Transcript | UMass HC Joe Harasymiak Post-Iowa Press Conference
Everything Minuteman head coach Joe Harasymiak said after his team's 47-7 loss to Iowa
I'll start with, our prayers go out to TJ and his family. He's doing the best he can right now. Congrats to Coach Ferentz, breaking the record. The guy's been doing it a long time.
We just got outclassed; big-time, major college football. I thought we had it 23-7 with a 4th and 4 four there, I thought if we could have converted that, maybe put a little pressure on them there going into half and certainly they go down to score to make a 30-7. Once those guys start leaning on you, it becomes a little difficult there the second half.
I don't think the guys quit. I think they kept going and played hard, but just the execution level wasn't there.
How have missed opportunities like the 4th & 4 hindered you the season?
I've got to go back and look at it. I don't know if there was a rush in his face, but probably wanted a more accurate ball there. But TK's also got to create a little separation, but it's a Power-4 corner. I think we're just overall, we've been aggressive on fourth down. Today, we were 0-for-2 and 0-for-10 on third down, so you're not going to win like that. But yeah, opportunities we've got to just keep plugging away and we've got to convert something.
How big was Kezion Dia'-Johnson’s blocked punt?
Coach Cas (special teams coordinator Joe Castellitto) does a great job and we're trying to spark something there. We almost went Punt Safe. Kez did a great job. Kez is like our fastest guy, so he's been close. He was close against Temple, close last week and to be able to create that. We'd love to scoop it and get it for a touchdown. But yeah, just like I said, they were down, they had every reason to quit and they kept going. I was hoping that that and then the stop and then trying to go for it on fourth down created something there. But yeah, it was good to get that spark 23-7 with the ball across the 50, hopefully on that conversion, get it a little bit tighter and make them think a little bit.
Did you expect them to be as aggressive as they were in the passing game?
Yeah, I did. They have to get that kid going for Big Ten play. I'm sure that's what they wanted to do. We tried to play a ton of zone tonight with all the injuries, so I think we've got to just clean that up a little bit. But yeah, I expected them to throw him. They've got to get him ready for Big Ten play. And I know from probably the way he's played the first two weeks, they weren't very happy with that for whatever reason, so they need to get him going. So, we did expect that.
SIs there anything you guys to try to prevent the injuries?
The Big Ten isn't little people, right? It's big people. Mayu (Derrion Craig), TJ (Magee), obviously DD (Snyder), Ryan (Barnes), KB (Kendall Bournes). We had Mike Pangaro and another safety and they were like the fifth, sixth safeties on the trip. It is what it is. But yeah, I think it was just wear and tear from violent, physical game and that's what always happens in play Iowa.
What's your message to those guys that are kind of the fifth or sixth-stringers to be ready to play?
We've kind of been talking about that over the first couple of weeks with a bunch of injuries. You've got to be ready. The way we practice now, we really don't even go scout teams, we kind of do some service where one offense and two offense is up and a lot of defensive guys that play in the game are given a look. Hopefully it pays benefits down the road, but creates a lot of things for those guys to be ready to go. I'm proud of them. Someone like Keith (Sarkodieh) who goes in there, they did some good things.
Can you talk about Iowa's kick and punt return game?
Coming out of the first half, when he sparked a couple, that ball should have been out of bounds. It's a mistake by us, so we talked about it. They actually asked me at halftime in the interview, they said, 'What's your plan for the return game?' I said, 'Kick it out of bounds.' So we didn't and that's what happens. And unfortunately that's the play that TJ got injured on. But yeah, we've got to do better with our coverage. Then the other thing about the injuries, you start to get it to where you've got guys in there who just aren't the same as the guys who start the game. But yeah, that's what they've always been known for. It's a shame we couldn't just kick it out of bounds like we were supposed to.
Can you talk about Grant Jordan and AJ Hairston's play at quarterback?
You see the ability for Grant to create a second play, which he did on that touchdown. But certainly we were trying to spark something there. AJ had a couple of nice throws in there, ultimately missed on a fourth-down conversion, ball got tipped. So, we were able to get him in there. It's something we've got to evaluate over the bye week, right? Who gives us the best chance to win out of all three of them. I think we're still trying to figure that out. I think they both did some good things. Grant didn't have a lot of time and we gave up five sacks in the first half. Now again, I've got to watch the tape with Jake; holding onto the ball or missing throws? I don't know that yet, so I've got to look at that.
Do you like the placement of the bye week regardless of the results out of these first three?
Yeah, for sure. I think with the injuries, that definitely helps. And then yeah, everything's in front of us still. We haven't touched MAC play yet. Obviously, we've got to go on the road to Mizzou and that'll certainly be a challenge. We're in the middle of South Carolina and Alabama, so we're in the middle of that. But yeah, I think the bye week's hitting at a point where, certainly injury-wise and I think for us as coaches, we've just really got to look at the first three games and see what we can do well. I mentioned the defensive adjustments we tried to make this game to slow down some things.Then, we've just got to see overall how we can put together whatever.
Update on TJ Magee.
He's over across the street. His parents are with him. I think a bunch of our staff went over. When I left him, he was moving everything, which is a really good sign. Other than that, I don't know anything more than that. But he was good. He was good. He told me to tell his mom he was OK. So that was a positive.
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