Monday Atlantic 10 Conference Call Transcript

10/02/06 6:20PM

Williamsburg - The following quotes were taken during William and Mary head coach Jimmye Laycock's session on the weekly Atlantic 10 media call:

With so many narrow losses, dating back to late last season, do you think there is a common denominator in these games?

JL: No, it’s just a fine line between winning and losing, and we have got to play better. I don’t know if you can compare years, but I look at this year’s team and our guys work hard and practice hard and want to do well. For one reason or another, we are just coming up at little bit short. All we know how to do is work hard to get better.

What are some of the inconsistencies that you guys need to work on?

JL: You don’t talk about one person or one area, it goes all across the board, and it’s a matter of just working to improve. Tackling, you can always point to a couple of missed tackles here and there. You could point to a couple of dropped passes, and then you could always talk about a missed pick up or blocks up front.

Can you talk about the confidence level you have when you have a good kicking game?

JL: It definitely makes a difference when you get into [an opponent’s] territory, as far as where you’re going to go [for a first down] and what kind shots you take, and when you take those shots and when you don’t. It affects your approach, but I think you have to look at your kicker and at what you can do offensively. Hofstra had a great kicker, and we were fortunate to block one field goal.

Have you gotten any word on [sophomore linebacker] Josh Rutter’s status, and do you have any feeling on how his absence affected Saturday?

JL: When you lose a player of that caliber, it has got to affect you. And again, I don’t know how long he will be out right now. I still don’t know. When you don’t have a starting player in there, who’s very good, it makes a difference. But, I think the other guys have stepped up. [Sophomore] Michael Pigram played a heck of a ball game at linebacker. He played every snap at outside backer and played very well. We have some players in there that can play, and they just need to keep working, keep getting better.

What were your thoughts on your running game and your offensive linemen?

JL: I thought we made some mistakes. Some mistakes put us in too many long yardage situations, and when you’re in long yardage situations, you’re not going to be running the ball as well, so you have to throw. I think when situations were presented, we didn’t take advantage of it in the passing game. I don’t know if we’ll be a great running team this year, but we’re going to be better at it than we are now.

Can you talk a little about Saturday’s game [vs. #10 Massachusetts] and what concerns you have?

JL: From looking at film, because we haven’t played [UMass] in a few years, I’ve seen that they are a complete football team. I mean you look at teams, and sometimes you think they are very athletic and can run well, but lack the physical part. I think [UMass] has both of them together, and they are a physical team that is also very athletic. They can run on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. They run to the ball and run the ball well, and they can play physical defense and physical offense. I think it’s a very good team, a very solid team, and there’s no question that they ought to be one of the top teams in the nation.

From your own team coming off a disappointing loss, can you talk about the way your guys react to a game like that?

JL: They better play better, or they’re looking for a real long day out there. I don’t know how they will react, but I think they will come back and practice hard, work hard and prepare hard and, hopefully, we’ll play better. That is what I expect, and I think that’s what they expect.

Where do you need to improve most this week?

JL: I don’t know if there is any one area that we need to improve the most, but I think we need to cut out the mistakes and play our game on both sides of the ball. I think if we cut our mistakes, we will improve. If we improve well enough to play against a team like UMass, then we’re set because that is a very, very good team.