Urban Meyer Press Conference Quotes
Monday, October 12, 2009 | Football
On preparing to play at LSU…
“This was one of the best wins I have ever witnessed. I'm proud of how our guys handled that environment. There was a lot of turmoil to deal with last week. There were the obvious issues, but also some not-so obvious ones. LSU's stadium, like a lot of other SEC opponents, I think it separates this conference from a lot of others. I'm really proud of their effort.
On the plan to win…
“The plan to win; playing great defense once again proved to be the difference. They were one for nine (11%) converting third downs; they didn't convert one after their first of the game. Only one drive crossed the Florida 46 yard line. Our defense had five sacks and 12 first down totals. The big picture is great defense. Special teams and game management by the offense were tremendous. Possession time was 36:30 to 23:30. Florida had the ball 23 minutes in the second half against LSU. I'm not sure that has ever happened before. We talk about winning field position and our guys are really buying into the system. Turnovers we still aren't where we need to be.”
On the upcoming game versus Arkansas…
“We are about to play Arkansas, probably one of the hottest teams in the country right now. We are playing a team that physically beat Auburn, a team which was undefeated, in every aspect of the game. We saw their improvement throughout the course of last year. They have one of the best backs in the SEC. Scot Loeffler has made it clear what their quarterback is all about. He has a strong arm and is more athletic than you may think. They have very good receivers and are the No. 1 passing team in the SEC and their kickoff return unit is also tops in the SEC, so we have our work cut out for us in practice this week.”
On Emmanuel Moody's development…
“He had about a four week late start this year, because of injuries. His demeanor and approach has earned him more time.”
On the management of the LSU game…
“You always go into the game with a plan. We had two fourth and short situations and I don't think we have ever punted in those situations. One we tried to catch them with off sides and the other we tried to run a fake. We did the right thing to force them to try to drive the length of the field against the Florida defense. I assure you, two years ago, we would have went for it.”
On utilizing more of the playbook…
“I feel like we need to. You look at possession time and see we had the ball for 36 minutes. We are one of the top rushing teams in America right now. We have had issues in the past, but that's because we didn't have the three backs we have right now or the Pouncey-Pouncey-Gilbert combination up front. I do feel we have to, but I would rather win games and do it the right way, so we'll see how it goes.”
On Maurkice Pouncey giving away the snap…
“There was no cadence in that kind of thing. When players came off, they said it was the loudest they've ever heard. The first series when we were backed up, Tim would check the play, walk out and then you saw Carl Johnson signaling he couldn't hear. I guess he's not a good lip reader.”
On offense progressing similar to last year…
“Deonte Thompson has to get back. We're anxious to get David Nelson more involved and throwing the ball a little more. I like where we're at. We're still not five strong in the offensive line. We're four, but one player still has to get better. Some of our offensive linemen are the finest to ever play and that's all tied into tight protection of the throwing game.”
On utilizing motivating factors…
“Like we did with Kirk Herbstreit, we just sign Jeremy Fowlers name after any quote and put it up there. How do you motivate 18-, 19-, 20-year old kids? You have to be creative and be truthful. If you call out Haden and No. 51 I love when that happens. If anyone wants to call out Tim Tebow, help yourself. Go get him. Call out Riley Cooper too. It helps our job. Those guys aren't lacking confidence.”
On not overlooking Arkansas…
“They [Arkansas] are better than Ole Miss was at this time last year. Ole Miss had lost to a couple of teams they shouldn't have. We would watch Ole Miss on film and our guys would say they're not very good. This team coming in is really good. They have NFL caliber players on both sides of the ball and their running back shredded us last year. They took Auburn and beat them in every phase of the game. I think our guys saw that on TV and now on video.”
On being relieved after beating LSU…
“This whole season has been a lot of stuff. Each week something shows up. Emotionally and mentally you have to be in the right place and you have to be able to handle yourself. Some teams can't handle themselves very well. There was a lot of maturity on that first drive in Baton Rouge.”
On the term “Trap-Game”…
“I believe in it. You can sit and watch film and think a team isn't very good. I do not think this game falls into that category. This Arkansas team is good enough to compete for the West Championship. People who understand the game of football would probably say the same thing. To avoid all that, we'll go hard on Tuesday and Wednesday. We can certainly get better on offense.”
On running the ball more…
“I did a little bit. Our three backs are pretty good players. I wish we had more snaps to be able to run and throw a little more. We've recruited pretty well and now we have some guys around here who we wish were more involved. The first few games were kind of out of hand, so we got them out of the game early. Each week's game is situational, although I did envision us being a better running team than we were four years ago.”
On the defense…
“That's a great outlook. You don't take chances if you're not very good on the back end. Name five better guys than Janoris Jenkins, Joe Haden, Major Wright, Will Hill and Ahmad Black. Come talk football and let's go get ready to play a game. Then stick a Heater and a Bedford in there and that's a pretty good situation. Those guys continue to get better.”
On Gator Growl with this year's senior class…
“To earn respect and leadership certainly doesn't mean because you're a senior. The '06 group was a special, special group. Last year's was special as well. This one, we have been with from start to finish. This will be an extremely emotional homecoming. I'm very proud of these guys. It's going to be really cool.”
On Carl Moore…
“I'm worried. He does have redshirt available. He is getting better. His attitude is tremendous. There's a chance that redshirt will show up in the next few weeks.”
On the return game…
“Teams are punting the ball out of bounds, punting it sideways, so yeah he [Brandon James] gets frustrated. He's a big time play maker. Like LSU, kick some out-of-bounds and one of them was net 16. Pick your poison. Our goal with Brandon James is to get him started. We haven't had the opportunity to do that yet. Sometimes he has the order to fair catch. He's had two good returns on block coverage, but on return coverage they are not kicking to him.”
-UF-
