University of Massachusets Athletics
Q&A With Mark Whipple
November 12, 2001 | Football
Nov. 12, 2001
On last Saturday's game with Maine:
"Maine played very well in Saturday's game. They have a very good football team. They beat us in all phases of the game, especially on special teams. We just did not play the way we did the week before against Northeastern. We are just going to have to get back to the drawing board today and start preparing for Rhode Island."
On Royston English's 172-yard performance Saturday for Maine:
"We have seen him for four years now, and their line has a lot of confidence in him. We knew that they were going to run the ball on us as well as Northeastern did, but we did not do a good job of containing him. I thought we did a couple of good things in the red zone to hold onto him, but he is just a really strong player. He is playing with a lot of confidence now after their upset of Rhode Island last week, and has established himself as one of the premier backs in the league. If he is healthy, it makes a big difference in their football team."
On Rhode Island:
"Rhode Island is a very good team. They will be healthy and rested after a week off. They are exceptionally good on defense, especially their front four. On offense, we will have to contain David Jamison, and hopefully Vince Nedimyer will not get a hot hand throwing the ball. There is no doubt that we will have our work cut out for us. I am mostly concerned about our guys in getting them healthy and prepared. "
On Rhode Island's improvement from last year:
"I think the major thing is confidence. We played them in the final game last year and they really played us hard. This season, we do not have Marcel Shipp or the line that we had last year, so our work is going to be cut out for us. Rhode Island gained more and more confidence with each game last year, and has carried that over to this season. They are fighting for a conference championship and a playoff spot, but we are going to go out there fighting hard, like we do every week, and hopefully pick up a win. If we turn the ball over like we have, then we are gong to be in trouble. That is a major concern of mine, because Rhode Island will make you pay for turnovers."
On UMass' confidence level:
"We can not worry about the past, we just have to move forward. We are going to pick out the positives from the game and build on those for Saturday. There are some young guys who have gotten a little bit better. The key will be to get back the intensity and level of play that we had in the previous two home wins."
On UMass have more success at home than on the road:
"I do not have to worry about it any more, since our last two games are at home. As I told the staff after Saturday's game, we are home now for the rest of the season and back on grass. We have not played well at all this year on turf. We are going to have to play on the defensive level that we did for Northeastern and put some points on the board. If we can do this effectively then we will get this game to the fourth quarter where either team will have a chance to win."
