Sept. 10, 2007

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Coach Wannstedt's Press Conference

PITTSBURGH - Dave Wannstedt
Michigan State Week
September 10, 2007

Opening Statement:
The focus, as it should be three days after a game, is solely on Michigan State. We've had a couple of issues that we had to deal with. It's out there that Gus (Mustakas) is out for the year. I had a release and I really don't have anything else to say other than what was in the release. It's a tough deal for Gus and a tough deal for us, but we do have some depth there and we'll call on Tommie Duhart and Mick Williams to step up in a much needed manner. We'll be fine there. Everyone else is fine and ready to go. I thought that Kevan Smith handled the game well last week. He had one turnover where he was falling down and he put the ball on the ground. That will cost us the game this week if the same thing happens against Michigan State, but the interception was really just a great play on their (Grambling State's) player's part. He had two or three simple throws that he'll make 9-out-of-10 times and if he hits those, he could have been at about 80% completion. When you look at the big picture, I thought he did a fantastic job for his first start. Shady (LeSean McCoy) got in there when LaRod (Stephens-Howling) got a little banged up. I thought he went in there and did a nice job. The more opportunities he gets, the better he'll become. It was a step to play that much and I believe this week will be another step in the right direction. The defense, overall, played well and this will be our first big, big challenge. These guys (Michigan State) are a physical team. They run the ball and their quarterback is really talented. They've got a tight end that will be a high draft pick and they've got a big receiver who makes a lot of plays, so we're facing a talented football team on both sides of the ball. We just have to go up there and take another step and play better than we did last week. Our guys know that. They have pretty much the same changes that we do from a standpoint of changing quarterbacks and a few of the linemen. They have three offensive linemen coming back. With Mike (McGlynn) back in our lineup now, that gives us some experience and helps bring some continuity to that offensive line, which is much needed. We take it for granted that just because a player has played that he'll jump back into the lineup and pick up where he left off, but Mike hasn't played for a long time. It's one thing to be out there practicing, but it's totally different to be out there when it's full speed. He really didn't participate in any of the scrimmages, but I thought he went in there and did a good job. After watching the tape we were very pleased both from a performance standpoint and also from a communication standpoint. The kickers did a good job and the return team made some progress. We had a couple of kickoffs that we had the opportunity to return and we did a good job with that. The kickoff coverage was not good enough and that will be a point of emphasis this week in practice. Conor Lee continued to do a good job kicking and Dave Brytus did the same with the kickoffs and his punting.

On things that Kevan Smith needs to improve on:
As simple as this sounds, just hitting open receivers and taking what the defense gives him. He needs to work on those little things. It's not sitting back there and reading the defense, that's not the problem. He made some great throws on his deep balls. He had a great throw to Nate Byham. The one play he slipped or else he would've completed that one easily, and then we had Shane Brooks wide open in the flat down by the goal line and the ball went over his head. I think he just needs to continue to work on the little things, and he will.

On preparing Kevan Smith for his first game in a hostile environment:
We'll bring noise out there on Wednesday and Thursday. That will benefit not just the quarterback but our entire football team, particularly the offense. He'll be fine. We'll continue to practice Pat Bostick. He'll take half the reps in practice and we'll continue to get him ready just in case we would need him. We'll also see how LaRod (Stephens-Howling) does. He got banged up a little bit. It's nothing serious but we'll see how he is day-to-day. We'll get him ready to play and we'll get LeSean (McCoy) ready to play as well.

On playing Pat Bostick:
We'll play him if he's needed, but we'll have to see how the game unfolds.

On Pitt's defensive front seven against Michigan State's offensive line:
I thought that last year we got worn down as the game went on. It was a combination of three things: No. 1 the size and strength, No. 2 our conditioning and No. 3 our experience. I think this year we're better in all three of those phases. We're in great shape; I think our players believe that. We're a little stronger and because we have so many guys coming back we should have some more experience and be a little bit smarter.

On the progression of Tommie Duhart and Mick Williams:
They've both played in two games so it's not like it's the first time that they'll be playing. They are both very talented. Mick missed some time because of his shoulder. He missed this spring, missed last spring and all of last year, virtually. He just needs to play. He was a fullback and a linebacker in high school and now he's a defensive lineman so he's in an entirely new position and he just needs as much practice time as he can get. Tommie Duhart, on the other hand, is playing the same position he did in high school. He was in junior college and I think that the structure of how we do things here, from class to practice to training to the weight room, and all the things that encompass a Division I program, is the biggest challenge we have with Tommie. It was a struggle getting him into a routine.

On how MSU's Running Backs Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick compliment each other:
We have to tackle well this week. Tackling will be a challenge. Both of those guys have the ability to run through arm tackles and they both have very good quickness and they both can catch the ball well. The thing that jumps out at me is the toughness and the ability to break tackles after being hit.

