Tuesday notes
Published 4:40 pm Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Not a lot of football news today since it’s a bye week. Talking to players and coaches, the main goal is to get healty and get the first win out of the way. Receiver D’Andre Goodwin, who managed to get on the field for only one play last week, said he expects that the bye will give him time to get healthy. On his one play on the field, Goodwin reached back for a pass thrown behind him and took a hit, and was unable to return. He said that there wasn’t any setback, just that he realized after the play that he wasn’t yet recovered enough to play.
Another player getting better from an injury is safety Victor Aiyewa, who saw his first significant action at safety after finally coming back from a groin injury. He said it was good to get back on the field, but was critical of his play, saying if he were to grade his performance he would give it a D because he didn’t make any of the game-altering plays he feel’s he’s capable of. He also gave some unsolicited support for head coach Tyrone Willingham.
“I don’t think it’s the coach’s fault,” he said. “Just stuff happens. We the players have got to make plays. The coaches are putting us in the best position, but we’ve just got to find ways to make plays. I didn’t make any game-changing plays, so I failed my team and I failed everybody that supported me. Everybody who claims they’re a playmaker, they’ve got to take responsibility the same way. We’ve just got to be able to make plays and turn the game around.”
Senior tight end Michael Gottlieb admitted that last week’s loss hurt a bit more than losses in the past.
“Typically after a loss like this, it hurts pretty bad Saturday night, maybe Sunday morning, then we usually get in and watch film and move on to the next opponent,” he said. “This one though, it’s sinking in a little bit more. I think it’s staying with us a little bit more. At least personally, I’m still feeling the aftermath longer than usual. It’s a little more hurtful than a regular loss.”
As for Tuesday’s practice, the team was practicing with out pads in an effort to get players healthy. There will likely be less full contact work this bye week than the last one because of injuries.
The only player missing that we noticed was safety Nate Williams, who left Saturday’s game with back spasms. Goodwin again wore a red no-contact jersey.
Finally, basketball coach Lorenzo Romar and a few players met with the media today. I’ll have some quotes from that in this space a little later this week.
