10/4: Urban Meyer’s Monday press conference

By Adam Silverstein
October 4, 2010

Updated Oct. 5 at 1:15 p.m.

Head coach Urban Meyer and a small group of players meet with the media each Monday after the Florida Gators participate in a game the previous Saturday. OGGOA has compiled some of the most important notes and quotes from the event this week.

DEMPS REMAINS PROBABLE, GILLISLEE TOO

The last thing Florida needed after having junior running back Jeff Demps at less than 100 percent on Saturday was another one of its top rushers to go down; unfortunately, that is exactly what happened as sophomore RB Mike Gillislee badly bruised his ankle against Alabama. Meyer noted that both players are Probable (read: 75 percent) for Saturday night’s game against LSU. Expect them to play.

In addition to limiting him in the backfield, Demps’ injured foot kept him off of special teams with Gillislee handling kickoff returns. As long as both are able to play Saturday, expect that to continue until Demps is completely healthy and able to practice at full speed for an entire week without “sharp pains” in his foot.

RED ZONE REVERSE

Entering the Alabama game Florida had gone 14-for-14 in the red zone over the previous two games with 13 touchdowns and a field goal. In fact, the Gators’ red zone efficiency on the season was 89.5 percent including 16 touchdowns. That changed for the worse Saturday as Florida went 1-for-4 in similar opportunities, something that has certainly gotten Meyer’s attention.

WEEK FIVE CHAMPIONS

Meyer did not announce any Champions for the Alabama game because, let’s face it, there was little to be proud of when the game was over. In lieu of his accolades, OGGOA has decided to name senior punter/kicker Chas Henry our week five champion for his top-notch performances during the contest. Henry averaged 62.3 yards per punt with a career-long of 75 and, filling in for injured junior K Caleb Sturgis, knocked through field goals of 39 and 22 yards for the Gators’ only points of the game.

He also received a honorable mention from the Southeastern Conference on Monday and this statement from Meyer: “If we had won the game, his contributions would have probably been player-of-gamish.”

QUOTES (After the break…)

Meyer’s opening statement: “I’ll go through the plan to win…it failed miserably. We didn’t play well When you play like that, especially with red zone inefficiency and turnovers against a quality team in a tough environment, it looks much worse than obviously the score was.”

Meyer on tackling: “We had six missed tackles, which is fantastic.”

Meyer on the main issue: “Turnovers: That was the difference in the game.”

Meyer on the defense: “We did not play great defense. We played admirable.”

Meyer on red zone problems: “Red zone we were one of four. That was an area that was positive throughout the fall. That was a major negative. […] The red zone scoring, [if that happens] that’s a whole different ballgame. If we don’t throw two of those picks and we have red zone efficiency, we’re in that thing.”

Meyer on what was most to blame: “The one thing that happens when you fail and you fail in a big game … Who’s fault was it? Let’s fix the fault. Everybody wants to know. Who’s fault was it? What happened? That’s our job to figure it out. If it was one person’s fault, you make a change and do what you have to do. Absolutely it was not one person’s fault.”

Meyer on this loss vs. Auburn in 2006 and Ole Miss in 2008: “In ‘06 we had a fist fight basically – no we didn’t – but it was screaming and yelling. It was not a fist fight. It was a very angry group. Ole Miss was a dejected group. This group was a combination of both. Some leadership really stepped up.”

Meyer on making the offense more pass-first: “There’s reason to evaluate that. Our job is to go win that game. If that means a much higher percentage of passing, then we’ll do that. If it means managing the game, then we’ll manage the game. That’s kind of what we’ve done around here.”

Meyer on the ineffectiveness of the option this year: “We’re looking at that as well. The option serves a lot of purpose. Cleaning up defense is one of them. There’s a price for poorly executed options, too, which we’re kind of seen every once in a while. The comment would be, ‘Do you eliminate it or do you improve upon it?’ History shows we usually put a premium on improving on it and getting it better. There’s gotta be a little bit of it.”

Meyer on if he believes in luck: “It doesn’t exist. We don’t believe in luck. We believe it’s preparation. And obviously when you fail in something, it’s because you didn’t execute it enough in practice. That’s how we look at it.”

