Scott Satterfield Recaps UCF, Previews Florida State
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following a pair of less than inspiring performances, Louisville (2-1, 0-0 ACC) broke through in a big way last Friday, taking down UCF (2-1, 0-0 American) in a 42-35 thriller.
Next up, the Cardinals will hit the road for a matchup against Florida State in their ACC opener. Kickoff against the Seminoles is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 25 at 3:30 p.m. EST.
Prior to their upcoming matchup, head coach Scott Satterfield took time to meet with the media. He discussed the previous game against UCF, previewed the upcoming game against FSU, and more.
Below is the transcript from Satterfield's press conference, as well as the video:
Opening Statement
“Looking back on the film from this weekend, obviously a very exciting game and proud of the way our guys fought, continue to fight all the way to the end, the last 13 seconds to go in the game and to win that thing. Looking on it I think offensively, we played for solid, I mean, I still think we had several opportunities, we could have got more yards out there, which is encouraging to say that we can do better offensively even though we had a pretty productive night. Defensively, we played the second ranked offense in the country and held them 200 yards under their average and played well, tackled well, still give up a few big plays that we that we don't need to give up and need to kind of get better in that regard. I think we were just solid, I think it was just a solid performance against a good football team. I hate it for the quarterback who I think he broke his collarbone so he’ll be out for a while, I hate that for him and the last play and this game is a tough game when you think about injuries. We're looking forward to this week and having a great week of prep, that's where it all started for us last week and we need to come out the same kind of energy that we had last week and go down and play a team in Florida State that has got a lot of talent and a lot of guys that can play, a lot of transfers that came there in the off season, took Notre Dame to overtime the first week and gave up the last play to lose Jacksonville State and then this past weekend had six turnovers and a bunch of penalties and really didn't get themselves a chance to win that game. We know their backs are against the wall so we're going to get their best shot when we go down there this weekend.”
(Update on injury status for team)
“Our training room was full all weekend and full today as well but those guys will be practicing they'll be good, I just met with a bunch of them a while ago and they're feeling a lot better. It was good to have an extra day in there to rest and for us to get eight days for this game that's a great break that we need after playing three games in 12 days so but those guys are healing up and they should be good to go.”
(On what the UCF win means for program)
It was awesome. I think Central Florida's is a really good football team and they have been good for years and they bring a lot of talent, a lot of speed, a lot of team speed, I thought their special teams are good, good partner and good kicker. I think just a solid football team and for us to go battle and get a good win like that I mean, obviously you want to win every game you play but to be able to come out and to get better and the one thing as a coach you want be able to see your team continue to improve each week and we've done that, did not play well at all obviously the first half against Ole Miss but we played a lot better in the second half. We did some better things against EKU and then I thought we did even better against these guys from Central Florida so we got to continue that, we got to get better again this week as we go down and play Florida State but it was exciting. It was a great football game, just as a fan it was was fun to watch, got a lot of text messages from people all over the country and that was an awesome game and very entertaining. It was a clean game you know until the very last two interceptions but not many penalties I mean it's a great college football game so for us to come out on top was tremendous and it was very exciting.”
(On rotating guys on the line and sticking with his lineup)
“I still think we need to be able to rotate some guys just for the injury purposes and because those two guys they could have played but they would have been really emergency talking about Michael Gonzalez and Adonis Boone. Luke Kandra got in and played a few snaps but you want to have that depth so we still want to be able to play some guys there and rotate some guys. I thought that Bryan Hudson, he played the whole game he played really well and Trevor Reid has to be better at tackle, he gave up a couple pressures there. I want Trevor to play but I do think Gonzales has to play as well because he's so solid and he's very smart. So, in a perfect world, you put five guys out there and let them go but I also think that we need to continue to develop and get these guys better and better and the only way to do that is to play them. Going into games, we're looking to see who's playing the best and that's the one is going to get the most snaps but I thought it was solid for the most part there. We have these three games, we've done a much better job less tackles for loss this year, less sacks so those guys have done a pretty good job with that.”
