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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 27, 2010

David Cutcliffe

THE MODERATOR: We now welcome Duke head football coach David Cutcliffe. We'll bring on coach, ask for a brief opening statement, then go to questions.
Coach.
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Everybody is aware that Navy is coming off a huge win where they dominated Notre Dame. Have another fine team that's become a consistent thing in regards to Navy. Certainly with Ricky Dobbs, one of the better football players that we'll play against. They do a fine job. Extremely impressed.
I'm also very happy with our preparation this week under difficult circumstances. Our team continues to work hard. Our team continues to prepare. We're a morning practice team so we had great work yesterday and this morning. Hopefully we keep working, this process turns into something positive for us quickly.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Cutcliffe.

Q. One thing we didn't talk about, I heard on your radio show, you were talking about being a voter in the coaches poll, the fact you voted Boise number one. Talk about that. A lot of debate nationally. Can you fill us in on your thinking?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: I felt like a year ago when the two went head-to-head, I am extremely impressed with Boise State. I looked at Boise State very closely on tape. You know they played Virginia Tech. I just think they have a heck of a football team, a lot of maturity, very difficult team to beat under any circumstance.
Right now, until somebody proves differently, I really have a high opinion of Auburn right now, although have them third and Oregon second. Oregon has a heck of a football team.
The great part of it as I said on radio last night, it's still early. A lot of things are going to happen between now and the end of the season to make this much more clear.

Q. You coached in the SEC, which most people perceive as the toughest league week in, week out. Can you balance the pressure of having to perform every week against a team like Boise which maybe gets a slightly softer run in their conference?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: I don't think there's any question that they have an easier path. Our conference, the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, doesn't matter really where. When you go on the road in our league, you have to play at somebody's place, you're in jeopardy all the time. We've become familiar with each other. There's a lot of good athletes. We have a lot of good athletes. As you well know, we're not near as poor as people might think looking at our record. So it's difficult. I do agree with that.
I just think this Boise team, with what they've accomplished over a couple years here, what they've been continuously able to do, is a team that I think deserves that opportunity right now.

Q. What is your opinion of your run defense at this point in the season, given the challenges you face with Navy this week?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Navy is obviously a huge challenge. We've played better. I'm not trying to knock on wood here. We were able to contain Virginia Tech's running game. We couldn't contain Tyrod Taylor running or his ability to make big plays throwing. We really handled their run well. Since we were a disaster early in the year, we've come miles and miles and miles.
We just have to go out and play very disciplined, continue that path of getting better to have an opportunity. You don't stop Navy running the football, you just hope to slow them down and prevent big plays.

Q. You just mentioned Tyrod Taylor. Going into the Tech game, you said you had great respect for him. Coming out of that, I respect your evaluation of quarterbacks. What do you think now of Tyrod? If the season ended today, would you consider voting him the ACC Player of the Year?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Yeah, I would certainly consider. We don't have that vote, but I would certainly consider that if we did. I think he is an All-American candidate. I said going into that game, everybody always thinks it's coach talk, I'm not really big on coach talk, that I thought he was the best dual threat quarterback in America. And I do believe that.
He is a guy that has drop-back passing ability. The first ball he threw on a deep-out in our ballgame, I knew he was on. I mean, you could not have laid it in there from an inch away better than he did. I mean, one of our defensive coaches was ready to get on the safety. I said, Hey, there is no answer for that. No, no, no. That's about as good as it gets.
He's just so fast, so agile, so athletic. He loves to compete and play. I like him a lot, as you can tell.

Q. Anything you're doing to prepare for Navy's ground game?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: We had Army, who is really an option attack. We play Georgia Tech every year. They're in our division and league. We spend spring practice time, fall camp time. No matter how much time it is, it's very hard, difficult to simulate the speed and execution that obviously Navy has.
Big challenge. We just have to continue to believe that we can make some big plays. It's what you're going to have to do when you get them behind the chains a little bit.

Q. This part of the season, pretty much in a must-win to make Bowl eligibility. Are you more focused on that or building toward the future of the 2011 season?
COACH CUTCLIFFE: We're thinking about this team, these seniors. Our focus is on one play at a time. We're not getting beyond that right now. We certainly know what's at stake. Kids realize those things. But we have to play as hard as we can play the next play. That's all we can do. Hopefully that starts turning into wins.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thanks for being with us. Good luck this weekend.
COACH CUTCLIFFE: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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