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Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson’s Weekly Press Conference
9/20/2004
Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson’s Weekly Press Conference
Coach Johnson addressed the media on Monday afternoon at the McGugin Center. Below is a transcript of his weekly press conference.
Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson’s Weekly Press Conference
Monday, Sept. 20, 2004
Opening Statement:
“It’s a typical Monday, trying to get ready for our next football game tough football game with Navy. They are a very good football team. They’re 3-0, and one of the toughest, hard-nosed teams I have seen in a while. They are going to work hard and we are going to have to play well to compete. We have to get ready to play.”
The first game was pretty decisive in South Carolina’s favor. This one was a heartbreaker at Ole Miss. No loss is a good one, but can you talk about the differences.
“No loss is better than another. We have never approached it that way. After a loss, we try to find out what we can do better and how we could have won the football game. There were several ways we could have won that game at Mississippi and we didn’t do any of them. We are trying to take care of what we can do and move on.”
There seems to be a lot more focus on officiating, especially after last week.
“For every team, they have so many camera angles now so they catch more mistakes that officials make. Technical mistakes that are made I can live with. The judgment calls that always seem to go against us, I find them frustrating. That’s why we talk to (SEC Director of Officiating) Bobby Gaston. It helps the officials to see their mistakes and get better, and it also gives us an opportunity to vent a little. Bobby understands it is very frustrating on our part.”
Do you think officials are biased against Vanderbilt?
“Well, that’s been a theory that obviously cannot be proven.”
What about a replay system?
“I think it would slow down the game. Most of the mistakes that are made are not reviewable because they are judgment calls. Some are not judgment calls; some are technical. The Tennessee-Florida mistake could have been corrected by an official upstairs.”
Talk about the two-point conversion strategy while leading 16-10?
“We do that muddle huddle for a reason. If someone gives us a look that we can take advantage of, we are going to try it. We need to take a chance every once in a while, otherwise we would get out of that huddle. We took a gamble and they made a great play.”
Talk about your use of the option.
“It is a good weapon because it does require the opponent to defend it. That also helps you in other running plays and passing plays. Even though it does not work every time, the other team still has to line people up to cover it. I think it will help us in the long run.”
Your thoughts on (senior tailback) Norval McKenzie.
“He played a good game. He was the beneficiary of some of those hits Jay was taking right after the pitch, which is what it is designed to do. Norval also ran well in our zone plays. We have a lot of confidence in him.
Coach, how about any updates with injuries?
“Well, the status with Erik (Davis) is unknown, we have never seen anyone dislocate their fourth toe. It is back in place but it is extremely sore. As for Justin (Geisinger), we are still waiting to get some test results back for him, but I would not expect either one to be playing this weekend.”
How much are you willing to expose (quarterback) Jay Cutler in the option?
“Enough to make it effective. If you are going to do something like the muddle huddle, you can’t do it one time in the game and hope for it to work. You have to use it and it won’t be effective unless you do. The other key thing is that Jay takes bigger hits in the pocket than he does when he runs the football. He has some momentum and he sees people coming. He can also go to the ground or run out of bounds. Those hits in the pocket are much more devastating to quarterbacks.”
How are your impressions of Navy’s offense?
“It helps to practice their plays, but our scout team is nowhere near as good as Navy. They have seen every defense against them so they know when they are going to counter our first call or what our next call is going to be or they are going to have a counter and we are going to have to counter back. When the defense has to counter so much, that’s when people are caught out of position and play-action passes become effective. We are going to have to make sure we are sound against every set and every play and make them earn everything they get.”
Navy runs a very effective triple option attack?
“In my opinion, when you play in a league and you see it over and over again, then it can become a disadvantage. People start to catch up with them when they can read the athletes, but Navy is in a good position because few teams run it nowadays and they also have new athletes in the offense every year so it is difficult for other teams to read it. It helps you to control the ball and it is a great offense.”
Is their offense an important part of their defense?
“No doubt about it. You can’t score if you don’t have the ball. It helps to have a offense that controls the ball. At the same time, I think they are a lot better on defense this year. Last year, you saw a lot of high scoring games. They just posted a shutout in their last game.”
Why do you think Navy is experiencing their current success?
“They make you earn everything. They have a good plan. They play sound defense, try not to give up the big play and rely on their offense to keep the ball.”
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