Post by MacMaher on Aug 18, 2009 11:12:15 GMT -5
Q: Coach you've enjoyed a lot of success this season, to what do you most credit that?
A: I think it's been our ability to mesh as a team, especially our defense. Our front 7 has been able to go out every game thus far this season and shut down opposing ground games and force teams to be one dimensional if they want to beat us, and you just can't win games when you're one dimensional
Q: Christian Ponder started the season as your #1 Quarterback but then went down with a disloacated throwing elbow, he's listed as questionable for your next game against Miami. how does he figure to fit into the offense now, especially with the success E.J. Manuel has had?
A: Well Christian's a tough kid, we went into the season expecting big things from him and he struggled early. What he really is gonna give us is he's going to force opposing defenses to gameplan not just for himself but for E.J. as well. Christian had flashes of brilliance in the first few games but really struggled against Temple. E.J. will be starting against Miami, but Christian will be getting his reps and work his way back into the starting lineup. E.J., Christian, and D'Vontrey really give us that wildcat threat that we've been trying to employ all year.
Q: You mentioned the wildcat, and how much success you've had with it. Are there any new wrinkles you plan on adding?
A: Well of course. For me to go on here and just let everybody know them would be foolish. But we've been working on a lot of new stuff, especially for Penn State. Bert's done a fantastic job playing the wildcat position, he leads our team in touchdowns and has been pretty decent throwing the ball for a wide receiver. Jermaine Thomas, Tavares Pressley, even D'Vontrey Richardson are all more guys that we feel comfortable with lining up and making you have to guess what we're doing. Now that we have Christian back we should be able to enjoy the success we had at the beginning of the year. I'll remind you of his game against Syracuse where he threw for a touchdown, ran for 2, and also caught a 26 yard touchdown. We have such versatility on our offense
Q: Coach MacMaher, a lot of critics will look at your statistics and go, "well for an alledgedly good defense they sure struggle and creating pressure." Your teams leader in sacks has 3, being Markus White and Budd thacker, and your team as a whole has 11 which ranks you 4th worst in the conference. What woudl you say to them?
A: Well I would have to say they haven't watched the film then. Looking at statistics doesn't mean anything. Ask Colorado. Ask North Carolina, LSU, West Virginia. I'm sure any coach for any team we've played this year wouldn't have any problem saying we get after the quarterback. It's not always about bringing the QB down. Sometimes it's about getting after him, making him have to move around, hitting him and getting into his head. When you can make a quarterback alter his decision making you're winning the battle.
Q: Any updates on recruits coach?
A: Well we were talking to a 3 star linebacker out of Ohio named Carl Arrington, but he's really narrowed his teams down to Iowa, Louisville, and Duke. It's good to see Duke on that list because as we know their coach is a protege of mine, he's really going to build a winner in Durham. The #4 prospect in the nation Edwin Thompson (SS) has given us a soft commit and figures to sign a letter of intent soon. He really reminds Bobby, Mickey, and myself of Myron Rolle and he's gonna make a big impact on our defense as a frosh. We have 2 defensive ends in Cory Whitlock and Montrell Newton who are versatile and can play end or tackle, which is what we want out of our DLineman who are really high on us right now. For those of you who want us to bring in a running back to add competition to what we've got I would be pleased to tell you that Shane McIntyre(5 star-Pittsburg, CA 5'11" 203), Matt Yates(4 star-Perry, GA 5'10" 180) are pretty close to giving us some sort of commitment. The one prospect we're really excited about though is WR Mike Mitchell out of Marion, NC. He's 6'4" 210 and reminds us a lot of Anquan Boldin, and in our offense running the wildcat the way we do he really could be a player like Anquan.
Q: If you could pick two players, one on offense and one on defense, on your team and say they've really been key to your success who would you pick?
A: You're gonna put me on the spot like that huh? haha. That's not fair to our kids. But if I really had to choose two. Offense it's undoubtedly been Bert Reed. Bert's developed into such a good wide receiver, and he's been able to run the wildcat fantastically and ran the ball pretty well. He's going to be considered one of the top Wide Receivers in the country next season. Defense it's been Nigel Bradham. He's the best Linebacker in the nation, and I will say that to anyone. He has absolutely dominated offenses this season, he's one of the few player son defense that an offensive coordinator has to sit there and gameplan around because he's going to disrupt the play every time. Run or pass he is there.
Q: How scared were you of losing to USF?
A: I damn near went gray haired up until Jarmon(Fortson) made that amazing catch on the sidelines haha.
Q: You have by far one of the toughest reminaing schedules in the nation, what do you think are your chances of going undefeated.
A: Well i'll stick to just the regular season because there's no guarantee we make it the conference championship game. But I would say fairly good. I'm really looking forward to November 21 when we play Penn State. No offense to Miami, USC, Tennessee, and Florida but I really think they have the greatest chance of knocking us off. They have a great running game, and the best defense in the conference. We're really going to have to prepare hard for that game. I'm obviously confident we'll beat them, what kind of coach would I be if i didn't feel that way about every game? But it is going to come down to the wire, we're gonna start preparing some surprises for Darryll Clark in the next few weeks.