(On Jaylin Alderman’s pick)
“He's been a guy who really all camp, kind of turned a coach's head because he's smart. He knows exactly what the coaches are saying, we don't have to tell him over and over and over. He was a good tackler coming out of high school, really kind of caught our attention with that. When he got here, he's a mature freshman and I think with that, the coaches get a lot of confidence in him, and then Monty went out, he got dinged on a play right before that. So, Coach Nicholson put in Alderman and he was in the right place at the right time. You go back and watch the film, the ball was a little bit behind, and the receiver probably still should have caught it and it kind of bounced off of him and then right to Alderman and he knew what to do with it when he caught it, it was a huge play. He got a couple good blocks down the sideline and then took it all the way to the house. He's certainly going to be in the mix, to get some more playing time. I mean, I think he's obviously a good football player and a very heady player.”
(On Rocco’s celebration)
“I thought he looked like, maybe like a fifth grader at Christmas or something like he got a new bike for Christmas, and he was jumping for joy. It was good to see but I think he wasn't the only one. I mean, I'm looking around, I'm seeing a lot of people jumping up and down for joy. It was certainly a cause for celebration, and it was a great moment and I’m glad someone caught that.”
(On the play calling against UCF compared to first two games)
“I think the plays just worked better. We felt good about the game plan going in and our coaches did a great job last week, albeit a short week, but did a great job of finding ways that we could do some things to get some guys free and then the players went out and executed. It takes the buy in from the players, it takes the energy and the know how to go out there and get that done and everybody did that. There were several plays, that we could have gotten a lot more yards, that we left out on the field, and I think we'll continue to get better, but it was just that some of those plays were hitting. They were hitting Friday night and they were fun to see, a lot of times though, seemed like this year in the first two games, we're in a play call and then the defense is doing something a little bit different than we want. On Friday night, they kind of cooperated a little bit better and some of those plays looked a lot better because of that.”
(On if he knew about Jaylin’s new pick-six T-shirt)
“No, I didn't know that, I will now though that's pretty big. I want to put that one up for keepsake. He'll remember that for the rest of his life, no matter how old he gets. What a tremendous play and what a story, that's your first play, and you get in and then get up get a pick six to win a game against Central Florida, that's big time for him and I'm sure as the years go by, it'll get longer and longer and be a 100-yard interception return here pretty soon.”
(On Malik’s ability to run)
“It's huge for us to be able to have the ability for the quarterback runs. A lot of that depends on what defense you're playing that week and I think the way they played theirs, it was kind of set up for some Q key runs and we thought that going into the game, that he was going to be a big part in that. He obviously is a great runner, and he just puts a lot of pressure on defenses. We'll see as the season goes on if we're going to be able to utilize him in that run game. We always want to be able to have that ability. I don't want him to run it 20 sometimes either. He's not running back; he's a quarterback. We want to take advantage of that when it presents itself and we felt good about it and he had some great runs, got some drives started. One of the biggest plays of the game, I thought, we're down seven, we're backed up on the minus six or seven and its third and long and we go Q draw and he gets the first down, and that gets us started, and I think we may have gone 95 yards or something on that drive but that was huge play because the play before that they brought pressure and almost sacked him in the endzone; it was almost a safety. Then it would have been nine to nothing. That play could have changed the outcome of that game and then the next play we get a Q draw for first down and next thing you know we're rolling. His ability to run is huge.”
(On preparing for Florida State)
“We're just now getting into the prep for Florida State. They do some things that are different than Central Florida. They have some good athletes on defense. It's really a new defense, compared to last year, personnel wise. They have a lot of transfers a lot of new players. One of their best players, came in from Georgia, number 11, he's outstanding. They have some good players. We have to find ways to be able to move the ball. I felt like Wake Forrest did a really nice job last week against them and moved the ball pretty well and scored enough points to win it. I don't know; we'll see how the game plan goes and obviously we got to find ways to run, throw and do a little bit of both.”
