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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

LIVE blogging Gene Chizik press conference

Gene Chizik is at the dais. Here's what he has said:
  • Looking forward to returning home after two weeks on the road.
  • The game tape showed nothing different than what he thought. "We didn't play well in all areas," he said.
  • Kentucky's quarterback is hurt. "It's really a question mark for us of where they're going to go," Chizik said. "We've done our homework. We've got our best educated guess. We're going to prepare for a number of different scenarios."
  • Chizik said he and Antonio Coleman talked. It WAS NOT about the direction of the defense, supposedly.
  • "I watch game tape of every guy," Chizik said. "So they're not going to come to me with an issue that I'm not aware of."
  • Chizik wouldn't consider a position change for AC.
  • More on Kentucky QB: "The issue is who is the quarterback, because that's going to dictate what kind of offense they're going to run."
  • AC doesn't have any tackles the last two games. "The stat sheets don't tell the story," Chizik said. "I've seen guys get two sacks in a game and they become All-Americans because the guard blocked the wrong way."
  • "We've got to play within the structure of the defense. That's what we tell the guys. He's doing what we tell him to do. He's being the ultimate teammate."
  • Thinks Kentucky's o-line is very good. "It's a product of a system that's been in place for a while," he said. "They'll hit you. They'll come downhill on you." He thinks they're extremely balanced with their run and pass game.
  • On when a freshman stops being a freshman. "By Game 7, they've seen enough of SEC football."
  • Thinks RB Ben Tate has been great, but added that the offensive line has done a great job of creating lanes. Said Tate has been physical when those lanes aren't open, however. "I think week in and week out, he's beat up and tired on Sunday, and that's the way he needs to be," Chizik said. "He's run the ball physically the way we've envisioned it."
  • Didn't think Auburn ran the ball as well as it could have against Arkansas. Two runs of 60 yards made the stats misleading.
  • There are some variable that have accounted for the team not using much Wildcat lately.
  • "Obviously we started on the fast track with the turnovers and we've faded the last few weeks," he said. "For us to be successful, we've got to give our offense more opportunities."
  • "We're trying to put out there what we think we can do," Chizik said. "You can't always do what you'd like to do. That's just where we're at. We have to do what we're physically capable of doing. Whether that's being physically aggressive or not, we've got to determined that week-to-week, how aggressive we can be."
  • Eltoro Freeman is still working through personal issues.
  • CB Walt McFadden (knee) might be a gametime decision. He's walking around fine.
  • DL Zach Clayton is touch-and-go. He's still banged up.
  • The bye is still five weeks away. "We're wracking our brains right now how to keep our guys," Chizik said.
  • On whether last week's letdown was inevitable: "I do know how 18-22-year-old guys think," Chizik said. "I always tell my team, let's not be one of those teams that can't handle prosperity. Does it have to happen like that to get your attention? I wish it didn't. It's obvious we didn't handle it very well."
  • "It's not Chicken Little," Chizik said. "The sky's not falling. ... It's not doom and gloom, but let's figure out why we got beat. And that's for every guy, including me. I told them it starts with me."

3 comments:

Aeronaut said...

Well that didn't go anywhere. I didn't hear anything different from his post-game speech.

The fans are uneasy about certain individual players, and those concerns were definitely not addressed.

This is Gabe's last year. Many fans want to know if he can be given a bigger role, anywhere. Eltoro Freeman is a continued concern, many athletes are just sitting on the benches while walk-ons are running the special teams.

Maybe the next game will answer some of those questions.

easyedwin said...

What do you think happened to el Toro?

Andy Bitter said...

It's tough to say with Eltoro because the coaches keep things so quiet when it comes to stuff like this.

Sometimes it seems guys get here and their view of what their role should be doesn't jibe with that of the coaches. This is speculation, but that might be what the case is with Freeman.