Opening statement:
"I liked the way we started the game. It started with a kickoff return and we moved the ball some and went down and got the field goal. Defense came out and played well. Then we got backed up and used the kicking game to gain field position with our quick kick. Then the defense did a good job stopping them down there. We gained real good field position – I think the ball was almost midfield. Then we started going backwards. So we ended up having to punt and we went on defense and had a chance to make a four or five-yard loss on a run and we missed the tackle. We had the tackle, but we didn't secure it and let the guy out the backside and that's just the discipline of the defense not having backside containment to let that guy out the backdoor. Really I thought for a period of time we kept shooting ourselves in the foot on both sides of the ball. I give credit to Washington. They did a good job. Their young quarterback did a good job late in the first quarter and into the second quarter. Then we came back and got the field goal right before the half and I thought, 'You know what this gives up a chance.' But defensively we didn't step up in the third quarter and that's when they made their run. Offensively we struggled with the sacks. I was proud of Andrew (Robinson). First of all he hung tough. Second he maintained his poise for the most part – we had some exchange problems for a little bit, but I think it was more with the noise than anything else. We'll have to deal with that."
On if they took advantage of the inexperience of the linebackers:
"There were some plays there where we could have been in better position. I also felt that the speed of the quarterback – I felt him. He was able to turn the corner around our defense. Once you start letting that happen you start to over pursue and things happen. I'd have to really watch the film. I saw a couple of time we had issues with the linebackers. There are eleven guys out there. There were other issues, I saw too. But I know there were some plays early that did hurt us."
On the shock value of the loss:
"It's a hard loss and our expectations were higher than that. We can play better than that. It's really a matter of how do we respond from this point. I think we are fortunate that we have an extra day because we have some time to really analyze and assess where we're at and what created the problems that occurred and go from there."
On if he thought game would turn out the way it did:
"We'll I'm not going to sit there and tell you, I was considering getting beat by a bunch. I knew we could get beat and I think there are no guarantees – winning or losing. I would have liked to have seen a better performance than what I saw."
On if Washington pass rush effected the offense:
"I'm not certain. I'm not certain it was Washington – I don't know that. Obviously as the game wore on they began to apply more pressure to us and did a good job in that regard. I don't know that it wasn't us as much as it was them. At the same time I give them credit; they played well. They played a whole lot better than we did."
On the Washington running game:
"The first run they got out, (Louis) Rankin's run, was a 47-yard on a five-yard loss. Now that's just your backside chasing the football – that's just basic and we didn't do that. We had been playing a couple of series of good defense and now we had a chance for loss yardage play and he tries to reverse his field and it could have been an even bigger loss. Instead it's out the gate. So that's positioning and that’s the first thing I really saw that we have an issue. Three or four times with that quarterback we weren't in position to make the plays we need to be in position."
On evaluating Syracuse's running game:
"Our plan was to try and get – flicking that ball out to Mike Williams or flipping it our to Taj (Smith) or out to Curtis (Brinkley) on a pass in those situation you're making six, seven and nine yards, you're moving the chains and moving the football. That is running the ball in some ways. Until you feel you have position to take advantage of some of the other things. I'm not going to get too hung up about we didn't run the ball. We put our selves in some long yardage situations that we didn't really have to do. It was more us than it was them and that's my feelings. We had penalties and things that I thought were our mistakes. At the same, when we made the mistake they took advantage of it. So I have to give them all the credit for that."
On the positional problems on defense:
"I really don't want to make a statement until I really know. I have to see it schematically and I have to see it fundamentally – all of it. There were some mis-tackles absolutely. I saw that. Again before I make a statement that I'm certain about what the issues really were. Sometimes you make a statement and you comeback and look at it and say, "That wasn't the case at all." But there were issues. That I do know."
On if Jake Locker's play was similar to West Virginia's Pat White:
"It was very similar. It was a lot of West Virginia stuff and he's a good athlete. I was very impressed with him and he can zip the ball too. He was accurate at times throwing it, but I thought his movement was the thing that you noticed."
On if he expected Locker's mobility:
"I kind of expected that. We worked some of the different things that they run. They came out in a different set then we had ever seen them in, but we have to be able to adjust and adapt to those things. That's the bottom line."
On if he was aware of Rankin's abilities:
"I knew he was fast. I knew if he felt like he was bottled up, he would try and take chances because of his speed to try and go out the backside. To me, if you're sound, you take advantage of that and that's a loss yardage play. Like I said, I go back to that one play and you put him in the backfield and you have him second-and-14, second-and-15 and now we're in control. But it didn't happen. He did a good job, obviously, and popped that one and all of a sudden he gets a little momentum."
On the special teams:
"I think Max Suter did a great job, but I also think there was a good job of blocking. It was unfortunate that we got the clipping penalty – the block in the back penalty – on the punt return because we had a very nice punt return where Bruce (Williams) did a good job. He had nice blocking for him. So I was pleased with that. I was pleased with our punter. I was disappointed Pat (Shadle) missed his extra point there. A number of things in the kicking game were something to build on and be excited about."
On the offensive line:
"For a period of time, in the first half, I thought they were doing a good job of protecting. For whatever reason we got ourselves backed up and I can't remember all the situations. We got ourselves in a second-and-20 there in the second quarter, but I thought for a period of time they were doing a good job – that was my take on it. I have to watch it. Then as time wore on and they begin to lay the ears back a little bit it got tougher on them. Again that's a thing were we have to check it all out and see. It was the little things that created some issues then all of sudden set you back and you lose momentum. I thought for a period of time early that we got a little rhythm going and looked like we were in harmony, but then all of a sudden it got away from us."
On if the team was making progress early:
"Early I thought that was the case. As the game wore on, I thought they got broken down. That's what I felt."
On playing exclusively in the shotgun:
"We'll we weren't exclusively in the shotgun and it's different than the shotgun and the sense it's the pistol and you still have your tailback behind the ball – behind the quarterback. There are some advantages to it. We went under center as well, but we like it. I look at this (box score) and I see that Andrew was 20-of-32 with no interceptions – that's good. I think we can run the ball from that formation as well. So we'll continue to us it."