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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Football Press Conference 12/10/03
12/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 10, 2003
Boca Raton, FL - - Coach Howard Schnellenburger
"Each game in a playoff series is a big game because it's the elimination that makes it a big game. Our football team has a lot of experience playing in this kind of situation because way back in the fourth game of the year when we were 1-2 and any additional loss would have kept us from the playoff picture we weren't smart enough to realize it at the time but we were just playing to get a win under our belt. We fought that battle for about five weeks and somewhere along the fifth or sixth week it began to creep into the recesses of our minds that if we win out, there would be an outside chance to be selected to play in this playoff series.
"When we got to Siena it became obvious that with two wins and we would have a real chance to be in the playoffs. Winning those games and getting into the playoffs was a big milestone for this football program. The kids took it as that but then looked forward to the opening game against Bethune-Cookman. There was a funny feeling in both the FIU and Bethune-Cookman game that I tried to figure out what was so different. I found out that both teams were similar, we knew each of those teams personally and individually. Our kids had played with them on the streets and in high school and in our society that is something that helps win championships, if you can beat your buddy on the streets, that is big. For that reason I think we played with a tentativeness that comes with losing. Perhaps that is why we did not play nearly as focused as we did in our last game. This last game, far away from home, far away from our friends, far away from the people we had played against in high school. We were taking on the best team that we had played all year, in our judgment. Our kids focused and went out there played with an intensity and focus that we had not seen in a while and took the game away from them very early in the contest and played the best game of our year.
"I was concerned that maybe we had been told that we were great too many times, the girls snuggled up a little closer than they usually do and life became too good. We didn't focus and we didn't practice nearly as well as we had been practicing. At the end of practice I brought that to their attention without raising my voice and asked the question are you as hungry or motivated for this game as you have been in the past. Obviously I did not get an answer but the question being answered maybe provoked a thought that will get us back into the groove for the day and we will go out there with the focus and intensity that it will take us to beat a great, great Colgate football team. Anyone that can win 20 in a row, first of all has to have great coaching, second has to have the right kind of players, players that can stay focused and are disciplined, that can play in the rain and the sun and the shine, they can play in blizzards and take any conditions in stride. And they have done that for 20 games.
"We have a streak ourselves and we think the competition level we have played has been to our advantage and we think we have a great home field situation here as we sell a couple thousand tickets a day for the first three days and we can close in on a near capacity situation by game-time. There is a feeling in the air in South Florida as the new kid on the block takes his rightful position with a chance to become the very best in its third year of existence, and that will be super. We have a long way to go, a win has to happen this week and our kids will be ready even though we may have to double up and get a little bit more ready in the last several days of preparation."
Feeling about kids of this program
"The staff that we put together is a group of guys that have had some personal experience with me and I with them over the last 30 years in some cases and in some cases just a short period of time. They came here on the comp. They came here believing that this was going to be a very special place to coach someday and they in turn recruited a group of kids that had a real yurning, a real desire to come and have their four or five years in college make a major difference on the institution in which they came. Most of them could have gone to places that were already established where their schoolmates and parents would think you 'wow you're going to Miami or Florida or you're going to Pittsburg or wherever it might be. It was a little bit difficult to say I'm going to Florida Atlantic University, but they put that aside and they came here to give birth and to grow and develop this football team. They have worked unceasingly for four years to get that done. They believed in the program. They bought into the fact that we should play teams that are well over our heads in the first two years and even understood that we were 2-9. And that became it obvious on the first day after that last loss in the weight room starting their preparation for the third season. And now they have grown, they have accomplished, they have won and they have positioned themselves to do something heroic and historical that may never be duplicated.
"I feel like a proud papa that has changed diapers, gave formula, stayed up at night to nourish these kids and to provide and to teach and to conjole and to discipline. And now they have arrived and are winning. Should they win this thing, it will rival in a very different way any championship that we've been associated with before. This is a team that can do it."
Jared Allen
"We've faced some good DB's but as a whole when you try to stop one, there is somebody else that pops up, which is a positive for our offense and which we have. We have to do our part though, we have to do our part blocking up front, we have to do our part running routes and if we do those things we'll be ok.
The defense is pretty solid, they are hustlers. They are not as big as some of the teams that we have faced but upfront they are kind of like our defense. 6-1, 6-2, 260, they hustle and they are quick.
FAU running game versus Colgate's run defense
"We are going to try to establish that, that's what we always try to do because it opens up so much more. I think that it is something that we can establish. I know their [Colgate's] defense has been shutting down the run but I also know that on the other side of the ball they have a 2,000-yard rusher. It's going to be a battle and we are going to have to work for everything we get in the air and the ground.
