University of Tennessee Athletics
Dooley's Press Conference Transcript
October 03, 2011 | Football
Opening Statement
"We will start just cleaning up Buffalo. Really not much different from how I felt after the game. I am proud of how we came out. You are always worried after an open date how your team is going to play. When you jump on a team 31-7 at the half, you are doing something right. But like any game there are lessons when you win, there are lessons when you lose. It is never as good as you think it is. It is never as bad as you think it is. We need to finish better. I thought we were sloppy in the second half on a lot of things, made a lot of simple mistakes on offense and I think the biggest thing on defense - there are a lot of questions that are asked about those two or three big plays a game and it is just a matter of a mindset of pressing the ball - all 11 game. Missed tackles happen but when 11 guys are pressing the football and reducing space in a real aggressive manner, you tend not to have those plays break out. It is having a mindset of production versus participation and we probably have some guys participating too much and not being as aggressive as they need to be and not being afraid to go ahead and pull the trigger.
"Our players of the week were Tyler [Bray] and Da'Rick [Rogers], [Curt] Maggitt on defense, who continues to play really consistently well and Byron Moore on special teams. He did a good job. We activated him and he made a tackle on kickoff and kind of sprung that punt return. Injury updates - not a lot going on. [Raiques] Crump is back. Herman [Lathers] is still a couple of weeks out so he is not ready and you guys know that Justin [Hunter] had successful surgery and so he is in his rehab mode. "Everybody knows Georgia pretty well around here and they whipped us pretty good last year - about as good as you can get whipped. They are probably as talented as any team in the league. What you notice about them defensively is their stature. They are big and they are physical and they have been playing lights-out defense, especially the last three games. I think they have only given up one touchdown in the last three games. That is pretty impressive - I don't care who you are playing. It is going to be a big challenge for our offense to see if we can move the ball. On offense it looks like they found their missing piece and that was a good runner. Their runner is physical, he's fast, he's productive and that allows them to be efficient - very balanced. We will see about our team. I don't know. I made the comment that I don't know who we are really yet and only time will tell and this will be kind of the next step."
On the redemption factor going into Saturday
"My experience has been that I have never been one of those kind of guys where you want revenge. You should never put yourself in a position to be wanting that. We didn't play well last year and they played really well - let's not forget that. They played well, we didn't. My biggest thing is how are we going to play and we shouldn't need last year as motivation to play well. We only get 12 days a year that we get measured on. I tell the team that all the time. And there is no excuse not to be ready as coaches, as players and so all I'm worried about is how much we have improved, especially going against a good football team. What are we going to look like compared against what we looked like two weeks ago really."
On Georgia's Aaron Murray
"I think he is extremely talented. He has a very strong and accurate arms so he can make every throw on the field but what really scares you the most is if that's all you worry about he can take off running because if you don't keep him in the pocket, he can blister you with his feet. He did it last year against us. He has done it in every game. He is exactly what they were looking for - does the play action really well. And again, to me they have their missing piece. They struggled in the past to have that running back that they can feature and that opens up the play action game."
On opponents knowing Tennessee as a team if UT doesn't know itself
"What I mean by that is that there just hasn't been enough body of work for lot of these guys. We are starting to figure out what we've got in our quarterback. He's got nine games now. But a lot of our youngins haven't played enough. You look at the mistakes and it's from a lot of the young guys. Turnovers we had - two freshmen. That's really what I mean. I don't like to judge players too quickly and we certainly should judge teams too quickly good or bad because it is a long season and a lot can happen."
On concern with the kicking game
"It is concerning, but there are some good things we have done in the kicking game. Our kickoff coverage has been really good although our kicks have not been as deep as we want. We hit our field goals and both units in the return game - there is progress in a lot of areas. The problem we are having in the kicking game is having a horrible breakdown. We haven't had a good, clean game. When I say clean, meaning if you don't make a play, okay - but don't give on up. Two games now we have given one up and there's no reason. It had nothing to do with the opponent. Nothing to do with some scheme, nothing to do with what they did. Nothing. It had everything to do with us. We just have to do a better job of practicing and coaching. I am always concerned in the kicking game, especially when you play fast, physical football teams like Georgia because they have an excellent returner in [Brandon] Boykin. He makes a lot of guys miss and changes field position. I am concerned every week in the kicking game."
