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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE
November 14, 2016
Tallahassee, Florida
COACH FISHER: Hello, everyone.
Very proud of our team from the other night. Continuing to play more consistent, playing better football. I thought the defense was outstanding in the game. They did a great job, in my opinion, of leveraging the football very well, a lot of their speed sweep and things that caused a lot of teams problems.
What they did, they still played the interior rims very well, physical inside, tackled well, kept good leverage. Got them in long yardage situations, and we were able to get off the field, pressure the quarterback, cover the people we needed to cover. Did a really good job controlling the football game, and I believe they had less than 100 yards total offense until we took some out in the fourth quarter.
Our young guys can still get better. We saw a lot of young players in there making plays, getting better in a lot of key roles, early in the game, late in the game, different times. So very proud of those guys.
Our offense was very efficient, started very well. Scored the first two drives. It was critical, two big third downs, red zone conversions on those two passes. Instead of being up 6-0, you're up 14-0, which is critical being able to convert those downs was very big. Moved the ball well. Ended up running the ball against a team that's tough. Sometimes they can make it ugly. They do some things up front and the way they play can give you negative plays and blitz and do some things. But then you can hit some plays. We had to play over the top. Some of our young receivers, Travis Rudolph played outstanding. Travis caught back shoulder fades, did everything, blocked well, did everything. Auden Tate made some plays over the top, made a couple of touchdown catches. Dooley did a nice job, Kermit, all the receivers did a nice job in what they did. Dalvin played outstanding again in what he did. Did a nice job blocking, and 12 did a nice job running with the football at times when we had to do that with numbers and things that go on. So mix that in.
Special teams, Logan kicked the ball very well. Punted the ball much better, much more consistent. His punting, his spots, his hang times, his distances were much better. Kicked off well. Also, hit a nice field goal, which was good to see, that he could come in and do that there. We covered well on kicks and played pretty solidly.
So we've got to put that one behind us very quickly, get ready to go for a long trip all the way up to Syracuse. The Dome is an extremely tough place to play, always has been. They play extremely well there. They play home there like it's no other. They play their tails off there and beat some really good football teams in there this year.
Offensively, they throw the ball around. Dungey is the quarterback. I know he didn't play last game. We don't know what he'll do this game. We're planning on him playing, and we'll adjust from there. It doesn't really matter because they've got outstanding -- they've got two guys over 70 catches at wideout. They throw the ball around. The big guy also that can catch the ball down the field.
And they're guys that they just make plays everywhere. Ishmael and -- he's Number 3, and he'd been their big guy before, Philips. I'm not sure how you say that, Etta-Tawo, but Number 7 is a heck of a player. The little returner, Estime and all them, those guys, they can make plays, they're quick, they screen you, formation of boundary going 100 miles an hour, and all of a sudden they'll pop a draw and trap up inside and play you very well.
So it will be a huge challenge. They'll try to get as many plays in as they can. We'll have to rotate a lot of players and keep the guys fresh.
Defensively, starting blitz up front. A lot of blitzes, a lot of movements inside with the tackles and the ends. A lot of twist gains, which make it very difficult to pick things up. You've got to be able to do that, find multiple coverages, do a good job. The return game is very well. Their little returner -- I say little, but he's fast. He's quick and athletic, and good punt returners, good kick returners. And playing up there, like I said, they'll be one heck of a football team.
So we're going to have to play well. I think it's a great challenge for our team now that we're learning to play better. Now we've got to go on the road, and hopefully we can continue to play better and do it from start to finish. So it will be a huge challenge for us going up there, and I'm anxious to just watch our guys go.
Q. What's the latest on DeMarcus Walker? We saw him --
COACH FISHER: He'll be fine. He's going to play. He had a little nick. Guys put them in boots like that a lot of times just to keep pressure off of things, nicks and that. He'll be ready to go.
Q. Can you talk about the third down defense. How big was that (indiscernible) to have that success?
COACH FISHER: You've got to do it. It's part of growing. It's another step forward in what you're doing, playing situational football. That was the key, and third down is one of the huge, huge situations. Guys did a much better job pressuring, covering, and contesting all the throws.
Q. And just the defense overall, what do you see in their improving?
COACH FISHER: Just continually -- how they practice. I've been seeing it in the practice, and I've been seeing it for a while, but now we're starting to take it to the game. That's where young players have to do that, and they're starting to feel confident. You're starting to see them play faster, more intelligently, reacting, not thinking.
