As the regular season winds down, all 14 Conference USA teams are in action again in Week 11, all of which are conference matchups, and all of which are on Saturday. WKU and Rice open Saturday’s C-USA action at 1 p.m. CT in Houston on ESPN+. There are then five C-USA games kicking off in the 2:30 p.m. CT window, highlighted by UAB traveling to Huntington, West Virginia, to battle Marshall in a matchup of two 4-1 teams in conference play on CBS Sports Network. AP No. 15/CFP No. 23 UTSA returns home to host Southern Miss from the Alamodome on ESPN+, also at 2:30 p.m. CT in their quest to reach the 10-0 plateau and continue taking steps towards a potential West Division title. The final game of the day for Conference USA teams kicks off at 3 p.m. CT, as North Texas hosts UTEP in Denton, also on ESPN+.

Every week head coaches take to the podium to answer questions from the league's media members - let's see what they're saying this week:

CHARLOTTE
Head Coach Will Healy’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
  
Opening Statement:
“Obviously an incredible night on Saturday night, incredible atmosphere. [It’s] really cool to talk about sold out games here. For us to be able to cap off Homecoming week with a win, was big. Incredible resiliency by our guys to find a light at the end of the tunnel, down 24-14 with six-and-a-half minutes to go in the game. [There are] plenty of things to correct and clean up, but really nice to do that after a conference win at home and I’m excited about the progress of this football team. I’ve got a lot to work on, obviously after practice today, just the consistency as you’re getting to week 10 and the monotony of doing the same thing you’ve been doing the last 16 weeks. How committed are we to getting better at the little things so that they pay off whenever it matters? That’s the challenge I have for our football team and the challenge I have for my staff and myself.
 
“We have a really, really difficult matchup on the road against Louisiana Tech. There’s some times where I’ve probably talked our team into how good someone else is, and hey, man, they’ve played six one-possession games. Should have beaten Mississippi State, SMU, North Carolina State all those people. It’s not hard to turn the film on on these guys and see how much talent they have. Skip Holtz I think is one of the best I’ve ever been around. He’s a great friend, he’s a great mentor, I call him for advice and I’ve learned a lot from him – I just think he does it the right way. Talented football team, going on the road will be a great challenge. I’m excited about having a chance to strap it back up this week, and see how much better we can get. But it’s about winning one game, and that’s all that matters.”
 
On what it will take to put together three, four, five full games to conclude the season:
“I think it starts with the consistency of practice. Until we get it right in practice, I don’t know how we can expect to get it right in the game. It’s like the other day, if you don’t turn the ball over twice, then you probably feel really good about where that score ends, and maybe you’re not in heart-attack zone there at the end of the game. We did much better with the penalties, we were only penalized twice, but we turned the ball over twice and then didn’t score in the redzone starting with the ball on the 21 yard-line starting off after the blocked punt. You take those three possessions, which credit to them, they got stops and they got turnovers, then I think you feel a lot better about it. It starts in practice, it’s the consistency, it’s the preparation and it’s the process. We’ve got to get it right during the week before we get it right on Saturday, and we haven’t gotten there yet. The cool part about it is, I want to be playing our best football Week 12. We’re making strides, but we’re not there, and as long as we’re not there, we still have something to work on.”
 
FIU
Head Coach Butch Davis’ Quotes
  
Please contact the FIU communications staff with any questions or additional needs ahead of Saturday’s game at Middle Tennessee. (Randy Press or Tyler Brain)

FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Head Coach Willie Taggart’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
On FAU's offensive struggles:
"I know from an offensive standpoint, (we're) not finishing drives. We're moving the ball throughout the game, but we didn't finish drives, whether it was the fumble, or we get down and we get sacked that takes us out of field goal range or dropped passes. You have to make them. Games like that you have to make those catches, make those throws, make tackles. It was some of our players that we count on that normally don't drop balls like that. It was just one of those games. Hate it but give Marshall credit for taking advantage of the opportunities they had."

