Coach Davis Press Conference Comments On UM's Victory
Sept. 24, 2000
MIAMI HEAD FOOTBALL COACH BUTCH DAVIS’S COMMENTS
Sunday morning press conference after Miami’s 47-10 victory over West Virginia
September 24, 2000
General comments about the defense:
“We’re very pleased. The plane coming home’s a lot nicer after a victory. Watching the films this morning, it’s apparent there are some guys who improved. Particularly on defense. There are some guys who really performed. William Joseph inside (at DT) played well, we got some productivity at that position. He and Damione Lewis and Matt Walters rotated. That kept some guys fresh. Getting Jamaal Green back on the outside was helpful. The guys who really had probably as good a game as a tandem as they ever have was Mike Rumph and Leonard Myers. Leonard’s interception was the play that really lit a fire under our whole football team. That took the crowd out of it and really excited the entire defense. The job he and Mike did against two really good receivers deserves recognition. We really have a lot of respect for Khori Ivy and Antonio Brown. They’ve got good speed, they always put up big numbers and to hold them to such a small output (4 catches, 33 yards) was really a statement about our corners. And Danny (MLB Dan Morgan) just made a ton of plays again yesterday. During the game, you almost overlook everything Dan does because he’s just all over the field and we’ve become accustomed to it.”
On the special teams play:
“On special teams we got some significant performances from some guys. James Scott made some plays for us on coverage. Clinton Portis is a guy we added to our starting unit and he made a great play on a tackle on a punt. Todd Sievers kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone (on kickoffs) and that shows what a huge advantage it is to have a kicker that can consistently put the ball out of play. A year ago, their kickoff return team had averaged something like 30 yards a return and we really didn’t want that to be a factor.”
About the Hurricanes’ offense performance:
“The receivers made some outstanding plays. Reggie (Wayne) made some phenomenal catches. It was good to see Jeremy Shockey make some plays at tight end. He made a couple of very difficult catches. They weren’t for big yards but sometimes your passing game has to be an extension of your running game. If they’re going to stack 8 or 9 guys in the box and dare you to throw the ball, you’re going to have to make some 5-yard throws and get some runs after the catch. Both Santana (Moss) and Reggie did that. Obviously, Reggie made the big plays for touchdowns yesterday. Kenny (Dorsey, the quarterback) showed some poise and handled things well. He orchestrated our offensive game plan very well.”
More on Ken Dorsey’s performance:
“He knew that everyone was behind him. The players were positive with him over the course of the week, as were the coaches. His own attitude of recognizing the fact that the Washington game was a learning experience for him and that he would be a better quarterback for what he went through. He came back yesterday and had no sacks, no interceptions and had an outstanding game. Every week will be a different challenge for everybody. Different speed, different coverages, different blitz packages. It’s a learning experience for every quarterback throughout the entire season. The longer he plays and the more he sees, the more comfortable he’ll be as a quarterback.”
On Santana Moss:
“Santana has always been kind of a perfectionist and a competitor. He wants to make a big play and, to me, that’s what makes guys like him so good. You can’t be a coward and be a punt returner. You’re going to get hit. There’s always the chance you might get separated from the ball. If you ever lose that confidence that you feel you may take the ball all the way when they kick it to you, you are hurting the team.”
On the struggles in the running game:
“I think the biggest problem is just that they were stacking people up on the line to where, no matter how many people we had up front to block, they had more defenders than we had blockers. So, it became pretty evident early on that we needed to do some things to take advantage of that in the passing game. To be stubborn about running the ball in that situation would be foolish. Fortunately, we were able to do some things to take advantage of their commitment to stopping the run and we threw for almost 300 yards.”
What the difference between UM’s ability to bounce back at WVU, as opposed to the Washington game:
“There wasn’t a whole lot of difference, except we made a huge play to get back in it. The longer you let their crowd stay in it, the more trouble you have. Our guys were focused and ready and they played well. They didn’t let the situation distract them. They handled the road experience very well.”
On utilizing the versatility of the offense:
“We wanted to make it difficult to defend us. You can’t be one-dimensional, you can’t be stubborn. You can’t say, `We’re going to run it 42 times, regardless.’ We used tight ends, fullbacks, wideouts . . . We showed them a few new things and made them get out of alignment on a few plays.”
