November 09, 1999
On What's at Stake for the Rest of the Season:
"We have a bowl game at stake. If you look around college football, there a lot of teams that have multiple losses this year. If we could finish up and win one or both of these remaining games, we would certainly have a chance to go somewhere. Right now, the object is to get better from this week to the next. We're doing everything we can to get the team better and get the team back on track. We're certainly not happy with where we are right now, but we have to get things moving in the right direction and finish strong this year, and hopefully some of that will carry over to next year."
On Looking Ahead to Next Year:
"That is a difficult thing because part of you would like to play all the young guys and get them as much experience as possible for next year, but I'm not ready to give up on this team or to give up on this season. We're going to do everything we can to win these next two games and get into a bowl game and win that game with this team. I'm only looking at what our best chances are to win these next two ballgames."
On Tango McCauley's Status (suspended for past two games):
"He is going to come back and play. We're going to let him back this week. I think he really feels badly for what happened, and I think he has definitely learned from it."
On the Team Chemistry:
"Throughout the year last year, I talked a lot about the team chemistry. This year that has not been something that I've spent a lot of time talking about because I just haven't been sure about it. I haven't seen, in some cases, the evidence of strong team chemistry. You never know how all that is going to work, but like I said earlier, I have not given up on this team or on these players. I think we've got great guys, we just haven't come together like we did last year."
On the Placekicking Situation:
"We're working hard. We don't have a lot of options. We've worked Shane Lechler some there, but he is still pretty inconsistent. We'll continue this week to work him there, but we will also continue to spend a lot of time with Terence and try to work on his mechanics. He is just a little out of sync, but hopefully we can get the flaws worked out of his swing. We had a chance to jump out in front the other day if we don't get those field goals blocked, and we were just fortunate they weren't going the other way."
On the Running Back Situation:
"Eric Bernard got his shoulder bruised Saturday, so we'll have to see if he'll be able to play. We'll have Eric, Joe Weber, Ja'Mar Toombs, and Tiki Hardeman. Weber should get more playing time this week and Ja'Mar will get some time at tailback."
On Dante Hall:
"I met with him this morning, and those things are always unfortunate and difficult for a coach, and for the player involved. The team is going to go forward, and Dante is going to go forward and first of all try to get his ankle well. He will then try and pursue his pro career. He plans to be in school this spring and try to get his degree. I respect him for the contribution he has made in our program, but we got into a situation where it was best for us to go our separate ways."