Alvarez Addresses Media Monday
November 04, 2002 | Football
Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez spoke to the media on Monday during UW's weekly news conference. Alvarez talked about the Badgers' upcoming game versus Illinois and addressed various issues about the team.
A transcript of the news conference follows. The news conference video is available by clicking on `multimedia' on the red menu bar.
Injury update: 'Anthony Davis was released from the hospital this morning. I haven't had a chance to see him yet, but Dennis Helwig has visited with him. Physically he feels much better. We'll know a little bit more about where he is today or tomorrow. I'll have a chance to see him this afternoon. We will test Brooks Bollinger again. He was tested yesterday; he will be again tested tomorrow to see where he is. He told me yesterday that he felt better than he did two weeks ago when he had similar tests. We'll know where he is probably around practice time tomorrow and then we'll move forward.'
Did Davis require any time of surgery' 'No, Anthony had some stitches. He had a wound that was cleaned out, much like a puncture wound. He stayed in to have an IV with antibiotics overnight to make sure of no infection. The cut was about a half inch puncture wound.'
Was it a departure from the past team practice to have a team captain travel separately from the team' 'Lee was not on the travel squad. We have a limited number that we can take on the travel squad and we decided that we would take the guys who could play. Lee has traveled previously.'
Did Anthony give any indication that he hopes to play this weekend' 'They didn't get that far. I was more concerned and still am more concerned for his health right now.'
What tests have Brooks taken to determine his health ' 'I'll let you visit with Denny Helwig about that. There are some mental tests that you can have rather than just guessing if whether you have a headache or not. If there had been a previous concussion involved, if there is head injury, they have some data now where they can have some readings and know exactly where they are rather than just guessing.'
Do you have a sense of the risk factor that was involved with Anthony's incident' 'I was told that the puncture was very close to an artery, which would have been very serious.'
You have a critical game coming up. Are you concerned about the player's ability to focus on the game' 'That 's our job as coaches. We try to address things immediately and get them out of the way so our players can concentrate on what they need to concentrate on and be focused for the football game. Unfortunately, when you have 120 people, you are going to have some incidents. I want to stress this: these two guys [Evans and Davis] have been model citizens. They have not given anyone a bit of problems. Occasionally, much like many families you have incidents and you deal with them and you move on. That's the only thing I know. We talked to our players and made sure that they know what's happening and what has happened and how to address it. Now let's move on to football and concentrate on football. We're jumping in with both feet. This is an important football game for us. That'll be our focus.'
Do you have any sense that the situation with such incidents happening is worse than before' 'No. I just think with the media access as it is'if something happens, within 30 seconds everybody in the country knows about it. When I played, or probably in the 1980s, when an incident happened at a college maybe it hits the wire service or maybe the local paper, but it isn't on the internet and it isn't on TV. It isn't covered as it is today. I certainly don't think there is anything different now than there was twenty or thirty or forty years ago.'
When you get a call as a coach and you hear `such an such happened to so and so'' what is the first reaction that goes through your mind and how do you react when it happens' 'I hate when it happens to anyone. Some of the incidents that went on at Michigan State, just because we were playing them we were aware of what went on. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. The thing that I have learned, and I have been in this long enough is that it happens. When it happens you want to know if anyone is hurt, try to find out the circumstances and then try to deal with it. People are quick to judge. I have learned over the years that you try to find all the facts. If the courts are involved you let the legal process handle it and make the decisions and don't be quick to judge. All you have to do is look back at Joe Paterno's situation with Casey and all the criticism he had from all the way through summer and the season, and then the case was thrown out of court. And that's just one instance. But everyone is quick to judge and I have learned over the years that you better sit back and take a look over the facts and then make a decision.'
Do you feel the incidents you've had to deal with in the past two years is an excessive number' 'I don't think we've had that many. I would guess that there are a number of altercations downtown every week. We saw a riot this weekend. A lot of college students are going to be involved in those. My guys are going to do some things wrong occasionally. But I do not say that we have had a large number.'