On working guys in and out or coaching up current players on special teams
We are trying to get settled in - that is part of the problem. We have so much inexperience. I think we have like two returning starters on our punt team. Those things people don't really look at as an issue but coaches do so you've got to get experience, go out there and play and make some mistakes and hope those don't kill you. Unfortunately most of the time they do in the kicking game. When you have a breakdown in the kicking game it is a 40-yard play. When the right guard has a breakdown sometimes we get two yards so it's not as noticeable."
On participation, production and finishing games
"When I say participation versus production - let's say we are in man coverage. I have this guy and he is kind of jogging off the ball and nothing is happening. I can either stare at him and never move and all of the sudden the runner is running right here or I can say I got this guy and I'm feeling it and here comes the ball and I trigger and make a play. That comes with experience. Not saying `you told me I have that guy and that's my job.' Your job ultimately is to tackle the guy with the ball. That comes with experience, confidence and not being afraid to make a mistake. I think it just comes in time but we have to keep coaching them. It is coaching aggressive football play - that's what it is."
On the biggest improvement seen in the Buffalo game
"Again, I don't like to make judgments on one game, but the same thing that everybody noticed - we ran the ball better. That was a real concern going into the game. That was good. I was real pleased with how the offense played. I was concerned with how we were going to be able to generate yards and points so I was pleased with that."
On surprise as related to Bray's accuracy
"I don't know if surprise is the word, but he has been extremely accurate. But he has been that way since he came here and when he knows what to do, that is the key. His accuracy breaks down when he's not sure. When we do new stuff it takes a little while and once he gets it, he's got it. There is no question that's the reason we've had success on third down the way we have - because of his accuracy. It makes it really easy. He's got a catchable ball, puts it where the defenders aren't and that's the sign of a good quarterback. There have not been many good quarterbacks who aren't accurate like that."
On preparing to play against the 3-4
"We have seen enough. Buffalo was 3-4 so there was a lot of similarity there. What is happening now is that most teams are more hybrid. They are 3-4 but they also play 40 and they get into a 40 front with 3-4 personnel and they get a little 3-3 nickel. Everybody is multiple now and that's why the chemistry and experience is important now upfront - communication. You see a lot of plays get made on Saturday: breakdowns. It is because defenses nowadays more than ever create confusion by the multiples that they play with."
On Georgia's pass rush
"They are just playing good defense overall and playing good coverage behind it which gets the quarterback looking around. They had some massive guys up front and they just take the o-line and just throw them back into the quarterback - 350 pounds. Then they have some good speed on the edge. These guys have top-of-the-country recruiting classes every year. When you expect to play, that's what you are going to get: a deep, talented football team."
On vulnerability for missed tackles, missed assignments
"There are two types or running quarterbacks. One is a true almost like a running back in the backfield. Those are difficult to defend because they spread you out and you can't account for the extra guy. So what happens is the mistakes get compounded because of the space that creates. But there haven't been many of those kinds of quarterbacks that can also pierce you throwing the football. SO you can't have it both ways. There is also a durability issue. The two risks in that kind of deal are you aren't going to have the aggressive passing attack - it is going to be more play action or quick stuff. And your quarterback might get hurt. That is the risk. The second kind of quarterback who can scare you with his feet is a guy like we are playing this week. He is really more of like a true pro-style quarterback who can take off. That causes a lot of problems because you are back there defending the coverage and if you don't keep the integrity of the pocket, you are in trouble. It is a different deal for the d-line. The other way you don't really worry about him throwing so it's more keeping him in the pocket. Here you worry about the guy throwing so you better get the pass rush going. All of the sudden you lose the integrity of the pocket and he is gone. They hurt you in different ways."
