Syracuse Orange College Football Pregame Quote, 09/23/2019

Obviously really satisfied with the Western Michigan win in a lot of departments. It’s fun to finally get a win back in the Dome and be one-and-one in the Dome with an opportunity to be two-and-one. We’re playing a really good Holy Cross team, Coach Chesney is in his second year and he’s done a really nice job and those guys are getting better. Hopefully it will be an opportunity to continue the success we stared last week. Questions.

On injured players Sam Heckel, Andre Cisco and Ifeatu Melifonwu’s statuses:

Haven’t heard anything from those guys, we won’t get anything until after they get through with the doctors today. I have to wait and see.

On the Offensive Line’s Performance:

Saw a lot. Saw some good, saw some bad. We are still continuing to grow. Like I said on record, somewhere between games four-six we are going to find out if we have the right guys or the wrong guys. I think they got better, but they are not exactly where I want them right now. They did some good things in pass protection, they did some good things in the run game. Always looking to be consistent, absolutely.

On Playing Holy Cross which is viewed as a lower opponent as opposed to Clemson:

I bet you that is what Clemson said in 2017 or 2018 when we played them. So, I do not look at it that way. The average fan can look at it any way they like. The ball bounces a lot of funny way. It went on the ground a lot on Saturday and if it bounced different ways I could be up here with a different attitude today. You never know what’s going to happen in a football game and you never know who is going to get hurt in a football game while you are playing it. It’s a serious game where the good players are allowed to get tackled and are allowed to be hurt. So, we need to be focused and locked in so we don’t make any mistakes and we can leave with the same amount of players we started with.

On QB Tommy DeVito’s performance against Western Michigan and whether he had to do any ‚Äúsoul searching:

You know, I would not say soul searching. You spend a lot of time with your starting quarterback if you are involved with the offense. And, the more I spend time with him, the more the better I feel. He has a very calming soul about him. Even though he is excitable because he is young ‚Äì 18, 19 ‚Äì I don’t even know how old he is, he’s probably only 19 or 20. He’s young at heart, but he has a very mature side to him. So he’s easy to deal with and I think he’s going to continue to get better.

On if injured McKinley Williams could redshirt:

Sure, I mean there is always an opportunity for him to do something like that. I’m not sure I have thought about it, he is a really good player and we still got a lot of football to play and a lot of ACC football to play. They (doctors) told me to hold on and be patient. Patience is a virtue.

On McKinley William’s expected return in relation to NC State (Oct. 10):

I would hope he would be ready somewhere around that time, yes sir.

On if the defense will continue to force turnovers but struggle with giving up points:

Well I hope we start to get some more of the defense we saw earlier in the year versus Liberty. You never want to say you have a bend-but-don’t-break defense. But the one thing our defense has been outstanding about is getting turnovers. And as long as they keep giving us extra possessions, we are going to have opportunities to win games, as long as we are efficient on offense. You know we have the type of defense where we feel we can shut people down and we have to get some of those scores a lot lower than they have been.

On Mikel Jones’ increased snaps:

He really has a good understanding of what we are trying to do. He’s really come in a very specific package and because of that he only has to learn a small portion of what to do. And, he has been one of our more physical guys since the spring and that’s why he’s had that opportunity. Just like we talked about with the offensive line and some other position, somewhere between games four and six we are going to find out if we have got the right guys or not, and we are either going to stay with guys we got or we are going to make changes and go with other people. I think we said we got to get this guy in the game to see what he looks like because we have seen what he looks like on the practice field.‚Äù (4:42-5:38)

On if he has ever seen another defense that forces so many takeaways:

If I have, I can’t remember it. It’s a really exciting time and if you are a fan who is going to know that defense is going to find some way to get the football, it’s gotta be really cool. From a guy who is on the offensive side of the ball, to have a streak like that is really impressive. I’m glad we stopped our streak [of giving up interceptions] but it’ll be good to go into a game and come out of a game somewhere in the future hopefully where we have no turnovers. That would be a really cool thing.

