Aug. 25, 2008

Coach Wannstedt Press Conference

August 25, 2008

Bowling Green Week

Opening Statement:

With the conclusion of training camp, I think it’s appropriate to comment on our training camp.  Overall I was pleased with our camp. I thought our players maintained a consistent level of focus and effort from a day-to-day basis. The weather cooperated with us; I don’t believe we got rained out once this year. I like the leadership that was demonstrated by our team. Our seniors, although not a big class, have shown a quality of leadership. (Scott) McKillop, (Eric) Thatcher, C.J. Davis and Conor Lee have all shown signs of leadership. Conor is a great example of a leader, and people chuckle because he’s a kicker and there’s a perception that a kicker can’t be a leader but he really is. Our team comes out of camp reasonably healthy. We had a few injuries but for the most part, considering how physical training camp was, I thought we came out healthy for the most part.

On freshman class:

I’m pleased with our freshman class.  I don’t know exactly how many will play but I would expect Jonathan Baldwin and Andrew Taglianetti to play for sure. Lucas Nix will be listed as a second-team player. We will do everything we can to get him playing time.

On Bowling Green:

Bowling Green returns seven seniors coming on defense and five on offense so they are a veteran team. They’re a bowl team from a year ago. They’ve won a lot of football games and have a great tradition. They’re well coached. If you look back at their history, they’ve opened up with big games on the road and won. We’re going to have to play at a high level and put things together in a hurry. With no preseason games and limited scrimmages, the first game is always one of a little uncertainly because of substitutions and special teams. You try and prepare from a standpoint of having a dress rehearsal as we call it, but the reality is that our guys have to be able to go out and respond to changes as the game goes on. Our team is excited and will be ready to play. It’s great to open up at home. It’s important to have a good week of preparation and just not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll take things one step at a time.

On the team’s confidence level:

I think deep down, this team probably feels a little more confidence. I think the confidence will show when we get on the field and face adversity. Right now everyone’s excited for the opening game, but we’ve been working against ourselves in practice, so we haven’t really faced any adversity. We have to go out there and play because all that really matters is Saturday and we have to go out and prove that we’re a good football team.

On Bill Stull and quarterback depth:

Bill (Stull) has performed very well. I think he’s back to where he was a year ago. He’s probably a little stronger and hopefully a little smarter because he’s redshirted a year. I thought he had a good spring and worked extremely hard. He’s had a good camp and there’s no question that he’s our number one quarterback right now.  Behind him, it’s very close in terms of competition. We have Pat Bostick, Kevan Smith and Greg Cross.  All three behind Bill have some strong capabilities. I believe Greg is the athlete, Kevan has the strong arm and Pat’s probably the better operator. As we go into this week, we kind of have them all categorized as to what they can bring to this team. They’ll all be ready to contribute and play. The topic of Pat Bostick being redshirted this season has been brought up but we will not make that decision this week. We’ll do what we have to in order to win this first game. We’ll take things one week at a time concerning our backup quarterbacks. Obviously we’ll have a plan should something happen to Bill but that wouldn’t be revealed until that situation occurred.

On Greg Cross running the “Wildcat” offense:

Obviously he’s very athletic. We have a nice little package for Greg that I think will definitely add something to our offense.

On Bowling Green’s style of offense:

Their offense is completely different than what we’ve been practicing all spring and summer. They’ll run plays with four and five wide receivers. They will spread the field and throw the ball around a lot. We’ll probably see a lot of screens so it’s completely different than what we’re accustomed to. As for Bowling Green’s defense, they are pretty much a 4-3 defense so there won’t be much change for our offense. Our defense will certainly be tested right off the bat.

On Joe Thomas as being listed as starting right tackle:

If you look at our depth chart for opening day, there will be a lot of changes. We’re going to make a lot of changes as the game goes on. Joe Thomas came out of camp as the starter. Lucas Nix athletically and physically can do some things that some starters can’t but the biggest challenge for the offensive line will be to learn the offense and studying the opponent. As Lucas progresses, I would expect his playing time to increase.

On center Robb Houser:

Robb is probably a better player than we thought when we signed him and I say that as a compliment to him. He’s a good solid player and he’s proven that he’s strong and quick. He’s really fitting in well.  Playing next to C.J. Davis and John Malecki will be a nice fit for him. I like where we’re at with our center and our guards.

On redshirt freshmen contributing:

We’re still a young team. We have three offensive starters and four defensive starters who are seniors. That tells you that we’re a young team but that’s encouraging. When you like your football team and you’re a young football team, that’s reason to be excited.

On the defensive setup against Bowling Green:

They can come out in several different options, whether it’s two backs or no backs and five receivers. We have to be prepared to adjust to whatever they do.

We have to be aggressive at times but also be conservative at others. Obviously you’d like to do both but we have to just react to how they come out.

On defensive ends Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard:

Greg Romeus had a heck of a year last year as a redshirt freshman and I don’t think he started a game. He played a lot but never started. The same can be said about Jabaal Sheard and Mick Williams. These guys have had success and they’ll be excited to start. Jabaal’s had a very good camp and I’m very impressed with him. He’s going to be a good player.

On depth at linebacker

We have good depth when you look at Lucas Nix, Max Gruder, Tristan Roberts, Greg Williams and Brandon Lindsey.  Other than Nix, they’re all redshirt freshmen. We have good depth there, but the experience is what concerns me a lot. They’ve all had good camps and I don’t know that one has really separated himself from the others. They’re all solid and prepared to play if necessary.

On John Malecki moving to right guard:

Right now, I’m pleased with our offensive line. John Bachman’s had a nice camp and we’re working with Chris Jacobson at backup right guard. When you stack those players in terms of depth, it’s a solid lineup. John Malecki has made the transition about as smooth and as fast as we could hope. With him moving over at day one with Tony Wise coming in, it helps him not be in a position where he had to break some habits.