"UCF Sports Today with George O'Leary" aired at 1:30 p.m. on My65. I just watched the DVR recording. Here's a recap:
Marc Daniels begins by talking about the opening drive.
"You've got to punch that one in. You run the ball twice and you've got to get yards and score. I thought we started off well. From that point on it was mistakes. You've got to react to the mistakes which we have trouble doing. It's obvious. You've got to come out swinging and we're not getting that done."
On Holman's return and finger:
"He played, for the first time back, I thought well. You'd like to have a couple picks back. He had a number of dropped balls which hurt movement. He did what I thought he'd do. I thought he was playing at high level when he got hurt. He was rusty on some things, but overall he's not the reason that you're losing games. There's a lot of other reasons. As a coach, you look at can we get better players on the field that can make plays? We have young guys out there that are playing because of need, but you can see the difference when it comes down to making a play or not making a play.
On the dropped balls, whether it's "concentration" or a "combination of things."
"I'll put it nicely. It's a combination of things. I think it's youth in some situations and speed of the game in others. Again, those are killers because they're wide open routes in some cases. When you're in traffic, there's where ball concentration is important. We're taking eyes off."
It was 9-3, then a holding penalty, then interception. Then things steamrolled.
"It's mistakes. I think you can call holding on any play. Same guy got called for holding. We're not at the stage we can overcome penalties or third and long, from a sustaining standpoint. We had plenty of opportunities to move the chains. Offensively, put the defense in some bad situations. But defense has to go out and tackle. We didn't tackle well, too many guys grabbing and not doing what they're coached to do. We've got to get to the bottom of that and get better players on the field that want to basically, I always use the word CFC, contain, fill and cutback. We don't have people filling, putting body on a body. We've got to get that cleaned up."
On UConn converting third-and-longs:
"It was the same position. It was the tight end catching, we're supposed to be walling that route. What bothers you as a coach is you watch practice and you're covering those things, then in the heat of the moment those young kids get stuck looking in the back field instead of looking at their key. That's continued reps. On third and nine they're not running the ball, don't be biting on play action."
First half highlights are shown. UCF did get five sacks.
"I thought the pressure was good. He was a good scrambling quarterback, but you can't let him have third down and then complete balls. I think the coverage element needs to be looked at, from their keys and then give up. You have a chance to make a play, make it. That's what we're lacking in the back seven is playmakers who can make a play. We dropped a pick on the far end. You got to continue working with the kids and hope the light comes on."
On the mood at halftime:
"It drives you nuts on the sideline. This team is different. There's no question, of all the years I"ve been here. It's a hard team to work with because there's no peer pressure. They don't get on each other about mistakes. It's 'my bad.' I hate that expression. That's a cop-out. Losers say that. I think the big thing is you've got to take responsibility. We built this program on accountability and responsibility and we've got too many kids that want to pass the buck. That's not what it's about. That's probably our biggest problem right now is ownership and taking ownership of mistakes."
The OIA "Great Pass Play" was a Holman pass to J.J. in last year's UConn game.
What did he tell the team at halftime?
"We were moving the ball on offense. We weren't pretty on defense but we were making enough sacks and big plays to keep us in the game. Went in and said all the problems we've had are directed at ourselves, not what they did, our mistakes as far as the picks, the end zone situation. That's what we have to correct. There's no magic wand to change everything. I think the game plan was solid going on. It was proved solid. What we did was make mistakes within the game plan, whether it's dropped balls or missed tackles. When you have a chance to make a play, make a play. They're scoring because of our mistakes, not because of their execution.
"Then they give up a long drive. A bad kickoff coverage. Then they run the ball back to the 29. Right away you're in bad field position. You have to make plays as a defense. Too many stand-around guys that want to grab people."
Question about injuries:
"It does have a ripple effect. I've never been one to talk about injuries. We've just had a rash of them. We don't have the players right now to replace them. I've always said you're only as good as your second string in football. Right now our second string, our young kids who haven't seen the field, they have to react to things. We still had opportunities to make plays. We've got to do that. We're going to continue to coach that win. Coach to win. As I deal with the coaches, are there things we can correct? Of course. Every team has that. A lot of it comes back to the want-to. That's constantly being addressed. We're just young at some positions. They have to understand to play at the speed of the game."
Second half highlights are shown. On RB Michael Willett:
"We're not 100 percent at RB obviously. He went out there and made plays. The running game, we blocked better, I thought the RBs ran better. There were some positives from the game. I thought we sustained blocks better on the OL. You can't give up those two big sacks. You just continue to work with the kids. We have a job to do. Make sure they understand the whole concept. That's the problem with young kids. They understand their position, but not the right and left as far as concepts and what's taking place."