On creating more pressure on defense:
"That's something we have to get corrected. It's tough to cover that long. They have time and they're catching the ball and getting YAC's [Yards After Catch]. That's something we really have to look at what we're doing defensively when it comes to the passing game. That's two weeks in a row where it's over 300 yards in the passing game. We did a good job stopping the run but they're throwing the ball too easy."

On what to learn after a loss:
"You want every game to be a learning experience. Especially when you lose. You have to learn from it. If you don't, you're going to fall behind. When you're doing the game like that with a young team, they have to understand what it's going to take to win against opponents like that. With that kind of game, it's a different mentality in how you go about doing things. As the year is going, our guys our learning what it's going to take to be a championship football team and unfortunately, we had some setbacks in games. As long as we learn from them, I think we'll continue to get better as a young team that can make sure those things don't happen as we move forward."

On facing Old Dominion:
"I think Old Dominion is a much-improved football team. You watch as the year went on, they got better each and every game. It's one of those games where you can't look at the record. It's a good team that's getting better. They didn't play last year and had to get used to each other this year. Now toward the latter part of the season, you're starting to see them take off."

On the offense recollecting themselves for next Saturday:
"I loved our players mentality after the game in the locker room and what a few of them had to say to each other and what we needed to do moving forward. I think it's always good when guys go out and don't play the way they know they should and then the next morning you see them working on their craft trying to get better. I believe in all of those guys that dropped the ball and I believe they'll make a catch that will make up for it and help us."

On what Old Dominion Quarterback Hayden Wolff does well:
"Him getting the ball out of his hand quick and distributing it to his playmakers. He's doing a good job of getting it to them while they're open and where they can run with the ball after the catch. Now you see with Hayden [Wolff] in there they're more consistent. They're more efficient with what they're doing."
 
LOUISIANA TECH
Head Coach Skip Holtz’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
 
On the defense against UAB:
“It’s five weeks in a row being disappointed with the outcome of the game. There are certainly some things to build on, but also some areas of concern. I look at it defensively and thought we started out like gang busters. At the end of the first quarter, they had five carries for five yards. The defense was playing pretty well. We gave up that one big play. We were able to capitalize on a turnover and found ourselves up a little bit. But we had 21 missed tackles during the course of the game and 16 of them with the linebackers and the safeties is a problem. Ten missed tackles is a lot. I give UAB an awful lot of credit. Their running back is a strong, powerful runner, but we have to do a better job fundamentally of tackling, of staying square, pad level and the biggest thing is wrapping arms. We’re coming up. We’re hitting people, but we’re throwing a shoulder at them. When you have a 225-pound back, he isn’t going to go down. You’ve got to take away the engine room, which are the legs, and wrap your arms up and around his legs and try to get him on the ground any way that you can. That was the biggest disappointment for me was just the way that we tackled defensively.”
 
On the offense against UAB:
“Offensively, there were some things to build on. Watching JD Head have his first start and play as a freshman, he did some really good things managing the game. He didn’t turn the ball over. We didn’t have a turnover on offense. We had our second-highest rushing output of the year against the No. 2 defense in our conference in UAB, rushing for 150 yards. Chris Fournier went over and played left tackle for the first time all year which was a really good move for us offensively. Dakota White stepped in and really did a nice job at the right tackle. Abraham Delfin and Joshua Mote continue to be staples for us up inside. That unit is really starting to gel and come together. Keyon Henry-Brooks and Marcus Williams Jr. did a really good job running the ball. The inside and outside receivers played well. We scored 38 points. There were a lot of good things offensively. We hit a lull there with a couple missed assignments and overall execution we have to do a better job with in the second and third quarter. Overall, the offense played pretty well.”
 
