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Jim Caldwell wants to cut
down on the number of
miscues against Clemson.
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Caldwell's Quotes On Upcoming Battle With Clemson
Wake football prepares for Tigers' new wide-open offense.
Oct. 26, 1999
On DaLawn Parrish
"Anytime a guy has the experience he's had over the years, he's been a very
fine player for us. From the beginning of his career, he was a true
freshman. His first start, I believe, was against Clemson. He had ten
tackles and a fumble recovery or an interception. He's certainly a very
intelligent player and an extremely hard worker. He sets a great work
ethic example for the younger players, and he loves the game with a
passion."
On Ben Sankey
"If you know him, and have been around him a while, you can just watch what
he potentially is capable of doing. He's been getting better each game.
He's been working at it. Simply because of the fact he has not had a lot
of snaps, his upside is tremendous. I think you'll continue to see him
play better and better as the year goes on. There's a lot to game
management. I think he does a very good job with it, and I think he's
getting in a position now where he is better able and equipped to manage
games with fewer mistakes now than he has ever been. He's definitely
coming along."
On Clemson
"Clemson has always been a good football program. They've always had good
players down there and good coaches. Ken Hatfield was a good coach. Tommy
West was a good coach. Bowden is no different. They've got good coaches
and good players with a great tradition. I just think they're playing
well. They always play great defense. They always have talented guys on
offense and they have a good, solid kicking game. I don't care who's
there, that's been the case. We look at pretty much the same kind of
outstanding football teams, the same type of hard-nosed players, the same
type of guys running to the football. They've got a good team and a good
program. They're so wide-open on offense, and they just spread you out all
over the field. Conceptually, that's a lot different than what they've had
in recent years. That is the difference in this football team. We used to
look like that. They're schematically different. Everyone has trick plays
and they're going to use them. They do a lot of a different variety.
Obviously, what we have to do is read our keys and play good, solid
football. This game is the most important of the year, and so is the next
one. We have a great opportunity to play them at home. They've been
playing extremely well. We're in a situation where we're trying to get
better and they present a real challenge for us."
On UAB
"You can't ever get too excited with a win, or too down with a loss. After
we had an opportunity to look at the film, and evaluate it, that same old
cliche keeps popping up. You're never as good as you think you are when
you win, and you're never as bad as you think you are when you lose. If
that was a tight game, there were a number of situations that came up that
we could have really been in trouble. We had more penalties than we've had
in a while. Nine penalties, and we're typically right around three. We
had a number of miscues that we cannot afford to have in a close game. We
were fortunate to be able to play well in that ballgame, but we've got to
play better to keep moving along. The more you win, the bigger they get.
That's what's important."
On secondary
"There is no better pass defense than a great pass rush. All you have to
do is take a look at Florida State week in and week out to understand what
I'm talking about. They have very good players and an outstanding
secondary, which is not quite like what they've had in previous years. You
don't notice it because they have a front four that's probably better than
any front four they've had, collectively, in recent years. I think that is
really key. You have to have a pass rush along with good coverage. I
think it's a combination. I think also, you focus in on the secondary a
lot and, obviously, the linebackers have as much to do with undercoverage
as the guys on the perimeter. There's a lot of different factors involved.
If a guy has all day to throw, it's very easy to complete passes with no
one breathing down your throat. (Being banged up) is a concern this week
and it certainly was a concern midway through the first quarter, because we
lost quite a few guys right at that time. We're a bit concerned, but we're
just going to have to see if we can patch our group together and go play.
We typically will have guys play dual positions."
