Aug. 7, 2008
Trevor Vittatoe enters the season firmly entrenched as UTEP's starting quarterback after setting school freshman records with 3,101 yards passing and 25 passing touchdowns in 2007. In this Q&A, he discusses what he still hopes to improve on and how the Miner offense will evolve in 2008.
What are your goals for yourself and the team this season?
We have to do better as a team than what we did last year. Offensively, we need to keep the intensity we had all of last season and let it carry over to this season. After losing Lorne [Sam] and Joe West and Fred [Rouse], the other guys have to step up. On defense, our guys are learning the new scheme and coach [Osia] Lewis is trying to get into their heads the importance of playing hard every play. We need to play as a team where the offense supports the defense and the defense supports the offense. Winning a lot of games is really key to this season, and making it to a bowl game would be great. For myself, I look forward to doing better than I did last season. I think I had a pretty good freshman season, and I was really lucky coming in, being young and producing the way that I did. It wasn't just because of me, it was because of the guys around me. I want to increase my number of touchdown passes and decrease my interception rate. That would be my individual goals.
Do you expect to see any differences in the offense this year under co-coordinators Aaron Price and Bob Connelly, taking over for Eric Price who was the team's offensive coordinator the last four years?
I see it being different. Coach A.P. likes to throw the ball a lot more and open it up so we can spread the field. Coach Connelly's offensive line blocking techniques are a lot different from coach [Lawrence] Livingston's. He likes to block the rules. Once you know the rule, you block it the same on each set of plays. You're not thinking as much, so you either block this guy or that guy. The offensive line won't have to think as much as they did last season, and that will help them get the blocking schemes down a lot better.
Break down your 2008 receiving corps as a whole, and talk about some of the individual personnel as well.
It starts with Jeff Moturi. He is a really good leader and he had a great season last year. Going into the season, he only had one catch. So it just proves that guys can come in and make a big difference and make a name for themselves. There are a lot of young guys. Tufick Shadrawy is going to be a really good asset to our offense. Once he gets healthy he is going to be a deep threat, and Kris Adams is the same way. They are two tall, speedy receivers on the outside who are going to be really good. The younger guys, Russell Carr and Donavon Kemp, have stepped it up a lot in this camp. In the spring they were kind of slow, and they were just getting into the offense having done scout team. So they have come a long way from where they were, and they're working really hard to get better. Even the freshmen who just came in, they have the opportunity to make plays. Each person is going to play a big role in the offense and have a say in how productive we are.
Was it tough on you personally having to endure a losing season last year? You were a part of one of the winningest programs in the state at Trinity High School.
Yeah, it was tough. I took a lot of the blame on myself, because it came down to the end of the game a few times where the offense had the ball and all we had to do was score to win. It's a lot different now than in high school. In high school, I was a big part of the offense because I was the quarterback, but I didn't throw the ball a lot. We had a really strong offensive line and strong running backs, and that's how we got our offense going. Here, our offense is built on throwing the football so it's more pressure on my shoulders to get the offense going at the end of the game. 4-8 was my first losing season since I've been a starting quarterback. I tried to do everything I could to put us in a winning position, and when I failed I put a lot of stress on myself to try to get better.
There must be much more of a comfort zone for you this year knowing that you're the starting quarterback, and I know you've taken it upon yourself to be more of a leader as a result.
Last year it was a wide open position because Jordan [Palmer] had started for four years. Whoevever stepped in and took the role was going to be the man. Lorne Sam and I came out on top, and they had him doing about half the quarterback stuff to help me slide in as a young quarterback. Lorne aided me in becoming a leader on the team. All the guys trusted me because I improved myself enough to step in and be the quarterback. That took a lot of stress off my shoulders. This season is a lot different. I've established myself as a leader, and I've gotten a year of experience under my belt. The guys look up to me and when I've got something to say they all listen. I feel like I can contribute a lot to the team, not just physically but mentally as well.
Depending on how the James Thomas quarterback experiment works out this fall, there's a possibility you will be taking the majority of the snaps in 2008. Will that be a challenge for you?
I wouldn't say it will be a challenge for me. It would just fulfill a dream I've always had, to be the sole quarterback of this offense. It was weird splitting time [with Lorne Sam] last season. I would get taken out when I got into the groove. Then I would go back in and have to get my groove back. If I got all of the snaps this season, it would help me stay on track. And if J.T. comes in, he's a big part of the offense and it's going to keep defenses guessing. As long as the ball is moving, I'm OK with it.
You were married in January. How has that changed your life? Now you carry the responsibility of being a good husband with the responsibility of juggling school and football.
She supports me a lot, and she always has. We have been together for four years now. She supported me all through high school. If I don't have a good practice, I go home and she just comforts me and makes me feel like a better person. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get better. When I get down, I come back and try to make a better play the next time. Football actually takes up a lot of my time. The only time I really have for her during the season is at night when I get home. It's going to be hard for her to get used to not being around me all of the time. I have to do everything I can to keep our team together and do everything I can to work on our relationship, and be successful at both of them.
