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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 2, 2011

Al Golden

MIKE FINN: We now welcome Miami head coach Al Golden. We'll bring on Coach Golden, ask for a brief opening statement, then go to questions.
COACH GOLDEN: Obviously we're coming off a tough loss against Virginia. I think our kids have practiced well. You obviously can't make those mistakes. We missed a field goal, fumbled on the 12, came up short on the fourth-and-one on the 13, had some untimely penalties, gave up some explosive plays. As Coach Cutcliffe just said, and clearly the tape shows, we're running into an excellent Duke team.
I know there were some questions yesterday in my weekly press conference here about my future. Again, I just want to make sure I'm clear to everybody that we love it here in Miami. My wife, kids and I and the staff love it here. We got incredible support from the president, our AD Shawn Eichorst. We're certain that support will continue in a number of ways moving forward.
With that, we're getting ready for a really, really tough Duke team who is playing really well. I think the thing that jumps out to me is that they are telling you they don't want you to run the ball on them on defense, and they're doing it. They're doing a great job doing it. They're being physical. They're playing with a lot of eight-man fronts.
I think Matt Daniels at safety is playing as well as anybody in the conference right now. Very active on the football. Interceptions, his tackles. I think Canty back there as well. They do a great job with their scheme. Very active linebackers in Gamble and Brown. Really like the down guys. Seems like they're playing seven or eight down guys. They're doing a great job against the run. They're excellent on third down. Even better in the ACC. Have a veteran secondary. Really doing a good job.
They don't beat themselves with their penalties. I think their time of possession on offense is really a tribute to their quarterback in the system. There's very few teams that can throw the ball as many times as they're throwing the ball. I think their kicking game is excellent. Their punter is having a great year. Their kickoff coverage is excellent. Their kickoff returner Crowder is having a great year. Obviously a great challenge for us here on Saturday.
Any questions I'll open it up to.

Q. Coach, in your previous job at Temple, you had to take over a program that was at rock bottom and build it to the top. Do you see any similarities in what Cutcliffe has had to do with the Duke program?
COACH GOLDEN: Yeah, it's so hard for me to comment on another coach and what they have to do. Here is what I can tell you. What you're seeing now with Duke and Coach Cutcliffe and his staff is you're seeing symmetry. You're seeing a system. That's called good coaching. You could see they're recruiting to a system now. You're seeing a lot more young guys. They're playing a lot more guys than many teams in our league. I don't know if that was the case before. Coach Cutcliffe has to answer that question.
It's hard for me to comment on another program. But clearly you can see this team and this program taking shape. They're playing really good football right now. I know they got our kids' attention. You can always judge by the way your kids practice, by the way they talk about the opponent.
Clearly the way Duke is playing right now, they have our attention. So it's going to be quite a challenge for us on Saturday.

Q. Coming off that loss, what has been the emphasis this week?
COACH GOLDEN: It's always hard to talk about a loss because you start saying how poorly you played. Number one, I want to give credit to Virginia because I thought they played really well. They didn't have a lot of penalties. Turnovers, they did a great job with their explosive plays on offense, stopping us on third. They did a great job.
Having said that, the things we didn't do well, we really didn't pressure the quarterback on defense. We gave up too many explosive plays. We gave them explosive plays because of mental breakdowns or errors on our part. Clearly we didn't tackle as well as we had been the previous two weeks or defend the run as well.
On offense we had too many missed opportunities. Missed a field goal, a fumble on the 12, a fourth-and-one on the 13 yard line we don't convert. Untimely penalties. Both those penalties, roughing the passer, roughing the kicker, both ended up in points.
Just really disappointed in the way we played. We're trying to get back to our brand, playing more physical, changing things in practice. Clearly we got our hands full on both sides of the football, particularly on the line of scrimmage.

Q. Al, quick question on the Virginia game. They scored a touchdown pass on a halfback pass that I'm pretty sure they hadn't run that all season. Had they run it previously, would you definitely have known about it?
COACH GOLDEN: Again, they executed it. But if you asked me a thousand times would I want to be rolled up in a cover two versus a toss pass, the answer is yeah. We had cover two over there, which means we had a flat corner and a safety over the top. I think you could ask a thousand coordinators and they would say that's not when the toss patch works. It works when there's a third defender who gets nosy and sneaks up or works in quarters in the same capacity.
Again, just terribly disappointed in our execution. I want to make sure I'm being fair in my comments because I thought they executed better than us and they played better than us in the game. I just think that was terrible.
Then on the fake punt, we had a safe look on, and we had two guys sleeping at the wheel. Just a poor reflection on the job I did for that game.

Q. Did the Virginia offensive line resemble some of the offensive lines you've seen in the past there?
COACH GOLDEN: I thought they were physical. I thought they obviously were a rugged group, strong. Again, we have a long way to go in terms of the type of strength and the type of power and the depth that we need at Miami. But certainly you got to give them credit. I thought their backs ran really hard. I thought their backs ran harder than our backs.

Q. Al, given the story line of the last 24 hours, the one that emerged yesterday, have you talked with guys on your team about where you are right now?
COACH GOLDEN: Again, for me, it was tough for me because when I was asked the question yesterday, I really didn't understand the context of it. I had no idea about the story, what was said, purportedly said, all that.
I had a chance to speak with my attorney and I expressed my displeasure. Again, I'm going to say it. I love it here. I know there were some questions yesterday. But my wife and kids are happy here. I think our staff is happy here. The president, this administration, Mr. Eichorst, have all been ultra-supportive. I'm certain, I'm positive, that that support will continue in a myriad of ways moving forward.
Again, I don't think it's something I really have to address too long. I think since I've been here, I've been committed to turning Miami around and implementing a process and a structure and a culture that will endure.
We're just out of the blocks. We're just out of the gates. I wish these types of things would go away in terms of we don't need any distractions. We're just trying to move forward with the program.
I hope that answers your question.

Q. No concerns about Tommy Streeter after this morning?
COACH GOLDEN: Well, no. Again, you guys always know before I know. But it's one of those things where it looks like Tommy got a cleat to the top of his foot. As anybody knows, if you get stepped on, it's really painful. If it doesn't start getting better today, we'll go with the x-rays and do all those things.
The initial feeling I get, that I got from the trainer, was let's get him in there, get him iced down, we'll go from there. I think Tommy is playing well. Certainly I would have a concern. I think we have to release our status by tomorrow. If that changes, I'll let you guys know. I'm hopeful right now he'll be fine.
MIKE FINN: Coach, thanks for being with us, but we're out of time.
COACH GOLDEN: We're out of time.
MIKE FINN: Believe it or not. And good luck this weekend.
COACH GOLDEN: Thank you.

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