Sunday Conversation: Bobby Bowden QA

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden spoke with the media following his team's 19-9 comeback victory against Division I-AA Jacksonville State. Here is a transcript of that conversation.

Opening comments:

Any questions? I've got a few (laughing) … I saw a headline in the paper this morning that said, "FSU looking for answers." That was a pretty good summation. But my answer to that would be I saw the answers last night. Don't fumble the football. Don't get a penalty when you make a first down. When an interception's in your hands, catch it. When two of them are in your hands, catch two of them. When you [receive a punt], don't let it touch your foot, where they get it. Don't let them throw long touchdown passes. Don't make a 30- or 40-yard run to the goal line and then fumble. There's the answers (laughing).

Q: Coach, it looked like a situation where you tried to give it away but couldn't.

A: It's back to that old statement I made … you don't win games, you lose them. We tried to do everything we could last night to lose it - and nearly did. But again, that's why if you're going to play a game on Monday and try to follow it up with a game on Saturday, then you'd better play somebody that you're superior to. You just hope you're better and are going to win the game, because you're not likely to execute well. You ain't got but two days to get ready. You've got two days to practice. … And then, if you are superior to somebody, what's the best way to neutralize the game? Rain and mud. Now, that helps neutralize right there. It takes away speed. It takes away some things you're scared to do. I mean, down on your goal line - and we were backed up a lot of times last night - then you have to be very careful with what you do with the ball, because you're throwing a sloppy ball around there. And if it gets intercepted, it's going to be a touchdown. That's the way it went. I didn't know it, but Ann said, "You kept calling them Troy [in interviews after the game]. It's because I had Troy on my mind all week. I must have told my boys about Troy last week … there's no telling how many times. Because the very same thing happened [in 2006] when we played Miami [on Monday] and had to play Troy on a Saturday. We didn't pull that one out until late either. It might have been the last few minutes like that before we ever pulled it out. So anyway, I'm glad to get out of there with a win.

Q: Given what happened against Troy and your concerns about this game, is it safe to say you weren't surprised by how this game went?

A: No, you are surprised. Again, if you don't make those mistakes I just told you about, we would have been OK. But you don't know you're going to make those. Then as it goes, I would probably say, "Well, I ain't surprised. This is what happens. It's happened before." We were very fortunate to win the game. Lucky to be here today with a win instead of a loss.

Q: Does this mean you're further away from getting back to where you want to be, as a program, than you thought?

A: Are we further away? Not if we can straighten out our mistakes. It did throw a lot more question marks into where you are, no doubt about that. And it also says if you execute like that again, you might not win another game.

Q: Wasn't it kind of a double-whammy? Not only did you have the short week after an emotional loss to Miami, but you have a big game next week at Brigham Young. Some of the players thought they might have been looking ahead to that game.

A: It's hard not to. Here they are nationally ranked. I watched a little bit of them on television yesterday - they're quarterback can throw the heck out of the ball. You talk about threading it? Oh gosh, can he thread it. Now, the pass that [Christian] Ponder hit [Richard] Goodman with down there, that was a thread too. This guy throws them like that. A typical BYU team - big guys that can protect the passer; good, solid receivers; two excellent tight ends; and a good, solid defense.

Q: That game is going to probably tell you a whole bunch about your team, isn't it?

A: Yeah, I think so. It really will. It will tell us a whole lot. It will tell us a lot, win or lose.

Q: Can you talk about Ty Jones. We didn't even know he was going to start ahead of Jermaine Thomas, and he ended up scoring two touchdowns for you. Back during the preseason, it looked for awhile like he was slipping down the depth chart. How has he come along?

A: He's been running well in practice. And I don't know what effect the hit on [Thomas] did to him the week before. Somehow he lost favor in there, and that gave Ty, who was coming along … I guess you might say, rather than [Thomas] didn't do good, is that Ty has just been doing better. And he has kind of earned the right to be where he is. Ty's whole thing is if he takes his medicine, because he has diabetes. And when he don't take it and he don't eat properly, it affects you. … If he just stays on it like he's supposed to, he's a heck of a football player.

Q: Is it tough to convince a young guy how important it is to stay on top of that? They always think they're invincible.

A: Yeah, they don't think about the future. Here's the thing about diabetes that I've learned. My doctor, Kris Stowers, said, "Bobby, it ain't what it does to you today. It's what it does to you later. You shear about people that lose their legs, go blind … if you don't take care of yourself, it does something to your organs where it hurts you later on down the road. So yeah, a youngster can't see that far ahead, although we've told him.

Q: You wouldn't have known it from the score, but Christian had another very good game throwing the football.