A: I think it's been our ability to mesh as a team, especially our defense. Our front 7 has been able to go out every game thus far this season and shut down opposing ground games and force teams to be one dimensional if they want to beat us, and you just can't win games when you're one dimensional
Q: Christian Ponder started the season as your #1 Quarterback but then went down with a disloacated throwing elbow, he's listed as questionable for your next game against Miami. how does he figure to fit into the offense now, especially with the success E.J. Manuel has had?
A: Well Christian's a tough kid, we went into the season expecting big things from him and he struggled early. What he really is gonna give us is he's going to force opposing defenses to gameplan not just for himself but for E.J. as well. Christian had flashes of brilliance in the first few games but really struggled against Temple. E.J. will be starting against Miami, but Christian will be getting his reps and work his way back into the starting lineup. E.J., Christian, and D'Vontrey really give us that wildcat threat that we've been trying to employ all year.
Q: You mentioned the wildcat, and how much success you've had with it. Are there any new wrinkles you plan on adding?
A: Well of course. For me to go on here and just let everybody know them would be foolish. But we've been working on a lot of new stuff, especially for Penn State. Bert's done a fantastic job playing the wildcat position, he leads our team in touchdowns and has been pretty decent throwing the ball for a wide receiver. Jermaine Thomas, Tavares Pressley, even D'Vontrey Richardson are all more guys that we feel comfortable with lining up and making you have to guess what we're doing. Now that we have Christian back we should be able to enjoy the success we had at the beginning of the year. I'll remind you of his game against Syracuse where he threw for a touchdown, ran for 2, and also caught a 26 yard touchdown. We have such versatility on our offense
Q: Coach MacMaher, a lot of critics will look at your statistics and go, "well for an alledgedly good defense they sure struggle and creating pressure." Your teams leader in sacks has 3, being Markus White and Budd thacker, and your team as a whole has 11 which ranks you 4th worst in the conference. What woudl you say to them?
A: Well I would have to say they haven't watched the film then. Looking at statistics doesn't mean anything. Ask Colorado. Ask North Carolina, LSU, West Virginia. I'm sure any coach for any team we've played this year wouldn't have any problem saying we get after the quarterback. It's not always about bringing the QB down. Sometimes it's about getting after him, making him have to move around, hitting him and getting into his head. When you can make a quarterback alter his decision making you're winning the battle.
Q: Any updates on recruits coach?
A: Well we were talking to a 3 star linebacker out of Ohio named Carl Arrington, but he's really narrowed his teams down to Iowa, Louisville, and Duke. It's good to see Duke on that list because as we know their coach is a protege of mine, he's really going to build a winner in Durham. The #4 prospect in the nation Edwin Thompson (SS) has given us a soft commit and figures to sign a letter of intent soon. He really reminds Bobby, Mickey, and myself of Myron Rolle and he's gonna make a big impact on our defense as a frosh. We have 2 defensive ends in Cory Whitlock and Montrell Newton who are versatile and can play end or tackle, which is what we want out of our DLineman who are really high on us right now. For those of you who want us to bring in a running back to add competition to what we've got I would be pleased to tell you that Shane McIntyre(5 star-Pittsburg, CA 5'11" 203), Matt Yates(4 star-Perry, GA 5'10" 180) are pretty close to giving us some sort of commitment. The one prospect we're really excited about though is WR Mike Mitchell out of Marion, NC. He's 6'4" 210 and reminds us a lot of Anquan Boldin, and in our offense running the wildcat the way we do he really could be a player like Anquan.
Q: If you could pick two players, one on offense and one on defense, on your team and say they've really been key to your success who would you pick?
A: You're gonna put me on the spot like that huh? haha. That's not fair to our kids. But if I really had to choose two. Offense it's undoubtedly been Bert Reed. Bert's developed into such a good wide receiver, and he's been able to run the wildcat fantastically and ran the ball pretty well. He's going to be considered one of the top Wide Receivers in the country next season. Defense it's been Nigel Bradham. He's the best Linebacker in the nation, and I will say that to anyone. He has absolutely dominated offenses this season, he's one of the few player son defense that an offensive coordinator has to sit there and gameplan around because he's going to disrupt the play every time. Run or pass he is there.
Q: How scared were you of losing to USF?
A: I damn near went gray haired up until Jarmon(Fortson) made that amazing catch on the sidelines haha.
Q: You have by far one of the toughest reminaing schedules in the nation, what do you think are your chances of going undefeated.
A: Well i'll stick to just the regular season because there's no guarantee we make it the conference championship game. But I would say fairly good. I'm really looking forward to November 21 when we play Penn State. No offense to Miami, USC, Tennessee, and Florida but I really think they have the greatest chance of knocking us off. They have a great running game, and the best defense in the conference. We're really going to have to prepare hard for that game. I'm obviously confident we'll beat them, what kind of coach would I be if i didn't feel that way about every game? But it is going to come down to the wire, we're gonna start preparing some surprises for Darryll Clark in the next few weeks.
