Murray State University Athletics
Weekly Press Conference
9/8/2003 11:00:00 PM | Football
Quotes from head coach Joe Pannunzio during the weekly football press conference on Sept. 8 following the Racers' 37-6 loss at Kentucky on Saturday night. MSU will next play at Southern Illinois on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Ill.
On last week's loss at Kentucky:
"We played Kentucky for two reasons: One was to win the game and the other was to find out how our kids would react in adverse situations. Obviously, we dug ourselves a pretty deep hole there early in the second quarter, but I was pleasantly surprised by how our kids came out and reacted. They didn't lay down and quit. I thought, for the most part, our kids played hard all night long, and, in some cases, we competed and we were able to hold up pretty good."
"The difference in the game was their overall depth and they had a few more athletes than we did. Jared Lorenzen made a real difference for them, and he was able to make some big plays. The other end of it was the kicking game, and that's what had us the most worried. They're so much more athletic than we are and it certainly showed in the kicking game. Derek Abney is such a great returner, and he's very scary to watch return kicks when he's doing it against your team."
On the status of the MSU kicking game:
"For our football team, as we try to get ready for the OVC schedule in a few weeks, our kicking game has to step up and has to improve. That's an area that has to get better because it will make a difference in who wins the OVC title."
On the status of the MSU offense:
"As crazy as it may sound, I think we did make some strides and we did improve from week one to week two on the offensive side of the ball. When you look at what we did with the ball, we had the touchdown drive in the second quarter, which was a great drive for us. Then, we had the drive late in the third and early in the fourth quarter where we drove down inside the Kentucky 10 and got no points when we should've gotten something out of it. And then our first drive of the game, we had them right where we wanted them and drove the ball down to their 35-yard line. We had a couple of plays that we just didn't convert on or we could've had at least three points on that drive, or maybe even a touchdown. Overall, we did some good things and when you have 20 first downs, you really can't be too frustrated when you know the other team is just a little bit better than you."
On the status of the MSU defense:
"I'm still very pleased with our defense. It seems like, up front, we have a chance to have a pretty good defense. We're going to get another big test this week when we play SIU because they really want to run the football. When you look at our schedule, Valpo was a team we should've been able to handle and we felt like we did. Kentucky was the other end of it, but they still weren't a hard-nosed running team. They were more of a finesse team, but we're going to see a hard-nosed running team this week and I'm anxious to see if we can hold up against the run."
On his team's ability to keep battling Kentucky despite the bad six minute-stretch in the first half:
"We dug ourselves a hole and we never could get out of it. I made a bad call on trying to hit the reverse on the kick return and that didn't help matters much. It's tough when you go on the road and you're buried deep with over 60,000 fans helping turn the momentum. Our kids aren't used to dealing with that kind of crowd, but to make the drive we made before halftime to get a touchdown was very impressive. We did what we wanted to do on that drive and it started to look like us again. We ran the ball and threw the ball and put it in the end zone like you're supposed to do. Overall, we made some mistakes, but we never did back off. We were certainly the more aggressive team at times and I'm proud of them for that."
On the SIU Salukis:
"They're a team that's playing with a lot of confidence. They're a much, much improved football team from last year. They took the preseason favorite in our league and beat them handily Saturday night, so we've got our work cut out for us this week . We'll see what we're made when we go to SIU."
"They're a physical football team and they're similar to us in that they'd like to just run the football up and down the field. They get after you every play, and they've got two great running backs in Mohammed Abdulqaadir and Tom Koutsos. They're probably as good as anybody you'll see in I-AA football, so it should be a physical football game with an emphasis on the run game."
"Defensively, they're playing with a lot of intensity and confidence up front. The reason they beat Southeast Missouri was their defensive line outplayed SEMO's offensive line. For us to win, we've got to be able to handle them up front and win the battles in the trenches so we can control the ball."
On the series with Southern Illinois:
"I hope we can continue to play them. It's a good rivalry game, and they're just right up the road from us. It's good for our football program and our entire university. We compete for students and athletes, and it's a good series. I'd like to keep playing them, but I guess it's in their hands."
