll do more of in the future and try to optimize the offensive possessions?)
“I think the last couple of games we’ve done that a little bit more. Every year things are different. Last year’s formula was to play great defense, control the ball and it helped us to a lot of wins. Obviously, that is not working, so from changing things hopefully to improve on defense has to happen and also, yes, adjusting on offense and making sure that whatever we’ve got to do to win, we get done. And if that’s opening the thing up a little bit and going with a little more tempo then we’ll look at possibly doing that.”
(On after the loss and then with the short week with Boston College on Friday night)
“We want it to sting. We want to taste the wound. We want to despise the taste because it is really an awful taste. One thing I will say, is our guys do care. They work hard and they want to win but it just doesn’t happen. With that said, we preach all year long, it is a one-game season. Seven and oh or four and three or one and six, whatever it is, you have to come back and play one game the best that you can. If you can’t concentrate and do that and you aren’t tough enough to stand the adversity along the way and the highs along the way, then you aren’t going to be a good football player. This is a team sport. It doesn’t matter how good one player plays. All eleven on the field have to do it at the same time. When that does not happen, you will not win, no matter how good one player plays. I think we all have to buckle down and grind this thing out and find ways to improve.”