It's not they don't know what to do. They don't trust themselves. When you're young like that, you don't ever trust -- it's like you in your job. When you first got your job and they told you to write up your first big story, you didn't just jump in and go all right. You were make sure I do it right. You can't play football like that. You've got to pull the pin and play. That's part of growing up and maturing. They're doing it every day, doing it in practice, and now they're taking it to the field and playing better and better.
Q. Coach, Deondre got banged up --
COACH FISHER: He'll be fine. You saw him on the field, he did like that, "I'm fine." We pulled him out to check him. Sean was playing well. We feel very comfortable with Sean in the game, game was in hand. Sean needed to work anyway and get ready to go. But he'll be fine. He'll be ready to go, like he always is.
Q. How much does your offense (no microphone).
COACH FISHER: No. They still throw the heck out of it. They still move it around. NC State was 21-20. They still threw it for a bunch of yards and moved it up and down the field. They're still going to do what they do.
Of course, Dungey, their outstanding player, he creates so many plays with his legs. That guy is a heck of a football player. You go watch him on tape, scrambling, making throws. He's smart, very deceivingly athletic. He's a really good athlete, strong, instinctive, tough. He's a really good player.
But the other guy, they still moved it with him. They've got skilled receivers and backs and big guys. They do a good job.
Q. Syracuse has had some good teams in the past. Do you think bringing in a coach like Coach Babers has kind of injected some life into it? Does it feel that way in the coaching community?
COACH FISHER: I mean, you always -- Dino's been very successful everywhere he's been. He's utilizing his personnel extremely well. You have a lot of skill guys there. If you go back in history, from "Rocket" Ismail to all the guys that played there, McPhersons and McNabbs, they've had some great, great, great players. And the history -- I don't know of any school in the history of college football that has a better set of running backs. You go all the way back to the '60s, Csonka, Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, even Joe Morris. You forget about Joe Morris, Jim Brown, all those guys. There was just so many of them.
They had them when McNabb was there, had them in the '80s, have them now. They get skill guys, they really do. And big linemen. They get good linemen and defensive players. They'll do a good job. I think he's a good coach. He'll recruit well there. They've got great history, great tradition.
Q. You've seen Auden Tate get the ball more. Where have you seen him improve the most this year?
COACH FISHER: His ball skills, he's still got a lot of work to do. Route running, he's still cleaning that up. He's learning to run lower. He's doing a much better job. That's where he's learning to get open. And he's learning to be a dominant blocker. That's harder for the big guy than you can think because big guys get on little guys in space, and he's got to continue to use that body in all facets. He's getting better, practicing better, and hopefully he'll continue to grow.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: No, it's always been. Just the opportunities have been. We do a ton of them with K.B., do a ton of them with Rashad. Go back to -- we've always thrown them.
Q. Do you remember when that started to become a thing in football?
COACH FISHER: Probably -- well, throwing, you notice it more probably the last six to eight years because of how much people are really throwing consistently, but the good teams were doing them -- I mean, always. You always did them. I think it's just become more relevant because so many people are spreading the field. Everybody -- all the zones -- what happened is everybody is playing zone. Then people knew how to throw the ball, and they're throwing it like the West Coast. The ball is getting out of your hands, and you're tired of giving up six, eight-yard gains.
So you start playing man. When you play man, you got to pick it, rub it, bunch it, or run by it. If you can't run by it and the guy's on top of you, throw it on the back shoulder. The last six, eight, ten years, it's become an art, that's for sure.
I think when the bigger receivers -- you go back to tradition. When the big receiver came in, that's when it started happening too. When everybody started playing with the big, big bodies because everybody wanted the little fast guys, and all the big guys couldn't -- not all your big guys can run fast, but you can't cover them. It's like a rebound. They put you on the hip. It's what you're doing. Put it on the front hip, throw it on the back hip. On the back hip, throw it on the front hip. Size. Like K.B. did for us that was so big.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: They're growing up doing it more and more. How many times we do it a day in practice and the drills you get and one-on-one. When you get one-on-one, we work so much of that.
Just guys are getting -- it's like throwing a football in general, and they're all doing it at earlier ages, seven-on-sevens, and you're becoming more equipped at -- like shooting a three-pointer. Whoever thought Steph Curry would be shooting a three like that in the NBA even back when Doc -- you thought Larry Bird and those guys were phenomenal. Now look at what this guy's doing.
