Pat Narduzzi talked about fourth downs, running on Virginia Tech and more in his Thursday press briefing, and here’s a full rundown of what he said.
Narduzzi: We got three good days again. I think our kids are ready to go. It will be a big challenge. Virginia Tech’s a good football team. I told our kids after practice today that you’ve got a target on your back right now and we’re not used to having a target, so you’re going to have to fight back and it will be interesting.
Last year, you went down to Virginia Tech and you were running the ball really well, but they kind of stuffed you. Was it things they were doing defensively? Was it the players?
Narduzzi: A little bit of both. They were really good on defense, like they are now, and some things we didn’t do properly, so it’s going to be a war. They’re going to try to stop the run. Obviously, if you’re Bud Foster, I’d have 15 guys in the box. And then we have to make a play in the passing game. We can’t be one-dimensional; we’ve got to be able to throw the football against these guys. Because they will load the box up as much as anybody in the country.
You’ve talked about the passing game; how close is it? Do you feel it’s just little things here and there?
Narduzzi: Little things here and here. It starts with protection. It really does. And we’ve worked hard on it this week as well. I think our guys have a lot of confidence in run-blocking and we need to have as much confidence in pass protection and protecting Kenny and giving Kenny time to set his feet and feel comfortable back there where he can make the shots. And Kenny’s got to make the shots, period, whether he’s going to get hit or not. Those are things we work on every week and you just hope it continues to get better. Is it going to be good enough? I don’t know. We’ll find out.
I think we asked on Monday, but that was before a week of practice; has there been much talk or much motivation derived from the ending of that game last year?
Narduzzi: I really haven’t talked about it. We did goal-line yesterday and I just kind of, you know, just said, ‘Hey, we have a yard to go, what are we going to do?’ I just kind of threw it out there. But I don’t worry about what happened a year ago. This is a different football team. I think you guys - maybe I don’t know how I answered that question Monday, but you guys saw how I felt on a fourth-and-1 at our own 10. Again, it wasn’t against Virginia Tech but Virginia’s pretty good. I think they held Duke to 50 yards rushing the week before. They’ll find a way to stop the run. They do a good job as well, when you look at them. And you saw what Duke did to us running the football a couple weeks earlier.
Everybody’s got a little different touch to it and we’re going to have to make some plays, regardless of where we are. This is 2018; that was ’17. You don’t forget about it. But we have to make plays down there.
I don’t know that we asked you about that fourth-and-1 call; were people on the headset wondering what you were thinking?
Narduzzi: No. No one said a word. We’re all together. And again, it really stemmed from the confidence we have and the O-line going, ‘Coach, let’s go.’ To me, I always listen to our players. I listen to our players more than I listen to the coaches. If the coaches are saying, ‘Don’t go’ and the players are saying, ‘Go,’ you know who I’m listening to? The players. Because they’re the ones that have to make the blocks. Period. It was Jimmy Morrissey and Bookser kind of coming toward the sideline when I said, ‘Hey, go back out.’ They were like, ‘Coach, let’s just go, it’s only a yard.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s go. If you guys want to go, I’m ready to go.’
And again, we didn’t go down there to play not-to-lose. We went down there to play to win and we’re going to do the same thing this weekend. We’re going to be as aggressive as we have to. We’re playing to win.
In all your years of coaching and playing and watching football, have you ever seen a team go for it fourth down on their own 10-yard line?
Narduzzi: I don’t know. You might have to do a stat on that. I thought you might already have the stat for me. Maybe not. I don’t know. Probably not.
Bill Belichick did it once.
Narduzzi: Did he, really?
It didn’t work.
Narduzzi: It didn’t? Well, we’re one up on Bill.
Somebody did it this year in college, but it was a different situation. They were leading and they needed a first down to run the clock out.
Narduzzi: Yeah. I mean, that was critical because they don’t have time - they got a first down when they kick a field goal right before the half, so you think about how critical that was. We didn’t score from it but we were able to get another three plays in, drained another two minutes off the clock and then they get stuck having to kick a field goal in our red zone on first down. So it’s not like they kicked a field goal on fourth down; they kicked a field goal on first down because they had no clock. So that ended up being a critical play in the game because that time of possession becomes critical, so it was still a big play in the game.
When it comes to things like fourth-down calls, over the years and over the decades, have you noticed your colleagues getting more aggressive in those kinds of situations? And have their mindsets sort of changed regarding that, both for you and for people you know?
