RICHMOND, Va. - During the tenth weekly CAA Football teleconference of the season on Monday, Villanova head coach Andy Talley gave his thoughts on the Wildcats' bye week and how the team is preparing for the road trip to Maine. Below is a transcript of Talley's comments.

Villanova Head Coach Andy Talley

On the bye week: We have a set routine that we've followed for a number of years on a bye. We usually give the kids a couple of days off at mid-week and practice fairly lightly. We gave them today off and practiced yesterday. We started to prepare a little bit for Maine during the week prior. You never know if the bye comes at the right time or not, but for us it surely did. It also gave us a chance to move into our new football building, which is in the end zone. Trying to move in the middle of the season is rough. I still have half my stuff down in my old office and half up here. We've got meetings in both places, so it's a little strenuous. But it's a gorgeous building. After 32 years, we finally have the kind of end zone building that you need to stay a top team in the country.

On how teams are mentally preparing for the schedule ahead: I think that's going to be the key for the six teams that are still in the running. It's going to determine where you end up, whether you actually become a playoff team or if you have a high seed, or if you're not in at all. It's going to require all of us to bear down, and we particularly have a rough go at Maine and JMU here, and then down to Delaware. For Villanova, we'll find out if we have the makings of a playoff team.

On playing Maine this weekend: We do have everybody back. We probably, right now, are as healthy as we've been all year. Playing up at Maine is always very special. It's just a completely different atmosphere, the trip and so on. I have a great deal of respect for the coaching staff there and of course, Jack Cosgrove from previous years. It's a tough place to play. I am very impressed with the Maine football team. Coach Harasymiak has done a great job with the program. The quarterback is playing terrific, really good wide outs. The defense, they can run. Maine has always been a physical bunch. We know it's going to be an extremely, extremely difficult game. They have a lot to play for. They're a potential playoff team just like we are.

On his last trip to Maine: I can tell you, I'm going to have some lobster. I can tell you that right now. I'm definitely doing that and some of those sweet clams. I love all of that stuff, having coached in New England for several years. We've had a terrific run with Maine, a lot of good feelings. I remember one year, one of our wide outs broke his leg up there, a pretty severe break. The Maine team took great care of him. They went over to the hospital. Jack Cosgrove and his staff took good care of him. They're family. It's a great place with a great tradition and a great feeling. Our kid was up there for two weeks. He was in the best care you could ever want up there. It was a great story. That was about 10-15 years ago.

On Maine's strong special teams play: It's no different going from one to the next. You go from Maine to JMU, everybody has a punt returner or kick returner that you have to deal with. We all say we work real hard on our special teams, but the truth of the matter is, there's no way you can put enough time on special teams. We're just like everybody else. We're going to hold our breaths when we kick and punt and keep our fingers crossed.

On how his team has performed to this point: We think we finally have put it together here. It's been one of those things where it's like a watched pot. You keep stirring it and hope you have the right stuff in there. I think the biggest thing was to make sure that the quarterback got healthy again after his concussion and that was important. We've got three really good running backs. The strength of our team right now is our defense. I think we're the top rated defense in the league. As they go, we go. We had to develop some wide receivers. That was critical for us to get some wide outs in sync with the quarterback. All in all, we have yet to put a really good game together both offensively and defensively. I'm hoping that this week we have the ability to do that. All of us hold our breaths coming off of a bye week. You don't know if you have it coming off the bye week. Sometimes it takes you a half to get back in sync. Against a team like Maine, we better be ready to play at noon. I can tell you that.

On this year's defense and where it ranks compared to previous years: I think this one here is probably as good as any one that we've had. There's been good athleticism across the board, everybody can run. I think all of the coaches would agree, if you have 11 guys that can run to the ball, that's what you want. The secondary is pretty solid, even though we have a couple of guys playing with casts on their hands. We're probably not going to intercept many, but we can knock down the ball and tackle. We have a highlight player in Tanoh Kpassagnon. He's a pro prospect, probably a second or third round pick. Every offense better know where he is. He's 6'7", 290 pounds and can run. When you have a marquee player like that, and Austin Calitro, our linebacker is another good player, you have to know where those guys are.

On if he notices any differences with Joe Harasymiak as the head coach: They had a tremendous transition from Jack Cosgrove. I hope that Villanova can do it as well when we transition to Mark Ferrante. I think it looks like the same Black Bear football team - tough, hard-nosed, run to the football, challenge you every second of the game. You better know where everybody is. I'm very impressed with their staff and what coach has done. For a young guy, the beat continues to go on. Hats off to the Maine Black Bears, they've done a phenomenal job.