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University of Massachusets Athletics
Post Game Quotes
September 24, 2005 | Football
Sept. 24, 2005
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UMass Postgame Quotes
Coach Don Brown
On the goal line stand in the third quarter:
"We basically wanted to take out the fullback. We were crashing on the quarterback and wanted to take the quarterback out. Our gameplan from the minute we started last Sunday...was to take care of the fullback and get the ball out of [Rhode Island Quarterback] Jayson Davis' hands."
On the nature of the game:
"It was a physical football game on both sides of the ball and I'm just really happen that we stepped up to the challenge."
"The other thing I want to comment on is that we once again had no turnovers for the second week in a row. I really thought Liam took care of the ball well. He put the ball where he needed to. He didn't try to do too much. He made no mistakes and gave us a chance to win."
"I'm proud of our guys and I'm proud of the way we played football."
On the scout team preparing UMass for the URI offense:
"One thing I want to make sure I say is that there's a group of guys who praticed Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Scott Woodward was the quarterback, Victor Cruz, Tony Nelson, and Raunny Rosario were are backs and our offensive line. Those guys made a commitment to giving us a true Rhode Island offense every single day this week, including yesterday and this morning. Those guys are never going to be sitting up here [at the press conference], at least this year, but those guys are the big reason we won this game."
On the defense:
"See that guy [Shannon James] over there? He's our leader and he's pretty darn good."
Jason Hatchell
On the UMass defense settling down after the first URI drive:
"We showed that we can stop any offense."
Shannon James
On the URI offense:
"We just basically wanted to stop them. We've been doing it since Spring ball. We've got all the talent in the world. Everybody on the defense came out and we played pretty good."
On the goaline stand in the 3rd quarter:
"That was huge. That was a big momentum shift right there. I felt like I had to step up big because it was my fault they got down there. We showed we had a lot of heart and a lot of character."
On the UMass defense:
"We're just so fast and have so much depth. In the Atlantic 10, I don't think anyone has more depth than us."
On the importance of last week preparing him for tonight's game:
"It got me more involved in the tempo of the ballgame. When we get to run the ball like we did tonight, it takes a lot of the pressure off me."
On the UMass running game:
"It puts the defense on their heels. They have to stop blitzing because when they blitz we can hit the gaps. It takes a lot of the pressure off me."
Steve Baylark
On getting better later in the game:
"Once I get some carries back to back, I can adjust to the defense and know where to make my cuts."
University of Rhode Island Postgame Quotes
Coach Stowers's opening statement:
It was a great A-10 football game on the road in a hostile environment. It was one of our better games against a quality opponent on the road. I didn't think we played the type of football we are capable of playing in the first half, but thought we played much better football in the second half. These types of games come down to four or five critical plays in the game and UMass made those critical plays 50-60 percent of the time more than we did. They did a good job of running out the clock at the end. They have an outstanding defense. They stopped us on fourth and about a yard and a half from the goal line. I thought our kids responded to what we talked to them about at half time. Obviously, Shannon James is the best defensive player in the league. He makes lot of plays and I wish he'd hurry up and go to the NFL. They've also got Steve Baylark, who is just a junior. I hope the can get him to graduate early. He the best back in the league and when the game was on the line, Coach Brown did a good job of getting the ball in the hands of his best player. I thought we learned a lot about our football team even though we lost.
Coach Stowers on what his team learned from the game:
We learned that we can play with anybody, anytime, especially the way we came out and played the second half.
Ram's running back Joe Casey on the adjustment to college football as a true freshman:
I came in during the spring, so that helped a lot. I think we've got a lot of weapons, like Jayson (Davis, QB) and our two A-Backs, that take some of the attention off me. The line as also done a great job, so I haven't had to do much.
Coach Stowers on the Minutemen's ability to stop the Ram ability to run the option:
They've blitzed a lot more in the past. This time they played more of a base defense with the occasional blitz mixed in. Teams are usually more successful against us doing that. They're really athletic and they punish you when they hit you. Coach Brown is known for his defense and they do a really good job of playing assignment football and making plays.
Coach Stowers's overall analysis of the Minutemen Defense:
We thought they played a defense called 3-3 Stack with a mixed in eight-man front. We expected the eight- man front. Coach Brown and I know each other and we've played against each other a lot. So we pretty much bet on Coach Brown playing a 3-3 Stack. We worked on it this week, so it really wasn't anything unusual. They were just making plays. They have great team speed and we knew that coming in.
Coach Stowers on planning for Shannon James:
We had to do some things to try to control him. He a really good player and he likes to make plays, especially against our offensive attack. He's really hard to deal with because he's a great athlete.
Coach Stowers's assessment of Minutemen Quarterback Liam Coen:
For an A-10game with that type atmosphere, I thought he did a really good job of doing what they asked him to do. They don't ask him to do a lot or throw the ball down field over and over again, just safe plays. Having Baylark back there and a pretty good offensive line is great protection. I thought they did a good job of easing him in to what he could do, and building from that point.
