Florida head coach Urban Meyer said he liked what he saw in Tuesday’s practice.
Q: “How do you feel about playing LSU every year from the West? Do you think it’s fair the way they set up a permanent opponent from the West?”
A: “I know that every year we’re facing arguably the team with the most talent in the conference at one of the most difficult places to play. I don’t know how that all came about. I know that we see them every year, and they always look the same to me.”
Q: “How do you feel about coaches at non-BCS programs like Boise State and TCU who have time win with style points to impress voters?”
A: “I hate it because it’s not what sportsmanship or athletics are about, however it’s real. We experienced it here at Florida in ’06. That was brought up many times. That question is real. It does exist. It’s certainly in coaches minds.”
Q: “How was Tuesday’s practice, and what is the injury report?”
A: “We had one of our better Tuesdays, and today is an important day as well. The offensive line is in tact. They’re 100%. Jeff Demps is probable but didn’t practice full yesterday. (Mike) Gillislee did practice full.”
Q: “What went wrong on Julio Jones’ big punt return on Saturday?”
A: “That were a lot of disappointments in that game, that might’ve been number one. What went wrong is we didn’t net the football. We didn’t cup it. That was the first time it happened, I believe. It’s number one (focus this weekend against Patrick Peterson). It’s absolutely the number one concern on our football team right now.”
Q: “What makes playing LSU different than other opponents?”
A: “The quality of player and athlete. I always thought that stadium is one of the hardest in the country to play in. I don’t want to short change anyone else, but when you see that team jogging out of the tunnel, it’s as good as any team there is.”
Q: “Do you prefer a play caller on the field or in the box?”
A: “I’ve had them both, but I don’t know which I like better. At Utah, my guy was upstairs. Here we tried him down at first, then we put Dan (Mullen) upstairs. Steve Addazio is extremely involved, and we have Scott Loeffler up. It’s the same communication. One guy is the run guy and one guy is the pass guy, but they’re both in direct communication with myself.”
Q: “Are you surprised about what Denard Robinson is doing, and what position did you recruit him as?”
A: “I thought he was fantastic. We wanted him because we thought he could be our curveball. I thought he could be our quarterback because he has a nice throwing motion. He’s a ridiculous athlete.”
Q: “What is John Brantley’s injury status?”
A: “Johnny practiced yesterday. He’s sore, but he practiced. He’ll practice and he feels better today.”
Q: “How do you defend a two-quarterback system like LSU uses?”
A: “That’s complicated on defense. In ’06 we set the standard with Chris Leak and Tim who was a changeup. We’re trying to get that right now with Johnny and Trey. The biggest thing is practice time. You can stop a running quarterback and a throwing quarterback, but it’s the ability to get it all practiced in a two-hour practice. It’s causing a lot of reflection on how much we have on each package, because you can’t practice everything.”
Q: “How is Chas Henry doing with handling kicking duties as well?”
A: “Chas has done really well. He kicked well yesterday and punted well. Sturgis is still our kicker, as soon as he’s healthy. That kind of injury, they’re not quite sure how long it’ll be.”
Q: “How do you think your team has handled the short yardage situations this year?”
A: “We felt good going into the Alabama game, but now we don’t feel so good anymore. Trey did such a fine job in the red zone against Kentucky. Gillislee is our downhill back and Moody has to continue to improve. If you want to hand it off, it’s Gilly first. The main issue of concern is the blocking of our tight end. We’ve got to improve that area. If you have a tight end who has really never played tight end, we’re not real efficient.
Q: “Why didn’t Trey have much success against Alabama?”
A: “We got behind a little and forced to throw the ball all over the place. He just didn’t have any opportunities against a really good defense.”