Marc alludes to all the true freshmen playing:
"They've had enough time on the field that they're no longer young. They're eventually going to be really good players, they really are. They're making some young mistakes. We blew a couple routes yesterday with Justin and the receivers throwing the ball away and a pick a second time. They've got to get on the same page."
The "Play of the Game" was the TD pass to Nick Patti.
"He's been very versatile. Again, he's a hard worker in practice. He takes it to the game field. Not just on the TD catch, but other plays too."
The "Inside UCF Football" player feature is about CB coach Travis Fisher.
"I always try to take care of graduates. Our GAs are mostly UCF guys. I'm happy to help them out. I've always been very loyal to players who played in the program. If they want to coach, I can help them out. Travis is a technician. You'd like to see more concepts. He's a young coach that works with his players extremely well. I just have to get him more talent to work with... Great kid. I'm pleased we have him in the program. He's done a whale of a job. He's very hard on the players after the big plays they give up. We need to have more guys that have a winning attitude. You get beat out there, you can't feel sorry for yourself. Travis tries to send a message. Conceptually, he understands the game and what it takes to win. In fairness to him, some players it's their first time out there and it's growing pains."
On the play of the AAC this season:
"We're about to start into the threshold of it. Temple is undefeated, Houston is undefeated. We're going to have to sit down and make sure we slice and dice those game plans. This is Temple's senior team. They have six senior starters, four junior starters, just on defense alone. Two years ago, it runs in cycles. The big thing is we've got to go up there ready to play because they've been playing well. You play one at a time. Temple is next. We'll have to play extremely well, extremely well at all positions, to go out and get that win. We're capable of that and we've got to get that done."
Marc reflects on the past two games with Temple, and says Matt Rhule has built a nice program:
"They're playing with a lot of confidence. They've got a QB who can make things happen with his feet or his arm. You can see the way that program has traditioned out with young guys making mistakes and now they're juniors and seniors. Temple has a good squad and we've got to go up there and play excellent ball."
On the message to the team this week:
"Next game, next season. Let's get better at things we didn't do well at. The big things are catching the ball in traffic and tackling and reaction time on defense. We've got a couple guys late reacting and if you do that on defense you're in trouble."
End of show.
Marc Daniels begins by talking about the opening drive.
"You've got to punch that one in. You run the ball twice and you've got to get yards and score. I thought we started off well. From that point on it was mistakes. You've got to react to the mistakes which we have trouble doing. It's obvious. You've got to come out swinging and we're not getting that done."
On Holman's return and finger:
"He played, for the first time back, I thought well. You'd like to have a couple picks back. He had a number of dropped balls which hurt movement. He did what I thought he'd do. I thought he was playing at high level when he got hurt. He was rusty on some things, but overall he's not the reason that you're losing games. There's a lot of other reasons. As a coach, you look at can we get better players on the field that can make plays? We have young guys out there that are playing because of need, but you can see the difference when it comes down to making a play or not making a play.
On the dropped balls, whether it's "concentration" or a "combination of things."
"I'll put it nicely. It's a combination of things. I think it's youth in some situations and speed of the game in others. Again, those are killers because they're wide open routes in some cases. When you're in traffic, there's where ball concentration is important. We're taking eyes off."
It was 9-3, then a holding penalty, then interception. Then things steamrolled.
"It's mistakes. I think you can call holding on any play. Same guy got called for holding. We're not at the stage we can overcome penalties or third and long, from a sustaining standpoint. We had plenty of opportunities to move the chains. Offensively, put the defense in some bad situations. But defense has to go out and tackle. We didn't tackle well, too many guys grabbing and not doing what they're coached to do. We've got to get to the bottom of that and get better players on the field that want to basically, I always use the word CFC, contain, fill and cutback. We don't have people filling, putting body on a body. We've got to get that cleaned up."
On UConn converting third-and-longs:
"It was the same position. It was the tight end catching, we're supposed to be walling that route. What bothers you as a coach is you watch practice and you're covering those things, then in the heat of the moment those young kids get stuck looking in the back field instead of looking at their key. That's continued reps. On third and nine they're not running the ball, don't be biting on play action."
First half highlights are shown. UCF did get five sacks.
"I thought the pressure was good. He was a good scrambling quarterback, but you can't let him have third down and then complete balls. I think the coverage element needs to be looked at, from their keys and then give up. You have a chance to make a play, make it. That's what we're lacking in the back seven is playmakers who can make a play. We dropped a pick on the far end. You got to continue working with the kids and hope the light comes on."
