Quotes from Coach Larry Coker and Brock Berlin
Nov. 11, 2004
Coral Gables, Fla (www.hurricanesports.com) — – Quotes from Head Coach Larry Coker prior to the Virginia game:
“We are back to work with the game against Virginia this week. This is going to be a tremendous challenge for us. We are excited about getting back on the practice field. We felt like we had good practices this past week and we certainly played better on defense against Clemson.”
“Virginia leads this league offensively in about every category. They have an outstanding quarterback, three good running backs, a veteran offensive line and a tremendous tight end. Defensively, they are among one of the top teams in the league and have an outstanding group of linebackers.”
“We have a tremendous challenge ahead of us. I think our attitude is positive and we want to be upbeat and go and just play on Saturday.”
On the depth of the ACC“I don’t think the ACC is any deeper than I originally thought. I’ve always said that from top to bottom it is a very competitive league. I do not think anyone would disagree with that.”
On the team’s play in the second half against Clemson: “We have been giving good effort every game. But in the second half against Clemson we took a major step back offensively. I don’t know the reasons why. There were a lot of things we just did not do offensively to win the game. We had eight opportunities and eight punts. That speaks for itself. We played extremely well in the first half offensively, but not in the second half. We also gave up a big run and a big pass play defensively in the second half.”
On Miami kicker Jon Peattie: “I talked to Jon today and he is pretty positive. He knows he is better than how he has been performing recently. I have put him into some bad situations at times when we have had the 45- to 50-yard kicks, but Jon can make those kicks. Last year he struggled with a groin injury so he didn’t have the distance. Now that he is healthy he feels like he is trying to power things too much. I told Jon not to over-think the situation. He believes in himself and hopefully we can put this behind us.”
On Miami QB Brock Berlin:“He is making good decisions and throwing to the right people, but the throws are not connecting. He is not throwing interceptions. The grounding penalties were out of character for him and are certainly not something we need. He wasn’t as accurate with his passing in the second half as he has been, but I wouldn’t call it a step backwards.”
On overcoming two straight losses: “The biggest challenge is to get our confidence back. We have lost two games in a row that were winnable games. We have had the good fortune around here that we have won most of those games. We didn’t make the plays we needed to make to win the past two games. We are not totally in the tank in that the two games we lost were on a last-second field goal on the road and in overtime. I was here when we lost a game in Syracuse 66-13. We have to make sure we are a confident football team and believe we can win.”
On DB Anthony Reddick: “He is doing very well. I am really excited by him and he is really starting to pick things up. Obviously he is a freshman and he is going to make some mistakes, but I am really encouraged with what I see from him.”
On DB Kelly Jennings: “Kelly has quietly been a very good player. He is the type of guy who goes out there and gets the job done. He has played very consistently for us all year long.”
Miami Hurricanes QB Brock Berlin
On overcoming two straight losses: “We have to just keep believing in ourselves and not lose confidence. Our backs are against the wall and we have three games left that we need to win and it all starts on Saturday against Virginia.”
“We were in the same situation last year and you tend to look back and see how you made it through the situation then. This team has a lot of character and we know that we are going to go out and fight.”
