Coach Carr Comments from Pre-Cirtus Bowl Press Conference
12/15/1998 12:00:00 AM | Football
Michigan Football Press Conference
U-M's CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl Travel Plans
Team leaving Sunday morning, Dec. 20
Practice in Melbourne, Fla., for four days before moving to Orlando on Dec. 24.
There will be no practices on Dec. 24 and 25
Practice will resume Dec. 26 in Orlando
On Jon Jansen and Rob Renes being named Academic All-America ...
"I just want to begin with that I am extremely proud that Jon Jansen and Rob Renes were named to the Academic All-America team. When you consider that we have the great fortune here in Ann Arbor to have one of the greatest universities in the world and we have two guys who could play football at the highest level of competition and still go into the classroom and achieve what they have achieved."
On leaving early ...
"We're going to Melbourne much as we went to Dana Point a year ago early (for the Rose Bowl). The number one thing is that it allows us to allow our players to go through final examinations without having to practice. We practice one time on Sunday afternoon, but with that exception they've been able to concentrate on final exams and I think that is very important. It worked out well a year ago and that is something the players really appreciate. The second thing it gives us the opportunity, and I think it is particularly important for this bowl game, to get acclimated to the weather. It's very, very hot in Orlando and I think on New Year's Day if that weather holds true to form we are going to play on a hot day."
On the Arkansas football team ...
"We are going to be playing an outstanding Arkansas team. Our coaches are working on breaking down all the film, which we started yesterday, and so we still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully by Friday afternoon we will have broken all the film down and have decided on a plan that will hopefully help us win this game."
On the Arkansas defense ...
"The Arkansas defense is extremely impressive. They are aggressive. They blitz a lot of people. They've been outstanding against the rush. The only team that has really run the ball effectively on them was Tennessee and with that exception, they've been very good against the run. They are a very, very quick team. The most impressive thing defensively is the way they run to the football. They get a lot of people to the ball. They have had over 40 sacks as a defense, which tells you they know how to rush the passer. So, they are an outstanding defensive team."
On the Arkansas offense ...
"Offensively, they are well-balanced. This is top to bottom a veteran Arkansas team. They have two outstanding running backs, a great wide receiver and perhaps the top quarterback we have played this year with the exception Syracuse's Donovan McNabb, who is in a league of his own. But (Clint) Stoerner is an outstanding quarterback who has thrown for over 2,600 yards and he's only a junior."
More on Arkansas as a team ...
"I've only looked at them for a day and a half. The Southeast Conference we do not see on a regular basis, but I think they compare very favorably with the very best football teams we have played in the past three or four years. They are extremely quick as a team. They are well-coached, fundamentally sound. They do all the things a good football team does."
On match-up concerns ...
"Defensively, what you try to do is possess the football. If you can possess the football you keep an outstanding Arkansas offense off the field. You cannot be one-dimensional, however. I think if we don't run the football better than we did against Ohio State and Minnesota, I think our chances are very slim to win. If we can establish the run and throw the football when we want to throw it and have the kind of balance that makes us a good football team, then we will have a good chance to win."
On the Citrus Bowl turning into an away game ...
"The one thing I would love to do is to play some of those (SEC) teams in Michigan Stadium in December. I think that would be fun. I think any time you go to play a Southeast Conference team in the south it's an away game. That's just part of it. You have to prepare for that. Basically, it's Southeast country."
On playing on New Year's Day ...
"I think playing on New Year's Day is always a tremendous boon to recruiting. There isn't any question about that because every high school kid in the country who plays football grows up watching football from early in the morning to late at night."
Contact: David Ablauf, Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
