Solid defense comes from execution and assistant head coach Willie Martinez says they didn't do a consistent job of it at Pitt, especially on critical third and fourth downs when they had an opportunity to get off the field.
Here's everything the UCF safeties coach had to say after Tuesday's practice as they continue preparations to play UConn on Saturday.
After reviewing the film, what were the major takeaways from the defensive performance at Pitt?
"We just didn't feel like we played a very good game on defense. We didn't execute in the moments that we had to execute. We had opportunities to make some plays, not to take anything away from them, they made some plays themselves, but we just didn't execute at those down and distances, whether it was third down, or whether it was fourth down. You obviously can't have the penalties when they showed up. We just didn't play a clean game. You're never going to play a clean game, but we didn't execute the defense when we needed to."
Were you surprised at the penalties?
"I'm not going to say I'm surprised or not surprised. I think it's being focused, being locked in the moment. It's 11 guys being on the same page. If one fails, we all fail. That's basically what happened in that moment. It's not one play that's going to end up beating us. It's a lot of plays made of one. Play your best in that one play and move on to the next one. We just didn't execute like I said on that fourth down or that third down that we needed to get off the field. Didn't execute it and then had a penalty that kept the momentum going."
How have you seen the guys respond this week?
"They've been good. They're hungry. Obviously, everybody's got a bad taste in their mouth. The only way we're going to feel good is to get to a game. We're looking forward to playing this Saturday. We're going to give our best."
Is the energy out there any different than coming off a win?
"No. The focus is there in the last two days. It's the next game. That's the most important thing. We've got to move forward."
When you go over the film, how did the players absorb it when they see those mistakes?
"They saw where they could have made some plays. Whether it was a defensive back, whether it was a linebacker, whether it was a defensive lineman. They're disappointed. We're all disappointed. Like I said, they're hungry to get back out there. It showed today in practice. We had a really good practice. Everybody was locked in. Hopefully we'll have another one tomorrow. That's the goal."
How crucial is for the veteran leaders on this team to help out when something like this happens?
"That's very important. Obviously the guys who have been here a while have won a lot of games. We like to say hit the reset button. That phrase, when you have good leadership, they understand it. Look, we've got to go. Go to the next play. That's the most important thing is the next drill. That's how you go about it in practice. It leads to results in the game on Saturday."
Covering the middle of the field, it seemed like Pitt got you in crossing routes. The quarterback ran up the middle of the field too. How do you improve that part?
"Eye discipline. Doing your job. Like I said earlier. Executing. Doing your job is the most important thing. It wasn't one play. Again, on defense, the things that you have to defend on offense, week in and week out, all these great offenses and all the schemes, you get a lot of the same plays over and over. So that's the good thing. Everybody is copycatting everybody. You're going to see the same play that hurt you. Week two, week one and expect that play to come back and execute it. We just didn't do it in the moments we needed to do it."
How have you seen Tay Gowan take charge of that corner position since Brandon Moore went down?
"I saw Tay Gowan take a step forward in this ballgame. Obviously he had two pass breakups. A fumble recovery. He feels more comfortable in the defense. He made some plays for us on Saturday. Again, he's improved from the first time he started a game. Hopefully he'll keep on that same path."
