TicketsOct. 11, 2005
QUOTES FROM Mark Dantonio's WEEKLY MEDIA CONFERENCE October 11, 2005 - Connecticut Game
About the Pittsburgh game "Any time you lose, you're going to be disappointed, no matter how it happens. In this case, our special teams hurt us. Even though we struggled in the first half, we had an opportunity near the end of the first half to come away with a touchdown to cut (the lead). We got back into it at 16-7 at the beginning of the second half. Then we slipped defensively. We had one bad series and they went up 23-7. Then they returned the punt for a touchdown which gave them momentum and a 30-7 lead.
"I felt like there were some positive things to draw from. Defensively, we went 3-and-out five different times. I thought we played pretty well, all things considered. We need to pressure the quarterback more. Offensively, we moved the ball in the second half. We got more consistency going. We were able to run the ball. When you look at things statistically after the game, it was pretty even. The thing that hurt us was the play of our special teams in critical situations. We had a punt blocked. We gave up a long kickoff return to start the game, though we were able to put up a goal-line stand and held them to three points. You take away those points in the first half and you have a pretty good football game.
"We knew when we came down here that it would not be an easy situation, because at this time in the program, we would have very few seniors, and very low numbers of players with game experience. Our players who went through this with us last year understand the challenge that is ahead of them. I think everybody has handled a challenge and adversity in their life. They've got to put their back to the wall and rise up. That's where we're at.
"I told our team that we won't be favored in these next six games. That's reality. That doesn't mean that we won't win those games. That doesn't mean that we won't be ready to play, or have energy to play. That's the great thing about football. Football is a game of execution. It's a game of emotion. Anything can happen. I look at where we are in this program at 2-3 and I look where we were last year coming off the loss to Army at 2-4. I don't think anybody felt that we would win any of our next couple of games against Memphis, TCU and Memphis. It was very similar to the stretch that we are looking at right now. Both games (against Connecticut and Louisville) are at home. I hope people will come out and get involved and take ownership.
"I've looked around at different programs throughout the country since I've come here. I look at teams like Virginia Tech and where they started. I look at (Connecticut coach) Randy Edsall and what his record was his first four years. I look at Glen Mason who I worked for at Kansas. When I got there in '91 we were 6-5 and you would have thought we'd won the Big 12 Conference championship. Change is tough on everybody. Change involves different personalities coming in and mixing with players existing. Change involves recruiting players and developing relationships with them. Change involves changing things conceptually. It takes time.
"We'll continue moving forward. We'll be fine. I believe we have a great area to recruit in Ohio, Northern Kentucky and the Midwest in general. We have a conference to recruit to. In March, we'll have new facilities. This year we are playing young players and we need to get better.
"In no way, shape or form do I think we're going out there this week and losing to Connecticut. I think we have a legitimate shot to play and win. I think Connecticut has played good football and I think they're a very good football team. It is time to mature. It is time for us to not play like freshmen. It's time to quit being a young players and start growing. It's time to not make mistakes and start having confidence, and make the plays. If we make the plays that we have an opportunity to make in that game last Saturday, we would have won that football game, or it comes right down to the end."
Facing Connecticut "They have just lost their quarterback. Their backup was thrown in there on the spur of the moment and did very well. Now he has to prepare to be a starter. There's got to be a little bit of anxiety. They throw the ball effectively but they want to run the football. I look at what they do schematically and see what we need to do to take advantage of it--that's coaching.
"I look at the fact that we played our first BIG EAST Conference game at Pitt and, regardless of what their record was, the feeling was that they had the best personnel next to Louisville, and I saw in that football game where we competed. That gives me confidence. I saw our quarterback come back in the second half and do what he was doing earlier. I thought (Bradley) Glatthaar ran the ball effectively. I thought Butler Benton played the best game he has played this year. There are some reasons that I think we can point to in entering this game.
"We have to play beyond our years. We now have five games of experience. We have to get beyond that (we are young) if we want to be successful. Are we going to be overmatched? Yes. We have to rise to that challenge."