11/20/2002 - Football
Paul Johnson Press Conference For Wednesday, Nov. 20
Q. I got out here a little late today. Did Candeto practice?
A. He practiced early
Q. Is it definite that he will start?
A. If he can go he?s going to start
Q. From what you can tell does it look like he can go?
A. Yeah, I hope so. I think he can.
Q. Does McDonald look better?
A. Yeah, he?s a little better. It?s going to be season long with him. He?s beat up pretty good.
Q. Is it more than likely that he and Brimage will take the bulk of the fullback reps?
A. Yeah
Q. Wake Forest has used a 3-3-5 stack a little bit. Can you talk about that and how that will work against the option?
A. Duke played it a little bit. We?ve seen it. We?ve worked against it. I don?t know what that means. I think we know where to go and what to try to do. Can we do it or not? We?ll see.
Q. Is the fifth guy a linebacker type or defensive back?
A. They have two strong safeties. I don?t know what they call them.
Q. How did August Roitsch grade out on Saturday?
A. He graded out fine
Q. Is he going to start again on Saturday?
A. Yes he is
Q. Do you feel like you are as healthy as you?ve been in a while.
A. No
Q. Any other key people you think will miss?
A. We?re beat up. Lenter Thomas hasn?t practiced all week. We have a bunch of guys that are wounded, who can?t get out and practice until Wednesday and we are only in shells (helmets and shoulder pads). We?ve been in shells for two weeks. We?re beat up pretty good.
Q. How many practices would you do in full pads if you could?
A. Normally during a season you would go full pads on Tuesday and Wednesday. In years past at Georgia Southern I would cut it down to shells towards the end of the year because we knew we were going to play 15 games, we would cut it down to one day a week in pads.
Q. Grobe seemed concerned that they?ve been off for two weeks, that he?s never been off for two weeks in a row and he doesn?t know how his team will react to the speed of the game. Do you think that could be an advantage for you?
A. For us? I wouldn?t think. It?s like having a fall camp to get ready to play somebody. The thing about running the option is that people only have two days to get ready. They?ve had three weeks. I don?t know how that would be an advantage for us.
Q. Do you think their staff knows a little bit about the option? He coached at Air Force.
A. They actually ran it for a long time. They?re still running it now. It?s just a disguised option.
Q. All-in-all are you impressed with what Wake Forest does schematically?
A. Yeah, I think they do a nice job.