(On carrying energy and effort on the road)
“I think our team took a big step forward Friday night and last week in their preparation and with their energy so they kind of set the standard. We want to be right there at least, if not better. It starts during the week in practice. I thought last week our scout teams did a great job giving us good looks for Central Florida. I think it starts right there. Our guys, the offense and defense, they really fed off that and they came out with great energy and the sideline was as live as I've seen our sideline since the bowl game. I remember that bowl game sideline was awesome. We got down 14 and they didn't even flinch. We came back and ended up really taking over the game in that bowl game, but it felt very similar to that this weekend. Our guys didn't care what the score was. They were flying around, playing hard. The sideline was into it. The stadium was rocking. It was just a great atmosphere, and we have to continue to feed off that sideline, and this one will be different because we're only traveling 70 something players compared to having our whole team on the sideline here at home. So, it will be different. That's one of the things we just talked about with our leadership group. We have to have a great week of preparation; that's where it starts.”
(On the double pass play)
“I think where we were at in the time of the game, we felt like we needed to score. I think it was right before half. We wanted to be right-middle, and it just so happened we were right-middle, and we were plus 35, plus 40 and I thought it was a great place to do it. The guys executed it. That execution on game day was the best that it was all week. Braden (Smith) didn't throw it well all week, protection was not great. We just felt like our guys were in groove. (Trevion) Cooley did a great job. He did a great job selling like is blocking, the linebacker turned his head, and then there he go’s. He was wide open; it was a great throw. Just really good execution. Plays like that just give you great momentum and they're awesome plays. Our guys like those tight plays. It's ironic, they ran a play, to score earlier in the game, a trick play, the same play we ran at Ole Miss. It was fun and we have to try to continue to have some of those plays, the guys like running them.”
(On the offense, and how difficult it is to prepare for an aggressive defense)
“They did some good things. They have to do that though when you're playing a team like Central Florida with as many wide receivers sets as they have. I think playing Ole Miss helped us against Central Florida, there's no question about that with the tempo and all the different things they can do off that. It is difficult. It was a little bit of what Ole Miss did to us in that first game. They had five DBs in there, kind of that umbrella look, and not giving up the big plays which made it difficult on us to move the ball. The thing that you don't want to do is give up the big plays, so it was disappointing on their first touchdown when they hit the long ball. That was the most disappointing things we did defensively in that game, you want to make those teams drive it. We kind of play off each other, offense and defense. I thought our offense had great tempo Friday night. We ended up running 12 or 14 more plays than Central Florida which is crazy. I would have never thought that going into that game. We've occupied the ball very well in the first three games, and that helps our defense. I think in the first half, we had the ball 20 minutes and they had it 10, so our defense was fresh and that's the key; to be able to keep fresh defensive players and keep their offense off the field.”
(On what he has seen in Florida State from game to game)
“That's a good question. It's different styles. Wake Forest's offense is completely different than Notre Dame's. Notre Dame lines up in a bunch of tight end sets and crowds it in there and the most success Notre Dame had was throwing some vertical deep balls. Wake Forrest is trying to spread you out and they're running the slow mid-zone they can run RPOs off, so it was a little bit different. I think in the Wake Forrest game it was the turnovers. Florida State would be moving the ball and they would turn it over. They had six turnovers, three fumbles and three interceptions. They had some costly penalties that really hurt them. If you take away some of those things, it's probably going to be a ball game. I know they didn't, obviously you have to take care of the ball but that to me was the main difference in both of those games. If you watch the film, you see they can run, they're fast, they're big, they're strong. Notre Dame really didn't run the ball on them at all. The big thing was just the turnovers and the mistakes, I think that was the biggest difference when you look at both of those games.”
(On preparing for Florida State’s quarterback situation)
“They're two totally different quarterbacks. (Jordan) Travis is a great runner. We saw that last year when he was here. He run around here and made some big-time plays. So far this year, that's a strength of their offense, running the football. That's probably their strength, the rushing game. They have two really good running backs that can run. He adds that dimension with the Q runs and then (McKenzie) Milton gets in, and he's that savvy passer that they don't want to run as much. Really you almost have, I won't say two different game plans, but it's two different thought processes depending on who the quarterback is. Of course, Chubba (Purdy) is there as well. He hasn't played this year, but I saw him on the sideline just watching the TV copy. It'll be interesting to see. I would assume they're going to continue to rotate, they've been doing that all year. We'll have to make the calls and adjust to whoever is going to be in the game. (Jordan) Travis went out of the game and didn't come back in, I'm not sure there's an injury there or not, but well anticipate all of them being ready to go and have a good game plan for each one
(Photo of Scott Satterfield: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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