On Trishton Jackson and his special talent:

I think we have a really good group of wide receivers. I’m telling you between him, Taj Harris, Sean Riley and Nykeim Johnson ‚Äì and even the tight ends. I mean look what Aaron Hackett did. I think we have a really good group of receivers and that’s not including the backs and what they do for us out of the backfield with short routes and screens. To just pull one guy out and say he’s the guy, not ready to do that yet. You are going to have to do a lot more and do a lot more against better competition because when you do it against the best that means you can do it against anybody.

On RB’s in Pass Protection:

Running backs are everything. Those running backs are a part of it. Those linebackers are coming and they bring enough of them that the line can’t block them all, the running backs have to get the other ones. And the big thing about that is the running backs are giving up a 10-20 pound difference with some of the linebackers. They’ve got to be tough. It’s a pinto versus an SUV, you got to stick your nose in there and your radiator may not come out right. But, you got to go in there anyway because you are protecting the quarterback. Those guys play a big role for us. Our backs, when they target correctly, do a nice job blocking people.

On Antwan Cordy:

Always excited for Cordy. Cordy has never been the issue on the football field playing. The issue is Cordy gets banged up. He’s got a big guy’s heart in a little guy’s body. He’s quicker than you know what. He’s more competitive than most people. One of the most competitive people, and I’ve been around. I told you my first year here, we moved spring ball up because Cordy was in the indoor facility doing the old drills from the old staff and I did not know who he was. I just walked in and there is some guy practicing out here at six in the morning and he is doing all the wrong drills, we do not do any of those drills. And I asked who it was, and they told me that’s Antwan Cordy. And I’m like, we gotta move spring ball up, these guys are ready to go and I don’t want them practicing the wrong thing for two months and then we have to correct that and do the right thing. So, he’s always been aces with me, he’s just got to find a way to stay durable and stay on the field.

On whether there’s been an increased focus on the blitz:

I think we blitz a little bit. Anytime that you are blitzing you are creating a one-on-one for either Alton Robinson or Kendall Coleman. If you check the numbers I think we have been blitzing a little more, but that’s not to neglect the fact that you can also get coverage sacks. You can go back and play coverage and you give those defensive ends, those tackles and those nose tackles a little bit more time to pass-rush and put some games and some twists up front. There is two ways to get a sack: You can bring extra pressure or you can get coverage sacks off the back end. It’s very seldom that one guy beats another guy, because if you know who the good guys are you know who to give the extra protection to, get the extra blocker to, and keep those guys neutralized. What we need to do is get a little more push up the middle. If we ever start getting that push up the middle where we can reset that pocket I think we will be more productive with guys getting sacks off the edge if we get the middle part of that pocket pushed back a bit.

On the team’s moral and positivity following the win against Western Michigan:

I would hope we didn’t get too down because we had two losses and I would hope we are not too up because we had a win over Western Michigan. There is a process going on here, we’ve talked about it from day one and we’ve really had a more difficult road to hoe than what people are giving us credit for. To take a team for two games on the road, regardless of who you are playing, then come home for the quarterback’s first Dome start of his career versus the number one team in the country who hasn’t lost in two years, and now finally his second start at home was against Western Michigan ‚Äì I just think we need to let it happen, be patient, and let it come to us. These guys are going to get better and better.

On Tommy DeVito running more and if those plays are designed or him reading the situation:

It’s him reading what’s in front of him. We don’t always call those plays. It depends on structure and who we are playing and stuff like that. You call those plays against Clemson ‚Äì you know who’s going to be the unblocked guy? I’m not sure I like that matchup. So, as a coach you have got to play some chess sometimes whether you are going to do some of those things, if we like the matchup, then we’ll do that. I can tell you this, the touchdown run was not designed. That was not designed. That was him seeing something and taking off, which is really good for us from a coaching standpoint. The first long run, that was a designed play. When the coaches go back and look at DeVito’s touchdown, they’ll see this was not a designed run, this was the quarterback taking off. When we do stuff like that we make ourselves more difficult to defend. We’ve had it since the first time we’ve been here, other people have already taken it from us and used it in many games.