Murray State University Athletics
Pannunzio addresses media at weekly press conference
11/1/2005 6:00:00 AM | Football
PANNUNZIO ON EFFECTS OF SATURDAY'S LOSS: "Coming into the season, even though we were in good shape, we knew our margin of error was slim. Injuries have really taken their toll. On Saturday, we had four freshmen and two sophomores on the field on defense. Up until Saturday, we put out a good effort every week, but on Saturday we were zapped, and ultimately, that's my responsibility.
"This is rock bottom for me, not only in football but in my 46 years of life. I'm disappointed. We are going to do the very best we can do and get back to improving like we were three games prior to Southeast Missouri. Many times, you look at the tape, and it's not so bad. But, we got dominated, so it was a complete win by SEMO. We didn't do much right. It was as ugly looking at the tape the second time, so I didn't look at it a third time."
ON DEFENSE: "We fell into a false trap that our defense was where it needed to be. We still have a ways to go. Our defense isn't good enough to control the game even when our offense is struggling."
ON YOUNG RACERS GAINING VALUABLE EXPERIENCE: "In the long run, it's going to be a lot better for us, playing so many young people. They're learning under fire. A good example is (sophomore quarterback Josh) Greco from Eastern Kentucky. He had a tough time as a freshman, and look at him now. He's as good as any quarterback in the league. So young players do get a lot better from their first year to the second year. Our young kids just have to keep putting out great effort."
ON RYNE SALYER AND CHAD COOK: "Ryne's a young guy when you talk about going into the battle. I'm not sure if Ryne was completely confident going into the game. When Cook went out (with an injury on Saturday), I could see it in our kids' eyes, and they were thinking, 'What else can go wrong?' I hate to say it, but I felt the same way. We just keep getting knocked down, but sometime, it's going to turn for us, and maybe it starts vs. Eastern Kentucky on Saturday."
ON NEXT OPPONENT, EASTERN KENTUCKY: "I would expect playing Eastern Kentucky this week that the team will come out and be ready to play. We need to find some answers on who is healthy and who is not. Traditionally, we've played well at home, and I expect our team to play hard."