Meyer on junior safety Will Hill: “I’d say he’s still not where we need him to be at the free safety position. At times he’s played well, but we have high expectations for him. […] For his ability level, [he’s playing] average. […] It’s inconsistency.”

Meyer on senior defense end Duke Lemmens: “They had two dynamic rushers [who got] I think 100 combined – both were way below what they expect. […] Played extremely well. Played his best game.”

Meyer on the special teams overall: “There’s a little concern. […] We haven’t blocked a punt – came close this year a few times. I thought our kickoff team did a great job against Alabama. The punt [42-yard return] kinda fried me a little bit. That’s never happened and that can’t happen. That was bad.”

Meyer on the receivers falling off: “There’s inconsistency, but at times they played real well. I thought Johnny at times played real well. […] That was not the reason [for the loss].”

Meyer on what the team should take away from the game: “It’s over and, if you don’t follow our plan, you get your tail kicked in. […] You face a team like that in that environment and not play on-point, that’s going to be a bad day for you.”

Meyer on LSU’s consistency year-to-year: “Defensively they are. Offensively they’re a little inconsistent right now. They found a back though, their back is a tough… I think he’s the No. 1 rusher in the SEC. He’s tough, physical. We’re guessing that’s the direction they’re going to head.”

Meyer on Henry: “He did great. His punt was tremendous but we didn’t cover. His hang time was fine on that one. […] We haven’t really tested him [as a field goal kicker]. 42 was the max last week.”

Meyer on freshman kicker Brad Phillips handling kickoffs: “I just trust D.J. Durkin. He said, ‘This kid can kick it.’ I said, ‘You put your job on that one big boy?’ He said, ‘Sure.’ So he did good.”

Redshirt senior left guard Carl Johnson on rebounding from the loss: “History shows it. We picked it up and rallied behind [Tim] Tebow. We’re going to do the same thing now.”

Brantley on what went wrong with the offense: “We had a lot of opportunities. We just [have] to be able to end the drives. We did some good things, we did some bad things. I think that’s in any game really. So we’re just going to move forward.”

Brantley on what he learned from the loss: “Being able to be more firm in the pocket. Those two interceptions I threw, I was kind of happy feet. That’s one big thing I learned from this past weekend.”

Brantley on how the defense performed: “Our defense played great. They had a shaky first half, but the second half they shut them out. We just need to be able to put more points up on the board. The defense can only do so much against a good team like that.”

Brantley on the locker room after the loss: “Our team has a really positive attitude right now. After the game in the locker room it’s a little tough to take that loss. But I think our team is old enough and mature enough to put that behind us, moving forward and looking forward to LSU and just getting better from here.”

Senior center Mike Pouncey on the post-game locker room: “A lot of people said a lot of things, but the main message was, ‘Believe.’ Believe in each other and we’ll get through this tough loss. At the end of the day, Florida beat Florida. […] When I say Florida beat Florida, we never gave ourselves a chance. We turned the ball over too many times.”

Pouncey on playing LSU: “We need this game to keep our hopes alive for the SEC Championship game.”

Pouncey on the team’s leadership: “We appointed leaders for every position. We obviously don’t just have one leader to stand up for this team. So we just gotta be responsible for each of our units. If one unit’s down one week, we gotta have another one step up. We really just didn’t do that this week. It ain’t about one leader on this team, it’s a team effort.”

Pouncey on improving this week: “Everybody came out on Sunday ready to practice and we had a great practice. That’s the first sign of a team that just wants to go and get things right.”

Pouncey on the option: “It loosens up the defense. Whatever we gotta do to get the option going, we have to get it right so defense won’t just tee-off on us the whole game.”

Demps on how injured he was at Alabama: “I was about 90 percent.”

Demps on how the sprain is limiting him: “It bothers me when I’m running and it also bothers me when I try to cut, playing on a comeback. I’m trying to tough it out, but at the same time I think it’s affecting me.”

Demps on the option: “I think we can keep it. That’s one of our bread and butter plays and we’re going to stick with it.”

