Oct. 21, 2003
Head coach Frank Tavani:
On the loss to Harvard:
"All losses are tough losses, this one especially because we let it get away from us. It's a matter of not being consistent enough by all our units. Good football teams can overcome some of their own mental errors during a football game, but we're not good enough at this point to overcome some of those errors. I was pleased with the effort that the team gave. Nobody's quitting out there. I think there's a little discouragement, a little frustration probably starting to set in, which would only be normal at this point. As I told our football team on Sunday, we're a .500 football team and over half the teams in the country finish below .500 every year so we're at a turning point sitting here 3-3. I don't care if you're 6-0, you still have to play the stretch of games sitting there on the schedule no matter what. Maybe the mental approach might be somewhat different but that has nothing to do with having to go out and play these football games."
On Lafayette's chances in the Patriot League:
"Certainly there's a sense of urgency. Definitely it's a longshot with two league losses, but it's still mathematically possible with the way the schedule is and people still all have to play one another and we get to play all those people at the top of the standings. We need a little help along the way. But we can't be concerned with the big picture, we have to be concerned with the next picture coming up and that's Fordham and it's a league game and we have to come out and play better."
On Fordham's offensive trio of quarterback Kevin Eakin, tailback Kirwin Watson and receiver Javarus Dudley:
"We've seen that trio for the last three years and it's probably as good of a trifecta as you're going to get in terms of that kind of talent level in the skill positions. They, too, like us, have not always played particularly well and are not having the kind of year that they anticipated as well. I'm sure they're going to come in here with a real sense of urgency in terms of knowing that there's no tomorrow in terms of the league and knowing that if you're going to be in the mix at the end of the year you have to win out. Both of us are in that situation."
On the importance of gaining the early momentum against Fordham:
"There's going to be momentum shifts throughout the game. The idea is to gain some momentum and hang on to it and hope that you can maintain some field position. When you start to lose field position, particularly against a team like Fordham with all those offensive weapons, that's going to be a problem and they're going to put points on the board. But, when that happens and our defense doesn't get a stop or gives up points, our offense needs to come back and score points. And when our offense turns the ball over, whether it's deep in our territory or anywhere else, our defense needs to come on for a fast change and make those plays. It's not a matter of one side of the ball or the other side of the ball doing well at any particular time. It's a matter of both sides of the ball coming together all at once, and that's really what we haven't been able to do consistently."
On injuries and his team's depth:
"Well, we're not having to move guys from one side of the ball to another. I don't know if you're ever 100 percent. I thought there were still some spots coming into the season where it was going to take another recruiting class to fill in some spots. John Weyrauch's status is unknown; it's possible that he could play, believe it or not. We don't have the final word. We're waiting on getting some tests back. We've got depth at receiver. You saw Tom Hall come in and do a great job. We've got a lot of confidence in Tom and he's played a lot for us and is going to be playing a lot more. You can go right down the line to Archie Fisher and Joel Cesare is sitting there waiting for an opportunity. All those kids have worked extremely hard and Marko has full confidence in throwing to any of them. The Curt Wilson situation is probably going to be a never-ending story. The type of situation he has with that shoulder is probably realistically just going to keep occurring. There's not a whole lot you can do. We just hope we can get some mileage from him and we have to get another guy better prepared."
