DURHAM, N.C. – Coach Ted Roof, senior safety Chris Davis and senior tight end Nick Stefanow attended Duke’s third weekly press conference Tuesday at the Yoh Football Center. The coach and players discussed Saturday’s upcoming game against Northwestern, which will be televised on the Big Ten Network at 8 p.m.
Duke Head Coach Ted Roof
On hiring special teams coordinator Danny Pearman:
“We played against each other, so we’ve known each other a long time. He was the special teams coordinator when Alabama won the national championship and a bunch of SEC titles. He’s been involved with some very good special teams at Virginia Tech and I’d tried to hire him before. It just worked out for both of us this time.”
On what Duke needs to improve on:
“At times, we need to protect the passer better, at times we need to run better routes and at times we need to throw better balls. To say that there’s the one thing, there is not just one thing – it’s a combination of a bunch of things. The disappointing thing is that I would have expected more points Saturday with the field position that we had offensively. All that improves, too; if we just kick a couple of field goals. Then all of a sudden, it’s a different deal. That’s very disappointing, because [Joe Surgan] made every single kick last week in practice. I use practice as an indicator and I didn’t see that coming.”
On the status of the kicking game:
“The efficiency of the operation is getting better. We’re having a higher percentage of plays in practice where we’re going 11-for-11 as opposed to of 10-for-11 and 9-for-11. On the three kicks [Joe Surgan] missed Saturday, they were all wide right. It’s like pushing a golf ball; he blocked it out and didn’t get his hips squared on impact when he kicked it. We’ve gone around and around with it and talked to people, and he’s gone to places. The bottom line is that when you have an opportunity, you have to make it. That’s his job and his responsibility, and he’s accountable to the football team for that.”
On the improved play of Duke’s special teams:
“Kevin [Jones] responded. We had a poor first week and he responded well. I think he averaged 42 yards and some change, and I was pleased with his performance. The first one they returned, and that and the field goals and the rest of the time with special times, we flipped the field with our other units. Jomar Wright blocked a kick, and so did Vincent Rey. Our kickoff cover team got a fumble at about I think the 19-yard line. That’s the best, from a field position standpoint, that our special teams have done in a while.”
On the play of quarterback Thaddeus Lewis:
“Number one, he sets a very high bar for himself. Nobody wants him to play better any more than he does. But we’ve all got to do better, not just Thad. Just to single one guy out, that’s not accurate. I would have expected us to be more productive offensively than we have been thus far. There are a lot of factors in that, it’s not Thad, it’s a lot of factors. We’re all accountable and responsible for it.”
On upcoming opponent Northwestern:
“They have not turned the football over yet this year. They’ve won the second half 36-7, so they’re a second-half football team that made a great drive and scored on a comeback win against Nevada. They’re very solid and make you defend the entire width of the field. It’ll be a different deal for us. It’ll be a night game, a road game, a Big Ten game. The weather is in the 40’s or 50’s, which is a bit different than how it’s been around here. They’re a good solid football team, and we have to go play well.”
On Northwestern’s running backs:
“Their backs are shorter in stature and very powerful, they run through a lot of arm tackles. [Tyrell] Sutton is a guy who has been very productive in a hard-run league like the Big Ten. He presents a lot of challenges. They run through arm tackles and we’ve got to wrap up. At times, we didn’t wrap real well Saturday, but we had enough people flying to the football where it covered itself up at times. Like I said, their offense, because they’re so spread out and make you defend the entire width of the field, there’s going to be a lot more one-on-one tackling opportunities because of what they do, and we’re going to have to tackle well in the open field.”
Senior Chris Davis
On recovering from off-season shoulder surgery:
It’s been doing pretty well. The doctors here are great and they had me prepared to start the season on time. I’ve been working with the trainers all off-season and they had me pretty well-prepared for the season.
On what principles he tries to pass down to the younger players:
Togetherness, communication and not getting down yourself. If you get down on yourself, there’s always another play coming up and you have to be ready for it. I try to stress to them, “do the little things,” on and off the field. Everything starts with the little things – being to meetings on time, being in class, things like that, those little things that you’re expected to do.
On making the switch to morning practices prior to 2006:
I think everybody’s adapted pretty well. It’s different because you’re up early and you’ve go to go to sleep a little earlier, but I like it because we’re done with football at 11 o’clock. Once you get your classes out of the way, the rest of the day you pretty much have to yourself, whereas we used to get up and go to class and then in the middle of the day, we practiced and then had maybe another class after that. It was just kind of a full day, whereas now I feel we have more free time.
On the defense’s improvement against Virginia:
It gives everybody a little confidence, a little momentum to build off of knowing that we could be a dominant defense in the ACC. Really, when we look at our work, we all see that we can do it and what it takes to go out there and compete and keep people out of the endzone. We know we can do it and it just gives you something to build off of.
On defending Northwestern’s diverse offensive attack:
The defensive backs have to stay deep and honor all of their receivers. The linebackers have to play run first and then help out the DB’s on pass routes. The defensive line has to stuff the run and get to the quarterback on the pass. Everybody really has to work to help out another unit. The d-line helps the linebackers, the linebackers help the DB’s. It’s just about everybody helping each other.
Senior Nick Stefanow
On what he tries to teach the younger players as the veteran member of the tight end group:
“A lot of times it’s how to pick up blitzes and how to line up. Little things really. Having Coach [Danny] Pearman around has really helped a lot. Last year we had Coach [Brad] Sherrod and he was from the defensive side of the ball. Coach Sherrod put me in charge of teaching the then-freshmen the small things about the position. But now Coach Pearman has really reduced my role in that way.”
On what quarterbacks Thaddeus Lewis and Zack Asack bring to the offense and their similarities and difference:
“They’re both playmakers and great guys. Right now Thad is our full-time guy but when Asack’s in there we don’t miss a step. Right now they have Asack running the ball a little more--- running some quarterback sweeps and things like that. Honestly it doesn’t matter who’s in there for us. Right now Thad’s our guy, and when Zack’s in there, he’s our guy.”
On what went into his decision to return for a fifth season of eligibility and how difficult that decision was:
“At the end of the North Carolina game [in 2006], I couldn’t see myself not playing this season. I don’t want to say it was a tough decision, but I had to find where my heart was, and my heart’s here with this team and playing this season. I’m so happy I did it--- there will be no regret whatsoever and I would encourage everyone to do the same.”
On the differences in his academic schedule as a graduate student in the Humanities department:
“Most grad classes here are two-and-a-half hours and meet once a week. I have a lot less class time but the work outside the classroom is much tougher. I’ve already read three novels and it’s the third week of the school year. The academic pressure is off, however. I’ve already graduated and this is my last season remaining. I’m getting good grades but things like remaining eligible and graduating--- all that pressure’s off and I really like that.”
