University of Massachusets Athletics
Don Brown's Weekly CAA Teleconference
September 08, 2008 | Football
Sept. 8, 2008
UMass Head Football Coach Don Brown and senior Quarterback Liam Coen participated in this week's CAA Football Teleconference. They each discussed what occurred during this week's victory against Holy Cross and what they are anticipating this weekend against James Madison.
On this week's come from behind victory over Holy Cross:
Well, obviously we did not get off on the right foot. We were trailing late in the 2nd quarter, 28-14. Liam brings us down the field, we go into halftime trailing 28-21. We came right out after the half and marched down the field to tie the score at 28. Defensively, we were better in the second half including many stops that allowed us to get the momentum. We had the lead at 35-28 and 42-35. Then they came down the field and scored near the two minute mark to tie the game. The disheartening thing for us is two red zone stops were negated by penalties and an interception and sack negated by penalties. Obviously, we did not tackle well, especially in the first half and in the kicking game. We had a kickoff returned for a touchdown. They also had good field position off a good punt return and another off a kick. I felt we did a good job of just competing as a team and kept our cool on the sidelines. We were able to turn the momentum in the second half. We went down the field in the two minute drill, converting two fourth downs, one near midfield and the other as a fourth and five situation near the forty. We gave ourselves a chance and Armando Cuko's forty two yard field goal, which obviously gave us the win with no time left on the clock. Great, great win for our guys and still trying to break some guys in on special teams. We had some guys playing new on defense and on offense. I thought two offensive lineman, Brian Ostraszewski and Josh Samuda played pretty well. Obviously, Liam threw for 395 yards. Jeremy Horne and Victor Cruz led the way with 15 catches between the two. Holy Cross tried to take the run away and we did a good job converting the throws we needed to keep us in the game. Then when we were able to get the upper hand and turn the momentum hand in the second half that certainly gave us a chance to finish.
On next week's matchup against JMU:
Well they're an excellent football team on both sides of the ball, very experienced and physical on defense. On offense, it all starts with Rodney Randers under center and they have two outstanding running backs in Holiman and Nancy. They have an excellent offensive line and a great core of receivers. We definitely have our hands full on all phases, but our guys are ready and we'll be excited.I think both quarterbacks have great supporting casts that can make plays for them. I also think that it's going to come down to which defense is going to play better, and in a game like this special teams are always important. It's going to be a game between two excellent teams, and both teams have marquee players, there's no question about that. We just went to Holy Cross, they have an excellent football team and an outstanding quarterback Dominique Randolph, I think they have a chance to be an excellent playoff team and it was their Homecoming. Now we have to go to James Madison, the next week we go to Texas Tech so we're in the middle of a three-game stretch here and the bottom line it, great teams win on the road, no excuses, you have to go and find a way to win and that's the objective.
On Coen's performance against Holy Cross:
I think he played extremely well, managed the game, and made the throws he needed to make. We had one poor exchange between but outside of that we made no mistakes. Bottom line is those guys get evaluated on taking care of the ball and he does a great job of that.
On James Madison's quarterback Rodney Landers:
He has a great understanding of what they're trying to do offensively. He's really crafty plus he's about as athletic as any quarterback in our league. We certainly have a two-headed monster that we have to deal with this weekend on defense.
On last week's game against Holy Cross:
Coming off the Albany game, where a lot of people had questions about where we were as an offense and where we were as a team, I think we came together on Saturday, faced some adverse situations and we really played well and really gave it a team effort to pull that one out against a good Holy Cross team. Obviously offensively we did some great things; I thought our wide receivers played great. The offensive line, for the second week in a row didn't allow a sack. All of those things really make my job a whole lot easier so for those guys to step up is huge for our team.
On the James Madison defense:
I watched James Madison yesterday; they are very athletic and run to the ball very well. They have Haywood and McCollough in there; they have three seniors in their defensive backfield. They've always been really good at the linebacker position from what I recall; on film their linebacker core is very good. They don't bring a heck of a lot of pressure, but I think that's because their front four is pretty stout. We're going to have our hands full and it's going to be a test for us coming up this week.
