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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 22, 2014Paul ChrystCOACH CHRYST: Certainly looking forward to playing again against Georgia Tech. They've done a good job for a number of years. We have a challenge for our defense and offensively. We have our work cut out for us but looking forward to the opportunity certainly. Q. Obviously going up against a team like Georgia Tech, you have to handle the triple option which they do probably the best in the country. What have you done in practice to assess that? COACH CHRYST: Well, you try to spend time, make sure your scout team understands it, you got guys in the right spots. It's hard to duplicate. Certainly not going to run it as well as they do. Paul, he's a heck of an offensive coach, knows his offense. He does a great job of countering how you're attacking it. No doubt it's a challenge. You have to play disciplined, assignment football. That's just to give yourself a chance. You still got to make plays. That's the challenge they present. Q. On your side, how would you define this Pittsburgh team for you this year and what you've seen out of the talent you have? You're 4‑3, but as far as the environment, how would you define this team going into the game? COACH CHRYST: I like the way we played. Far from perfect, but I like the energy. I think we're playing as a team right now. You got to continue to do it. I think defensively we're best when we get a lot of contribution from a bunch of guys. Last year it was more one guy, deservedly so, still in the headlines. Our strength is in numbers. Offensively we've just got to be I think more consistent. Q. The development of Chad Voytik. Talking to Paul Johnson, he mentioned watching on film the zone read he ran so effectively. Can you talk about adding to his repertoire? COACH CHRYST: It's the fine line where he has enough games under his belt now where it's not all new, but you see some of the inconsistencies, things where he can get better. You don't want to keep adding stuff to his plate. At the same time I think it fit, the way we could attack Virginia Tech. I thought he did a nice job with it. He's certainly a kid that's tough, competitive. It wasn't foreign to his skill set. You weren't asking him to do something he couldn't do. Each game there's things that he would obviously like to have back or to do over, hope to learn about. But I've loved his approach to the season. He wants to be as good as he can be. He wants to work at it. That I've appreciated. I think he's like our team: far from where we want to be, but have done some good things. The things we can get better at are correctable. Q. This is more general about college football. They run a quarterback that carries the football an awful lot, takes a lot of hits. How concerned are you when you put in a wrinkle like the zone read that's going to get your quarterback hit a lot? COACH CHRYST: You're always concerned about hits on the quarterback, whether it's dropping back and throwing the ball, or in the quarterback run game. I think you're always trying to measure it. It's a contact sport. When you do incorporate some of those quarterback runs or options to run the ball, you know the percentages go up for a chance for a hit. You have to be smart, gauge it. It's risk/reward a little bit. I think it fits what we ask him to do, his skill set. I think it's the right thing. Q. Obviously to have the running attack that you do with an outstanding big back, but you also have to have a good offensive line. The guy I wanted to ask about was T.J. Clemmings. He's listed at 315. How does he use that size to his advantage? What kind of athlete is he at tackle for you? COACH CHRYST: The latter part is what kind of gives him a chance to be good. He is an athletic big guy. As he continues to gain confidence and comfort with the position, his second year, hasn't played 20 games at offensive tackle yet. As he gains comfort with it, trusts himself, just seeing things, playing it. He never played it in high school. Didn't play it till last year. As his confidence grows, he can use his athleticism to his advantage. He works in his preparation, wants to be good. In the run game he's got the idea of he'll want to try to finish blocks. He's been a fun guy to be around. As you see him go, he hasn't been perfect this year, but he's done some really good things for us. You hope that even though he's a senior, he can still make improvement during the year here. It's still relatively new to him. Q. What was his position before he moved to tackle? COACH CHRYST: Defensive end. Q. Do you ordinarily flip guys from one side of the line to the other? What did he show that you thought that might be a good conversion for him? COACH CHRYST: Certainly his frame. He had to put on some weight. He looks good. Doesn't look like he's an overweight guy. He's carrying the weight naturally. Just felt like it would be good for our team and for him personally to make the move after we were with him for a year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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