Coach Meyer Monday Quotes

Coach Meyer: Our plan to win was to play great defense and we did. That was exciting for a head football coach to watch and I am sure it was for the fans too.

(Watch video of Meyer’s press conference here)

We held them to 241 yards but the main statistic was that we had six turnovers. It’s safe to say you will win every game if you are six and zero on turnovers. In the red zone we were two for two which is something that we emphasize and work really hard on. It was good to see Cameron Newton and Brandon James get into that endzone. We utilized a new formation and we’re going to try and have Kestahn Moore get in there.

In terms of our kicking game, I thought it was complete domination playing against a team that was in the top-20 last year in kickoff and punt return yards. As a matter of fact, last year in the Sugar Bowl they had two returns over 50 yards. Our kickoff unit is adequate but I am trying to find the right mix of players for that one.

Our players of the week for special teams were Brandon James, not only for his punt return but for his tackle on a 60-yard punt. On third down we were 50 percent and we held Hawaii to 18 percent.

Our champions on defense were Jermaine Cunningham, grading out at 90 percent and playing like a veteran because he is; Wondy Pierre-Louis; Janoris Jenkins had three tackles, two assists and a pass break up; Lawrence Marsh had 34 plays and two sacks; Ahmad Black graded out 90 percent and was five for five and Major Wright. Ryan Stamper also graded out a champion is as steady as it gets. He was elected captain and was out there for the coin toss. He broke his hand but he should be ready to go. I am awful proud of our player of the game, Joe Haden, because he was three-for-three, had three tackles and three assists and is a very, very good player for us.

Louis Murphy graded out a champion, obviously he had that big play, and he just played very well for us. Other champions on offense include Phil Trautwein and Jason Watkins, who has been very consistent with us through the offseason. Kestahn Moore and Tate Casey graded out champions. We gave honorable mention to Jeff Demps who graded out at 180 percent but only played in three plays. Right guard Mike Pouncey was the offensive player of the game, grading out at 94 percent.

On Matt Patchan vs. Miami

I think this game will be very emotional for him. That was a knock-down-drag-out fight to get him. When you’re dealing with such high quality people like his family, it’s fun to recruit that way. He is going to be a great player here. We’ll have to keep him sheltered this week because he is out of his mind to begin with. It will be a big game for him.

On Brandon James punt return

Just screaming ‘No penalties, no penalties, no penalties’ That run was one of his best runs, that was against a very athletic team, Hawaii, he cut back against the grain. What’s neat is that, and I don’t say this to our players, but players are so much smarter than all of us and all our coaches because they give that little extra sting when they know a guy can bring it to the house. In our first year at Florida we had a hard time convincing people. We were one of the worst teams in punt return and kickoff return in college football our first year and the year before. Awful, you watch film and it bordered on pathetic and I think it’s because you can coach as hard as you want but there’s no reward. Now when you see a guy that can take it 80-90 yards you’re going to see great effort. The punt return team gives lights out effort. That’s not just a one man show, that’s 11 guys going.

On Brandon Hicks

This is a great stat. I look at that young guy out of the blue on the sideline and he is completely exhausted. He ran 19 special teams plays for 895 yards. 895 yards.

Think about that for a minute. I’m actually going to take him off of one of the phases and get him more involved in the defense. He deserves that right to do that. Brandon Hicks is one of our star players right now. Think about that, I had it all written out upstairs, I’m going to present that to our team today, eight kickoffs for, eight times eighty, just a ridiculous amount of yards, at full-speed, full-tempo, and that kid, that’s all he knows how to do is go full-speed. You get a bunch of Brandon Hicks you’re playing some great defense, great special teams. He was co-player of the game by the way.

On Percy

I’m anxious to watch him go. He opened it up quite a bit in practice last week. My concern is not just the injury, it’s the other parts. All of a sudden the hip flexor goes, then the hamstring goes because he’s favoring one thing or the other. I’m going watch him real close.

On Tim

We have not cut back. I get that question a lot, are you saving Tim. No, we have other players that are very good runners and we’re going to hand them the ball. We’re going to do what we have to do to win the game. There are two reasons you let a guy like Tim run the ball. Number one is that he his an excellent runner. Number two is that when you spread a formation out you can equate numbers and you’re not running in to unblocked defenders. If you take a snap and hand it to a tailback and they’re playing man coverage, there’s some extra player in there that you can’t block. If you spread everybody out and he’s the only guy back there, then we call it equated numbers and you can block your five guys. You have five receivers, you have five guys and then the free safety. It’s equated numbers. The more difficult the game, we’re going to win that game, we’re not going to let Tim not be Tim. Tim Tebow’s going to be Tim Tebow.

On play of running backs

I was satisfied, I think we have far too many mistakes. One of them did not grade out a champion, Chris Rainey had far too many mistakes. Emmanuel Moody had an ankle issue early, not a significant one I found out later. We’re not to the point we’re going to play one. If someone earns that right that’ll certainly happen. I like where we’re at right now, I like the desire. It’s refreshing to see there faces, see them on the sidelines just chomping at the bit. I really enjoy coaching those guys right now.

On Miami’s personnel

I consider them the most talented team in college football. When you just watch speed, and watch guys run, and watched the size and athleticism. There’s not a team we’ll play, and if we’re not playing them, then that means they’re the most talented team in college football. On offense it’s about matchups, really on defense it is too. We’ll be very careful what we ask certain personnel to do. If you’re overmatched in a certain position, like we just made a couple adjustments in our goalline, because we think we are overmatched, that’s how good their personnel is. Same thing on defense, you’re going to ask a safety to cover a guy they can’t cover. That’s what all is going on today and tomorrow, it’s all about matching up so there are no substantial match up issues.