Senior safety Ahmad Black on what he took from the loss: “We’re all angry about not coming out a winner, but all-in-all I feel like we did some things to hurt ourselves.”

Black on whether it is better to have one leader: “The more the better. We got a couple. Everybody put in their input and it just become one whole. It’s better than just having one.”

24 Comments

  1. Mr2Bits says:

    Anyone that attend these conferences have the stones to ask if he will shake things up with the O-Line and the play calling….ala will Pouncey be moved back to guard and Addazzio demoted or let go all together? Seems as though these are like broken records every week.

  2. Tim says:

    Adam, what’s up with Mack Brown, our highly recruited freshman RB? He could help with our lack of RB depth due to injury.

  3. Joe says:

    Things Florida needs to beat Alabama consistently:

    A power running back over 220lbs

    (without establishing the run or a running threat {ala Tebow – dual threat QB} we cannot win)

    A blocking tight end that can protect against SEC blitz packages

    (Burton looked SOFT as a blocker, no way should he be considered an option to block the edge especially against Bama’s blitz packages)

    The advent of some power run formation and play action calls – even if it’s still in the “spread” look

    (obviously this is in the absence of the great equalizer – a dual threat QB! We can’t try and run every run play out of the same few looks, my old coach did it in high school, it’s embarrassing to hear the other team yell out the exact play you are going to run and then get stuffed for a four yard loss. Teams develop simple keys to telling what play will be run out of a formation by either a package, motion or a checkoff. Whatever we are doing is not working there is no confusion and Saban and his D have figured out a way to stop our pass and prevent most of our large chunks on the ground. New looks mixed with old looks can really help us confuse the Alabama D and create some desired mismatches.)

    There is no secret, we lack physicality in the run and a slight bit of ingenuity in our play calling. Until we can get difficult yards and clutch blocks accompanied with some exploitable mismatches we will have very inconsistent results from our team.

  4. Joe says:

    haha… meant to say…Saban and his D have figured out a way to stop our RUN and prevent most of our large chunks THROUGH THE AIR.

  5. brlgator says:

    Adam,

    Has Mack Brown played at all? even on special teams? I imagine they are hoping they can red shirt him if thats still even an option?

  6. GATORNATIONSPRESIDENT says:

    Whoa Mr2Bits, Addazio be let go all together? Let’s not jump to conclusions here based on one game, or five games. The fact is playmakers need to step up, specifically in the WR corp, and they haven’t. Carl Moore has been pretty good on 3rd downs for the most part, but we don’t have anyone to stretch the field besides Demps, who is hobbled at the moment. I’m looking for Deonte Thompson or Andre Debose to step up, we need one of them too badly. Still though, I think Addazio deserves more credit than you’re giving him. Last week he looked like a genius after installing Trey Burton heavily into the offense, but now you’re calling for him to be let go? Not fair

  7. travis ritch says:

    don’t forget Chas’ return stopping tackle.

  8. Tim Smith says:

    On Pouncey moving to guard …if there was a better player, he’d already be in there. On play calling…what are you going to do differently? To borrow from Rick Pitino, ‘Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin are not walking through that door people. Brandon Spikes is not walking through that door.’ We played lack a sack of crap, and got our butts handed to us. Hearing comments that we need to make wholesale changes is ridiculous. What in Meyer’s previous 5 years here make you think we need wholesale changes? We need a young tallent like Brantly and Debose to get some experience so that the game slows down for them and we can see them execute to their talent level. That’s my personal opinion, I could be wrong.

  9. Adoozio says:

    We are overlooking the 2 main problems O-line play and Play calling …fix them or remain Bama’s whipping boy…Brantley is receiving to much blame. How many times did he just get control of one of Pouncey’s knuckle ball like snaps to look up and immediately have to avoid 1 or more of Bama’s D lineman. which he accomplished more often than not….and please no more Brantley running the option. it’s like asking Peyton Manning to run the wishbone, it won’t work.

