Indiana University Athletics
DiNardo Press Conference (11/16)
11/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Opening Statement:
GD: "Purdue, as you may or may not know, had the second-most players drafted last year in the Big Ten. They had nine people drafted, so when you study their roster, you would think that they dropped some talent, but they really haven't. They are one of the top three teams, in terms of talent, that we will play all year. They are really young with only five guys on offense that are seniors. They don't have anyone on defense that's a senior. They were the second-most talented team in the conference a year ago in terms of draft picks, and I would say top three this year. We have a lot of preparation to do and it starts today."
On the message to the team about penalties against Penn State:
GD: "One of the foundations here, for us to have a good program is the ability to excel in the issues that take no talent. Not that we don't have any talent, but we feel that part of building this program is to address those issues and be very good at them; for example, being penalty free, as best as you can. I think that there are certain penalties in the game that aren't necessarily a result of anything negative, they just happen. So one of the things that I have been most disappointed in this year is the penalty situation. The great majority, 99 percent of penalties is a no-talent issue. It's just about making good decisions."
On the coaches' mindset this week:
GD: "Coaches need to move on. We were all obviously disappointed, but the next game always looms. You only have a certain amount of time to get prepared for the next team. You can sulk around, but it will probably hurt you in the next week's preparation. You have to move on. We are planning to play a game and planning to recruit. We have a lot of things going on."
On the talent level of Purdue:
GD: "I think their offensive line is very well put together. They have a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback [Kyle Orton]. [Taylor] Stubblefield is six catches away from breaking the all-time NCAA reception mark. They have two very good running backs [Jerod Void and Brandon Jones]. Defensively, as a general rule, I would say their strength is their ability against the run. Bernard Pollard is as good as we've seen at strong safety. They have cover corners that are tough. They are one of the top three talent-level teams that we play this year. "
On the departure of Courtney Roby:
GD: "I think the best way to answer that is to look at his numbers. We are going to have to make those numbers up next year. Either with one player, with two players or with the run game, as opposed to the pass game. Our explosions are up from two years ago, our big plays have been up, which is one of the reasons our scoring offense is up over the last two years. Courtney has had a direct impact on that. He has given us some critical numbers."
