University Southern California Trojans
Hackett, Tomey Press Conference Quotes
October 03, 2000 | Football
Oct. 3, 2000
USC Head Coach Paul Hackett
The last couple of days have been a lot different than the first month of the season. A tremendous disappointment. We talked a week ago about how difficult it was to win on the road and how this (Oregon State) was a better football team than San Jose State, particularly their runner and I think when you come out of the game that the runner just did a number on us. Playing on the road and getting down 14-0 was a hole that we were not really able to get out of and as we have in the previous two weeks, we got behind the eight-ball and we were able to overcome that. It's more difficult to do that on the road. We had numerous opportunities. The key part of the game was the third quarter where we had stabilized the situation and had a nice drive just before half and came away without the touchdown or the field goal. That was an opportunity for us to get some of the momentum away from the crowd and away from Oregon State and we didn't do it. As this team has proven from the first quarter of the season, we fight right to the end. You can take everything and analyze it, but when it comes down to one thing, it is turnovers. When you turn the ball over four times, one time on the six-yard line, it is an awful lot to ask of your defense and that's the story of the game. The week before we survived the four turnovers, this week we couldn't do it. That is the most glaring issue is that we have to take care of the football. We can not fumble the ball and we can not throw an interception. We have to take care of the football in order to put ourselves in a position to win the football game. Obviously, we have to do a better job running the football and do a better job stopping the run. Those are the other two things to come out of that game. But that one's over, that one is history and there is nothing you can do about it other than learn from it and regroup.
This week, we play the best team that we have played so far this year. This is a team that presents a defensive problem that is very unique. Arizona generally leads the conference in running defense and it is a very unorthodox and unusual style of defense which has been very successful for Coach Tomey over the years. They have a good group of young players. They have a young secondary that I think is playing quite well. They have a young linebacker in Lance Briggs who really has a lot of energy. He had a tremendous game against Stanford. They present a lot of problems to our offense. On the offensive side of the ball, this is a team coming off a lot of enthusiasm and momentum. They had a 20-0 lead over Stanford. Ortege Jenkins is getting back into the form that he showed in the years prior. They are an option football team and they present a whole bunch of issues. The thing about the Stanford game is that they appear to have found a runner. They have a true freshman runner and he just did a marvelous job. They are also playing Croom and Miles, but I think Clarence Farmer really showed in the Stanford game that he can run with power, he has escapability and in that game, they showed a power running attack that has been a little different than what they have done in the past. Excellent coaching, sophisticated offensive plan. The key to them is their special teams. They have outstanding special teams. They have an outstanding punter...imagine this year, they already this year have nine balls downed inside the 20 yard line. They have a field goal kicker who is four for five. They have outstanding athletes on their coverage teams. They present all kinds of unorthodox problems on special teams. This is about the time of year that we knew we had to pick up our game and our play because the competition was going to pick up. We are in the heart of the conference schedule and certainly when you win on the road like Arizona did at Stanford, that just gives them more momentum coming in. This is going to be a tough ballgame and a tough week. It will take our best game to date to defeat this team. We are at home, but we can not put ourselves in the hole that we have the last three weeks. We have to come out and have the ability to play well early in the game and convert on those drives and get the points on the scoreboard so that we are not running behind like we have the last couple of weeks.
(on Carson Palmer) A couple of the interceptions that he has had have been bad judgment where he was trying to throw the ball into a situation and into a coverage that was just too good. I think you learn what you can and can not do. Two or three of the ones that he has had this year, he just flat out threw it and there were two people right there and the guys in the different colored jerseys came up with it. The other issue would be the judgment when you are on the nine-yard line (at Oregon State). You have the kind of the play where there is a breakdown and someone is in your face right away and this is experience and maturity. He is going to have to go through that a couple of times to realize that you have to throw the ball out of bounds in that situation. He is going to have to be able to say that it didn't work, throw it away and come back on second down and nine. Carson has a marvelous nature to him which is try to make a play on every play which is a wonderful trait to have. As you get older and wiser, you understand that you can't do that on every play and I think that's the process of him developing as a quarterback. He has all of nine starts and I think he has made progress, but certainly the interceptions are something that we have to address immediately because that costs a football game.