A: You know, I didn't realize that - the score was so big in my mind. But he really did. Especially on a field like that. He's very unflappable - a guy that's just cool. Cool Hand Luke. Doesn't get perturbed.

Q: What are you seeing out of the offensive line? You didn't run the ball very well again, and it looked like there were some breakdowns in pass protection.

A: They hit us up on a couple of blitzes. Somebody didn't pick it up - I don't think anybody even got a touch on it. And that would be an error. Now that could have been a back that was supposed to take that guy. Somebody should have kicked out on him. So there were some errors last night. How many, I don't know. But I would imagine they blocked pretty good. When we grade the film, we might have found that they blocked pretty good. See, when you play teams like this … No. 1, you're a heavy favorite. They're challenged - this is their chance for glory. They still go out there with a little reluctance, not sure, playing big old Florida State. Now, don't let them get in the game. Don't let 'em think they can beat you. Then you go out there, you need to crush them. Just think, what if we get ahead by 14 points or something. We would've probably got some points up there. But instead, they get ahead. Now they come to life and see where they've got a chance to win. Now they start fighting like mad. Now, our kids never lost their poise, but we made mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake, trying to beat ourselves. And Jacksonville was not helping us - they were playing good. And then you see what a great quarterback like [Ryan] Perrilloux can do. I sat in his liver room, tried to talk him into coming to Florida State [out of high school]. But he went to LSU. Jimbo [Fisher] coached him for one or two years and then left. The kid was the player of the nation. He was good. … And if he was a little, old bitty quarterback, he would have had a hard time on that field. But he was a big quarterback, so he could get his cleats in the ground. So it made it … perilous.

Q: It seems like dropped passes has become a problem on both sides of the ball. Last week, your receivers dropped several passes. And then this time, your defensive backs missed on some interceptions.

A: I don't know why we can't. We had two in our hands. Their first touchdown … it's like walking three batters and then walking in a run. Two interceptions in our hands. They punt, we touch the ball, and they get the ball back. And they score a touchdown. Three times to take the ball away … now how do you teach them? We work on that and work on that. Evidently we do not work on it enough, or something. Boy, we just refused to intercept passes. I don't know why we can't catch darn passes. Now it was wet. But their boys were catching it.

Q: Kevin McNeil had two big plays for you last night. He blocked a field goal, and he had that defensive touchdown to put the game away. Is he out of the doghouse now?

A: You know, last week, I saw him make some progress. For the first time in practice, he kinda looked good. And that's been the missing link on that front four - somebody come in there and play winning football. We've got some pluggers in there like Brandon Jenkins, who's got talent, but he's still got a lot to learn. One of these days he's going to be an outstanding one. But McNeil last week began to look like a football player. I don't know how he played the rest of the game, but I think he probably played good. So I hope he's making a move.

Q: You had challenged him publicly a couple weeks ago. Do you think he took that to heart?

A: You hope. That's why you say things like that, trying to get them jacked up.

Q: Richard Goodman has had an interesting career. He came in as a freshman and really impressed people in summer workouts, but then he had some early drops. Then he missed most of the last two years with injuries, and it looks like he's become a senior leader. He had four catches on that final drive last night.

A: You're right. Last year, we redshirted him. But yet he would work out religiously and try to hep the other guys. He'd try to help the young guys learn what to do and showed a great attitude. And he has shown constant improvement. Got good speed. Got good hands. I'm just so glad to see that happen.

Q: How much of a concern are the missed extra points?

A: That is something. That was kind of typical of that darn ballgame. We saw how far he can kick it - he kicked that 52-yarder against Miami. It's definitely a concern. But I don't think it's anything that can't be worked out. Of course, you've got the other boy [walk-on James Esco] out there. If he don't start kicking through it, we might have to look at that other young man. He might be automatic on extra points. He don't kick as far as this guy, and that's why this guy's got an edge - he's got a shot from 50 instead of 38. He's intelligent enough to work it out. We have to remember he's a freshman.

Q: After you scored with half a minute to go, why did you squib quick it again? It seemed like you gave them a shorter field.

A: That was questionable. It ended up the right thing to do. It ended up working. It was kinda like this … my thought was, the only way they can beat us is if they run that thing back for a touchdown. Of course, they could have thrown. But we can back up and sure stop the long one under that circumstance. Some of the coaches felt like we should have kicked it deeper. You had a difference of opinion, but I made the decision we were gonna squib it. Now, you always hope you'll squib it further than that.

Q: Jacksonville State might not have been the toughest test, but are you pleased with some of the progress the defense seemed to make from last week?

