University of Connecticut Athletics
Tuesday Press Conference Quotes
9/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2009
Head Coach Randy Edsall
Opening Statement
"This week we're going down to play a very good football team in Baylor. They scheduled the game right in the heat of the day-I'm sure on purpose. They're led by Robert Griffin, their outstanding quarterback, who can run the ball, throw the ball, and do a lot of good things. He was very productive in the first game against Florida. They're a team that really likes to run the ball offensively, but they have the pass threat because of Griffin. It's going to be a tremendous challenge to go down there for their home opener, but our guys our looking forward to it."
On passing game vs. UNC:
"I thought we threw the ball fairly well when Zach (Frazer) was in there, we had one drop and he wouldn't have had any interceptions if not for that ball. I thought the passing game was a lot better vs. North Carolina, but it still needs to get better too. It's a work in progress. We lost Ryan Griffin but Dwayne (Difton) had more catches, and I thought the passing was a lot better in game two than game one."
On Linebacker Scott Lutrus' replacement Kijuan Dabney vs. UNC:
"We had moved him back to safety during training camp because of what had happened to us back there with injuries and whatnot, but we always let him know that if something happened to Scott (Lutrus) or someone else that he would move back to linebacker. I think that's good coaching in the thought that you cross-train guys because when you get certain issues, guys can go in and play other positions that they are used to. We know we're thin at linebacker. I thought that (Kijuan Dabney) went in and did a great job."
On the importance of traveling to Texas for the Baylor game:
"I don't think this game is any more important than last week's or any more important than next week's. Besides the newspapers down there giving us a little more "respect" so to speak, I don't know. It may give us some more exposure because we're a BIG EAST team going to play a BIG 12 team, so we want to look good from that standpoint. The main thing is doing our best to win, because every time you win you get more credibility."
On preparing his team for the weather at Baylor:
"I checked the weather forecast and it's supposed to be 82 degrees down there on Saturday. There's really not much we can do as far as practicing outside goes, as it's supposed to be 60 degrees here tomorrow. I do plan on having the team inside from Tuesday to Thursday. We can get the temperature in there up to 82 or 84 and not have the fans going. We need to get them acclimated and for them to understand that they need to hydrate themselves better now."
