Q & A with Coach Mike Bellotti
Where's the team at right now?
"We're a little beat up. The extra week won't get anybody back except for Desmond Byrd, and we're hoping Ryan Klaasan. We won't get Lee Gundy or David Weber back for a while if at all. If we had pulled it out in LA it would have been a very positive feeling to carry us through these two weeks. Now we have to exorcise these ghosts from USC. There were a lot of positives we could take from it -- our character and fight to come back. They put themselves in a position to win. We have to believe in that and build on that."
Akili was given a lot of responsibility, especially in the two-minute drills.
"We work on our no-huddle offense everyday and our clutch series ever Thursday. And Akili's gotten reps at that. It's the first time he's in been that situation in a game. Right now, we can't signal the full complement of plays so we have to run a lot of them in. Akili is leaning and getting better every day. Overall he provided a spark that we needed. He got us in the endzone and put us in position to win the game, There wasn't too much more we could have asked from him."
What was your take on Pat Johnson's fumble?
"On the TV film, it was definitely not a catch. But from the angles from our films and the referees probably had, you couldn't tell that. The angles showed as he tried to catch it, he turned and it was already coming out. I don't know if the officials could see it."
With a bye week, does the recruiting pick up?
"Seven of our coaches will go on the road Wednesday evening and will be out through Saturday, recruiting and evaluating kids. We'll work out Thursday, and scrimmage with myself, the two coordinators and two GA's. That Thursday session will be more of a focus for some of the younger kids who haven't got a lot of playing time already."
