University of Tennessee Athletics
Opponent Coach Q&A
October 21, 2003 | Football
Oct. 21, 2003
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| Tennessee vs. Alabama Oct. 25- 3:30 p.m. EDT (CBS) Bryant-Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
OPENING COMMENT:
" It is a big game for our seniors. It is a huge rivalry. I am glad to be back and be a part of it again. This is a rivalry that you all know better than I do, but it has been streaky. It has been a game where the visiting team has always played well. Those are all of the things that we have thought about over the last 48 hours as we get ready for Tennessee. As our players come in today, I know they are looking forward to it and getting back on track. We want to keep what is in the past in the past and move forward."
1. How would you explain your team getting off to slow starts?
A. "I think it had something to do with attitude. We have to go out there with the mindset to get off to a good start. The one thing we want to make sure and be careful of is if something happens and we don't get off to a good start, we can't have the attitude of here we go again and fall behind. Putting us in a hole like we were last week. It was a hole to big to get out of. I think it is a little bit of an attitude and a mindset. The main thing is we have to focus on our things. Our players need to just be feeling real good when the ball kicks off Saturday and not worry about mistakes, and not worry about anything else but going out there and doing their jobs the best way they know how and go and have fun."
2. What kind of problems does Casey Clausen pose to your defense?
A. "Probably the number one thing is experience. I think he has a good feel for their offense. Even though at times I think he has struggled, he is accurate and usually he is going to the right place at the right time. He has good receivers that can go up there if he gets it in an area and go find it, and catch it. I think any time you play a veteran quarterback, so to speak, that when he comes in on the road he is going to do a good job. You have to make sure you are sound fundamentally on defense and are in the right gaps and things like that, because if not he is going to take advantage of that. You see him on tape as he will do some audibling, and he will change plays based on what he sees defensively."
3. Talk about the improvement of Bo Freelend and how much more secure are you in what he is doing?
A. "I feel great in what he has done the last two weeks, well the last three weeks actually. We have seen it all on Saturday the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, we don't have to use him that much. This week will be interesting because we are going up against a punter that is probably the best in the nation in every aspect of punting: distance, hang time, net average, and probably most importantly is the way he hangs the ball up inside the 20 and position the ball to pin the offense against their own goal line. Field position is going to be a big key. One of it is going to be because of the special teams, and because of that we have put a big emphasis not only on that but also protecting the football. We must make sure we don't do things that would lose field position and give them a chance to start on a short field."
4. What makes Shaud Williams such a special running back?
A. "I think it is all of the intangibles is the number one thing. And that is taking nothing away from his physical abilities, because I think he is a very good runner. I think he is very tough. He has great quickness and his instincts, his attitude, his character and his understanding of the game are all things that make him, to me, go from being a good player to a great player."
5. Defensively, how has your team performed this season?
A. "We believe we have played pretty good defense this year. Now last week we didn't play well. We didn't play well against the run against a team that ran the ball effectively going into our game. They did some things against us where they made some big yards and kept the ball, and with a good quarterback to go along with that made it tough on our defense.
"When I think about our defense, I think about our linebackers. Derrick Pope is a senior that has come in and made a lot of plays early. He has good speed and plays with a lot of intensity. DeMeco Ryans and Juwan Garth are young linebackers who are getting better every week with their experience. Up front, Antwan Odom has done a nice job of rushing the passer. Our inside guys, especially Anthony Bryant, have played well in stuffing the run.
"In the secondary, it has been a group that has been real good at times, and has done some nice things against a group of good receivers, and other times we have made some mistakes where we have been in the right position but, right at the end, we didn't finish the play. Other times we made a couple of mistakes. It has been up and down, but our defense plays with a lot of intensity. And that comes right from Joe Kines, our defensive coordinator. I think after last week they are embarrassed. We're embarrassed as a team and defensively, and I think our guys are going to come out with a lot of focus and more so probably than any other week. They will work hard in practice and hopefully we will see it pay off on Saturday."
6. What are your thoughts about your team offensively?
A. "Shaud has been a guy that has been solid week in and week out. We feel like if we can continue to get him the ball and get him in a rhythm, eventually he is going to break a run. If not he is going to keep the chains moving. I think with Brodie (Croyle) as our quarterback, again he is similar to those linebackers, which we talked about defensively, he is going to continue to get better with experience. He has been beat up. We all know that. He played very well last week, with the exception where he missed one or two throws, and then made a poor decision right there before the half. Other than that, for him to come back and play the way he did and stay with it the whole game, I think the players on our team respond to that. Hopefully, he will continue to get better. It is going to be a tough game. Anytime you play Tennessee we are going to have to mix things up. We just can't sit there and throw it all day, nor can we run it all day. We are going to have to do a good job of keeping them off balance, to keep their defense off balance with personnel, formations and play calling."
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