North Carolina State University Athletics
Coach Amato's Quotes Following Tuesday's Scrimmage
8/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 19, 2003
"It was very sloppy. Philip [Rivers] had some outstanding numbers. Cotra Jackson had some outstanding numbers because of a long run. Reggie Davis had quite a few yards, and again a long run. In the first half, I sat up in the stands to just get a feel of what was going on. You couldn't hear a lick. We couldn't break a balloon. Penalties were awful. The other day in the first scrimmage we only had a few. I bet we had at least 15 today. They were silly penalties and that's coaching. We can coach those things. On injuries, [Kalani] Heppe got hurt at center. He turned his ankle late in the scrimmage. The center position is very, very critical now. [Brandon] Sanders got hurt the other day and Jed [Paulsen] is coming off an ACL operation. We had four offensive linemen not even go through it."
Comments on the play of the defense
"The first defense played pretty good. They had three turnovers and didn't give up a score. They played well on the goal line and played well in third down situations. But again, the intensity just wasn't there. You go out and you scrimmage and you expect to hear BOOM! There weren't any booms. The biggest booms were when I yelled and that shouldn't be. It's a lack of concentration; it's a lack of intensity. Intensity, intensity, intensity-you've got to have it. We dropped too many passes. Balls that hit you in the hands have to be caught; that's why they're on scholarship."
On the lack of intensity
"Maybe because this is the 20th practice, I don't know. But yesterday, they didn't even run gassers. I don't know. Maybe I didn't work them hard enough this morning. We'll correct that. We've got a ways to go to execute the things we have to execute."
Addresses the competition for the starting defensive line positions
"It's wide open. You will see a plethora of defensive linemen out there. You may see every two plays four new people going in the game. That way they can't say they're tired. We've actually practiced that way. What it might do is keep the morale of that whole group up. By doing that, we made end up with a whole bunch of second stringers and no first stringers. But if that's the way we have to do it, then that's the way we'll do it. There are a bunch of people fighting to be a bunch of second stringers right now. That's the hand we've been dealt, so we're going to have to play it."