(on special teams) I thought last week we really emphasized special teams and in a couple of areas, we showed improvement. Our kickoff team continues to be strong, of course David Bell is doing a great job. Our kickoff return team showed a little spark. Kevin Arbet recovered after the fumble in the San Jose State game and we are making some progress there. The punt return team was a huge disappointment. In always wanting to be aggressive and always wanting to block punts, you have to be smart. That Penn State block and what that meant to our team is what drives us. Last week, we had an excellent scheme and we came free, but once again, you have to use the proper techniques. You can't just flail in there and run into people. Our overzealousness if you will has hurt us in that area and we have to back off a little bit. I'm not saying we won't block punts, but I think we need to be more prudent about when we choose to or not to block punts. The issue on the kicking is a mystery to me and I would like to tell you that I have an answer. Here's a guy who wins the Colorado guy and struggles with the PAT. It's inconceivable to me that we would miss a ball on the 26 yard field goal on Astroturf on a nice, dry day, but we did. That has happened to us at Oregon for three straight years. I'm very concerned about it. I'm not going to make a change, I'm going to continue to go with David (Newbury). We have two games at home at the Coliseum and I expect him to do what I expect everyone on this team to do to pick up their level of play. I'm going to count on that, he has the ability to do it, he's got to step up and make a contribution because right now it's hurting us. We are still early in the season, but it is disturbing that it continues to be a problem. I still feel that he is the guy to do it.
(on play of run defense) I don't think it's playing up to its potential. The Colorado situation was a two-back team with an excellent runner and we missed far too many tackles. Against San Jose State, we did a nice job of stopping a good runner, but we found ourselves vulnerable to the passing game. This week, we did a much better job on the passing game, but we were just taken apart by the runner. It's finding that mixture of playing run defense which is packing the box and having too many people up there and leaving your corners out there where they have to survive versus giving the corners help and leaving yourself vulnerable up there. We are continuing to look for the correct mix. The bottom line is they (Oregon State) blocked us better than we should be blocked. The runner was able to dip in and find his way to the creases. The turf and speed was more of a surprise to us. Now for a couple of weeks, you go back to option football. Our whole team needs to pick up the tempo because it's not just one thing, it's a number of things that need to be corrected.
(on focus of players) I felt it was a good week of practice. I don't want to make any excuses and the team (Oregon State) kicked out butt. They beat us. We had many opportunities to win the game, but we couldn't do it. I don't think it's symptomatic of not practicing or this and that, but I think that we did not perform on the road under the pressure of being behind in that kind of game that we should have. That is something we have to learn from...I think we have a very good team, we are a team that is developing and learning about itself. We need to perform under pressure situations. We did it earlier this season, we know how to come from behind, but you can't dig too big a hole against a good team and you can't turn the ball over. You can't do that against anybody. I'm concerned. Here we are a third of the way through, I would have thought there would have been better development than there has been and the nice thing about it is that the Pac-10 has just started and as we all said, it will be just a battle. You have to win your games at home. Winning on the road is going to be hard in our conference.
The focus on concentration and paying attention to the detail of every little thing that goes on is something that we have to get better at. We prepared, we played hard and played right to the end. There are moments in the game that I think we play really well. Our problem is we have to be able to focus for 60 minutes. That is where our problem is at right now. The challenges get more difficult now. We have to stand up and find out what kind of team are we going to be.
(on Chad Pierson) I think he would definitely be in the mix at tailback. We felt at the start that this was going to be a three-man race and certainly Sultan McCullough got a good start, but he hurt his ankle in the ballgame. You then saw Malaefou MacKenzie in the game. Kareem Kelly hurt his ankle on a punt return and he struggled health wise. That's the way it's going to be for every team. You are going to have some injuries, some guys who are nicked up. Fortunately, between Petros (Papadakis) and Malaefou and Chad, who did get some work, we think we have some depth there at the running back position.
(on playing on the road this year in Pac-10 games) I think there is the evenness of the conference. The coaching is very good, every team has talented players especially in the skill positions. Every team is sensing that they all have a chance. Everyone has a shot at the Rose Bowl. That begins to build your confidence and it will always be at your peak when you are at home because your routine is the same, you practice at your own field. Everything is going with you. Everything is different on the road. What happens is everything is out of whack, you ability to focus as a player really gets tested. That is what happens to all of us. The maturity and the experience of the seniors and the team that has been there before have a real advantage. As the game gets tense, it makes it more difficult for the road team.