The game keeps evolving and at younger ages, and I think that's what's happening with the passing game. That's why big DBs are critical.
Q. (No microphone).
COACH FISHER: I've only been there one time. I don't know. I've only been there one time, but it was loud. We won, but it was a heck of a game. I think the indoors, the metal bleachers and the way it echos in there, it's a different sound, a different presence. It's an older dome. It's just tough. It's always been a tough place to play.
Q. Did you watch any teams on Saturday?
COACH FISHER: I watched some. Off and on, I did.
Q. Was it cool to do that on a Saturday?
COACH FISHER: It was. Off and on, I was messing with the kids and had some friends over and things, after I get all my work done in the evenings. It was good just to watch and see all the craziness.
I mean, you see there's so many good football teams out there right now. I mean, guys that, as I said -- in our league, I've told you, our league has become a heck of a league. Just watching Wake Forest and Louisville. I think Wake Forest has a heck of a defensive football team now. Watching Pitt, how they evolved back. And watching Georgia Tech come back on Virginia Tech, and Clemson.
Man, there's just so many good players, and you watch the other leagues, and it's just crazy.
Q. I think it was last week, you talked about how the playoffs (no microphone). At the same time, what's the list of teams --
COACH FISHER: See, that was funny. Think about -- I said this. Think about when we were in that thing. We were undefeated, hadn't lost in two years, but game control. I haven't heard game control anymore. Did that one go out of the equation? You know what I'm saying?
Now they're talking about -- and it's funny because they said 2, 3, and 4 lost, but they all control their own destiny. I was actually walking into the kitchen, and I went huh? I mean, they do as I thought about it, but it's funny hearing it. When you lose late -- that's why I always say they remember November. You lose in November, it's detrimental. Alabama, think about this, they won two of their National Championships with losses in November, with late losses in the season, which used to be that couldn't happen. Now that's winding out.
They're saying now, you lose now, but you still could control -- which I think is right. I'm not saying I'm disagreeing, but it's funny how this thing has flipped in so many different angles and the way it went from game control -- winning didn't matter, just you didn't control the game. Whoever controls all the games? I mean, that happens every Blue moon, certain great teams.
You look at every team we got, we're sitting there 7-3, could be 9-1, or another game or two, we're down. But name me a team in the country that isn't like that. Clemson's had three or four tough wins. Louisville's had Virginia and Duke and all that. Everybody -- I mean, other school, Michigan, Ohio State. You name me a team that doesn't do that, and all of a sudden, the loss is just -- it's funny hearing the rhetoric. It's going crazy because people take things and twist them however they want to twist them. But I agree because of the other losses and where everything is.
It's just so funny how this whole thing is -- man, it's changed. And I'm going to tell you what, I'm not sure it's not in more chaos now than it was during the BCS.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: I heard somebody today say, if Ohio State wins out, but Penn State would be put in, and if they won out in the Big Ten Championship, Penn State would be in the game over Ohio State with two losses because they beat them but they still had two losses, which could happen. I'm not saying that. Then you have two losses to a head-to-head win. We're changing the criterias.
I'm not saying it's going to happen, but just one of the scenarios they thought would happen. How could that happen? They beat them head-to-head, but they've got two losses. That other loss doesn't count as much as that?
I understand if you got one loss head-to-head. It's how you look. Get the four best teams. The problem is there's no criteria and it changes. It makes for great stories. You all can write a zillion of them, but it's just funny, from game control to losses don't matter to this doesn't matter. Now a Conference Championship matters, but it doesn't matter. Wow, fun, isn't it? It is kind of. It is for the public because you got something to argue about all the time, and you all get clicks on your websites. So you all can keep rolling.
You created what you wanted.
Q. Does it anger you looking back at that?
COACH FISHER: No, it doesn't anger me. Actually, that stuff doesn't ever anger me because it's just funny how things -- how the world evolves and changes, and we have to. That's part of growing. You learn from things in the past. That's how we learn and move on in the world. It was just funny hearing it. You sit and listen to it and go, wow, how that has changed.
Q. Coach, saying all that, is four teams too small a field for the playoffs?
COACH FISHER: I'm going to say this now. To keep it, eventually it's going to 8 and 16. You can bank on it. It's going to happen, and you're going to have to because it keeps it going. I'm going to say this now. You'd better add more scholarship people. You'd better put more money in your programs.
