Clawson Post-game Presser: "Knives to the Gut"

Just finished listening to Coach Clawson's presser from last night.

He said he was proud of the team.  He was pleased with the energy level, that we played with energy for the full 60 minutes, we competed physically and he was pleased with how we played.

However, there are no moral victories.  The team fought hard but it has to win and we made too many mistakes in the 4th Quarter for that to happen.

Specifically, the thought on the INT in the 4th that it was a well thrown ball that should have been caught by Joplin.

A little frustration showed through when a Florida reporter asked:  "Is that unusual for Stein to miss those FGs."

"You don't follow our team too closely, do you?" was Clawson's response.

When you go on a long drive, he said, and you get to chip shot FGs, and you don't make them, it is just "knives to the gut."  He notes that with the FG and our TD in the 3rd, we'd have been ahead, and who knows how Florida might have played differently under those circumstances.

Had we gotten another FG attempt, Tyler Tate would have taken it.  "Runners gotta run, lineman gotta block and kickers gotta kick," he said.  I would expect Tate to kick against Idaho.

There was no thought of going for it on that last play of the first half.  He says the strategy is to keep the game going and try to have a chance to win when the 4th starts.

(My note:  Clawson is a FG guy.  Under similar circumstances, I can remember Meyer and Brandon both basically saying, "forget it, we're done with FGs.")

The fake punt was a called play.  We went down there to win, and we wanted to do it aggressively.

He thought Matt Schilz played a "smart" game.  He threw the ball away as necessary and made some nice tight throws.  Florida has a very good defense and he had to take care of the football, which Clawson felt he did.

We tried to move the pocket a lot to free him up from the rush.

He was pleased with the way the receivers performed.  He noted even with the drops, Joplin also made some plays in tight space.  He thinks they are going to improve.

We now have to bring this energy level 11 more times.  He noted:  it is one thing to be jacked up to play in The Swamp.  You have to bring it every week for Bowling Green.

The team had no significant injuries.