Oct. 7, 2003
Head coach Frank Tavani:
On last Saturday against Georgetown:
"Certainly we're trying to move on from Saturday. We'll make no excuses - we didn't play well and our hat's off to Georgetown. They did play well and made plays when they had to. Our situation is one of inconsistency at this point. We play well at times and not at others. We came out in the second half and drove the ball right down the field and scored and then turned around and struggled. We allowed them to get good field position on the kickoff return with a penalty, a hit out of bounds that was unnecessary, and they come back and get three points right away. That's not the way to perform and expect to win."
On the weekend in the Patriot League:
"I think we all found out over the weekend that there are a lot of teams that are expected to win and don't. There were certainly a lot surprises, particularly one up in the Bronx, N.Y. that I don't think anyone would have said would happen. I think if anything that makes me a little prophetic because I said back at the Patriot League Media Luncheon that anyone could beat anyone in the league and I don't think anyone would have said that No. 8 would beat No. 1. This is a wild year in the Patriot League, and still wide open but we can't look at the past and we can't look down the road either. We have to focus on what is at hand and Columbia is at hand right now."
On preparations for Columbia:
"We're on fall break so the kids had an extra day off. We started at 8 a.m. this morning. We almost have a preseason-type day today instead of a regular Tuesday where we showed the game film and made some corrections this morning and then got the scouting report at noon. In fact, meetings are going on right now. We do our team picture at fall break so that anybody who is anybody is here and those that aren't, aren't. We'll practice a little earlier this afternoon and then we'll have the opportunity to bring the kids back tonight which we normally don't get to do. Hopefully we'll get a good day's jump on Columbia."
On his view of the season:
"Obviously this isn't a very happy time right now. But it depends on how you look at it. I told our team this morning, is the glass half empty or half full? You're 2-2 right now and depending on how you want to look at things you still have an opportunity to be 9-2. The upside of the whole thing is, we haven't played our best football. Our staff has worked extremely hard to make that happen."
On defensive back Joe Goodwill and linebacker Kellen Graham:
"They are, literally, two of our inspirational leaders on the football team. They know this, they're two of my favorite guys, if not my favorite guys on the football team for a lot of reasons. They've been with the football program for four years. I don't want to embarrass them at all, but they both know their limitations and what their contributions are going to be. They have never wavered. They have never been anything but 150 percent positive about our program and about our school. We certainly wouldn't want to be without them. Both have been contributing now as seniors on special teams. I can tell you this, I've been coaching for 27 years and there aren't enough kids out there like Joey Goodwill and Kellen Graham."
On the offense's inconsistency:
"Well, it's a matter of everyone taking a turn not being able to make a play. Coach Shoop made a great point about converting third downs. Our most reliable receiver didn't practice last week, and I've always maintained that if you don't practice, I don't care how good you are or who you are, you don't make the kind of plays that you normally make when you practice all week. Early on in there we're on third down and need to keep a drive going and we drop a third down pass. And that's not to be critical on any one person, but those are the types of things that are happening. Marko's high, he's low, he's really not himself out there, and we've got to continue to work hard on that, and he knows that. I think a lot of it has to do with reading our own clippings and thinking you're better than you are and forgetting that you have to go out and play on Saturday afternoons, no matter who you are."
On Columbia:
"I think this team comes in with great momentum and rightfully so. New staff, new situation, new uniforms, new logo all that god stuff. We've been there, and they're sitting in a great situation. The thing about them has been, they seem to play better when they fall behind. We have to decide if we actually want to get ahead or if we want to wait around until the fourth quarter. They have done great things after falling behind just playing solid football. Obviously their staff is doing an excellent job getting those kids to believe. You've got a football team coming in here that believes full well they can win on the road and certainly, I'm sure, after seeing us on Saturday, figures they can handle us. This is another good football team and, as every week is, going to be another tough football game."
Senior linebacker Kellen Graham:
On the players' source of motivation:
"It's not coach Tavani's job to yell at us and be a cheerleader or a drill sergeant or whatever you want to call it. You're dealing with 18-22 year-old men. It comes from within us to come out and be ready and be motivated for games. We don't look to the coaches to get us inspired. They prepare us. They do a good job all week game-planning and ultimately they can't be on the field. It's not about how much coach Tavani yells or how much he doesn't yell, it comes down to us either making plays or not making plays."
On the team's struggles after its two wins:
"Building on what coach Tavani said, I think it's easy for members of our football family to buy into the media and the hype. Coming off a successful season last year, expectations were higher than they've ever been. I think when you let that get to your head it affects your preparation. Like coach said, we had a lackluster week of practice last week. We can't afford to go into any game figuring the other team to be the underdog. We could easily win the rest of our games and we could easily lose the rest of our games. We have to regain that hunger that we had last year as a 2-9 team, not as a supposedly Patriot League frontrunner."
Senior defensive back Joe Goodwill:
On halftime against Georgetown:
"It wasn't very explosive and negative because every guy in that room knew what had to be done. And I think that everyone knew it was just going to take more consistent play to turn that game around. It wasn't an issue of, 'Wow, we're really getting our doors blown off here,' it was more an issue of, 'Let's play to our potential.' I don't think that's something that necessitates getting extremely worked up over, especially with the kind of tools on both sides of the ball that we have."
On the team's struggles after its two wins:
"I think one thing our team does need to improve on is not getting too high when times are good or too low when times are bad. I feel like that's something that's easy to fall into especially when you've been accompanied by all this hype and predictions. I think eventually we'll get that straightened out and it's really going to come down to the senior class to have a moderating effect to put every game into context."
