Nov. 8, 2005

Head coach Frank Tavani

On recovering from last week's loss to Colgate:
It was difficult particularly for our seniors. After the game you could see them laying on the ground in disappointment, but they gave everything they had. We battled and played with great heart and will. Unfortunately, we were just a couple of inches short. That's going to happen when you play a tough football game like that. The bottom line as a coach is how your team played and how hard they fought. We fought the good fight on Saturday, but were certainly disappointed. Football is all about getting knocked down and getting back up. We're going to get back up because we still have an opportunity in front of us, and who's to say what's going to happen. The only thing we need to focus on is going into goal 10 against a much-improved Holy Cross team.

On officiating in the Colgate game:
Certainly you always have to be careful of how you respond to these situations. I had a discussion with (Director of Athletics) Bruce McCutcheon yesterday, and he would agree with me. As discussion goes around the league about replay, I will be the first to vote yes. Along with that, there were other opportunities in the football game regardless of calls made. Those guys (officials) are human and things happen. Some calls were tough to swallow. By the same token, I will not allow our football team to look at it that way. We ought to look at the opportunities that we squandered, both offensively and defensively, in that ball game. We could have made the difference despite any potentially questionable issues on the part of the officials. But yes, replay is getting my vote.

On sitting in a similar situation as a year ago:
I'm still surprised at what can transpire up until the last game of the year. Again, Colgate, Lehigh and ourselves all have two games to play. As we've all seen in this conference, anyone is capable of anything in any given week. I'm sure those other schools are maintaining focus and want to take care of business just as we need to.

On turnovers vs. Colgate:
Jonathan Hurt had as good a game as he's had this year. He ran extremely hard and broke tackles against as good a defense as we've seen. The fumble was part of extra effort in trying to put the ball across that goal line. Depending on how you look at it--did it penetrate the goal line or did the ground force the fumble--well that's not how it got called. As I told our staff, Jon and (quarterback) Brad Maurer before the game, `don't play this game like you're going to get yanked, because you're not.' That's the way we proceeded with both Jon and Brad. Uncharacteristically, later that play hurt Brad when we ran the option and he was a little hesitant on the pitch, but it threw him for a second thinking too much in the back of his mind. Hey, they're kids and they're human. I'm more concerned as a coach as to how they respond to those situations. I thought both kids played extremely well. We overcame those things, and I don't think the turnovers played any bigger factor than anything else in that game.

On the return of Holy Cross running back Steve Silva:
I've seen every game he's played this year on tape. He's a typical guy who comes back for a fifth year and has been a team leader. I've been impressed with him the last couple of years. I was particularly impressed with him last year and what a strong runner he was, reminding me of some of the guys we've had in the past. He does all those thing as a returner as well.

On Lafayette's red zone troubles:
You practice that phase, and sometimes it becomes a mental or confidence thing. I think our offense is improving and getting better at doing some things. What fixes this situation is getting some points. That's not just scoring touchdowns, but also going after those field goals. Rick Ziska kicked extremely well in practice last week, despite missing the one at the end versus Colgate. He had every bit of leg for that and more, but just missed by a couple of inches. He has to be an extension of our offense. Earlier in the year when he was struggling, we were down there going back and forth on whether to go for it or play it safe. Now, when the situation calls for a field goal, we're going to play it by the book.