Sept. 27, 2004
The following are opening comments from Lou Holtz’s press conference held on Monday, September 27:
On injuries:
-“We didn’t have any serious injuries on Saturday. I expect everybody to be available this week. The only one I don’t think that might be available is Demetris Summers with that high ankle sprain. At least we don’t expect him to be ready, but everybody else should.”
On defense:
-“Looking at the film, defensively we played well. Once we got into the rhythm, I felt that we played complete as a team. We played well up front.”
-“Shropshire played very well. Preston Thorne may be elevated to the starting unit. He’s playing very well. So it would be him and Shropshsire possibly inside. George Gause is playing awful well. Mo Thompson. But, you’re going to see more of Charles Silas. Charles Silas has earned the right to be on that field more. He’s playing awful well.”
-“Linebackers played well of course. Marcus Lawrence, Ricardo Hurley, Rodriques Wilson but also Lance Laury and Orus Lambert.”
_”The secondary continues to play well. The six people that played the majority of the time. Jamacia Jackson and Ko Simpson, along with Jermaine Harris, Tremaine Tyler, Fred Bennett, along with Muhammad. They’re all playing very well.”
-“It’s unbelievable how well Ko Simpson is playing for just a true freshman. Jamacia Jackson is really playing well, but Ko Simpson for a true freshman has really been an unbelievable surprise. I’ve never had a freshman step in and play as well as he’s playing at this present time. He’s got a lot of room to improve as just a true freshman.”
On offense:
-“Offensively, our receivers continue to play well. Troy Williamson, obviously. But they’re playing well without the football also. And the three guys were Troy Williamson, Matthew Thomas and Noah Whiteside.”
-“As far as the offensive line, we didn’t play as well as I think what we have to.”
-“The quarterbacks both did some awful good things. They both have to continue to improve, but the real positive life was our receivers and our tight ends Brian Brownlee and Andy Boyd. Those people were the dominant highlights of our offense. Plus the quarterbacks are doing a lot of good things.”
On kicking game:
-“I’m really concerned about kick-off coverage. One, we’re not covering particularly well and two, we’re not kicking it well.”
-“I thought our punt team was reasonable good. The punt return I thought we got to find a different returner. We got to start making a little better decisions back there. It’s that simple.