On what MSU head coach Mike Dantonio brings to the Spartans from Cincinnati:
He brings physicality from an offensive standpoint. They generally don't run an offensive attack where they're going to kill themselves with a bunch of sloppy play and turnovers. Defensively, they will pressure. They have four guys down and they are aggressive with their safeties. They have a `stop the run' mentality on defense and I think that's why they were successful last year (at Cincinnati). Last year, Cincinnati's defensive linemen, as a group, were as good as any four guys in Big East Conference. They did a good job of recruiting guys that would fit into what they wanted to do schematically and the same thing's happening at Michigan State.

On dealing with the injuries:
You're going to have guys that are hurt, but to have this many is surprising. We really haven't had many guys banged up and generally you get a one or two game injury. Gus' (Mustakas) injury was not a full contact injury. He was stopping, making a cut and it was very similar, although in a different circumstance, to Derek Kinder's. Chris Jacobson was probably the most heralded lineman that we thought would come in and be a solid back up, which he was. You have three guys with season ending knee surgeries that were standing and did not get hit when the injury occurred. Kevin Collier's was as freak as could be. It's like he said, `coach, I fall on my wrists 10 times a day.' He fell on it and it broke. Billy Stull's was due to a guy who was trying to pull the ball out and pops his thumb. We've had some unusual things, but if we keep recruiting well and keep getting depth and talent, when one guy goes down the next guy can step in and take over. It would be nice to have another junior quarterback or a redshirt senior who has been around, that's ideally what you would like to have, so that when one guy leaves the next guy can come in and take over. We'll get that, maybe not at every position, but we'll get that. We do have a little bit of that on the defensive line. We've got depth there, but not at the other spots.

On Bill Stull's status:
Billy's doing well. He'll get the stitches out here in the next few days. It was supposed to be 10 days after the surgery, so probably at the end of the week he'll get those out. And then from there it's all rehab. We'll take it day-to-day and see when he gets his strength back. As soon as he can throw the ball, then we'll make a decision from there. That's really where he's at right now.

On his relationship with Jeff Long:
Jeff has been great. Everything that we have asked for, everything that we thought we needed to do to keep moving forward from a program standpoint. From turf fields to things around this building to the weight room, everything that I have asked for, Jeff has jumped in and done everything to try and help. As far as I'm concerned my relationship was very good and will continue to be very good. Jeff has to do what's best for his family and his career and that's how I look at it.

On rotating defensive linemen:
We'll continue rotating them; I think that's a key. If we can keep guys healthy and continue to rotate guys we will do so. That's an advantage for us.

On LeSean McCoy:
It's not so much how well he's playing compared to LaRod (Stephens-Howling). LaRod's the starter. With LeSean, it will come down to where LaRod is health-wise and who gives our team the best chance to win. If LaRod's banged up a little bit then it's an easy decision. If Shady takes all of the practice reps, or most of them, then it's an easy decision, but LaRod hasn't done anything to not deserve to start. I look at it the other way; I'm excited by what LeSean has done to this point. Now we've got two guys that can make plays.

On Ricky Gary:
It's strange how opportunities come. I promise you, we were not talking about Ricky this summer. Aaron Berry twisted his ankle and Ricky got a shot. He had a very good training camp and has played well the first two games. Aaron did play about half the game last week and will continue to do that. We'll need both of them. Aaron didn't play much last year and Ricky's a redshirt freshman, so you've got a freshman and a sophomore who haven't played much in there. We'll continue to get both of them playing time and we'll need them both before the year is done.

On the defensive tackle situation:
We'll go with the four guys that we have and try to redshirt as many of the freshmen as we can.

On John Pelusi:
John's doing better. He was out there yesterday doing a little bit. We'll have to see how he progresses day-to-day.

On Pitt's young defensive ends:
They have progressed. The two teams that we played previously had quick passing game philosophies so the defensive end plays weren't going to show up as far as big sacks. The ball was coming out quickly. Romeus is a redshirt freshman that just needs to continue to play. He's a little bit like a Jeff Otah and hasn't played a lot of football. Ty Tkach has put on about 25 pounds, he's a redshirt freshman and he needs to play. Jabaal Sheard is a true freshman who came in and was probably a little further ahead physically than what Tony Tucker was at this point, but we're really excited about Tony Tucker. We've got three freshmen there and we're just trying to get them all playing time. At the same time, as they continue to work, we'll become better at that spot and then we can start rolling guys in and really have something. We also hope to have Doug (Fulmer) back here, I can't give you a time table, but we'll have Doug back this year.

On comparing MSU's quarterback Brian Hoyer to former Spartan signal-caller Drew Stanton:
The offensive philosophy has changed. They have not been an option team, at least for the first two games. They'll roll out with the waggles and sprints, but he's more of a conventional quarterback. He'll do similar things to what we do. He'll scramble. He's an athletic kid and you'll see that on the tape, but with Stanton the option was a big part of what they did. That would be the difference.