On Bray's improved accuracy relating to his ability to read defenses
"Oh, yeah, he's playing a lot better. He's playing good football. You look at his numbers, and I know we always want to find the bad in people, but he's playing good football, man. He's made mistakes; he's not perfect. But there are not many quarterbacks out there - it doesn't matter who you play. But time will tell. Again, body of work over time."
On Tauren Poole being overly hard on himself
"I think he's hard on himself, but more than anything (he needs to be) playing - I don't know how you say it - fast but calm. Sometimes he gets a little jerky and antsy and high anxiety, and he sees things and stops and makes a cut and makes another cut. If he could play with a little more calm when he gets into the secondary - I remind him he's really a fast guy, but when he breaks out the best thing he can do is just run straight instead of making a lot of cuts. I think he'd see more production if he did that and he's working on it."
On Georgia's Isaiah Crowell being everything a coach looks for in a running back
"Yeah, he's got the size and he's got good body quickness so you never really get a clean hit on him. He can break tackles and he's got speed - you saw him a play the other day, he stepped out of bounds, but he circled the Mississippi State defense and took it. In his first few games, he's shown that he's got the tools if that makes sense. Now what will he become? Again, time will tell; body of work."
On this portion of the schedule being more of measuring stick
"The first thing, and I've told the team this, we're not playing October. I've heard more people say, `the next four games. October.' And I'm thinking to myself, `We're playing Georgia, and that's it.' It doesn't matter who we played last week and who we play next week, you've just got to go week to week. Is this another measuring stick of where we want to be? Of course it is. But I think every game in some ways is by how you perform.
"We took care of three non-conference foes pretty handily - I don't think Tennessee's done that in a long time. And I think that's good; there's something to be said for that. But ultimately, we're going to get measured by how we play against these teams; I understand that. This is one game. And if we don't play well and we get beat, then we've got to wake up and go try to correct it and play the next team. And if we do play well, we can't get excited because they keep coming. I don't know of any other way to think than that."
On the offense appearing to play faster and the benefits of that
"We have different paces but we're really not an up-tempo, we're a rhythm (team). We're snapping the ball at the same time as a lot of no-huddle teams by getting in the huddle. I don't mean the speed offenses but the ones that kind of mill around, they look around, they call the play. We like to stay in a rhythm, and we'll change up the pace periodically. But that's not what we do."
On the recent play of Tennessee's 'sudden-change' defense
"Yeah, I hope we can keep that up. It's a big boost when you have something bad happen. We have about eight or nine unit objectives we talk about every week and that's one of them, how we handle sudden change in a game. So far, in the last two games, it's been great. And it's even better when you get in there and put a little pressure and they miss the field goal. Then you really come out feeling good. We handled it, I guess, twice last week didn't we; two bad events.
On if the running backs have enough speed to get around the edge in the SEC
"We'll find out. I know we do against Buffalo; I know we didn't against Florida. You've got two games there to measure it on."
On if it's useful to study Georgia's early-season games against Boise State and South Carolina
"Yeah, we look at all their games. Boise is a good football team and they have an excellent quarterback, but I think Georgia's a different team than then because mainly they have settled in on what they are offensively. Because they had so much uncertainty at running back, you could tell they were trying to figure out what they were going to be, and it showed. But once they - `OK, we've got our guy,' now they're running what you're used to seeing Georgia do and they are lighting people up. We look at every game but what's a more telling tale is what's happened the last three. That's generally the case.
On why the defense hasn't had an interception since Montana
"I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question. I'd like to get more. We haven't had takeaways. We had a bunch down the stretch last year and we haven't been getting the takeaways we need to get, that's for sure. We're negative-1, I think, in our turnover ratio, which should be terrible. Our goal right now is to be plus-4, so we're five behind what we should be. I say should - you'd like to be plus-1 a game. Reality is that's tough, but you certainly don't want to be in the negative. You're not going to win many games."
On the inconsistencies of Michael Palardy's kickoffs
"There are always mechanical issues, I think there are mental issues that go into it, I think it's leg strength issues - it's a combination of a lot. Learning to be a consistent kicker is like playing golf. Go hit 15 7-irons; I want to evaluate your shot. And everybody goes, `What's wrong with him?' He's got to keep working at it. He's got talent. He doesn't have the leg that when he hits it well it's 10 yards deep, but he's got a good-enough leg. Hopefully, he will get better and better at that. We need him too. He's been kicking his field goals pretty good, even though he's missed two."
