University of Massachusets Athletics
Q&A With Mark Whipple
September 18, 2000 | Football
Sept. 18, 2000
Talk about what you liked and disliked about the Richmond game?
Well, I liked the weather, and that was about it. I really liked the way Richmond played, and they deserved to win the game. I was really impressed with Sean Gustus, on how he showed great leadership skills and made big plays. They hung tough and were more resilient than us. I just thought they played really well and we didn't play bad. We had a couple of fundamental mistakes on coverage. We opened the door for them and they took advantage of it. They deserved to win the game on Saturday.
Talk about Sean Gustus. Did his throwing surprise you?
The big play of the game was the fourth and 10 when he made a big pass to get them down to the one-yard line. That gave him confidence. But then, on the other two big plays, I think my son could have completed because they were so wide open. We had two young corners blow the coverage, on man coverage. He made the throws, and the plays were great calls by their staff. I certainly think if they can do that, it will open up things for them. We think we did a decent job on stopping their run. If he throws the ball like that and if they get guys open like that, it will make them very dangerous.
What do you guys need to do to bounce back?
Just get better. I think it is a blessing in disguise. It wasn't anything we were not prepared for. It is tough to win on the road in this league, and I think some of our guys took it for granted because we did very well last year against them. If you can win on the road in this league, then you are going to be the champion. We are getting ready for New Haven. I know their makeup. They will play hard, and they have a great defense with great skill players on offense. It will be a huge challenge for us. We have been 1-1 in all of my seasons here. We hoped we would be 2-0, but it didn't happen, so we just have to try to get to 2-1. I think this league is tougher than ever, and we just have to get some things cleaned up in practice.
Is this New Haven team similar to the ones you coached there?
I think they are better on defense than when I was there. They have some great players. They have about five or six I-A transfers who play. They are very talented. South Florida, Jackson State and Elon all struggled with them last year. There are a lot of people who I would rather play at the I AA level than New Haven in D-II. This is a good game for us, and we need a challenge. If we don't improve, we will be on the short end of the stick. It is a good game at the right time for us.
Having coached there what are your thoughts on the program?
They know how to win, and the administration is very supportive. It's not much different than when coaches in this league talk about playing a I-A team. They have a chance to showcase themselves and play in front of a bigger crowd than they are used to. This is a chance for them to make a name for themselves. They just lost a tough game to Indiana of Pennsylvania this weekend. That will get them upset. We have more scholarships here than they do. We have more resources than they do, so I hope that helps us beat them this Saturday.
Is it your biggest challenge on Saturday to make sure your kids are up after a tough loss to Richmond, and then seeing a D-II team on the schedule?
I think that if we played the South Hadley Pop Warner team, we would be ready to play on Saturday. I trust my kids whole heartedly. I think if we could have lined up at 4:10 p.m. we would have played again on Saturday. That's the sense I get from them after being on the plane with them and in the meeting last night. I don't think your opponent matters, it is more what UMass is going to do at this point.
