University Southern California Trojans
Football Preps for San Diego State Matchup
June 21, 1999 | Football
September 8, 1998
Following are quotes from USC football coach Paul Hackett from his media luncheon on Tuesday and from San Diego State coach Ted Tollner from his teleconference with the Los Angeles media on Tuesday:
USC Coach Paul Hackett
It was good to turn on the TV as we did yesterday, and see an ex-Trojan (Mark McGwire) hit No. 61. It was pretty exciting. The whole staff was up for it. It's great to see what Mark has done.
Byes are great. It's a chance to get some sleep, get some rest. We took most of the weekend off. Today and tomorrow are two big practices. The bye came at a great time because school started last week. They were able to focus on academics. Now we have to get them to do both.
We're fairly healthy and fairly rested. I don't know how it will unfold going into the game. The defensive line is a little nicked up. It's great to have R. Jay Soward back. It's very, very disappointing for Malaefou MacKenzie. He was a key part of the offensive plan. To lose him for the season is a tough blow. He will still have a great career here and will have three years left. That affects the depth chart: Petros Papadakis is No. 2, Frank Strong is No. 3 and Jabari Jackson is in that group as well. We see ourselves using as many as four runners in the game. Every other position on offense is basically the same. We're delighted that Ken Bowen is back. Rome Douglas won't have to play both sides, which is tough to do. Darnell Lacy is back from his suspension, that's nice and will give us some depth. Sultan McCullough is a redshirt candidate. Frank Strong is a little bit ahead, and will get opportunities ahead of him.
(On San Diego State) When you watch them play, you look at how hard they play. They're a hard-driving offense and a hard-driving defense. Against Wisconsin, they gave up two big plays, a long pass and a quarterback run downfield. Other than that, I was very impressed with their defense. No. 93, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila is outstanding. He's a concern like the other defensive end was a week ago. The linebackers are the strength of the defense. They were very effective against Wisconsin. The defense scored seven points. The secondary played well. The offense has an outstanding runner in Jonas Lewis. We know what he can do. The problem is that they spread you out, then they give him the ball. It's like Washington State last year and it's a dangerous offense. They have excellent skill players. Quarterback is a bit of a question mark but Spencer Britton is a strong guy. He can really fire the ball. The offensive line is supposed to be a question mark but I was impressed. It was a very positive first game because Wisconsin is a good football team.
(On MacKenzie) His surgery came out well. He's already started the rehab process. He's working on a machine for the movement in his knee. We expect him to be ready for spring practice. I know Malaefou well enough and his work ethic to know that he will do all that he can to be back a year from now. His comment was give my best to the coaching staff, give my love to the team, and I'll be back. It's a difficult time for him, but he has great strength and a great family ... Malaefou had flexibility and could be in different roles. Now we need other players to be in those roles. We'll see more guys come onto the field. It might take a couple of guys to do what Malaefou did.
(On Chad Morton's carries) I think Chad's carries will go up a little at this point. There might be more times that Chad needs to get the football. Frankly, with R. Jay back, we might have three wide receivers more than we did last week. There are some things that we're going to have to slide around and see how it unfolds over the next couple of weeks. It's a blow, it's a blow strategically and also because he was such a strength of the team.
(On goals for this week) I'd like to see us play more of a normal game. We went three-and-out the first two times we had the ball. We only had 12 drives and about 60 plays. They had about 90 plays. The offensive team is so young, and we need them to play as much as possible. I'm hoping we can get into a normal flow of the ballgame instead of being behind or being backed up. We had one very nice 14-play nice drive in the second quarter that was the first moment when I thought things were fitting together. I feel like we've got a long ways to go. I want to see us with more consistency, I guess that's what it boils down to.
(On the lack of penalties in the fourth quarter) There were some flags early, and when we fumbled the opening snap, I was thinking uh-oh. But I was pleased with the way we settled down at halftime. In the locker room, the players and coaches were working, the the players were listening and the coaches were teaching. The things that happened at the half we were able to see on the field. That's important for a football team. Bill Young did a wonderful job, with the defense shutting them out in the second half.
(On the defense) Chris Claiborne is something special. Eighty-three plays on a day like that, that's really remarkable. Antuan Simmons was all over the field. I really take my hat off to the secondary. At the end, with the interceptions that we got, I thought it was really well done. But that one's over, now we have to put another one together.
(On injuries) Lawrence Larry should be OK, he won't go full blast today. Ennis Davis and Aaron Williams should be fine for Saturday. Those three are nicked up. We'll have to see about Steve Davis. Darren Collins is out, hopefully he'll be back for Oregon State. Grant Pearsall is doing well. He took a funny hit and it's a recurring thing from Irvine.
(On Mike Van Raaphorst) He threw the ball well. There were two long passes to Billy Miller that were taken away that he threw very well. We're working on his ball handling and his footwork in the running game. It's hard to convince a passer about the importance of footwork in the running game. He could have made some throws better. We could have run the two-minute offense better. We worked on that last week. The big thing is he's got to get more familiar with the offense and get familiar with No. 18 ... He missed on a slant and threw the ball behind Chad on a flare. He threw deep well. He probably needs more work on the short stuff. But it was the first game and under the circumstances it was probably what we should have expected. Accuracy needs to be his forte.
(On the quarterbacks) Mike Van Raaphorst and Carson Palmer have been going 50-50 but now Mike will probably get more snaps. Carson is developing and will play as he grasps things. There aren't as many opportunities to practice now.
San Diego State Coach Ted Tollner
We had a disappointing loss to a good Wisconsin team. We played much better than we did a year ago in Madison. We played well enough to win in the last few minutes, but we let it get away. We didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had late in the game. We did the physical things well, we just didn't make the plays that would have made a difference. There were a lot of question marks and new players, but I was encouraged by our first game against a quality opponent. I feel good about us in the long term.
(On quarterback Spencer Britton) He played like a young quarterback, but he's only played in six games for us. He has talent, good size and is smart. He just needs more game experience. He made a few mistakes and wasn't accurate at times. But there's only one way to learn and that's to play and make mistakes. He'll go through the growing pains. He'll be a good player. He learns well.
(On running back Jonas Lewis) He won the running back job the fourth or fifth game last year. He's 5-10, 210, is strong. He has good toughness, has the ability to pick up the blitz and pass protect. He can catch the ball. He only had 72 yards this weekend but he had some excellent 4-5 yard runs in that game.
(On the defense) That's our strong unit right now. It's been a bit of a puzzle. They were dominant in the spring. In the fall, it was the other way around. The offense was making progress and we were concerned about the defense. But we were very encouraged by their performance against Wisconsin.
(On his time at USC) My memories, I wouldn't trade for anything. It was a growing experience at a major power in the country. I got to do things coaches might never have the chance to do: go to the Rose Bowl, play against No. 1 teams. I feel good about the position I was in. The end result was part of coaching. I have two children that went to USC and married USC grads. The experience had many more positives than regrets.
(On going back to the Coliseum) I don't know how I'll feel. I've been there since to play the Raiders, but not in a college game. I'll remember the good and the bad, there was a big win over Washington, a frustrating loss to Notre Dame in my final game there. But it's more important for our guys to play well now than whatever happened there in the past.
(On USC) There's a lot of speed. You look at Morton and their receivers. There's a lot of depth. You look at the defense and there's a number of people, McCutcheon, Abdul-Malik, Claiborne. Their defense can hit and run, is tough and has speed. They get to the ball and hit you a ton. The overall speed has us concerned.
