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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 5, 2016

Dino Babers

Greensboro, North Carolina

DINO BABERS: We played a fine Notre Dame team, and we weren't just quite able to answer the bell in the second half. We thought we played a first half with them that gave us an opportunity to maybe have a chance to win the game in the second half. But based off of the things that happened in the third quarter, it got away from us very quickly.

Outstanding staff, fine athletes, and I'm sure they're going to get their season turned around. It's something that they're going to really be proud of. Excellent football team.

Q. To take a look at Wake Forest on film, just what are your biggest takeaways at this point going into the Saturday night match-up?
DINO BABERS: Just another fine Dave Clawson football team. I have a lot of respect for Coach Clawson, obviously following him into Bowling Green and being able to see the inner-foundations of his programs and how he builds them.

So we know we're going against a year three Clawson foundation, and we know what that means -- a strong kicking game, excellent defense, and a very opportunistic offense. They're not going to beat themselves. You're going to have to find a way to win the football game, because they normally don't lose it.

Q. As far as assessing your defense at this point with the scheme you're trying to institute at Syracuse, just what you've taken away from these first five games and going into practice this week, how you've been and how you go forward with your scheme?
DINO BABERS: Well, we go forward the same way we've always done. Obviously the numbers don't look good, but when you look at our opponents and the people we've played -- Louisville, Notre Dame, a very, very good University of South Florida football team, along with Colgate and Connecticut -- I think our record is kind of what a lot of people thought our record would be.

Now, we thought we'd be a little bit better than that, but I think we're right on pace. We have to keep doing what we're doing. We've had a bunch of injuries, but nobody wants to hear about that stuff. We'll find 11 on offense and 11 on defense, and we'll go out there and give them our best shot.

Q. You've kind of talked about when you expect to see the offense develop, and it's mid-way through year two and maybe with Syracuse this year it's a little longer, but I'm curious, when you look at the defense, is there a point in time where you expect a jump or multiple jumps to be made?
DINO BABERS: Normally, I would be able to comment on that, and math is my baby. I love dealing with the numbers. But we're so young. When you've got 18-year-old defensive linemen rushing against 21-, 20-, 21-, 22-year-old guys from Notre Dame that are 6'7", 300-something pounds and about to get drafted in the first three rounds, it's hard.

It's going to be hard to estimate exactly when this is going to turn around, especially with all the injuries on the back end. I think we have really, really good linebackers, and I think our linebackers make a lot of good plays for us. But I can't put a number on when the D-line and the back end's going to be able to come along.

Q. This is switching gears a little bit. You obviously could be in for some inclement weather at Wake Forest. How does that affect game planning? Do you have multiple game plans in preparation for a rainy, windy day, a clear day, no rain? How do you get ready for something like that?
DINO BABERS: You're right. You've got to prepare for both situations if you're going to give your team a chance. You've got to do the wet ball drills. You've got to prepare for wind. You've got to know if you can get the snap from shotgun and whether you need to go underneath the center. You have to prepare for all that stuff.

Q. I know you've talked in the past with the style of offense you play and so many other offenses are playing now, that you can't go by the traditional defensive metrics of measuring success and failure for a defensive team. I'm wondering if there are specific things that you do look at numbers-wise? You said you're kind of a math guy, to kind of measure success for your defense. And how do you talk to those guys who certainly might be getting down after giving up 4- or 500 yards in a game? And you have to look at that and say it's not necessarily an unsuccessful effort?
DINO BABERS: Some of those yards aren't the defense's fault. Some of those times it's too many three-and-outs and giving those other teams too many opportunities to get an extra two, three, four drives versus our defense that affects those numbers.

But I think the biggest thing about defenses nowadays is you want to know how many three-and-outs they're getting, how many turnovers are they giving. Are they able to score on defense and affect the game, and then what happens to them in the red zone? If they have stout red zone defense where they don't give up touchdowns and they have a percentage where they give a lot more field goals up in touchdowns, those are things that jump out at me mathematically about good defenses.

Q. Five games in, is this a sense that your offense is ahead of schedule from what you thought or your defense is right where you thought it would be in year one?
DINO BABERS: I wouldn't say we're ahead of schedule at all. We're making a lot of mistakes offensively. Just like the defense is making mistakes, the offense is making mistakes. I think that the rolodex of players that we've been moving in and out of offensively and defensively in the kicking game is affecting us. But that has to solidify as well. Hopefully we can get through a couple games where we don't have too many injuries and we can get the same guys in the same positions and run the same 11 out there on offense and kicking game and solidify this.

I just think from a physical standpoint and mental standpoint that things are breaking down one spot at a time on different plays, and that's affecting the overall effectiveness of all three phases.

Q. I know throughout the beginning part of the season you talked about Eric running and wanting him to be more of a passer and talking about him being a Russell Wilson and being smarter when he runs. How would you assess where he is recently? I know he ran a lot against Notre Dame. How would you assess how he did?
DINO BABERS: The one time he did the Russell Wilson, he almost got his head taken off. You know. I think he's been giving us exactly what we want. I think he's been relatively smart with it. I think he's much better than he was last year based off the tapes that I've seen so far. I think as he continues to grow, he'll be better and better at it.

Q. Kind of wanted to talk about the young defensive line you pointed to earlier. Josh Black didn't get his first playing time until the USF game, but keeps getting more and more. What have you seen from him that's impressed you and why does he keep getting more time on the field?
DINO BABERS: Josh is another freshman that's out there playing for us that's a bigger young man. He's got a nice motor. He's starting to grasp the defense, and he's making less and less mental mistakes. But he's also a physical young body. He's not as strong as he needs to be yet, but he's a big ole person.

Once he gets done realizing how strong he needs to be to play in this ACC and to play the schedule that we play here at Syracuse and we get an off-season in him and another off-season in him, I think he'll be one of the better players in the conference.

Q. I guess a follow-up, it wasn't against Notre Dame, it was him on one side and Kendall on the other. Obviously you're saying some of these young 18-year-olds, it's tough for them. But do you like the idea of the two of them growing together as freshmen and moving on together to make that line better?
DINO BABERS: You know, I go back to two-a-days when some reporter asked me about the freshman thing. And I can't remember. Some coach said every freshman that you have starting is going to be a loss on your record. Then the next thing is what's so great about starting freshmen? I said, well, the thing that's great about it is next year they're sophomores.

And if we're taking our lumps now, and we've got some outrageous numbers being put on our docket, on our tablet, but if these guys stay healthy and they stay with us and keep growing, down the road I think we're going to have some exciting times here on the defensive side of the ball.

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