University of Massachusets Athletics
Don Brown's Weekly Teleconference
September 21, 2004 | Football
Sept. 21, 2004
Here's what head coach Don Brown had to say in his weekly teleconference with the Atlantic 10 media.
Question: Can you recap last week's game with Richmond?
Brown: We came out of the gates with Jason Peebler giving us two big plays early and we went up 7 - 0. Then Richmond came back down the field, we think we've got Stacy Tutt wrapped for a sack and he makes a tremendous individual effort and they come in and tie it.
We go right back down the field and we get another score on a screen from Jason and then we gave up another big play to Tutt. It was the Stacy Tutt show against us, he did a great job, he had 129 yards rushing, 40 on that run and he obviously made the plays when he needed to make them. That made it 14-14 and with nine seconds left to go Tutt scrambled out to the left, the direction we didn't want him to go and he fires one into the end zone and two guys go up for it and Harry Wilson comes down with it and their up 21-14 at the half.
In the second half we had five offensive drives disintegrate with penalties, we lost field position on a block in the back that pushed the ball back to the 10, their three points they scored with a 4-yard drive, I thought we really hung in there and battled on defense, and then we had a touchdown call back on a holding call and then missed the field goal. We just sputtered, didn't make the plays, had our opportunities and didn't play with any zip on offense and got our rhythm taken away from us with all the penalties. You live and learn.
Question: Can you talk about Tim Day and how he has done as your starter, leader in the league in pass efficiency, 67% completion percentage, what's been the key for him in his positive start?
Brown: I think he's really functioning in our offense and has a good understanding of what we are trying to get done. He has enforced things. On Saturday he was 19-for-33. One of those throws was not a good throw but no interceptions so he's doing a good job, he's doing a nice job of running our offense and functioning in our offense and distributing the ball to good players and his play faking abilities been excellent as well. Really happy with his progress on a day to day basis and in the three games he has played he is over 200 yards in throwing every game. I think Timmy has done a nice job for us but he needs to get better too.
Question: Is playing the defending National Champions, a team that UMass lost to in a tight game last year, is that a perfect thing, you hope, to get things back in order after a difficult game this past Saturday?
Brown: It's an A-10 game and they are all important. Every game you play is important. It's a big game for us, it's at home and there is some carry over there with some of the core players that were here last year. But really what we have to focus on is playing hard and playing smart.