Narduzzi: I think everybody - it’s one of the big things you’re looking during the week is watching that fourth down. What are they doing, how many fourth downs do they have. Duke had a lot of them, 20-some I believe. I think last week there were 12. So you’re always trying to find out who’s more aggressive on fourth down, where are they going for it on fourth down and I think that’s something - everybody’s getting a little bit more aggressive, trying to play the odds a little bit because there’s so many tight games and anybody can beat anybody. You’re looking for that - if you have a good fourth-down play, whether it’s fourth-and-5 or fourth-and-1, you’re looking for an advantage and anytime you can keep a drive going, it is a major - I mean, depending on where it is on the field, it can be a major advantage for you offensively and it can be a major advantage for you defensively if you stop them. It’s a momentum-taker.
Are there some teams where you have to tell your defense, ‘Look, you make a tackle on third down; you can’t jump up and start celebrating. You have to take a look and see if that offense is getting lined up.’
Narduzzi: We talk about it all the time. They know, across the 50, they’re ready for four of those. They’re ready for four downs. And I’m always on the headphones with our coordinators, you know, after he gets the third-down call in, saying, ‘Hey, get ready, get a good fourth-down call ready to go.’ I want our coordinators thinking ahead as well, offensively, defensively. We’re constantly - really, on first down, we get a first down and we’re in a different territory, we’re talking all the time. I’ll tell Coach Watts, ‘Hey, you’ve got four downs here. ‘You know, if it’s fourth-and-whatever, I’ll give him a yard line so he’s thinking about it. We’re always obviously trying to think ahead on that strategy part of it.
Obviously you are within the rules with how you’re disguising V’Lique, but how far could you push that kind of thing? Could you throw everyone out with different numbers if you wanted to before a game?
Narduzzi: I don’t know. I guess you could.
All you have to do is give them a roster before the game, right?
Narduzzi: Yeah. We’re just trying to make it a little hard in the first quarter. They figure it out after awhile. It doesn’t take long. Maybe one snap. But at least it takes them one snap. It’s like finding Waldo. I always liked that book. It’s one of my favorite books. Don’t have to read much.
You should read the newspaper more, maybe.
Narduzzi: I do. USA Today.
Sad.
Narduzzi: I don’t want to read the newspaper, really. I’ll read the news. I’ll read the real news. Like, you talk about another sad situation out in California. I mean, you wake up and you’re like, really? That happened early this morning or late last night after I went to bed, I guess. But that’s what I read. I like the news. I like to know what’s going on in the world. Not the sports. I know what’s happening in the sports. I don’t need to read you guys. Why do I have to read what you guys say about what’s going on out there when I know?
Okay. Next question.
Patrick Jones was ejected in the first half; does he have to sit out the first half of this game?
Narduzzi: No, he’s good to go. If he’d gotten ejected in the first second of the second half, eh would be ejected for that half and the next half. So he already served his half. He’ll be ready to go.
How did you address that through the week? Spend any extra emphasis on what they can and can’t do?
Narduzzi: No. I mean, they know what they can and can’t do. I’m not going to question the call, but everybody else has, I guess. It is what it is. The great thing is, he got a half fresher, he’s fresher than he was before and we still came out with a W, so that’s what I’m happy about. He’s got a half of freshness.
The situation you guys are facing on Saturday is pretty similar to some ones that you’ve had during your tenure here - your first year against Carolina, the next year against Virginia Tech, where you have a chance to either take control of the division or control of your own destiny. What do you feel like is different about this team going into this game?
Narduzzi: You know what? I’ll tell you Saturday after the game what’s different. But I think we have good leadership. I think our seniors really have gotten better as they’ve gone on this season. I think there’s pretty good focus. We’ve got to maintain our focus. I talked to them today about, it’s 24-hour-a-day focus; it can’t be just focus for three hours over here and then go home and tweet whatever you want to. There’s got to be a focus on, really, what we’re doing this week, this Saturday at 3:30. We can’t lose our focus. They’ve got to understand - the big picture is out there but the big picture is just one game. We’ve tried to emphasize that all season and that has not changed.
Ricky Walker is kind of their main bell cow in the middle and then a guy like Gaines is getting home and he’s got the big sack numbers. What do those two do well and how do you try to limit what they can do to you?
Narduzzi: You’ve got to block them. The first thing is, you’ve got to block them. Ricky’s a big dude inside. He’s like their No. 4 - I forget his name, a year ago, left early -
Settle.
