Sunday press conference
with Oregon State Head Coach Mike Reilly and
Pittsburgh Head Coach Dave Wannstedt:
Mike Reilly – Oregon State
It is an honor to be here to represent Oregon State.
We certainly are excited about the game and appreciate Bernie (Olivas) and all
of the folks that work so hard to make this the great event that it is. It is
all of the stuff that you hear about the Sun Bowl from year’s past. It
all comes to real life when you get here – the hospitality, the friendliness
of the people. Just going to the high school to practice and you see the high
school kids and coaches hanging around, it’s a lot of fun.
I think we have a great matchup here. Dave’s (Wannstedt) got a
really good team – all parts of the game – offensively, defensively
and they impact the game special teams wise. So it is going to be a real hard
game for the Beavers, but we are looking forward to it. It appears to be a
great matchup.
Dave Wannstedt – Pittsburgh
Let me just echo a lot of what Mike (Reilly) said. On behalf of the University of Pittsburgh, we would like to thank
Bernie (Olivas) and the committee and everyone involved in it. It has been a
great experience so far for our kids. I just hope it has not been too good of
an experience. Our kids have truly enjoyed themselves. I think two thoughts
come to mind. The first is being part of the great tradition of this game. The
second is having the opportunity to get out in the community a little bit and
meet some of the people that live here on a permanent basis – not just
people that are involved with the Sun Bowl. I have had nothing but real
positive feedback from our players and our staff. We have had a great
experience and the facilities have been outstanding.
Wannstedt on Pitt RB LeSean McCoy
He is probably a little stronger back than people give him credit for,
although he has only been in the weight program with us for two years. I think
he has a lot of room to grow in that area. But he has great ability to make
people miss in the open field. And I think that is one of things that he does
too much is he will bounce it outside and bounce around, because of his
confidence to make people miss. He has got a lot of vision. He has got a great
ability to make people miss.
Wannstedt on Pitt TE John Pelusi
John (Pelusi, Sr.) was the starting center on our national championship
team in 1976, which followed the 1975 Sun Bowl team. So, John would have been
the center on that team. John’s (Pelusi, Jr.) dad is coming down to the
game. He is a big supporter of ours. I know that when we found out that we
would be going to the Sun Bowl, it was a neat thing to be able to kind of
compare stories between them. It is a neat thing. Anytime you get a father and
son involved in a similar situation, it is kind of neat.
Riley on OSU QB Lyle Moevao
With Lyle Moevao and Sean Canfield, they started a couple of years ago
in a very good competition for the (starting) job. Actually Sean won it coming out
of the season and got hurt and Lyle took over. Sean’s was a long-term
injury and he just barley got healthy at the end of our fall camp this year. Lyle
is kind of a typical progression. They learn and get a better feel for it, and
then they become more efficient as they go. He is very smart and efficient. He
has got those intangible parts of playing the position. If he walked in the door,
you would not pick him as the prototype quarterback, but that does not necessarily
matter if they have some of those compensating factors that he has. He is smart
and very tough. He can get rid of the football. We led our league in the least amount
of sacks. I think a lot of it is good, quick decision making by him and also a
good job by our offensive line. All of those pieces fit together and that is
what has really helped him to become the play he is.
Wannstedt on OSU QB Lyle Moevao
I had a chance to say hello to him the first night when the two teams
were together. He is a very, very classy young man. I was very impressed with
him just from talking to him for a couple of minutes. Anytime a team has given
up the least amount of sacks, everybody would like to go right to the offensive
line. But I have been on a couple of teams, where the quarterback was not
athletic. He was smart and knew where to go with the football. Our offensive line
was not that good and we did not give up sacks. It goes to the quarterback
making good decisions. He can make all of the throws. A lot of guys always love
to see if they can make the big-time throws across the field in different
areas. He can make all of the throws. He forces you to defend the entire
football field.
Riley On Not Playing In A Month
I think you always have to expect the unexpected in our game. In ways,
the bowl game is a season unto itself. You got a little extra practice time and
you go through your finals with your kids and then you go through Christmas. It
is just different. I think what you want to do is try to be as prepared as you
can and hope that you don’t get stale down in the end and be able to play
your best game. And that is what it is going to take for us in this game. I
look at Pittsburgh
and I think it is going to take our best game to win. That is what you hope for
at this stage of the year. There are those unknowns of how you come off of that
period of time. You find out as the game unfolds. It really is a new season. It
feels like it has its own little part of the world as far as the calendar is
concerned.
I have been impressed with the practice and the enthusiasm for practice
and how we have gone about our business. I try to not read a bunch of stuff
into it and see it for what it is.
Riley on Special Teams Preparation
We pride ourselves on what we do there and we always work at it very
hard. I can tell watching (Pittsburgh)
that they have impacted games tremendously that way. As far as more (emphasis),
I think it just more in a general schedule with the time that you have. I have
actually cut it down and tried not to have to long of practices. We cut the
special teams periods down, but the amount of work from the time started
practicing until now is plenty for one game.
Wannstedt on Special Teams
Preparation
Before we actually got down here, we did not work as much scheme versus
Oregon State as we did just fundamentals of
special teams – blocking and tackling and some specific things that go
along with each phase. We tried to get some individual coaching that way.
Recent Comments