A: Yeah … it's kind of like having a puzzle. You have a puzzle there. There's only 11 pieces in this puzzle. Out of this puzzle, you've got eight pieces put together. Now if we can get them other three … that's what we've got to do. Maybe we found one of them last night. Or maybe we found more. We'll have to look at the film and see.

Q: Caz Piurowski seems to be coming on for you.

A: Isn't he though? I'm really proud of what he's doing. He's blocking good. And he's not dropping the ball. And he's getting open.

Q: You throw to the tight end now?

A: We must be nuts (laughing). Yeah, you've got him. You've got [Ja'Baris] Little. And you've got [Beau] Reliford. Reliford is a heck of a prospect. It's hard for us to remember that still, they're only sophomores. But they got talent. We've just got to develop them. But Caz is really playing good for us right now.

Q: Looking at your defensive stats, it looks like some young guys are starting to push for more playing time.

A: Boy, wasn't that interesting? Odell [Haggins] came to me at halftime and said, "Boy, Jacobbi [McDaniel] is playing good. I can't watch those individuals, but he must have been playing good. They're making some progress. Now, did No. 5 [Greg Reid] get beat on that long one? See, he's still got some learning to do. But he'll learn a lot from that.

Q: Going back to Ponder. He should have had a game-winning drive last year against Georgia Tech before you guys fumbled at the goal line. Then last week, he drove them down again, and the receivers couldn't make a catch. Last night, he finally was able to finish one off. What is it about him that makes him able to perform in those situations? Is it just that he's unflappable, like you said earlier?

A: I don't know, but you're exactly right. His symptoms look pretty good. Bringing that last one back. And that drive he had against Miami [last year] when we had to have that drive to save the game. Again, he's got that coolness about him.

Q: Some guys have that and some guys don't?

A: Exactly.

Q: Who was the best you ever had in that area? Being calm under pressure.

A: Charlie Ward had that, and I think [Chris] Weinke. I don't know if you remember the game against Miami - it might have been his last year. They had us 17-0 nothing at the half, and he brought us back, put us ahead. Then they drove down in the last minute and won the game. I think that's something your great quarterbacks have. [Joe] Montana. That's typical of Montana.

Q: Looking ahead, is BYU's passing game what concerns you most?

A: They have an excellent passing game. And they have a good running game. Their overall strength is their passing, but they can run enough to keep you honest.

Q: How about your running game? It seems like it's kind of slow to get going this year, compared to last year.

A: That doesn't bother me a whole lot. Just like against Miami, a lot of people [said], "Well, you all didn't get but so many yards running." Well, we didn't punt but three times. We must have been doing what we were supposed to. You know, sometimes it's a higher percentage to throw than it is to run. So you go out there and find out what they got, and we think we have the tools to go do it.

Q: Other teams are probably more concerned about your running game after what you did last year. And since you didn't throw much last year, they probably want to see what Ponder can do.

A: Now what we've got to do is if we play people that fear our passing game, we've got to run better. And I think we will. If we stay healthy.

Q: Perrilloux didn't complete a high percentage of his passes, but they seemed to go for big gains. Does that concern you with BYU up next?

A: What scares you is the second play of the game they got a guy wide open and missed him. What in the world happened there? Who was supposed to have been back there? Somebody blew a coverage. Somebody's supposed to roll deep. That scares me to death right there. Out of all the passes that were thrown in that game - even the touchdown [because] we had the right guy on him, had a linebacker on him pretty good - but who allowed that guy to go wide open?

Q: Overall, the pass defense was better than it was last week though, wasn't it?

A: Yeah, I thought it was better. I thought we made a little improvement. I think Mickey [Andrews] is beginning to find out who he needs back in there.

Q: Given how difficult of a time you've had the last two times you've played on a Saturday following Labor Day, what would you do differently if you're faced with this in the future?

A: I think if we do it again, we'll have to have an open date. Unless we can play a Division-III team (laughing). That was I-AA. Now, if you're gonna bring us a Division-III, I'll do it (laughing). But if not, I think we'll have to have an open date.

Q: When Appalachian State knocked off Michigan a couple years back, that was the end of the road for Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. Do you imagine there would have been a lot of talk like that if you guys had lost this game?

A You would. No doubt about it.

Q: What were you thinking when it looked like you might not win?

A: Well, I kept that thinking of Troy. Troy was on my mind all week. I can tell you exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking, "Well, we'll eventually pull this out." … But I'll tell you. There was a lot of thought going on when we punted with four minutes to go. There was a debate whether we should go for this thing. Because if they get it and we can't get it back, they win the game. Thank goodness, we decided to punt, and he punted it out [inside the 10-yard line].

Q: How close were you to going for it there?

A: We debated it. And if we hadn't had two time outs, we probably would have gone for it.

Transcribed by Ira Schoffel