Narduzzi: Yeah, Settle. Tim Settle. So he’s another one of those guys that can create havoc in the backfield. We’ve got to block them. We’ve got to play with leverage. And I think it helps when you’re running the football. A sack-master likes you to throw it, so he’s going to have to defend the run a lot and every once in awhile there will be a pass. We have to disguise it when we’re going to throw the ball and do a good job throwing him off with the protections that we’ve got at him.
The improvements that you saw in your defense from the Duke game to the Virginia game, are those things you feel like you’ve seen this week in practice, those same keys getting done? Or can you even see that in practice?
Narduzzi: I mean, I didn’t see in practice the Duke week what we saw on gameday, so it’s got to be focus and we talk about - you know, focus and consistency. We’ve got to be consistent. I’ll tell them again before this game: nobody cares what you did last week. Nobody. Your girlfriends, they don’t care. They’re going to evaluate you on what you do today, because after the game, they’re going to be whining at you or they’re going to be all happy and saying, ‘Nice game, nice game.’ Nobody cares. Your mom and dad don’t care what you did a week ago. It’s all about what you do today. That’s what you get evaluated on. So it doesn’t matter what happened against Duke or Notre Dame or Virginia last week. It’s what you do today. What have you done for me lately?
Virginia Tech comes in with the reputation for special teams excellence, but your special teams units have had a couple pretty good weeks - Kessman, Kirk and coverage teams - what strides have you seen from your guys and what does Virginia Tech show you?
Narduzzi: Our special teams have been good. It’s a challenge. Anytime you go against the old Beamer ball and Fuente football, I think it’s a special teams team. As I told our guys, we had a little Nate Bossory fake last year that gave us a chance to get back in that game and come down to get to that fourth down and 1 at the 1 situation that otherwise doesn’t happen. So we one-upped them last year, and I’m sure they want to show a little Fuente football this week. So we’ve got to be ready for all of their tricks. They’re going to come out and be aggressive, so we’ve worked extra on fake field goals and fake punts and we’re worried about what they could do to us, because that’s part of the game.
Is AJ Davis still the next man up at tailback in the rare instance that Darrin or Qadree would get banged up?
Narduzzi: He certainly is. Yeah. He’s the guy. AJ is the guy.
You’ve been with this senior class for most of their time here. What have they meant to your program?
Narduzzi: You know, the senior class is the senior class. They mean everything to your program. To me, you talk about what this senior class has done and what’s the difference between the years, going back to that question, is, they’ve learned through the years. They’ve learned from the other senior classes. The first senior class, what did we expect? Compared to the fourth senior class and who they are, what they’ve learned from the past, and I think there’s always those learning experiences so what this senior class compared to what it was against North Carolina and Virginia Tech in the past is maybe a smarter group that has learned from their mistakes and has been hardened from it, I guess.
But this senior class is no bigger than last year’s senior class, as far as what they mean to the coaches. It will be an emotional day for the kids and for their parents. I always talk about it, probably tomorrow night, about, it’s kind of like when you walk your son or daughter to the bus stop, you let them get on the bus for the first time. You know, their moms and dads are going to take them to that bus stop one more time on the field, and the moms and dads are going to walk off and you get to play your last game at Heinz Field. That’s really what it comes down to. It will be emotional for everybody. It’s one of those days you hate, really, to see come. Especially with three games left, it’s your last home game.
You said last week there would be some new faces and there were - Danielson and Davis - did you have 10 guys lined up outside your office on Monday saying, ‘I can do that.’
Narduzzi: They better line up out there on the 50-yard line. That’s where they get to line up.
No, I haven’t had anybody come to my office, and Devin and Wendell didn’t come to my office either. We went to their office, I guess. But I don’t know if I see anybody this week. Maybe one guy; we’ll find out what they do. You only get four and we’re playing to win, and it’s only guys who we feel like can help us win right now. Devin did a great job last week and Wendell didn’t get in on defense but did a nice job on special teams, is smart and we expect him to help us this week as well.
I’m assuming that in the offseason, coaches get together and discuss football and strategy and stuff. Before you came to the ACC, did you ever sit down with Bud Foster and talk defense?
Narduzzi: You know what? No, we didn’t. And I’m kind of glad I didn’t. We were at a high school in Chicago, Illinois, while I was at Michigan State. I forget what high school it was; there was a big D-tackle there that I think is still playing for them, a Jones kid up there. But we were in a high school and he talked about, ‘Hey, we need to get together,’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that’d be great.’ We never did but I’m kind of glad since we’re playing against each other that we never did.