  10. jimbo6812 says:

    since dan mullen left, our play calling has been terrible. we managed games last year because of tebow. its not like a few games and everyones freaking out, its been since mullen left. come on urban, youre better than that

  11. GatorStudent says:

    Addazzio is to blame for a lot of our offensive struggles this year (and last year!)….We need to open up our offensive. I can count on one hand how many deep balls we have thrown this season and we have a drop-back passer! Football 101 you need to keep a defense honest by stretching the field or else they will put 8 in the box like Bama did and shut down our Run…

  12. Gatorgrad79 says:

    Gotta agree with JOE – we need some beef – on both lines and in the backfield. Can’t blame players for a bad offensive scheme, and JB is attempting to do everything he is asked – he’s just being asked to be something he is not – that’s bad coaching.

  13. Mr2Bits says:

    GATORNATIONSPRESIDENT : 5 games… really? Either you are a UF freshman or haven;t followed UF football very long.

    A few facts to tuck yourself into hall 95 tonight. Adazzio since taking over as Offensive coordinator has retarded the offense to the point that we are averaging 13 points less per game as of last year (definitely more if I take the time to do the math with this years numbers). Add to it that last years players we all upperclassmen and mostly retuning national champions from 2008.

    In 2008, we averaged 30+ points in 9 out of 9 games with 5 being in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Last year when A-Team took over…..we scored more than 30 points in 2 out of 9 games… surprise surprise one was Kentucky(41-7) and the other was Georgia(41-17)…….any deja vu as to what this years numbers against opponents are looking like????

    Here is one last stat to make you puke. Prior to taking over for Mullen last year, Addazio hadn’t called a play since 1994…in high school. His resume was as a good offensive line coach. Thats right folks, Adazzio has never been an offensive coordinator outside of high school football.

    That is what you get to look forward to and pay top dollar to see week in and week out.

    With all that said I regress, he needs to be demoted or fired. We have seen his resume, his product and his lack of development or creativity. Anyone who plays Madden or NCAA could call a better game than him at this point.

  14. HardToKillGtr says:

    Quite a few fans wanted Mullen’s head on a stick last year because his play calling was too predictable and simplistic. Not enough “style points” scored. New OC and I hear the same thing. Guess we’ll never have a good OC.

  15. Wingtee says:

    Dan Mullen revived a lot of critisism too as a play caller. I doubt it matters who calls plays. Really this is an ugly offense although sometimeses highly effective. Don’t overrated Mullen , he is just a guy who also had the most explosive player
    that has ever been at Uf in his arsonal PH

  16. GG says:

    We need a top notch OC for sure. Play calling is poor at best. Until then ?????

  17. brlgator says:

    @ hardtokillgtr

    not sure how up to date you are but addazio was our OC last year. He was promoted to OC in Dec 2008 almost two full years ago. So i think complaints about how our offense has declined since mullen left and addazio took over are justified. dont you?

  18. RSeegobin says:

    Agreed with Mr2Bits wholly. The Addazio Effect has lasted much longer than this season’s 5 games…The offense was inept dating back to last season…Not having Percy is not much of an excuse to me. We didn’t have him in the 2008 SECCG and yet we were still able to distribute the ball effectively and put up 31 on Alabama’s D…

  19. DC says:

    During the offseason the coaches preached about Brantley just being Brantley and not Tebow. Maybe they should take their own advice and stop running the option with him. The negative plays are killing drives this year. I bet this team finishes the year strong. You can see potential shine through when they get it going.

  20. Drew 4 Orange & Blue says:

    It was probably a difficult decision when Mullen left not to give Adozzio a shot…he means so much to Urban and the team which was clearly evident during Meyer’s LOA…that all being said he can’t call plays and it makes me wonder that our two best drives were the first two drives of each half which might have very well been scripted by Meyer or the entire offesive staff…we need a change

  21. Gatorgrad79 says:

    My wise old Grandpa used to say two things that apply here – “…if you’re gonna be dumb, ya gotta be tough!” and “..if you keep on doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep on gettin’ what you’ve been gettin’!”

    Definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results!
    Come on Urban – time to see the light.

  22. no need for the gator-nation to start jumping out of windows just yet. i think we will have a great game against LSU!….the game that worries me is SC against the Spur-dawg!

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