On facing another top quarterback, in Rodney Landers:
Having a good quarterback on the other side of the field, you know that that offense is going to be efficient. They're going to be able to move the ball and no matter what defense they match up against they're going to have their big plays and their successful drives. Knowing that you're going up against one of the top players in the conference, if not the country, you have to have that mindset that you're going to need to be more efficient and really focus on moving the ball and finishing drives because you know they're going to get their opportunities to score just because they are the better players of the conference. Not to knock on any defenses here, I'm just talking offense in general and if you have good players, they are going to make good plays and they're going to make drives into touchdowns, so you do have to have a little bit more of an emphasis on moving the ball and finishing drives.
On being voted the Preseason Conference Player of the Year and the pressures:
I was very thankful that I was voted the Preseason Conference Player of the Year, it's really not something I expected, but it is where I'd like to be at this point in my career. Starting, going onto my fourth year here, I feel as though I've gotten a lot better in my four years and that's where I would like to be as a player, individually. I really can't let it affect anything that I do from the team standpoint, and really from an individual standpoint. That's all preseason and good but none of it really matters until you go out and start winning some ballgames and really get into the thick of things in conference play. It's an honor, and I do appreciate it, but really it can't mean too much for us at this point.
On dealing with both team and individual goals in his final season:
I can kind of combine them, we've had success, I've had individual success, and I've grown within this team over the last four years here. Going to a national championship, playing in the playoffs, it's where we want to be as a team and as a program. Individually you want to play in the playoffs; you want to play in the postseason and playing in those games gives you the opportunity to be on those All- Conference teams, so individually that's where you want to be. It's really about getting to the playoffs and winning the conference and that's obviously a team's goal every year and that starts with conference play and that's where we are right now at game three at James Madison. We've been to the national championship, we've been to the playoffs, and that's great, but we want to win it and we want to get to that game again because once you get there you want to get back. That's a lofty goal that you have as a team and as an individual but we have a big one coming up on Saturday and that's what our focus is on.
On Joe Flacco's first start in the NFL and what that means for CAA players:
Obviously what Joe did, and has done, in his first game as an NFL quarterback is a testament to his ability and to our conference, the CAA is arguably the best conference in the country. You have the best of the best playing against each other every week. There are no poor teams in the conference, this is a tough conference week in and week out, and what he has done, and what a few guys have done over the last few years, like Marques Colston as well, those guys that have made it obviously give other guys a chance and a hope that it's not so much about Division I and I AA anymore, but its more about who can play and those guys have definitely paved the way.
On the changes at the wide receiver position this season and over the years:
We lost some great guys, guys with a lot of talent, great character guys. This year I really like this core, I really like this group of guys. I think the leaders of that group, we have Jeremy Horne, Joe Sanford, and Victor Cruz, who are kind of the older guys; then we have Julian Talley, Ke'Mon Bailey and those are the guys that have come on and made an impact so far. We have some guys who can play now, and for Julian to step up this week and be Rookie of the Week, I'm really happy for him, he's a guy that is going to really need to keep stepping up. Joe Sanford had a few nice catches, I thought Victor Cruz played well, and obviously Jeremy with the 10 catches was really big for us. In the fourth quarter we weren't running the ball all that much so we were really counting on those guys, those young guys that everybody says are inexperienced, to make those plays and I wouldn't want to be throwing to anybody else right now. They're really stepping up well and hopefully they can continue to grow from this game.
On the intensity of the upcoming game between two top teams in the conference:
Obviously you want to come out in your first two games and win those games. You want to come out with a lot of intensity and win, and those two games are over with now, we won them, we got by those two teams, but you don't want to just get by a team like James Madison. You want to really prepare and really execute against a team like this, of that caliber, because they are in the top part of the conference and they've really had a lot of great success over the last few years. We won a big one against them at our place three years ago and you really do have to be on top of your game going into James Madison and that atmosphere. It's a tough place to play and a great place to play. With the success that they've had and where they're at with their program, we want to be very efficient going into this.
