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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 12, 2011

Mike London

COACH LONDON: Good afternoon, everybody. We are anticipating a very good Georgia Tech team that's coming in. Obviously, everyone knows second in the country with points, first in the country with rushing yardage, and second in the country with total yardage. So it's a high-powered offense, and a defense that, with the three-four aspects of it, that presents a little bit of a challenge also.
So we're excited about the challenge. It's another home game for us, nationally televised and homecoming. So we're hoping a lot of people will be there to enjoy the game.

Q. I don't know if you were listening in on Coach O'Brien, the last question he got was about Georgia Tech, and he said you have to pick your poison with Georgia Tech. I'm curious, did you hear what he said, and, two, what do you think about that strategy that he just mentioned?
COACH LONDON: I caught the tail end of that and not the specifics of it. I guess obviously whenever you're dealing with the triple option fact, and actually you add one more element of it and that is the ability to throw the ball as well as they run the ball. As well as you try to dictate or try to create a game plan as to who you want to carry the ball.
You have to be cognizant of the fact that as much as you do that, they do an excellent job of throwing the ball behind you because you get perimeter people involved and you get certain linebackers and do certain stunts, you play manned coverages.
There is a game planning element to it that you try to come up with some things to address the three aspects, the dive, the quarterback, and the pitch, and you try to be as multiple as possible, if you can, to try to change those different looks, because the quarterback has to make his particular reads. So there is a lot of validity to that. As part of what we did a couple practices last week, but particularly the last couple practices here this week.

Q. Coach, I was curious about your goal line back option last year. You had it clearly with Keith Payne, this year you have two relatively undersized backs. It seemed like you were going Parks, but Jones did a good job when Parks was out. I was reading today, I guess, that he was saying they have an option to tell you when they're coming in and coming out. I guess what I'm wondering is do you have a clear delineation when you're inside the 5 that Parks comes in or do you play it by ear?
COACH LONDON: No, it's not -- trust me it's not they choose who is going to go in and who is going to come out. It's more of a situation that the plays may be placated to one or the other.
You're right, last year we had a big back like Keith Payne that had an opportunity to fall forward and make yardages himself. I think this year we've gotten in the red zone and done well in the red zone. So whether it's K.P. or Perry, and now another young man who is starting to play more games, getting more carries is Clifton Richardson. He's a big type of back.
So there is not one particular back that is the guy that has to go in. I think it's just the scheme and the systems that we're using, and then whatever Coach Lazor may call personnel groupings may dictate who will go in the game.
But for us right now there is not a one set guy, a guy that's going to go in and run the ball in for us.

Q. Going back to the question about the option. I'm sure you saw the thing Maryland did with Washington. They had number 11 faking on the drive, and then taking the quarterback on the pitch. Is that something you guys could do?
COACH LONDON: When you watch all the different types of teams whether it's three-four or four-three or lined up to head up twos, two techniques at slant and angle. There are all kinds of techniques the defensive coaches have tried to comprise in order to change the different reads of the quarterbacks.
So what Maryland did, I'm quite sure N.C. State did, I'm quite sure some of the other teams have played against Georgia Tech or have played against that offense. So there is nothing that is exclusive to what one team does versus what they do. It's just that whatever you play in in terms of who you want to carry the ball the most, how you want to change up the looks, who do you want to play the pitch on the perimeter whether it's a corner, or safety, or rolled up corner, those are all parts of the elements of trying to defend this style of attack.
You look at a lot of game film, of a lot of defenses who tried to defend this, and you'll see various techniques. I would say all techniques are on the table for us, and we take into account who we have ourselves and our capabilities of showing different coverages or running line stunts or whatever it may be. What you saw was something that when you look at other games that other teams have done also.

Q. I noticed you have a couple of kids from Georgia since you've gotten there.
COACH LONDON: We've always been in to Georgia. When I was an assistant here, I recruited that area. And Vincent coached high school ball down there not too long ago. You look at most staffs, and there is a geographical area that you go after. Sometimes you also take the coaches on your staff that have been different places and have established relationships in a particular area and Vincent had done that.
Shawn Moore goes down into Atlanta, Anthony Poindexter was in there before, so the Virginia name has been down there. You kind of continue those contacts down there. So I see that that's what's happened in the last couple of years. That's been able to pay off for us because of the relationships that were established.

Q. Would you say this game is important because of visibility purposes in Georgia?
COACH LONDON: This game is important for our program particularly because it's against a national TV game. It's a game against a 12th ranked team in the country who happens to be in the ACC in our conference.
There are implications because of the recruiting part of it. You don't want to play well and then all of a sudden, whatever interest a young man may have in you, not coming out this year, there is a junior, a sophomore that has an opportunity to watch you perform. If you play well, then they may have you on their list, so to speak. If you don't play well, then obviously that could hurt you.
Our goal is to play well, and play well at home with a national televised audience, and just represent some of the things that hopefully we can do to give us a chance to win.

Q. Coach London, how would you characterize your relationship with your former boss, Al Groh, and also your familiarity with him? Do you think that gives you a bit of an advantage?
COACH LONDON: I'll take the latter part of it. Not that it gives me any advantage. Coach Groh has done an excellent job. He's got his mindset in terms of defenses and how he prepares for games. Having been under him and knowing him personally, I mean, very driven and very committed for his players to do well, and to come up with game plans to affect the opposing offense.
Obviously, when I was an assistant here with coach, the relationship was very good, and now since he's gone and he's there and I'm here, it's very professional. It's with the respect that I have for him because of his -- he kind of brought me up through this program. So there is always going to be a measured amount of respect there.
I think more so than anything else, it's not about me versus coach or anything like that. I mean, he's there at Georgia Tech, and he's representing them and trying to win games for them. I'm here at Virginia now and trying to do the same for both of our programs. But, again, there is hopefully a mutual respect and one that they're going to try to do things to beat us, and we're going to try to do things to beat them. But that's a part of the competition of this thing called college football.

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