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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 12, 2015Paul ChrystMadison, Wisconsin THE MODERATOR: Head Coach Paul Chryst is here. We will have some opening comments then take questions. COACH CHRYST: Certainly proud of the way guys kept playing Saturday and the number of guys that had to contribute. I think it was big. I think we have a team right now that still has room for growth, and we need to focus on that this week. Excited to be back home and playing Purdue this week, but there is a lot of areas I think that -- and some positives we can build on and certain areas we've got to clean up, and we've got to own those, and I think it's a team right now that -- best part about last week was finding a way to win it. We've got to learn how to play in close games and know that the margin of error as you get into Big Ten play is less and less, and there are just so many lessons you can learn from each game, and we gotta take those lessons and improve. It was good again to get some guys, you know, Bo Benzschawel, I thought, did a nice job for his first start and first game action, and other guys stepped up in maybe a little different type roles, so we gotta keep going and get better this week. Q. Paul, you mentioned Bo. What specifically did you like about what he was able to do, and A, were you also surprised he went the distance, and to follow up what's the status of Dan Voltz for this week? COACH CHRYST: I thought, you know, Bo did a nice job, I thought, in his -- while he was not able to fully practice of doing a great job, and Ross and the guys in the weight room making sure he was ready to go when he was kind of fully cleared, and I thought that -- I thought offensively, you know, what did we throw it, 50-some times? I thought our guys did a nice job of protecting, and I thought Joel actually stood in there and took some hits on those, but I think, you know, Bo did a nice job of all the work prior to it, so that he was able to go the distance on it. Dan, we will find out more through practice and all that, but we were told today it was a sprain, which is good news, so it's a matter of just getting him back, and I think he will have a brace with it but just getting him comfortable with that. Q. What do you see from Purdue Boilermakers? You can look at their record but then they almost knock off Michigan State? COACH CHRYST: I think they do a nice job offensively. I think they do a nice of spreading you out and then giving you a number of different looks, so you -- similar to the other spread teams you play you've got to have great eye discipline, and you are going to be on islands, and you're going to have to tackle in space. You know, I think they've got a number of different playmakers, running back, I think they've got a good group of receivers, and the quarterback makes some things happen, so I think they're a team that when they're clicking, they're very explosive. And, defensively, I think they've got, again, a scheme that fits their personnel, and I think they've got a couple of players that we certainly have to make sure that we pay attention to, and you're going to have to earn what you get. So right now we spent yesterday and the first part of today, but we've still got a lot more studying to do of them, but you can see not just in that game, other games, they've had close games and played -- played good football. You know, so it's -- I'm looking forward to our guys getting the chance to -- some of them -- a lot of them have watched it, but getting to know this team, and we certainly have to play well. Q. Paul, coaches always say if some guy goes out the next guy has to step in and play, but how has the front line handled six games, four starting combinations, how does that look once you look at the tape? COACH CHRYST: I think we have had guys step up and step in, and you appreciate what they've been doing. A lot of this group doesn't know any different, and so how are they handling it? They don't have the comparative to it and I think that that's just part of the -- it's the hand you're dealt, and I think guys have been helpful to each other. I think that's one thing, when you do go through it, whoever it may be, they were that guy, so I think that you can pass along things that might help. And I think there has been some individuals -- I think, you know, Walker has done a nice job of swinging and not getting stuck in "this is my spot," type of a deal. So I think it takes all their personalities, all the work and certainly Joel and Billy and what they're doing, but I don't know if they know -- I think Dan and Tyler do, but other than that, I don't know if they know what it's like to have consistency. Q. Paul, there seems to be an abnormal amount of injuries around the country. How has that impacted you and coaches in general on maybe contact in practice and changes over your time here? COACH CHRYST: It's interesting. I think you always want to know what's going on in trends, and as we went and studied early, even in camp when they come in -- if the injuries come late in practice or late in camp or if it's all a certain, let's say, drill or types of drills, then that's easier to -- you've pinpointed it now. A lot of our -- personally our injuries have not been that, and so it's a little bit harder. You know, we're fortunate, we've got a lot of really good resources here and we use those and try to gauge each guy and where he's at and what the volume of work he's getting is, and I think that's when -- and you have to handle it on an individual case-by-case basis. So I think it's getting to know your team and getting to know your players. I don't know, Dennis, how to explain kind of the trend, if that's what it is. I've been around teams and years here where you see kinda the same injury popping up and maybe it's something you're doing with the way you're training or practicing, but when it's kind of all over the place, it's a little bit harder to pinpoint. Try to gather all the information