Larry- Lots of major college teams went down and some just hung on. Dogs went
down with dropped passes and missed field goals. Discussed various records set
yesterday – punt returns etc.
Coach – Team was going strong, and our defense kept us alive. Thought we had
a shot to win after Browning’s run. We had great blocks by Michael Johnson,
Bartley Miller, Russ Tanner, then Damien Gary springs him.
LSU then countered
with a great return followed by a touchdown. LSU then stopped our threat with
a pick. Larry asked what we can do to stop blitz? CMR said it can be stopped
by continuing to let receivers out, throwing quick passes, keeping more people
in, throwing ball further down field, screens, and we tried them all. Larry
said without dropped passes and normal circumstances should have led, but we
lost big kicking weapon. CMR said Billy had a rough day, made 1st, made 2nd,
but we had one short of legal on the line of scrimmage. Larry asked what happened
on 49-yard return at end – Coach said he felt some of our players were locked
out of their lanes, but refs didn’t see it that way. The off day will give us
time to correct mistakes and time to heal. David Greene, MRI today. CMR thinks
he will be fine and should be back by Ala. The knee was hyper extended. David
Pollack has a knee bruise and will be ok. Tony Taylor has a sprained ankle will
probably be back also. We will hopefully have the most healthy players in a
game all year long for
Alabama.
First caller asked about the running backs? CMR said they had some good plays
and have been running well. Blocking, however, leaves something to be desired,
but that’s what happens with young backs. We will decide who plays based on
who will block. Blitzing could have been offset somewhat by Gibson and Watson,
and Milton would have helped as he’s a good pass protector. Their best corner
was on Reggie all night. With both FG and RB, it would have been difficult to
do that. The caller asked “Why so many batted balls?” Per CMR, when the OL is
doing a good job of blocking, the defender will stop and try to jump up, They
also blitzed more than we could protect, and one of our interceptions was caused
when the ball hit the helmet of our own man. They are big and tall, and did
a good job of timing their jump.
Next caller said our young guys grew up and would not quit and he felt this
was a credit to our staff. He asked if we will we see Tyson Browning more in
slot coming out of WR spot? CMR said he didn’t think that would be good for
us. The caller then mentioned that on the field goal we blocked, their 72 jumped
on Sean Jones CMR didn’t see it, but his son saw it on TV. Have not seen it
yet. Certain things get called and sometimes officials don’t see. CMR proud
of way kids fought.
The potential that from now on teams scouting us will focus on blitz had the
next caller worried. CMR said we have screens, bombs, which we did try. Slants
and quick stops will help. We didn’t make enough plays to sting them to get
them out of blitzing mode. We were hurt on call of 6 on lines. How can we not
get called? Coach said officials used to give warning, but not now. Our players
have to make sure their helmet is breaking the plane of center’s belt. The tackle,
however, can’t get too close to the line as it makes it difficult to tackle.
What can staff do to calm kicker? Can they help during week? Coach feels we
have good a kicker. CMR said he was no expert on kicker. He believes in Billy
and is not going to make big deal. He’s just going to tell him to get back to
basics and fundamentals.
Caller was impressed that with out young OL, and lots of folks out due to injury,we
were still able to take the #10 team in the country to the end. Asked if Greene
could improve any mechanics to combat batted balls? CMR said usually have four
throwing lanes two outside and two inside, but in blitz, don't have that
much room. When they blitz, they bring more blockers and they tend to get batted
down more. Our OL needs to get better pressure, and we may need to cut them
more to get their hands down, they will look at reaching happy medium. When
the quarterback lofts the ball, it gives the DL more time to react.
CMR was asked if we could establish run a little bit more? He replied we always
like to do that. However, when a team blitzes it puts pressure on the QB and
puts more people in box than you can block. Every time we ran when they were
in conventional package, we ran well. You’ve got to beat the blitz with the
passing game until they back off and you can run and we couldn’t do it for several
reasons which we will work on.
Next question was about the Quarterback rotation - why not put DJ in earlier
to change up? CMR laughed and said that was the first time someone wanted him
to use 2. He said he wanted to have some success prior to making move and bringing
DJ in. We didn’t block worth a hoot when he went in and DJ didn’t have a chance.
CMR has not lost confidence in him.
Larry asked CMR if Tyson Browning always tested that fast in timed runs? CMR
told Larry that Tyson is very fast. He had good blocking in addition to speed
that made that play work and the coaches will use that play to teach how to
block on that particular play.
The next caller stated that with Fred Gibson, Ben Watson, and Tony Milton out,
we couldn’t spread out the field. He asked had CMR thought about using the I
formation and run toss sweep to break up blitz. Coach stated that when they
blitz safeties, the Defensive Ends are very aware of preventing sweep and it
probably wouldn’t have worked.
The next caller offered advice on how to solve our red zone problem – send the
quarterback in with play and alternate. Vince Dooley used to do this. He felt
DJ would be more effective in the red zone. Greene could get a better feel if
he could maybe see what would happen from the sidelines. CMR thanked him for
the thought.
Lisa thanked CMR for making her job living in in Easley, SC easier by beating
the SC teams. She asked if we thought about putting in DJ to run option to break
blitz? CMR said we didn’t practice option much last week. Need to practice to
run option well. Risk too high against high-pressure team.
CMR was asked about having to play younger guys on OL and DL? He said we put
a priority on recruiting line. We have 17 and they are young and will be playing
and getting experience. We want to sign some good ones.
Caller asked if Billy Bennett can knock the ball into the end zone or we doing
that on purpose? Coach said he is told to kick high and to certain spot to give
the team time to get down there. We’ve been hot and cold this year. Part of
the problem is we are dealing with lots of young guys on special teams. If Billy
kicks into the end zone, then there is not much hang time and the cover guys
can’t get all the way down the field
Coach was asked how many of the banged up players would be back next game. David
Pollack, David Greene, Tony Taylor, Ben Watson, Tony Milton, Fred Gibson, Marcus
Jackson, Greg Blue, Marquis Elmore, and Mario Raley all have a good chance to
play against Alabama.
Last player asked if we used to keep a tight end next to Greene last year to
block? Coach said from time to time, but not very often.
He gave credit to LSU, as they are an outstanding team and great coaches. Our
players fought hard against LSU, one of the best teams in the nation. Give them
credit. We will continue to work hard and people will hopefully be pleased with
results.
Comments