You go play -- like us, you end up with a Florida and play a Conference Championship and then go play three or four playoff games against that caliber of competition and the physicality of the game and what goes on, you ain't got enough players to finish the year. You better get some five for fives, like a lot of these freshmen that can play the second half of the year and getting them in, and you'd better up the scholarship total.
These young guys don't get treated like a pro guy and get treatment ten hours a day. They've got classes and other things and are limited in what they've got to do. You're opening up another Pandora's box, which goes into what goes on. You're talking about 15, 16, 17-game schedules, which is the NFL. It's going to head that way. It's almost got to.
Right now, I always said this, in the BCS, very rarely did they ever get it wrong when you got to the final two. You're talking about four? It's been an argument every year, and this year's it's going to be unbelievably chaotic how it searches out, in my opinion.
Q. You're talking about Clemson?
COACH FISHER: And that's why I say -- all right. You say Louisville should get -- Louisville is outstanding against anybody, but they didn't even win their division. Then Clemson has to play a Conference Championship Game to win their Championship, but if they lose, it penalizes them for going. It's like Alabama did a few years ago. They didn't win the SEC and won the National Championship. Didn't even win their division, remember when they had the rematch with LSU, and that happens.
But we've got to get some things -- because the ultimate thing is to get the four best teams, which I understand, which is great, but are you punishing Louisville because they didn't win it? I mean, it's all crazy.
Q. I saw something about (no microphone). To be in the playoffs, they probably have to win the SEC Championship.
COACH FISHER: Now I remember this. When we won the National Championship when I was at LSU, if you remember this, Oklahoma lost the Big 12 Championship game. You remember that? Kansas State beat them with Darren Sproles. And they were so far ahead in the BCS, they got in. It should have been LSU and USC instead of -- because remember they had to split. The AP gave them the -- you writers wanted to all give them one. They won one, and they split it because of that. But it was because remember they lost --
Why is that? So far ahead in what? I ain't seen a rankings or a points thing or -- at least then you had the points there and you could see where it came from. That's what I'm saying. We don't -- we're playing the Championship without the same set of rules, same number of games, and what's the criteria? Think about that. And it's a billion dollar business. That's America.
Q. You think the Conference Championship should be a prereq?
COACH FISHER: I don't know if it's a prereq because what if you've got the three best teams in the same conference? Just like on our side, you've got Clemson, Louisville, Florida State. Every year you're talking about maybe a team with one loss that gets left out, like a Louisville team that possibly could or may not and really could be one of the best four teams in America.
It wasn't when you went in the BCS and Alabama won it. That's a big criteria to ask. One side of the conference is dominant, like the SEC East -- excuse me. SEC West is a lot more dominant than the SEC East right now in teams. You know what I'm saying? Your being on that side, you get punished, and schedules, and that's what I'm saying. Man, it's crazy right now because you're still divided by conference is what makes for a National Championship even harder to contend through, in my opinion.
Q. Do you think that the conference should give the two best teams overall for the conference title?
COACH FISHER: How do you play them all? You've got 14-team conferences. How do you know what's the two best teams?
Q. Best record, I think.
COACH FISHER: It should be by -- but who you play in that schedule can affect your record. So I mean, by saying the two best teams, what does that mean? If the two best on one side, or the three best on one side, if they were on the other side, they could be the best. There's no answer for it. Really, it's crazy.
Q. Do you know what the BCS does to determine this?
COACH FISHER: The first 16, that's what I'm saying. To go play 16 games here, they only play 10 or 11 regular season games. 12 and a Conference Championship, that's 13. Then you add four more games, it's a 17-game schedule.
The physicality at this level, it's like pro football. Division I football is unbelievably physical, but I'm going to tell you this, it ain't pro football. Those are grown men. Why do you think there's only 50, 60 plays in a game? You don't see the 70, 80, 90 plays. Their bodies couldn't take it consistently to do a whole season of that. You couldn't take the collisions. It's like a car. You only got so many collisions in you.
You start adding games, that's good, but you're starting to talk about doing that in college play, 90, 100 plays a game, and the amount of snaps and the wear and tear on the body and what goes on. We don't think about that. We think about the Championships.
