Syracuse Orange head coach Scott Shafer stopped by the ACC Teleconference on Wednesday. Here's what he had to say...
On how the Villanova game will help the team moving forward...
First and foremost, have to give a lot of credit to Villanova. They played well. Coach Talley has done a great job with that program, and I was really impressed with the effort that they put on the football field. Cause and effect; they did a great job, and was not pleased with the way we played.
I always talk the truth as far as, whatever you put on tape, what you see on video is either coached or allowed, and there were far too many things on that videotape that I allowed to happen. So I went back and looked at my preparation and tried to do a good job, not crossing those bridges again and need to get my team locked in; and a more disciplined unit that's focused on playing the game we expect to play it. That will start the way we practice this week in the bye week, and then the way we prepare for the Central Michigan outfit. Looking forward to getting back on the field with them.
On Terrel Hunt...
He was dead wrong and that's why he got penalized and why he got ejected from the game. And the officials made the correct call. You know, you can't react that way, and he did and it was a mistake, a flagrant foul called properly by the ACC officials.
Doesn't change how I feel about Terrel other than the fact that he's got to do a better job controlling his emotions in that situation or else he's going to end up putting himself at jeopardy to have multi-game issues.
He understands that. We had a couple good talks about it, and you know, was disappointed but not discouraged because I know who he is as an individual.
...He addressed the team and apologized to everyone on the team. It hurt him, bad. It was a mistake and he owned up to it, and like I said, the ACC made the right call. The officials did a great job and they were dead on.
On whether or not the early bye week is good or bad...
Having an early bye week, you can say, oh, that comes at a bad time. You can also say it comes at a good time. We have some injuries from summer camp and some guys that I think this bye week will help and benefit the team, so you accentuate those positive elements to having an early bye.
The good thing about a wake-up call with Villanova playing a good football game against us, and all credit to them. Maybe there's a sense of reality quicker and it hits you in the face and you say, boy, all right, we know exactly what we've got to do, and we've been exposed in some areas that we can control. Let's go to work controlling them.
On Michael Lasker's ability to handle goal line situations...
Michael has got some things to work on, as do all of our players in those situations. And there's no doubt in my mind that he will and there's no doubt in my mind that we will improve in those situations.