On Izauea Lanier's play
"He's doing well. He's not playing as well as he's capable of, but I think that's going to come in time."
On freshman Marlin Lane's play at tailback
"I just want him to go faster. He's smooth. It's like when you slow things down. You know when the slow music comes on and everybody just kind of relaxes a little? He needs to go, and I think that will come in time."
On the defensive line's play
"(They're) playing pretty well right now. They're doing their job. I would say (they are) not disrupting the game like you'd want a great d-line line to do, not wreaking havoc on the quarterback like you'd want a great defensive line to do. But for the most part they're playing hard, they're playing sound, they're where they are supposed to be, they haven't been gutted much inside. But again, time will tell."
On the personal significance of playing Georgia at home for the first time
"It really means absolutely nothing. It was a good story last year, but the fact that it's home doesn't make it any different. It means a lot more (family) people are coming to the game - that's probably the biggest thing personally. I will stay away from my house this week because there will be 600 people."
On what goes into being a good screen team and can Tennessee achieve that level
"We hit two good ones. What goes into it? You've got to practice it a lot and you've got to commit to it. There are a lot of different types of screens. There are the quick wide receiver screens, there's a running back screen - it's an important part of any offense. It's especially helpful when you're playing a really up-the-field, fast defensive line. I wouldn't say our offense is built around the screen game, but we had two big plays last week running the screen and we had a big play - I think we had one against Florida; maybe not. Maybe that was the open date against our own defense. It worked pretty well. Y'all didn't get to see that one though.
"The wide receiver screens are good because it takes the pressure off the o-line. It's really hard for them to screw it up, and that's why a lot of people run it. When I was at Louisiana Tech, I used to try to create plays that only two or three people had to execute. It's challenging. I used to go in and say, `Are there any plays that require no execution to get yards?' Sometimes there are. You just flip it out there and say, `Go.' That's why a lot of those teams do that. It takes pressure off the quarterback and it's 5-6 fewer plays that the line has to do anything - except not jump offside. That's the only way they can screw it up."
On the wide receivers being good downfield blockers
"I wouldn't give them that label. I would say that was a good downfield block by Zach (Rogers). That was good. I'm glad he didn't get taken out because I get nervous when Zach goes to try to peel back on somebody. I feel like he's going to get broken.
"But we're getting better at that. We are. It's been a point of emphasis. There were some good perimeter blocks last week - Vincent Dallas, Anthony Anderson did a nice job on the perimeter; Zach had one. So we're getting better at it."
On the difficulty convincing receivers to become good blockers
"They all want the ball, even the bad ones like me. You want the ball first. It's hard because it takes practice. A lot of coaches say you've got to either want to or not, and there's an element of `want-to,' of courage, and some guys don't have it. But if they don't have it, they better have some playmaking ability and then you can put up with it."
On the team's third-down efficiency tying for first nationally
"It's really the three components. It starts with protection, because you get a lot of junk stuff on third down. The receivers have to be running fast and where they're supposed to be, and the quarterback's got to make an accurate throw. So far, we've been pretty good at that. But our tests will get tougher week to week. We will see where we are at the end of the year. That's what matters."
On last week's ESPNU All-Access Tennessee Volunteers feature
"I saw snippets of it. I got bored after about five minutes. It doesn't matter what I think. It was good they were here. It was good exposure. I'm not sure what kind of energy those things bring, though. It almost takes some of the curiosity away of what goes on and you just go, "Eh, that's no big deal.' I kind of like it better when you don't have any idea what we do."
On Georgia tight end Orson Charles
"Any time you have a tight end who can get down the field vertically, it changes some of the coverages you have to play. If you've got a bad tight end who can't run, you can do some things to help you on the wideouts a little more or help you on the run game a little more. But when you've got a vertical threat, a guy who can make plays down the field, it changes you a little bit."
