Hafley's Wednesday Zoom Presser
Here's everything Haf had to say on Wednesday morning...
On UConn being better than the 1-6 record
"Yeah, there's no doubt. It's mostly...ever since the Duke game it's been one possession games. It's a very similar team to last year. He's got the D-line back, the O-line back. Quarterback was the starting quarterback last year before he got hurt. The running backs are back. It's a good team, they play really hard and they're really well coached."
On UConn QB Taquan Roberson
"Yeah, he's effective. His completion percentage is really high, he's accurate, he gets rid of the ball extremely quick, even quicker than (the GT QB) last week. He's athletic. You can see it. In the South Florida game he pulled one on a stretch read and out ran everybody. He's quick on his feet. He's a very athletic quarterback who can stay in the pocket and throw the ball and he's gotten better each week. Obviously, they think highly enough of him last year where he was the starter and I have a ton of respect for him."
On athletes who lose a season to injury wanting to "make up for lost time" with their play (like Roberson or Mahogany)
"Yeah. I think every athlete comes back differently. Some it takes a little bit longer than others. But, a guy like Christian for example, I think he might have been tentative early on in the year in those first two games. I think each time he plays he feels more comfortable with it and I think he's gotten better and better. Sometimes, when you talk about guys who injure their knees it takes a little more time for them to get comfortable. I think Christian's an example and I think Christian is very driven. He's a guy people had projected to be a high draft pick and in his mind he still trying to prove to people that he's that same guy. I think so far this year he is. Obviously, he was the ACC Player of the Week two times and hopefully with a couple games left he'll continue to do that."
On UConn using the 'T' formation
"In short yardage they like to put No. 97 back there. I think he's an awesome football player. Bigger guy, really good leverage. Runs really hard, he's caught the ball in the flat and then they get behind and push him so it's almost their version of what guys in the NFL are doing with the quarterback sneak and it's really tough to defend, so we definitely have to do some different things in short yardage this week and No. 97 is a huge part of that...we'll let Coach Rhoads coach on 3rd-&-1 this week."
On if there's extra attention paid to last year's meeting with UConn
"I always look at the previous time we played an opponent. I mean, if you look back to last week, I watched all, every game we ever played against Georgia Tech. You try to look at things, what they did successfully against us. What was open that they hit and what might they come back to? What runs were there that maybe they missed a read and might come back to? What blitzes did you like? You kind of...you always kind of study the past, just like you would with anything else to learn from it and this week honestly is no different. Watched the game multiple times in all three phases and I'm sure they're doing the same thing."
On dealing with a team that uses a nose tackle frequently against an odd front
"It's different. I'm sure the centers don't like it as much as they do when teams play an even front. I'm sure the guards in passing situations like it because they're usually uncovered, but I'm not going to get into too much scheme stuff, how we're going to play odd or even fronts."
On if he's gone back to watch other stuff Mora may have done at different coaching stops throughout his career or just UConn stuff
"Nah, it's just UConn right now. I have a lot of respect for him and what he's done in his career. I think he's a great football coach. Look at his background. Whether it's been in the NFL or in college, he's done a great job, but now there's plenty of stuff that he's done in his time at UConn to study on tape."
On balance between continuing to build the offense and not making things too complex
"You can continue to build. Not everything we worked on in the bye week we ran in the (GT) game. Then, there's certain things we ran in the game that you've got to find things that compliment them and continue to move forward and progress. I think that's one thing with the offensive staff we've done a really good job of with the players. The offense is starting to gel, I think there's a lot of room for improvement. You're seeing it in the run game, the various formations, all the different personnel groups we're coming out in, the extra linemen, the multiple tight ends. People lining up all over the place. They're getting more comfortable. Thomas is getting more comfortable. The O-line is getting more comfortable. The backs are seeing things better. I think, again, in the pass game you'll continue to see us do some different things he's very comfortable with and we'll take advantage of the receivers we have."
On Jeremiah Franklin and Neto Okpala
"I'm glad you brought those guys up. Neto's played at a really high level. He did all camp and now he's starting to really show up both in the run game and in the pass game. I think he's one of our better players on defense. Then, Jeremiah, he had a huge catch in the game last week. I think we need to continue to get him involved in the pass game because I think he has the ability to stretch the field. He's got really good hands and he's really good in the run game. There's a lot on his plate...he's kind of...with George being the 'Y' tight end and him kind of being the 'U' tight end, he's got to know everything he's doing, but when George comes out and he goes to the 'Y,' he also has to know what George is doing. He's kind of got two different jobs with a lot of different things and we also have some stuff where he lines up in different spots. So, there's a lot on his plate and I think we need to get him more involved in different things. I think he's a really good player. I think he's going to take off as the season goes on and I think he'll be a really good tight end."
On getting off the field on third down being the key to BC's turnaround
"Yeah, really I thought the Florida State game is where it started. We held them very well, kind of hit that blip in Louisville. Virginia it was lights out. Army it was lights out and then last week again. Four out of the last five games third down we've spent a lot of time with it. We've tried to throw different looks at people. We're changing it up each week. There's times where we're really aggressive and bring a lot of pressure. We've had some seven-man, six-man, five-man and then there's times we're dropping out playing zone. We're just trying to spend a lot of time looking at protections, breaking things down, being able to play different coverages, being able to apply different pressures and trying to make quarterbacks uncomfortable at times, maybe sometimes played a little bit softer. But, I give the defensive staff a lot of credit. They've spent a lot of time on that. Early in the season it wasn't good enough and it's better right now. To win games you have to get off the field on third down."
On UConn using multiple-back systems and game planning for it
"That's something...a lot of teams don't ever fit two-back runs. Whether you put a tight end in the backfield to create an extra gap and really run like an old school two-back pro offense and then all of a sudden they'll put three backs in the backfield. They'll throw the ball out of it and run the ball out of it. That's some stuff Army did and some stuff our offense did. Luckily, in training camp and we go good-on-good in practice, we get a lot of work at that still especially in team run periods where we get to fit all the different things our offense does. It helps you because you've got to put your eyes in the right place. All that is putting your eyes in the right place and making sure you end up where you're supposed to be and what gap that's created. It is difficult and it does create issues for defenses. It's one of the reasons I like our offense because we do the same thing."
On if he feels a buzz around campus with football and hockey rolling and basketball starting soon
"Yeah, I do. I love what the students are doing at the hockey games right now. I know our team has been showing up. I know a lot of our team showed up right after we landed and got back from Georgia Tech. A lot of our guys walked right from the busses into the arena. I think Coach Brown's doing an awesome job. Our hockey team is electrifying, we've got a ton of great young talent. I love our students here. They've done an awesome job. This should be a great atmosphere. It's going to be beautiful on Saturday. It's homecoming. We've won three games in a row. We've got some excitement going. People are excited about what we're doing on offense. People are excited about the quarterback. I hope the tailgating is as loud and as crazy as it's been and people get up early and they're there when we walk through The Eagle Walk and they're out and about. Get in the stadium early and make this a real hostile environment. This is going to be a fun game and they need to be part of it and they need to be loud and they need to make it hard for them on third down and they need to get excited. They need to be there for these guys that have pushed through from a 1-3 start and now they're 4-3. We need to go forward and we want them behind us. That would be my message to them and I can't wait to get back into the stadium. I cannot wait to play this game."