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Coach Johnson’s Monday Press Conference
11/1/2004
Coach Johnson’s Monday Press Conference
Coach Johnson addressed the media Monday to preview Vanderbilt’s matchup against Florida on Saturday, Nov. 1.
Bobby Johnson’s Opening Statement:
“I thought our guys gave a very good effort against LSU, especially in the first half. It gave us an opportunity to see if we could hang in there in the second half. Obviously, two big plays killed our chances. The fumble and the subsequent touchdown off that drive, and then the punt return, and that was the end of the scoring.”
Talk about injuries for your squad?
“The fact that Jay got hurt definitely hurt us a bit, but probably more than that, we had several injuries on the offensive line. Those kind of things you just have to get through at this time in the year.”
On playing strong SEC opponents late in the season?
“Teams in this conference aren’t going to help you out a whole bunch. You have to go out and make it happen as well as prevent it from happening to you. Giving up a punt return for a touchdown or fumbling a pitch that was pitched well, those things should not happen.”
Coach, you mentioned injuries to the offensive line. Which players were hurting?
“Nigel (Seaman) is feeling better, but we will not know how he is feeling until this Wednesday afternoon. Brian Kovolisky should be back this week. Justin Geisinger has been playing on one-and-a-half legs the past several weeks. That is a pretty beat up group. We’ll have our fingers crossed to get Nigel back.”
Talk about tailback Kwane Doster?.
“Kwane had a concussion later in the game on a kickoff, but I do not think that was the reason he was struggling.”
What are your impressions of this week’s opponent, the Florida Gators?
“Those football players have enough personal pride and pride in their team and coaching staff that they are going to come play their very best whether it is against Vanderbilt, Georgia, Florida State or whoever. I don’t expect any drop-off in their play.”
And Florida’s QB, Chris Leak?
“You can tell the experience helps him. He’s seen defenses, and when you run that kind of offense you are going to see every kind of defense and blitzing scenario there is because they force you to do a lot of stuff. I think it helps him a lot making good decisions. He seems a lot more comfortable in the pocket now, though hopefully we can disrupt that.”
How would a strong finish help your program?
“We would like our seniors to have finish their careers strong and we need to rebuilt for next year. It also would be positive on the future of the program. That’s what we are trying to sell those guys. A bunch of our guys were upset after the LSU game because they understood that we had a chance. We had a golden opportunity and we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Tackling seems to be a continuing issue?
“We were tackling LSU players much better than we did versus Eastern Kentucky. It’s amazing what the mind does sometimes when you concentrate a little more and approach it with a sense of urgency. It’s important to execute technique the correct way and practice a bit more. After the Eastern Kentucky game, we really worked on tackling and I think we did improve.”
Talk about the calls that went against your punt team?
“It was the completely wrong call. I just have to tell you that it was wrong. It was two punts and we were lined up correctly and both, then they call both of them wrong.”
Florida Coach Ron Zook appears to be in a tough position. How do you think you would precede in the same position?
“I would coach out the season. I tell my players all the time not to quit – if they make a commitment, then they need to follow it. As long as they want me to coach here, I will probably be coaching here. If that were to happen, I would ask that they hold the decision until after the season, then your players can concentrate on playing and not have to worry about questions pertaining to that.”
What about Jay Cutler’s injury?
“I would really be surprised if Jay didn’t practice tomorrow.”
Florida has a solid running back, especially the featured back (Ciatrick Fason). What are your impressions of his play?
“He’s just another weapon that you need to defend against. He ran well against us last year. We played fairly well against them the first half, but he just kept wearing us down and wore us out.”
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