University of Massachusets Athletics
Coach Don Brown's Weekly CAA Teleconference
October 13, 2008 | Football
Oct. 13, 2008
Thoughts on this week's 28-24 win over Northeastern:
Since I've been the head coach here, this game has always been difficult at Parsons Field and it's always been less than a touchdown that decides it. In 2004, we won 26-22 and in 2006, 7-0, and obviously the 2008 game was no different.
Northeastern came right down on us on the first drive and scored and we responded with a big drive of our own, 12 plays for 75 yards. Then we gave up the big pass play, which you never want to do, but in some of the coverage things we do, sometimes that happens. I thought we covered well from there; we scored with twenty three seconds left in the half. I was very disappointed; we did a pooch kick into the right corner. We missed two tackles and the next thing you know they're lining up for a field goal and go up 17-14 at the half.
We came out and responded in the third quarter to go up 21-17. They responded to go up 28-24 with 2:47 left and we come back down the field with 6:42 and go five plays on 48 yards. We did a good job on fourth down and we went for it three times and two times we were successful. We left the ball on the one yard line, Sean Smalls makes a big play on third down, and we get the ball on the plus 48 and go in and score. But we did fumble it going into the end zone in which we lost seven points and would have separated us by more than one touchdown. We threw an interception in the red zone after recovery [which was] in essence a bobbled kickoff. They didn't get to it, we did and we got no points out of it. So for the second week in a row we left some points on the field in the red zone which we were disappointed about, but Northeastern is a very solid football team, we know we had a hard fought game.
[It is] obviously a very difficult place to play and we were just happy with the win and I was happy with the way the defense responded because Northeastern got the ball back twice in the fourth quarter and we responded with a turnover on a short pass play and then on fourth down pressured them and fortunately for us the ball gets bobbled around. And Jeromy Miles, our safety, for the second week in a row was sitting on top of the ball with the game over. Last week, he separated us from Delaware by returning an interception for a touchdown. But for the guys you can single out, Tony Nelson had 37 touches for 175 yards. Liam obviously had a solid day, 20-for-30 for 265 yards. And Victor Cruz had another big day for us with 10 catches for 139 yards. But the defense responded well in the second half, as we only gave up seven points. It was disappointing on the one special teams play but outside of that, I thought we were pretty solid.
Thoughts on facing a Richmond team coming off a loss this past week:
Mike London is a heck of a coach. I know he will have his football team ready. He has them ready every week. They play physical, they play fast, and that's the football team we know we are going to get on Saturday. Obviously they're playing hard in all three phases, they've got skill in those three phases. We know we'll be getting a great effort from Richmond and we hope we can respond with the same.
On where UMass ranks in terms of facilities for its football program:
That's great question. We put the turf in and we've added lights this year which has been big for us. [Versus Delaware], we had the biggest regular season crowd since 1974. We've had great crowds all year long, so I think our playing venue is as good as anybody's. When you put that in with our band and those things, I think our game day atmosphere is very solid. In terms of our football facilities building we lack behind, there's no question. Ours is very solid in that we can get our work done.
We have our meeting facilities but very weathered. We have no glimpse. It's all about being hard nosed and getting your work done and getting after it so that the piece that we need to use. What we're looking at hard right now is trying to upgrade our football facilities, our meeting areas, our academic area, our locker room, and visitors' locker room. That's really the next piece for us. We feel like we've gotten two things done but our game day environment is as good as anybody's.
On how UMass has been able to be so successful while lacking in certain facility areas:
We try to use all of the recruiting streams: the I-A transfers, the junior college scenario, obviously high school and prep school. We've been able to attract young men from all of those phases and have been fortunate. That's all I can say. Obviously, we are grinding away as we speak, so it makes for a difficult scenario to sell young men on UMass when they look at our football facilities. Our academic quality, game day atmosphere and the school itself is a great feature, but we're working hard on that one area. I really don't know the answer other than the recruiting stream available to us and trying to recruit players that we think fit our philosophy and personality.
On whether or not it is difficult to motivate his team on the road when the game day atmosphere is lacking:
Good question. I don't know, I thought we were a little bit slow coming out on Saturday but we really responded with a very solid second half. Parsons Field is a very difficult place to play. At one point I think we had about a fourteen game winning streak there so it's a tough place to play. It's a small college atmosphere and especially when you've played at Texas Tech and in front of sixteen thousand at our place, it's different but still a very fine place to play.
On how playing through tough games and coming out with wins keeps his team level headed:
I think your point is valid. The whole point for our guys is that experience serves you well and this year Holy Cross was a great example. Things didn't go our way all day but we found a way to win. Obviously last week things didn't go our way all day. It was a back and forth scenario and I credit Northeastern. Coach Hager had his guys ready to play and that's a very solid football team, but we found a way to win the football game. Even in the JMU game with a few minutes left when they're on their last drive and the fumble comes out and we jump on it, maybe we give ourselves a chance, but obviously they beat us that day, no question about that. But at least our guys know how to compete and stay with it for sixty minutes, regardless of how the situation is going. And I think the more times you're there and if you are successful in those deals, the more confidence it gives your guys.
On whether or not that is difficult to instill in his football team:
Yes, I think it feeds itself because when you are in those situations and you have positive experiences you know how to keep your head, stay focused, just keep playing the game and then look up and see where you are at. Obviously we gave Northeastern the ball twice. Three times in the last three series in the fourth quarter, we were able to find a way to get off the field and that was a difficult venture all day long. But we got off the field with a pass breakup, a fumble recovery and then another fumble recovery. So the guys know how to battle and obviously, you know my feeling, anytime you have Liam Coen under center I think you have a chance.
On which defensive players set the tone for the younger players:
I think Jeromy Miles is starting to step up and take that role. He's on the ball at the end of the game at Northeastern for the fumble recovery after pressure and he intercepts a pass in the fourth quarter of the Delaware game that separates us. I think Jeromy has kind of taken that role and it's nice when your free safety does that because he has so much responsibility to his teammates to get us lined up in the right coverages. So obviously I think he is glowing into that role. For a guy like Josh Jennings who loses his dad on Sunday, practices on Wednesday, goes through a wake on Friday night and then plays on Saturday, I think that sends a message to the rest of the group as to how important football is to him and his family. So I think there are some good things happening but at the same time it's a work in progress, that's for sure.