On the mood at halftime:
"It drives you nuts on the sideline. This team is different. There's no question, of all the years I"ve been here. It's a hard team to work with because there's no peer pressure. They don't get on each other about mistakes. It's 'my bad.' I hate that expression. That's a cop-out. Losers say that. I think the big thing is you've got to take responsibility. We built this program on accountability and responsibility and we've got too many kids that want to pass the buck. That's not what it's about. That's probably our biggest problem right now is ownership and taking ownership of mistakes."
The OIA "Great Pass Play" was a Holman pass to J.J. in last year's UConn game.
What did he tell the team at halftime?
"We were moving the ball on offense. We weren't pretty on defense but we were making enough sacks and big plays to keep us in the game. Went in and said all the problems we've had are directed at ourselves, not what they did, our mistakes as far as the picks, the end zone situation. That's what we have to correct. There's no magic wand to change everything. I think the game plan was solid going on. It was proved solid. What we did was make mistakes within the game plan, whether it's dropped balls or missed tackles. When you have a chance to make a play, make a play. They're scoring because of our mistakes, not because of their execution.
"Then they give up a long drive. A bad kickoff coverage. Then they run the ball back to the 29. Right away you're in bad field position. You have to make plays as a defense. Too many stand-around guys that want to grab people."
Question about injuries:
"It does have a ripple effect. I've never been one to talk about injuries. We've just had a rash of them. We don't have the players right now to replace them. I've always said you're only as good as your second string in football. Right now our second string, our young kids who haven't seen the field, they have to react to things. We still had opportunities to make plays. We've got to do that. We're going to continue to coach that win. Coach to win. As I deal with the coaches, are there things we can correct? Of course. Every team has that. A lot of it comes back to the want-to. That's constantly being addressed. We're just young at some positions. They have to understand to play at the speed of the game."
Second half highlights are shown. On RB Michael Willett:
"We're not 100 percent at RB obviously. He went out there and made plays. The running game, we blocked better, I thought the RBs ran better. There were some positives from the game. I thought we sustained blocks better on the OL. You can't give up those two big sacks. You just continue to work with the kids. We have a job to do. Make sure they understand the whole concept. That's the problem with young kids. They understand their position, but not the right and left as far as concepts and what's taking place."
Marc alludes to all the true freshmen playing:
"They've had enough time on the field that they're no longer young. They're eventually going to be really good players, they really are. They're making some young mistakes. We blew a couple routes yesterday with Justin and the receivers throwing the ball away and a pick a second time. They've got to get on the same page."
The "Play of the Game" was the TD pass to Nick Patti.
"He's been very versatile. Again, he's a hard worker in practice. He takes it to the game field. Not just on the TD catch, but other plays too."
The "Inside UCF Football" player feature is about CB coach Travis Fisher.
"I always try to take care of graduates. Our GAs are mostly UCF guys. I'm happy to help them out. I've always been very loyal to players who played in the program. If they want to coach, I can help them out. Travis is a technician. You'd like to see more concepts. He's a young coach that works with his players extremely well. I just have to get him more talent to work with... Great kid. I'm pleased we have him in the program. He's done a whale of a job. He's very hard on the players after the big plays they give up. We need to have more guys that have a winning attitude. You get beat out there, you can't feel sorry for yourself. Travis tries to send a message. Conceptually, he understands the game and what it takes to win. In fairness to him, some players it's their first time out there and it's growing pains."
On the play of the AAC this season:
"We're about to start into the threshold of it. Temple is undefeated, Houston is undefeated. We're going to have to sit down and make sure we slice and dice those game plans. This is Temple's senior team. They have six senior starters, four junior starters, just on defense alone. Two years ago, it runs in cycles. The big thing is we've got to go up there ready to play because they've been playing well. You play one at a time. Temple is next. We'll have to play extremely well, extremely well at all positions, to go out and get that win. We're capable of that and we've got to get that done."
Marc reflects on the past two games with Temple, and says Matt Rhule has built a nice program:
"They're playing with a lot of confidence. They've got a QB who can make things happen with his feet or his arm. You can see the way that program has traditioned out with young guys making mistakes and now they're juniors and seniors. Temple has a good squad and we've got to go up there and play excellent ball."
On the message to the team this week:
"Next game, next season. Let's get better at things we didn't do well at. The big things are catching the ball in traffic and tackling and reaction time on defense. We've got a couple guys late reacting and if you do that on defense you're in trouble."
End of show.