Think about the kids, and what you're taking off of it in expanding this. That's great, but you'd better expand scholarships. You'd better expand physical, the ability to rehab them, do them, have more time with them, spend more time with them. There's a whole other animal of things, if you're going to do it right, to do it. And the money it's going to take to invest in to make sure your program is good enough to be in that level, and scholarships.
Q. Jimbo, I know that you talked about changing the criteria, but how much should margin of victory play into it?
COACH FISHER: It shouldn't because that's not good for football. To sit there and run the score up on somebody, and you don't know -- how did that day, just because you run it up, but maybe they had seven injuries. How can you weigh that? What if they've got six guys out, seven guys out? They got four guys out. You play them at full strength.
Margin of victory is so up and down, it's the dumbest. If that's the case, you'd never play a game. You could predict the game every week. That team beat them by 30.
And matchups by how teams play also is different. It's like boxing. I mean, why would Frazier always give Ali -- that was the one style that bothered him, and he beat him once, right? But the other two were blood baths to the end. He knocks Foreman out in the eighth round and beats him to death.
Styles make football games too. That's the thing that you don't -- the writers don't realize. What your strength is compared to their weakness and their weakness and styles of teams that match up. Like teams that line up and play I-formation and run football at Alabama, those big D-linemen and the way they're built. I don't care if you get Jim Brown and Earl Campbell and pull them out, neither one is going to have 100 yards because of style.
But teams that spread it do -- just different people, I'm saying, you know what I mean? Athletics is matchups and styles and ability to be versatile and do things. I mean, that's -- so point criteria to me is one of the dumbest things you can do, the difference in the game in points. It's one of the dumbest things you can do, period, for people that don't really understand what's going on in sports.
Q. Jimbo, it seemed like the linebackers have been playing better the last couple of weeks. Is that experience?
COACH FISHER: Experience, getting play in, triggering the front guys of doing a better job of taking on double-teams. They're triggering, reading keys better, getting downhill. They're playing better and taking it from the practice field to the game field.
Q. (No microphone). Kind of anxious to see how they're going to do?
COACH FISHER: I am, in the space they play in, how to get leverage, how they recognize, that's the key. That's like it is. They'll crank it up and go fast. You're going to have to get recognition, make plays, make the calls, and be able to go. It will be. It's a challenge.
Again, it goes back to huge eye violations. I say this. Driving down the road at 30 miles an hour, and they're going 100 miles an hour. That's the best way I can make for a normal person to understand when those guys go fast, and you have to recognize things. They can do it. It's like a NASCAR driver. They sit at 200 miles an hour, and they see everything. But you've got to get used to it and get practice with it, and hopefully we've got that by now.
Q. Watching the other teams play, do you see you're not the only one that has had the questionable charging call?
COACH FISHER: I mean, it is. That's the other thing. You got to invest in things. I think investing in development -- I think those guys are wonderful, and I think invest in their futures too by paying them, taking care of them, paying them salaries, training them, and making them full-time employees. You've got a billion dollar business. Why not invest in something like that in it's something that critical? You know what I'm saying? Invest in your money.
I'm not saying they do a bad job. It's like us as a coach. The more I see things, the more I learn. If I could keep that as my main recognition -- our game, I thought, was called extremely well here. One or two little things, which you have in every game. But I thought he does a great job.
I think he does a great job.
But you see them in every conference. It's not just -- you got to understand something. My whole point on that whole thing was they're changing lives and careers and jobs, and nothing's -- kid gets criticized. Kid gets blasted. Coaches do. That was my whole point. We're all in this thing together. It's all one product.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: I mean, to get rules for the Championship -- that's so far away, in my opinion, because of the power of the conferences, you know what I'm saying? I'm just saying, in a perfect world, we're far from that, aren't we?
Q. Jimbo, Logan Tyler had a 53-yard field goal. How strong is he in practice?
COACH FISHER: He's in the 60s. He's got a great leg, real long leg. He got one in a competition one time, off the ground, not off a tee, but he hit one 75. I mean, it was high school. But in a game situation, that's a whole different animal. He kicks them a long ways.
Q. Jimbo, Dalvin broke the 4,000 career yards. How much pride does this offensive line take in his getting the record?
COACH FISHER: I think they do. Again, as crazy as it sounds, we don't ever think of those things. We want a guy that works hard, but individual records come within the team concept. That's how we look at it, and that's the way it goes.
They take a lot of pride in him. They respect what he does and what a great teammate he is. He supports them 100 percent, supports the quarterbacks, everybody. He's a tremendous, tremendous human being.
