Monday's CAA Football Coaches Call Transcript

09/10/07 8:00PM

WILLIAMSBURG - The following comments were taken from head coach Jimmye Laycock's session during Monday's CAA Football Coaches Conference Call:

Coming off a very big win, 63-16 over VMI last weekend, can you talk about the success your team had in Lexington?:

A: Well, we got off to a shaky start, fumbling on the second play from scrimmage [ onown 34 yard line]. But, our defense did a heck of a job holding VMI to a field goal and from then on, I thought we executed very well offensively and were very efficient. Jake Philips had a fine game. He was very much on target throwing the ball. I thought we executed well. In the second quarter, we got some breaks and good field position and we were able to take advantage of it. In the second half, we got to play a lot of people and it turned out to be a pretty good day. I think that VMI team is much better than what the score would indicate.

What did you see better defensively from week one to week two, besides fewer points?:

A: I think we ran to the ball better, that’s a very basic thing on defense. You can’t just depend on one guy to make the play, and I thought we improved in that area. We had some miscues with defending the option, which is understandable because it’s a hard offense to get ready for in a week. The point the staff made to the defense was that we needed to get around to the ball more and run better, and I thought we did a nice job.

Talk about the difference with junior quarterback Jake Phillips between this year and last?:

A: Well for one thing, we’re catching the ball better. Past that, Jake is improving with his decision making, he’s throwing the ball on time and he can anticipate things better through experience. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. He was 13 for 15 on Saturday [for 242 yards and three TDs] and one of his incompletions was an out and out drop, and the other one was a bad call on my part. He played really, really well and he had good help around him. Our offensive line is doing okay protecting and, like I said, the guys are catching the ball. Again, specifically, I think it’s a matter of him playing with confidence and making good decisions and anticipating things and going ahead and not waiting for a receiver to come wide open or hoping that he’ll come wide open. He is using his experience and putting the ball where [the receiver] is going to be and he is putting it in there accurately.

It looks like [redshirt freshman] Cameron Dohse really stepped up for you Saturday [with four receptions for 77 yards and one TD]. What makes him a good receiver?:

A. Well he’s a tough, competitive young man. He’s really worked at learning the offense, and he’s still working at that part. But he’s competitive, he works hard at practice, and I think he’s got good ability and if you take good ability and you work hard at practice you’ve got a chance to get better and that’s what he’s done.

How is [senior wide out] Joe Nicholas coming along [with making his return from a preseason knee injury]?:

A: Joe is coming along well. We’re going to practice [Monday] and see how it goes. If it that goes well, we’ll practice him again [Tuesday] and see how that goes. If all that goes well, maybe he’ll be ready to play some this weekend.

What do you expect from Liberty’s run game this weekend with getting Rashad Jennings back? With Zach Terrell, they’ve got that one-two punch going again.:

A: Yeah, we had a heck of a time last year trying to slow them down and they look to be even better this year. And with Jennings back in, he’s a heck of a back. Again, we had our difficulties in that first game against Delaware trying to slow down the running game and that’s going to be a big challenge for our defense this week.

How much have you been able to tell just from watching the first few films with Liberty, how much they’ve improved or how much different they are as a team than last year?:

A: They look to be faster, they look to be stronger, and they seem to be executing better than they did last year. They’re a very good football team from what I’ve seen. They look to be very good.

Is it difficult to switch gears and go from the VMI option to what Liberty runs on offense in preparing your defense?:

A: Well not so far as the recognition part, but the technique part and being able to handle the physical nature of the Liberty offense and its speed. Schemes are one thing, but the personnel is what makes the schemes very good and they’ve got very good personnel. They have good players on the offensive line and at running back, plus they have outstanding speed at the wide receiver position. It’s a talented group from what we’ve seen and we’re going to have our work cut out for us defensively, we really are.

Was it helpful to get a lot of numbers in and players in last week? Did it give you a little confidence in giving them some experience? :

A: Well it helped for morale. These guys have been practicing all pre-season and the payoff is when you get to play in a game. And these guys were excited about getting in and playing and you never know which one of those may have to step up and play a much more significant role as the season goes on.

Is R.J. Archer going to stay at wide receiver now or does his situation depend on Joe Nicholas coming back?:

A: He is going to stay a wide receiver. He has played very well in there and with Jake and [senior quarterback] Mike Potts playing very well, he would not get on the field as quarterback right now. He’s a competitive young man who wants to play ball. I think we can say that one of the reasons that Jake is playing so well right now is because of R.J. and Mike Potts, because of the competition they’ve had [through the spring and fall]. I think that was a big factor in Jake’s improvement. They’ve all improved, they boost each other and I think that’s why our quarterback play is at a higher level right now than last year.

You mentioned Mike Potts, and he did get a little bit of action in last week’s game, can you grade his performance?:

A: Mike played very well. He played the entire second half and did very well. We didn’t throw much, I think it was five for six and the only one that was incomplete was caught just barely out of bounds. He ran the offense and handled things very well out there. He wasn’t really put in a situation where he had to make a lot of things in a throwing game because we kept it pretty basic during the second half.

Can you talk a little bit about the running game? [Redshirt freshman] Courtland Marriner went over 100 yards for the afternoon.:

A: Courtland had a great game. He is a very quick back and he made some plays just on his quickness and speed alone. I think he played well. I also thought [junior tailback] DeBrian Holmes played well, and I thought [senior tailback] Viola played well.