August 28, 2001
Talk about trying to set the tone for the rest of the season against McNeese State.
"You can set the tone for how you do things. We're anxious to play. We finished on a down note last season and this is the first chance we've had to go out and play another ballgame. You'd hope that you'd come out and have a lot of intensity and focus.
"The thing that concerns me is that McNeese went down to Miami last year and had 446 yards in the first ball game of the year. I'd be very disappointed if we gave us 446 yards in the opening ballgame, to McNeese or anyone else."
On the fans counting on taking the McNeese State game as an automatic win:
"It puzzles me that the average fan refuses to read the papers. I am sure lots of Colorado fans counted Fresno State as being an easy win. As long as the players and coaches don't do that then I am not too concerned. The players sometimes become a product of what they are hearing. Sometimes they can hear that all week that it's going to be a piece of cake and it seldom turns out that way. Everyone at McNeese is telling them how tough it's going to be. In terms of your preparation, when you go into a game thinking it is going to be a challenge then you will most likely do better."
What questions going in to this season would you like to see answered against McNeese State?
"One of the big questions is if our receiving corps can step up as a group after losing 2 key players to the NFL in Robert Ferguson and Chris Taylor. We need to see if we have some other people that can step it up and become a capable receiving group. We need to see if Joe Weber is going to step in at fullback as a blocking threat so we can improve our running game. One of our biggest issues this year is getting better at running the football. To do that in an I-back or two-back formation, you've got to have a fullback that will go block people."
On the special teams, with regard to place-kicking:
"The place-kicking part right now is an unknown, because we have not seen Cody Scates do much as a place-kicker. He handled our kickoffs for us last year. I think he'll get better at the field goals. That's something he's done before in his career. In high school, apparently he was pretty good at it. But we really have no choice with the way things turned out with the injury to Chris Sims."
On asking Scates (11 tackles in 2000) to hold back on being an aggressive tackler:
"We will have that discussion before we play. We'll be fine as long as he is healthy. Any injury to him will impact our kicking game. In terms of punting we feel Greg Porter would be able to step in and be fine. In terms of placekicking I am not sure who would be Scates' backup. We will take this week to look and decide for this game's sake."
How much easier is to coach an offense when you know going into the season what you will get from a Mark Farris?
"Any coach would say without any reservation that starting the season with a proven quarterback would be the best place to start on a football team. I feel fortunate to have his leadership, his personality and his ability. I have been coaching 29 years and this guy ranks up there as one of the better guys I have been around. I like his demeanor. He is very conscious of his work ethic and very strong mentally."
On how the offense will look?
"Who knows? (laughing) A lot of weight is put on a balanced offense and that is we are striving for. I hope that we could run the football in a variety of different ways, and that we could have some diversity and throw the football. We'll have some drop back passes, we'll have some passes where we move around in the pocket, we'll also have one-back runs and two back runs. We want to take advantage of our personnel. It will evolve some as the year goes on."
On the return of Rocky Bernard, who was injured in 2000?
"He has done great. There has got to be some psychological adjustments made for him to be able to jump right in those inside run drills in scrimmages. He has no reservations and is holding nothing back. He gives us leadership and is motivated to have a great year. Sometimes when something is taken away from you it has a tendency to make you focus more. I think we will have a more enthusiastic, dedicated player than we had a year ago"
Favorite memory of playing at McNeese State?
"One year we were down 17-7 to Northeast Louisiana with 12 minutes to go and we came back and won 18-17. We kicked a field goal with a few seconds left. It was special because it was a great comeback win. It goes to show if you keep plugging at it games can turn around in a hurry."
On Keith Joseph?
"He is a big, hard-running guy. He is not much of a dancer, instead he is a big power guy that will take the ball right up the field and I'm impressed with his toughness. He will help us this year. He had a very good spring. He is an outstanding downhill runner. He runs hard with his pads down. I am anxious to see him play, because he is a tough guy. He is a guy that will punish tacklers similar to the way Marcus Allen did at USC."