Coach Martin Weekly Press Conference Transcript (Sept. 19)
9/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
I think from looking at the film from Saturdays game, we have made a lot of progress as a program. When you start comparing what were doing against the Miamis of this league, the upper echelon teams, it was 20-10 Miami going into the fourth quarter and we had a chance to win that game, and in previous years those teams have overwhelmed us and it hasnt been a game that late. Our defense played well, they really played hard, they made play. They didnt let Miamis wide receivers take the game over like they have in the past. And offensively, when you look at the film, Michael Machen really grew up, he played a really good game and thats what he looked like at Michigan State. Offensive line played well, receivers made some plays, although they dropped a few. Were moving forward in that respect.
Coach Martin on Jon Dragers knee injury
Drager tore his ACL, it was his left knee and hes torn both now. So obviously weve lost Jon for the remainder of the year, and were broken hearted for him first of all, and for the team too. He was really giving us something out of the backfield, wed handed him the ball twice and they hadnt tagged him yet.
Jons just real disappointed right now. The disappointment is just missing out on this year and he felt good about that running back position, and he was having a great year returning kicks. Hes disappointed that hes not going to be able to help this team now.
Coach Martins plans on the running back position without Drager
Were still going to have to generate a running game, but we did have special plans to get Jon involved early in that game and it was working. So were working with Luke Tillman whos back now and almost fully healthy. (Jerry) Flowers also needs to take on a bigger role along with Tillman. Whoever the next back will be will be done by committee. I dont think Luke Tillman can take that job by himself but between he and Flowers and (Greg) Keys, I think we can generate some productivity back there.
Coach Martin on Michael Machens decision making
Thats where Mike improved the most; he really stayed within the offense. There were only four times when he threw the ball where he shouldnt have against Miami, which is pretty good. Thats why his completion percentage was so high, and we had the yardage we did and we moved the ball like we did. And thats us, were not a big vertical passing team, we like to possess the ball with the passing game and the second and third quarters are what we like to look like. We won the time of possession in the second and third quarters.
Coach Martin on the team putting it all together
Itll happen and I dont know if you can speed it up. As a coach you can just go out and practice as hard as you can practice, and compare them the best as you can prepare them, and eventually they are going to walk out on the field and everything is going to click for them. But as frustrating as it is for the players its just as frustrating for the coaching staff cause we really see how close we are.
Coach Martin on Josh Brazens punting
With Josh, Mike Drake worked with him a lot this spring on his mechanics and we changed Josh from a three-step punter to a two-step punter and by moving him to the two-step, I think it sped his operation time up, and in someway I think it made him better mechanically because he is absolutely just killing the ball right now. I give him credit because thats tough to change in that point of your career as a senior, and Mike did a great job of coaching him through that, and it sure has paid off.
Coach Martin on who will replace Drager returning punt and kickoffs
Shawn Lewis will be the guy back there with (Derrick) Bush. Shawn has been returning kickoffs and has done a good job with that, he is a guy that has tremendous speed. Its a little bit scary putting a true freshman back there, but he has played three games so hopefully hell be ready.
Coach Martin on styles of quarterbacks: drop-back or runner?
Anytime you have a duel threat, a guy that can run or throw, thats a great blessing. One of the nice things about Michael right now is that when hes taking the ball down and running, I know he doesnt look like Josh Cribbs, but every time hes stepped through the pocket and run its been at least a ten-yard gain. Hes done it five times and Im trying to encourage him to do it some more because he is a 240-pound guy that is mobile and thats a weapon.
Coach Martin on third-down conversions
Its tough, when trying to run the ball on first and ten then second and ten and it sets up third and ten, that is not good, scares you. The interesting stat on us right now everyone is looking at third down conversions, we have had 56 third down conversions in three games and 41 of them have been third-and-seven or more. So that tells us we are not handling second and long well, setting up a third and long, so what we got to work on is on second and long getting half the yardage to a first down.
Coach Martin on avoiding third-and-long
Most of it is just execution, and second and long is a big blitz down for most defenses with a lot of zone pressures. So we have to do a better job of getting rid of the football on time and making the catch. And for whatever reason, second down is when were dropping a lot of what should be catches.
We break it down to third-and-four to six and youre going to be somewhere around 40%. Then when its third-and-seven to third-and-longer, youre looking at only a 22% conversion rate. You would like to get to 30% if you are really good and I think right now were at 22-23%. But weve got way too many (third-and-longs), you cant have that many third and longs and be productive and consistent.