Q. Dalvin's breakout game in 2014, do you recall his coming into the offense at that time?
COACH FISHER: If you remember in that game, Mario Pinder had an outstanding game, had about 60, 70 yards in the quarter, had two touchdowns, had a catch, he was about to break a 90-yard run, and our center was blocking the guy and veered off and hit him and tripped his ankle and did a high ankle sprain. Dalvin comes in and just runs -- just an explosion, this vision, and all that.
But that's how close guys' careers and how things get changed by funny scenarios. He was on pace for probably a 150, 200-yard day and was playing great. But when Dalvin come in -- the thing I always remember about Dalvin, even coming in as highly recruited as he was, very quiet and humble. Remember he slipped and fell in the weight room. Remember he hurt his shoulder? You all forget this. He didn't go through spring, he fell and had shoulder surgery. He was going up the steps and went to catch himself, screwed up his shoulder and had surgery and missed it. Then he got healthy that year, went back, and played about half of the year.
But never was an entitlement guy. That's the one thing I remember about him. What I mean, highly recruited, never thought anything was owed to him, done to him. He just came in, yes, sir, no, sir, went to work. Every time he got an opportunity, we went, dadgum, we're going to have to give this ball to him a little more. Just the way he went about his business, like a quiet demeanor, but then it got loud when the ball went in his hand and when he got on the field and the way you want a guy to come into your program.
I mean, you go back, he hit it there. In the Louisville game, he had six or eight carries, about 98 yards in the game up there, where he had two big touchdown runs, and just started really -- remember the Miami game, down there at Miami his freshman year, broke the big run and put us ahead?
Sometimes he was only getting six, eight, ten carries a game. Most guys are like, Coach, give me -- he was what do you want me to do? That's what I remember about him in those games. It was no -- just can I help the team? Boom, go play great. To me, that's the greatest compliment you can give anybody.
Q. Those young guys that got in late in that game, are there any standouts?
COACH FISHER: A lot of them on defense got in early. I think the young receivers are getting better. I'm proud of them. Ryan Green had a couple of nice runs. Jacques, his role playing behind a phenomenally great player. Those young linemen did okay. Mavin continues to keep playing, doing a good job. I consider him young because he's still a sophomore. Anybody off the top of your mind you're asking?
Q. On special teams, like Emmett Rice?
COACH FISHER: Yes, really, made three or four -- not only that, you go watch him on kickoff returns. He's been blocking the heck out of people. I don't know whether he's got a magnet in his pocket because he finds his guy and knocks him out, and blocking in space and plays in space. He played really good on defense too. He and D. Jack, those guys are going to be good young linebackers now. He's explosive and really learning what to do and consistent. He's explosive and athletic and great space player, but very physical. Very fast twitch, but very physical.
Q. Did you say that Dalvin slipped in the weight room?
COACH FISHER: He was going up the stairs. He was jogging up the stairs and just caught himself. You know what I mean? Caught his toe. I said only me. It can only happen here.
Q. But back to your 2014 game, he was kind of your workhorse in that game, with Jameis struggling a little bit.
COACH FISHER: We weren't getting open at receiver. We popped those runs, and he got hit 100 some yards that game. Then you start seeing it, then you start giving him multiple carries, and you start seeing the ability to be physical and take punishment and run. That's when you start really waking up and going, man.
If you remember, he had a great playoff game. I know he had the two fumbles, but those are 20 yards. He had 170 yards in two quarters and unfortunately had the two fumbles, which are critical in the game, but against big time competition. You knew then he had a chance to be a special player.
Q. (No microphone).
COACH FISHER: No, Ricky Leonard. Ricky Leonard will be right there until Brock -- he's got a little problem. We'll see how he heals. He'll probably sit out a day or so, and then he'll go. Ricky gave up one right there on that guy, but once he got going in the game, picked up two or three really nice twists. Played physical, did a nice job.
Q. Do you think it has something to do with the way he's practicing?
COACH FISHER: He's been practicing real well. Just played his tail off. He was ready to play, but we had a good continuity going so we didn't do it. But Brock hadn't been struggling like that, but that guy made everybody struggle.
Q. Does it look like Derwin James could be back for a Bowl game.
COACH FISHER: He won't be back during the regular season. So it would have to be a Bowl game if he comes back. We'll have to wait and see what the timetable is with him.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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