We look forward to seeing our team today. Our coaches watched the film thoroughly. Some of the good things that happened was the play of Mike Wallace. I was really pleased with that, the throws, the big plays, especially the punt fake. An outstanding job by coach (Hugh) Freeze of game planning that. He does a good job for us, and we came back for a touchdown right after that gave us a chance in the game.
On defense, the only thing we think we did well was eliminated a big play. Other than that we played very poor. Our punting was very poor, and our execution was poor. This week we will focus on Ole Miss. We will focus on our fundamentals, get back to work on doing the right things, blocking, tackling, being in the right position and working on our kickoff coverage. I thought it was atrocious, and we need to find the right guys that are going to do the right things there. We are going to switch up our scheme a little bit to really really work on getting our team better. We're going to be positive. We're going to be upbeat with our football team today. I know they don't feel good about their performance, neither do I, neither did our coaching staff. But we have a lot of football left, and we are going to show improvement and we're going to get better.
Looking at Florida, obviously they are a great football team. The thing that sticks out with them is the speed on their team, and they are very well coached. On offense, Tim Tebow is having a fantastic year already. Percy Harvin is probably one of the best players in the country, and Derrick Harvey and Brandon Spikes are really good players on their defense. They are really fast. They play sound. They are averaging 55 points a game and only giving up 46 yards rushing, so we have our work cut out for us. I know it's going to be a tremendous atmosphere. I know our guys are going to be up to play a great game against Florida.
Q: Can this be turned around on defense?
A: We keep fixing holes. One of the things is our linebacker play and not getting off the blocks like should, so we are going to continue to find the right mix at the linebacker position. I think that we fixed the cornerback problem that we had. Now we have to fix the outside linebacker problem we have. Hopefully we can work on that this week, try a couple different guys and get that fixed.
Q: Talk about the offensive line play on Saturday.
A: Poor pass protection, getting beat one on one. It was not necessarily a scheme problem. I thought that we were tentative. They had some blitzes, and we had the right guy to block them but we didn't block them. Overall it was not a very good performance by our offensive line.
Q: What are some things you can do to improve kickoff coverage?
A: We have to do something different than what we're doing. It's just not working. With this scheme, you have to have a great kicker and right now we don't have a great kickoff guy. He's not putting the ball where we need it, and it's giving them time to get up the field a little quicker than we need. So we need to try a couple different things that's going to fit our kicker.
Q: What is Seth Adams' status?
A: I don't think Seth is going to practice for most of the week. I really think it's going to come up to gametime. We are going to try Brent (Schaeffer) and Michael Herrick, and we'll see who the best one in practice is this week. It probably will be Brent as starter, but he has to have a great week of practice. His consistency has gotten better. He has improved in the things that I have asked him to do, and he has been pretty good so far.
Q: Does Tim Tebow remind you of anyone?
A: Donovan McNabb. I ran against him everyday in practice. He was hard to defend. He is that type of player, big, physical. He runs the ball. He throws a deep ball really well. I don't know if he has missed a deep ball yet. He has a good throwing motion. I read where they did a couple of things to his throwing motions this summer which is pretty unique, and you can tell the difference in him. I think he is a great player.
Q: How important is assignments?
A: Both assignments and tackling. We need to work on our tackling. We worked on it last week. We are going to work on it everyday. We are going to simplify what we do on the defense. Get our guys in the right spot, get up the blocks and tackle.
Q: How do you get that fire and passion you talked about in the preseason?
A: I really think our players are playing hard. I'm not questioning their effort out there. We're coming out with a lot of fire. We just aren't making the plays. You kick the ball off and start at about the 50, and the score take a little air out of your team. So we need to start faster and we need to create some big plays. They're ready to play. I'm with them in the locker room, and they are a different team. These guys have fire. They have energy. They have desire. I think it's just going to vary when we start playing well. We aren't playing well. I know the guys are a little subdued on the sideline. I think we need to make something happen. We need a spark. I know playing at home against Florida is going to be crazy. We need to make a couple of big plays. We need to make some turnovers. We need to give BenJarvus (Green-Ellis) the ball in his hands. We need to be a little more creative on offense and make things happen up front. I think we have been uptight. We are working hard on a winning season and going to a bowl. Each game is like a must win game for us. We need to relax on that and get better on what we are doing and go out there and have fun and make some plays. Let the chips fall.
Q: Do you think Florida could have a letdown?
A: I hope. We'll take it. I don't know. They're a well-coached football team now. They know that we are going to be waiting in the bushes. That won't be a surprise to them. I think it is a natural deal for any team. They played Tennessee and then they have LSU after us. I know all their coaches there. They're a very well-coached football team, and I don't think they will let that happen. But on our part, we will be ready.
Q: Has the experience on the defensive line helped the inexperience in the linebackers?
A: We went to a lot more zone coverage last week. We played some three-deep and some man-to-man against Missouri and got burned. We gave up a lot of big plays. We went to a more zone coverage last week with a four-man coverage and had a lot more success. So hopefully we can build on that.
Q: How is Florida's spread offense different?
A: It's difficult because of their talent. You can't figure out the plays. We were watching tapes this morning. There are a lot more quarterback run, power. They are really an option football team. They run a dive option. They run a dive option pitch, quarterback power, quarterback counter. The guy is a runner back there. But they also spread the offense, run some guys deep, run some screens. I just think it is a little more run than most spread offenses. But they have speed. They'll put Percy in the backfield, and when he has the ball, watch out. He's a playmaker. I don't know if I have ever compared anybody to Reggie, but he has the qualities of a Reggie Bush. He is special.
Q: Are you surprised to still be struggling with assignments this deep in the season?
A: I don't think we are deep into the season. We are 1-2. At this point last year, we were 1-2. We caught fire toward the end of the season. We played well against some big teams, and I expect to do the same thing and close and beat some of those teams. Every week we have a new outside linebacker, and you can't put him in all the game-like situations. It's impossible to go through the whole week and put him in every situation that he is going to see in a game. You would like to have a little more game experience there. We're playing with three new linebackers, and they're making mistakes. It's not excuse. Hopefully we can get more experience and eliminate those mistakes. Yes, I am disappointed that they kept throwing the same play at us, and we didn't stop it. We couldn't play cut blocks, and we are getting cut with the fundamentals. We didn't tackle well. So those are things we should control as a coaching staff. Let me say this, mental errors are on the coaches. We need to do a better job of simplifying our defense and giving them the mental pictures in practice of what they need to see. You can't give them all, and you can't make robots out of these guys. They have to perform. Those are some of the things that we are going to work on. We are going to scale it down, get back to the basics and get out there.
Q: Any injured players you expect back?
A: I don't think so. There are a couple of guys with serious injuries, and we don't want to mess with them.
Q: Is this the biggest challenge you've faced?
A: It looks like it. It looks like the best team we have played since I have been here by far. The fastest team, the best coached team. They are very talented. But we are up for the challenge. That's why you come coach in the SEC. You want to play the Florida, Alabama, LSU. That's why I came here. We are going to be fired up to play this team. We look forward to see what we have as a team.
Q: Does the offense change if Adams is out?
A: I think we'll put in a couple of different plays for Brent. We need to play to his strengths. Or if it's Michael, we will do that for him. Right now, it looks like it will be Brent. It depends on the week. But we could definitely put in a couple of different things. We are a little too vanilla. So we have to make some changes there to get more production out of our offense. You are going to see that this week.
Q: What has Schaeffer done better?
A: I think on class attendance, and just doing things that we expect our quarterback to do. He has been almost 100 percent since we have been back. So his attitude has changed, and I'm very proud of him. His attitude toward class work and the things we have asked him to do.