you can and be cognizant of it and try to be proactive in how you practice and how much -- I think I that there's -- there can be a fallacy that, you know, football is a physical game, and if you don't hit at all -- I think you've got to teach 'em how to properly hit and for them to feel it. So I think there's balances that you try to make, and you're always trying to improve on it so that you certainly don't want anyone to miss time due to injury. We all know it happens, but you don't want to -- you want to try to do everything you can to prevent it from the way you practice and when you hit, how you hit, that's why we tackle every day and teach it. Same thing with blocking, all those things that are part of the game you also want them to feel it. They've got to feel that. So I think hitting can be and should be part of your practices. Now, you can't do it excessively and you have to gauge your players, I think, but you're always trying to look for trends and try to help keep guys healthy. Q. After watching the video, what all do you think went into that fourth quarter offensive performance? COACH CHRYST: You know, I think that really offensively the second half, I think we had five drives and four ended in scores, and one we had the missed field goal. So I think we were doing some things -- we were making some things happen. I think the big thing, Tom, we ended up getting the run game going a little bit and that helped, you know? One of the first plays we had I think Dare had a 30-some yarder, and that helped change the field position, and we had some guys make some plays. I think it was kind of a combination of being able to run the ball and it made some plays. Because it wasn't -- you know, they didn't do anything different defensively, and some of them were the same plays we were running earlier in the game. I thought when you watched the first half, you know, we were one guy here, one guy there, in the run game, and I think we had less of that in the second half. I think that helped us there, and we were able to make some plays. Q. Paul, the Big Ten West has shown itself to be pretty wide open so far. Not that you ever want to lose, but do you think your team can afford another loss and still win the division? Where do you see at the end of the year -- how many losses can your team have and still win this year? COACH CHRYST: I think that's the great thing that I get to live in and want our players to live in, and at the end of the year that will all be decided, and all we have to and should focus on is the week. And when you say that, you focus on the day, so spend no time trying to figure that out. None of it matters if you don't take advantage of every opportunity each week. Q. Back to getting the run going late, how do you resist the urge to not stick with it if you're not having success early? COACH CHRYST: I think you try to make the best assessment you can, what is causing it. I think there are times before when I've gotten away from a play, run or pass, because it doesn't go well, and yet, it may be that -- there's times when I think early in games when you want to see how they're fitting it or a play or two you have to get used to how this guy plays. Through the course of the game you should have a better feel for how either they're defending you or the player is going, so it may be something as simple as let's come back to it, this is why guard tripped, all right? If he doesn't drip, we got a chance. Receiver didn't get his block, that's why it was a minus run, or not a good run. So I think you try to gauge it, and the circumstances of the game, also, I think influences you, maybe too much so at times. I think those are some of the things that you try to assess accurately or maybe if you've had some success with something now they're starting to give us that, so you're trying to do the best you can in factoring all that in. Q. With all the injuries and other set-backs you've had in the running game this year so far, is it much different coaching this offense than the last time you were here and you had established guys up front and guys like Montee ball, guys like that in the backfield? COACH CHRYST: Absolutely it's different. Those guys had all been in the offense for a number of years, and yet the way you coach and how you coach isn't different in the sense of you trying to know your players, how do you help them get better and how do you put them in positions where they can have success? So I think every year is going to be different because your group is different, and that's the fun thing about coaching. Q. Taiwan, is he going to be able to go this week? COACH CHRYST: We'll see during the week. You know, was disappointed for him because I know he was looking forward to playing and tried to give it a go so we'll see how he does this week and I'll let you guys know, I'm sure. (Chuckles.) Q. Paul, back to close games, kind of determining the identity of this team, maybe a scrappy one, one that might age you a little bit, do you think it's going to be like this throughout the season? COACH CHRYST: You never know, and I think that's -- I think that's what's fun about each season. I think that we've got the chance -- depends on how much we keep improving, I think, but you know going in -- I've been lucky to be in this league, and there's always -- that's why I enjoy coaching in this league is that every Saturday is a "big" day so you have to prepare for that. The identity, we talk about it with the players, the season is a book and each game is a chapter, and at the end of the season, we'll know how the book ends, but right now our two Big Ten games have been close, and I think we've played two good teams, and we're going to continue to play good teams, and we've got to find a way to play within ourselves, and it is fun, though, during the season to see your identity come out, and whatever this is, we just gotta be the best we can be. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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