Murray State University Athletics
Weekly Press Conference
10/13/2004 11:00:00 PM | Football
Quotes from head coach Joe Pannunzio during the weekly football press conference on Oct. 13 in preparation for the Racers' Homecoming showdown with Ohio Valley Conference rival Eastern Illinois at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Roy Stewart Stadium.
On the Racers' struggles at this point in the season:
"Obviously, it's been a tough, tough start for us. We're facing some things on offense that we have to just grow through, I guess. We've been going with Stephen Hatchell as our starting quarterback the last three games, and with his inexperience, things are a little bit fast for him and a bit of a blur. As it goes on, I think it'll slow down some for him, but I still think our biggest problem is our offensive line. It has to come together, and we have to be able to run the football a little bit, just to take some of the heat off of us."
On the status of the Racer defense:
"I really feel like, since the Tennessee Tech game, that our defense has stepped up and played well enough for us to win, if we can control the football a little bit to take some of the pressure off of them."
On what his team needs to do to have success:
"I think our special teams have been adequate and our defense has done enough lately to put us in a position to win. It really rests on us getting it done on offense. It's one of those things that a teams goes through from time to time. It's not just one guy because if it was, it would be easy to fix. Sometimes it's the play-calling because sometimes I make some bad calls. Sometimes it's the right guard, and sometimes it's the right tackle. Other times, it's our quarterbacks making some bad reads or bad calls. We're just trying to fight through that right now and get things in order."
On this week's Homecoming game with Eastern Illinois:
"It's a huge game for both of us. What a difference a year makes. I guess that's probably the biggest difference in I-AA football from I-A because when you lose a couple important players like Eastern Illinois has and like we have, it's tough to get through that. They're having the same problems we're having. They have trouble moving the ball at times. They still play pretty good defense, and it should be a pretty good game. Homecoming is a big event for us. A lot of people come back to town, and it's always the biggest crowd of the year no matter what's happening."
On the attitude of the team with the tough start:
"Our kids have stayed in there, and we had another good practice yesterday. I'm surprised at how strong and calm they've been through all of this."
On the biggest problems in the Samford loss after watching the film:
"The offensive line. For us, we're starting a guy in Stephen (Hatchell) that doesn't have a lot of experience. When that's the case, he's got to have enough time to feel comfortable, and he's certainly not comfortable right now in the pocket. That's probably pretty understandable about half the time. Then, there's some other times when could be a little more mobile. I really think he has more mobility than Stewart (Childress), but he's not going to make those plays until he feels comfortable and that falls on our offense line."
On the importance of the start of this week's game with EIU:
"I think for both teams, it's critical. We're both in fragile states right now. We both have to come out and play well. It's pretty easy to tuck your tail and quit when some bad things happen to you, so hopefully, we'll come out and play well early."
On EIU's struggles with its running game:
"When you switch out a lot of offensive linemen, it's tough. It almost takes making mistakes before you can really show the new guys exactly what it takes to get it done. They're going through the exact same type of thing we're going through. For two years, (EIU tailback) Andre Raymond has been one of the top players in this league, and he still is, but he hasn't had a chance to really show how good he is because they've had some problems on their line. Hopefully, they don't come out Saturday and get him going because he's a very dangerous player."
On EIU's linebacking duo of Nick Ricks and Fred Miller:
"I'd like to have both of those guys. They're guys that fly all over the field, and they make a lot of plays. They're the heart and soul of their defense. I hope we can avoid them on Saturday because they make a ton of plays for them."
