Sept. 26, 2001
By Ryan Lockwood
Tailback Tony Fisher led the Irish with 103 rushing yards against Michigan State Saturday. Below, the tailback talks about the status of the team, the quarterback situation and the impact injuries have on the team.
How do you feel about the quarterback switch?
“The team will be confident regardless of what quarterback is in there. We know they both bring a lot to the table. Carlyle (Holiday) will be going into his hometown and I think he will give them a good showing.”
Do you think the switch was made to introduce an entirely different style of offense?
“We will probably add a little more option to the offense because Carlyle is probably more athletic than Matt (Lovecchio) is. Matt has been decent with the option, but I think we will probably open up the offense a little bit more.”
With David Givens and Arnaz Battle out, does that option offense give you the best chance of winning?
“It is hard to say. We need Arnaz and David out there. Just being able to run the option adds a new dimension to our offense. But we need Arnaz and David because they are some of our top receivers. It is hard to say what it will do for our offense.”
Is there a communication system set up for the offense to deal with the noise level at College Station
“Our communication hasn’t changed because we have a nice sound system that helps simulate the noise level will be like down there. There hasn’t been a change in our cadence. It is about everyone concentrating and focusing on the ball.”
How do you assess the offense so far this year?
“Right now we seem to be making a lot of mistakes. So if we can eliminate the mistakes our offense will be more productive. We are just having a problem of going out there and putting some points on the board. We seemed to dominate the line of scrimmage at times. It is all about executing and keeping the mistakes down.”