Nov. 11, 2003
Head coach Frank Tavani:
On Saturday's win over Bucknell:
"I was certainly proud of our football. I thought we showed an awful lot of character and a lot of heart as a team after three tough weeks running through the Top 25 tour and coming up somewhat short. It's awfully tough after three tough losses like that but our team was determined that our seniors would not leave Fisher Field in any other form than with a win. We just decided we would be more physical from the start on both sides of the ball. Our offense obviously got things clicking. I like the fact that we didn't have to throw the ball 50 times and we were able to pound the run in there. Give great credit to defensive coordinator John Loose and our defensive staff for putting together an entirely new package and not only installing it but preparing and getting our kids ready to play. They really held an offense that was second in the league in rushing average to about 88 yards rushing. I thought with our special teams that there was some physical play out there and we did a great job in that area. We basically declared war on losing after the Colgate game and that was war number one and we have war number two coming up and it will all come to pass very quickly."
On Holy Cross:
"Well, this is one of those games that concerns you as a coach because your team is looking at an opponent that is 1-9 and looking at statistical data that says that this team is last in the league in defense. But they do have a very explosive offense and as we've seen all year any thing can happen on any given Saturday. When you sit and look at that Bucknell football team, that team beat Fordham 31-10 and also Penn to 14-13 and missed a field goal that could have won it. It just goes to show you that it doesn't matter what happens from one week to the next. It's the new week that matters the most and you have to show up and play and play outstanding football and continue to try to win the turnover battle."
On the 2001 game at Holy Cross, a 63-53 Crusader win:
"I've already reminded the team that 53 points wasn't enough the last time we were there. I'm certainly not inclined to expect that to happen but if we have 53 I want to make sure that they have 43 and not 63 like the last time."
On switching to a 3-4 defensive alignment against Bucknell:
"You have to understand we were seeing a completely unique offense and depending on what experts you talk to it's a little better to give them a few less things to run at you especially playing a pure nose man. I thought it was an advantage for Pat Brown, particularly being square up on the center and having two ways to go instead of being shaded and drawing a double team all the time. Obviously the linebacking corps is the strength of our defense and having four of them out there helped. Holy Cross presents a different set of circumstances that is going to require a pass rush that you don't necessarily get from the 3-4."
On Taj Murphy and others stepping into starting roles:
"Taj is one of the guys that is a perfect example of our football team that works his butt off, keeps his mouth shut and waited for his opportunity to play and when he got an opportunity stepped up and did something with it which gets you more time to play. Credit him for being that type of player and we have a lot of kids that are in that situation right now. Because of our injury situation, a lot of kids are getting the opportunity to step up that have just been waiting in the wings."
On his team's depth now as opposed to three years ago:
"Well you know how it went three years ago we were sitting here talking about switching guys from one side of the ball to the other side of the ball to fill in. It's liking putting your finger in the dyke and sooner or later there's more holes than there are fingers and that's happening right now. We're not to that point yet. We have people to fill in and people are filling in and getting the program to where you would like it to be. Really, to get it to where you would like it to be you would have predominantly juniors and seniors starting and your freshmen and sophomores would be developing and coming along to contribute at a later time instead of coming in and having to contribute right away. You look at a team like Colgate that a year ago lost a good group to graduation and filled in with juniors and seniors and other guys that were ready to play."
Tailback Joe McCourt:
On how he felt after carrying the ball 34 times against Bucknell:
"I actually wasn't really that sore. I didn't really get hit that hard - a lot of them were tackles around my ankles. You're always going to be sore. You just have to deal with it."
Defensive back Taj Murphy:
On playing Bucknell's running attack as opposed to Holy Cross' passing game:
"They lulled our DB's to sleep a couple of times and coach Loose repeatedly told us that it could happen. We just have to stick to our keys and do what we're coached to do. We're confident that our front seven is going to do what they have to do. Our linebackers are our strong spot on defense so we just have to make sure we put the three parts together on defense and everyone make sure we do our own job. Since they like to throw the ball, obviously we want to force them to run it and run it unsuccessfully."