Getting down 14-0 at Oregon State early was my biggest concern in the first quarter. The fact that we put a nice drive together, the fact that Zeke had the fumble recovery to make it 14-14, I saw as a real victory for us for the first half. Once again, you have to shift the tide. We had a chance to do it and we couldn't do it. The red zone is a concern and we need to get that done.
(on play of Matt Nickels) We all saw the play he made in the end zone, keeping his one foot in when he caught the ball. A tremendous play by him and this is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Here's a guy that comes in and makes that kind of play with us being down 14-0. This is what we need to build on and have more. He comes back later on a third and 10, gets up into the seam and makes a big catch. He has done nothing but to perform. He is going to get more playing time and I think Carson is comfortable with him. He's been a wonderful contributor.
We are very young on offense. All of our perimeter people are freshmen or sophomores and we have to have some patience with them. When the play comes your way, you got to make the play. You have to play efficient football, if you don't you are going to lose, particularly on the road.
Arizona Head Coach Dick Tomey
(on play of team this season) First of all, we have improved ourselves markedly from a year ago. We are playing harder, we have a chance to be a better defensive football team. We haven't faced the offensive challenges that we will face in the weeks to come in order to know too much about our defense. We have done much better in the kicking game. I think we are doing a better job in taking care of the football and creating some turnovers. We are being penalized too much and not as productive on offense as we would like, but we have given ourselves a chance to win.
(on quarterback Ortege Jenkins) I thought against Utah he was really nervous. He wanted to come out and be perfect and be great. He didn't play particularly well, but he didn't hurt us and we won the football game. Since then, he has done a nice job of leading us and he is providing us with good play and getting better all the time. We are getting some of our receivers back and I think that's going to help him.
(on tailbacks) We have a true freshman who is a big youngster, almost 230 pounds, Clarence Farmer, who has come on lately to really thrust himself into it and I think at this point he has given us the big play. He will certainly get the chance to carry the football as much as he can.
(on return of "Desert Swarm" defense) I don't think you can say that the Desert Swarm has returned yet until the season is over. We are playing harder and better and it matters to us when people start to move the ball. There is no question that we can't have any delusions of grandeur because we have kept people out of the endzone for the most part except the best team we played (Ohio State) got in there too much and we played against a freshman quarterback last week. I don't think we've seen the kind of test that we are going to see this weekend.
(on the game against USC) USC is a team that most everyone figured would be at the top of the conference. They have that kind of football team and that kind of talent. They lost a tough one in Oregon State but a lot of people have had trouble with them lately. I think that's a function of the way the conference is now. It's very competitive. USC is a team with pride and ability that once they get beat, they will get better. I know we will probably face the best USC team that anyone has faced this season.
(on what areas Ortege Jenkins needs to work on) All quarterbacks are looking for consistency. There are some things with footwork and consistency and faking that I think he needs to grow in those areas. His game against Ohio State was the one to me that proved a lot. It wasn't a pretty game, we got sacked a lot, but I thought he showed tremendous toughness and willingness to be the right kind of guy when things were going wrong. It's easy when things are going right. That game really spoke volumes about who he is.
(on balance of conference and winning the title) The great thing about it is that everyone can beat everyone else. Every week you will have yourself a tough game. The games will only get out of hand if someone has an inordinate number of turnovers. Otherwise, we will have a bunch of games decided in the fourth quarter which will be exciting for the fans and nerve-wracking for the coaches. I know you need to play like every play will decide the championship.
(on USC's defense) USC has a tremendous defense with terrific players with Davis up front and the rest of the athletes like Dickerson. Those guys are good football players. I don't think anyone in the country has better linebackers than Moreno and Steele. Those two guys are terrific, they can make all kinds of plays and run all over the place. They have an outstanding defense and hard to move the ball against. Last week, they gave up some yards, but I think every defense is going to do that at times. If we are looking for the team that played last Saturday, I don't think they are going to show up. People have a problem moving the ball on them.
(on wide receivers) Malosi Leonard is a valuable guy for us. He had a great game last year against USC and caught a couple of big balls for us. He is dependable and biggest wide receiver and has tremendous vertical leap. He is a very consistent guy for us. Our situation has been we didn't have Brad Brennan until last week and on the first play of the season, he scores a touchdown. Bobby Wade had been out and now he is back. Now, we are young at wide receiver and we have other young players that I think can do the job. No one like Kareem Kelly and we are impressed with Allmond and Colbert. If we continue to work hard, we have the chance to be effective there.