Dick Biddle Head Coach - Colgate
"This game is going to be a big test for us, but I think that we've played well and I think it is going to be a heck of ball game. We are just thrilled to be in this position. It is not a position Colgate is usually in, so we are looking forward to it and are very happy."
Feeling around the campus and with Alumni about the game
"I think it is very exciting [for our campus] but it is probably more exciting for our alumni, who are all over the place. We have a lot of alumni in the Florida area, so they are really pumped up about it and I think there is excitement in the air, in the town and the student body. I mean they tore down the goalpost, which they had never done before, and that was kind of neat. I think it is a big thing for our players and our alumni. There is a great connection between the alumni and the school."
Coaching with FAU Associate Head Coach Kurt VanValkenburgh
"Kurt VanValkenburgh and I worked here from 1977-81 then he left and I stayed and then we moved on. We've kept in touch and he's a good friend of mine and obviously he's done a great job."
Kids understand Colgate traditions
"You try to have your team buy that there is a lot of pride and you try to get them excited about it. They have to live up to that reputation and I think that our players like people talking to them about the history of Colgate, people who remember the team in 1932 who went 9-0 that didn't go to a bowl. I think that we try to build on that it is a small school, only 2,700, but we've played some big time schools in football in years past. We played the Service Academy, Syracuse as late as the 80s and since we joined I-AA we played Georgia Southern, when they were no. 1 and Villanova, when they were no. 1."
Talking about Jamaal Branch
"I think it is just a matter of him not giving up. He has been a back that can carry 30-35 times a ballgame and can get some pretty good runs in the 4th quarter because he is 225- 230 lbs and he has descent speed. The last two games he hasn't had much yardage that's probably due to the conditions of the field that we've had to throw the ball. In order for us to be successful, he's gonna have to have a big day."
Talking about defeating Buffalo
"I think it really helped us because we had opened up in Georgetown and we did not play very well, in a matter a fact we had to win on the last play of the game. When we went down to buffalo and things kind of fell into place. Buffalo was 0-1 but they had lost to Iowa and they were a big time Division I school. We went down and played very well and that's where we found out about Jamaal Branch. I think it really did build the kids up and get their confidence up and let them know that if we pay attention to detail we could have a pretty good team. I think that was really a key game for us and got us in the direction that we are in right now."
Talking about FAU's team speed
"It presents a problem but it's a matter of execution on offense and defense. If we don't cover people that our slower they are going to score touchdowns and if we don't cover people that are faster, they are going to score touchdowns. I think when you get into the final four of anything, every team left is very good. So your margin of error is very small and when you have good team speed then when you miss a tackle, it can cause a touchdown. Hopefully we will keep things in front of us and have some depth and make them earn everything, its easier said and done but that's what you have to do. Then we have to worry about what we do and not get to caught up in [FAU's team speed] because then we'll lay tentative."
Talking about starting QB Chris Brown from Florida
"We started the last 5-6 years to increase our recruiting area. We had gotten some other players from Florida that had some good careers for us and we just went down there and he was the type of quarterback that we were looking for, running the option and playaction, he was a pretty good student and he wasn't adverse to coming up north, he knew about the reputation of the school, obviously we're good academic school, and so it was just a good fit. We try to recruit there and try to sell that there are not many I-AA schools in the state so they can come north to play."
Assessing Chris Brown's performance
"I can't say anything negative about him. I think he has performed very well the last two games in tough circumstances. The only thing I can tell you is the way to evaluate him is to say that he is 17-0 as a starter and you can't ask anything more from your quarterback than that. That speaks volumes in itself."
Talking about traveling to Florida
"When you are in the final four and you know you are going to the final four and you can go anywhere, you're going to take it. We've been on the road before and we have a lot of kids from Florida and it's the middle of December and I think that our kids are looking forward to playing without snow against a very good team. I think that's the reward and that's the way you have to approach it.
Talking about Colgate's unbeaten streak
"Our kids are not really paying attention they know they are in the playoffs and that's what they are really gauged on. We did win the patriot league, we did qualify for the playoffs and we did go undefeated in the regular season, and nobody can take that away from us. They will always have that. Even if we happen to lose, we will still have the longest regular season win streak and that will carry over to next year not counting playoffs. We are just trying to approach this as a reward and as a bowl game I think that's the best way to do it. I really don't think they are thinking about it but when its all said and done you'll reflect upon it."
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