You bring a police officer in to talk at camp. Do you think there is much more you can do' 'I don't know if anyone can supervise their players or try to inform their players any better than us. I don 't know what else we can do. We can't baby sit them. Many of these guys are 21 years old, they are adults. Things are going to happen. We'll deal with them. I don't want this to be painted as if we've had an overabundance of them because I don't feel we have.'
Discussions on the weekend: 'It's not easy. Losing is hard enough. But again, you just deal with it. It's not easy. I am not going to sit up here and act callous and say you just role with the punches and go with it. But, when you've been around long enough, you know what happens. You have to deal with it and move forward. We have a game Saturday.'
It sounds like Illinois is coming back with Jon Beutjer. Can you talk about him as a quarterback' 'As I watch the two quarterbacks, I think they are pretty similar. They are both big, tall guys with big strong arms, pocket passers. We'll prepare for both and anticipate seeing both. '
Illinois' defense has put a lot of pressure on people. What have you seen them do different' 'I see people getting plays, people are hitting big plays on them, going against their blitz. Sometimes when you blitz, you're rolling the dice, because you're in zero coverage or zone blitz in the back and you have some holes in the background. You might play for no yardage or minus yardage, but if they pop the line of scrimmage it might be a home run. That's the chance you take when you use that type of defense. It's a better group. The majority of that group, they all played last year, they should know that defense. I look at that football team, a lot of those guys are starters and played last year. They're a very dangerous team. '
Did you do anything against Illinois last year that you regretted in hindsight that you want to change this year' 'We blitzed, we tried to get pressure on Kittner and when you do that, you're one on one. I'll tell you what, he threw some balls I don't know how many guys could throw, and they made some great throws and catches, had people all over them and on the boundary and everything else. That's something you have to decide and we decided to pressure him rather than let him have a lot of time and he still hurt us.
Illinois keeps changing quarterbacks, yet still throw for a lot of yards. Do you see a team that's struggling in the passing game ' 'They're not throwing as well as a year ago, but I don't know how many teams would. They've got a good scheme. They know where to go with the ball and they're veterans. Those two receivers are really good. They throw well out of the backfield and they have a controlled passing game as well as throwing it down the field so they know how to move the football.'
Do you feel like Alex Lewis made a good transition from outside to inside linebacker' 'I thought he played exceptional. I thought he jumped out at you when you watched that game. It looked like he felt comfortable and there are still some
things he could clean up. I think he is starting to understand the position and hopefully we'll see a little improvement every week, but I really like what I saw. He was physical, he was quick, and he's around the ball all the time.
Is this a better position for him' 'It's a better position because he doesn't have to worry about the coverage as near as much. He's not worried about playing out in space. He's in there where the action is and for the most part we're taking him to the flow of the ball.'
How did Donovan Raiola look on tape' 'He held up. I don't think any of us blocked him very well, but I thought Donovan for his first start did okay. We didn't get a whole lot of movement on their defensive front.'
Do you think he'll be your center in the future ' 'He likes center and with Al leaving next year I would say he has first shot at that center spot. That's why we recruited him and I would anticipate that's where he'll go.'
Do you think he can keep your tradition of great centers going' 'I think so. I really like him. I think he brings some toughness and personality to the position. He's just starting to scratch the surface. I really think he's got a chance to be outstanding.'
If Anthony cannot play, is it too late to take a redshirt off Booker Stanley' 'That's something we've talked about. We'll get him some reps. If we got to use him, we've got to use him. There are three games left; they're important games. Our focus is to get bowl eligible.'
There were some mental breakdowns in the secondary on Saturday. Are you pleased overall or do you do you see room for improvement ' 'I always like see us tackle a little bit better, take better angles. I don't know if I'll ever be satisfied with that other than when Doering was here. '
Do you still feel like you have a chance at a pretty good bowl game' 'If we get bowl eligible, I think we'll get a nice bowl. We'll take one step. Let's get eligible first and then I think we'll have a nice bowl.'
