8/27/2003 - Football
Transcript Of Ben Mathews' Press Conference
Q. Have you won a home game here?
A. No, never.
Q. Can you talk about that? That's stunning really that you're this far into your career and you've never won a home game.
A. I'll be honest with you. It's pretty pathetic and there's no excuse for it. It's about time we've gotten this thing turned around. We have to win this game and that's the bottom line.
Q. You would expect that there would be a home field advantage and that in some of the close games that you've had, of which you've had several, would go your way when playing at home. Is there any explanation of why it's worked that way?
A. You would like to have some kind of home field advantage, but you can't really count on that. You just have to go out there and follow your assignments and make plays and the rest will take care of itself.
Q. Do you feel confident going into this game?
A. I definitely feel confident. We are practicing really well. We had a really great day today and I expect the rest of the week to go well. We've been working on these guys for a while so I think we've got it down and we have a good chance of winning.
Q. Were you aware that this season opener was originally supposed to be at Washington? Were you aware of that?
A. Yeah, I had heard that.
Q. What do you think of the change? Do you think it was appropriate considering where the program is at this point rather than going out to Washington?
A. I don't make those decisions. I just go out on the field and whatever team they want me to go out and play that's who I'll play.
Q. Do you guys talk about the home losing streak at all or do you try and not talk about it?
A. That's something that's in the past. We really can't sit back and talk about things that have happened in the past. We just have to focus on the future and we have a great opportunity to turn this thing around come Saturday.
Q. That said, if you do win Saturday and can get this monkey off your back, do you think there will be a wild and crazy celebration?
A. I think we will be excited.
Q. It has to be frustrating having lost all these home games.
A. It's definitely frustrating, but at the same time once we take care of these guys we have to look into the future and see who we have next.