On the special teams against UAB:
“Special teams-wise, Smoke (Harris) drops a punt which is the first one he’s dropped in two years being back there. It’s not something you see very often. He’s been very reliable for us back there. We gave up our second fake punt of the year which is something that can’t happen. Our defense works too hard to get a stop and have to get right back onto the field. We were unsound in what we did. They did a nice job in executing, but we were unsound. We were supposed to have a guy at linebacker level and he wasn’t there. We have to take ownership of that as a staff. That’s our job first and foremost to make sure we get the ball back and no fakes are successful. That’s the second one that was successful on us this year. The fake punt and the fumble on the punt led to 14 points and all of a sudden you find yourself down 24-21 at half. The disappointment was the way we tackled on defense.”
 
On moving forward:
“Our coaches, our players, our staff. We all have to do a better job. It was disappointing to lose. Especially with that being the seventh loss, it took us out of bowl contention for the first time in seven years which is disappointing. As we talked about as team, there’s still an awful lot to play for. We’ve got three games left on our schedule. We have the opportunity to play two of them at home in front of our family, our friends, our alumni, our fan base here at home. We’re going to do everything we can to send these 18 seniors out a winner and find a way to see if we can get on a win streak going down the stretch with three games remaining.”
 
On Charlotte:
“It’ll be a challenge for us. We’ve got Charlotte this week who is a good football team. They’re 5-4. They beat Duke to open the season. They had a nice win last week in beating Rice in overtime after Rice had beaten UAB. It’ll be a challenge for us, but we have three games remaining. We still have to keep putting this together and find a way to send these seniors out the right way.”
 
MARSHALL
Head Coach Charles Huff’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
 
Opening Statement:
“Really big weekend here in our community for a lot of reasons. Obviously we are honoring to me what is pure, and true about our sport of college football and the remembrance of the 75 game. To me, these are the type of weekends and events, acknowledgments, ceremonies and honoring, that is why we love college sports. An event that happened years ago that ultimately changed the course of history for not only the University and the community, but all of college athletics. What was done in the wake of the plane crash ultimately allowed Marshall to continue playing football, but it also changed a rule about freshman being able to play and creating opportunities for others. So this weekend we honor all the men and women who sacrificed so that we can be in the seats that we are in. I told the team yesterday that obviously the plane crash was an opportunity to show the strength of this University and this community, but the young Thundering Herd, because of them, because of the rebirth – we’re able to sit in the chairs we’re sitting in, I’m able to stand in this position and we do not take that lightly. I’m excited to be a part of this weekend, a part of this game, a part of this weekend ceremony and what it means not only to Marshall and this community, but to all of the country. A lot of people know, respect and cheer for Marshall University because of our resilience, because of our commitment to pressing forward.
 
“It’s a great opportunity for us this weekend and I told our team the way you honor someone or a group is through your performance. The way you honor your mother is through your performance every day as a son or daughter. The way you honor your wife is through your performance every day as a husband. The way you honor your country is through your performance every day as a military member. I think the way that this football team can honor the 75 is through our performance on Saturday. We are very excited about the opportunity, excited to also be playing the Conference USA champs – and until someone dethrones them, that’s the title they’ve earned, and that’s the title and the respect we will give them. I know Coach [Bill] Clark I know obviously from being in Alabama, has done a phenomenal job with this program, with his players, his coaches. He’s an upstanding guy and I’ve respected him from afar being at the University of Alabama for what he was able to do and continue to do at UAB.
 
“Very good team that’s coming in here – phenomenal defense and very stout against the run. I’ve got a lot of respect for all their players, I think Noah Wilder, their middle linebacker, does a phenomenal job and you can tell he’s got unbelievable leadership skills – his play speaks for itself. They are probably the best run defense we will play this year up until this point. It’s going to be a challenge for us – going to be a challenge for us because we pride ourselves on being able to run the football and they pride themselves on being able to stop the run, so it’s going to be a challenge.
 
“Offensively, as a running back coach, you’ve got to have respect for how they run the ball, how their running backs run, how physical they are. Unbelievable body and balance control breaking tackles and as a team you can see they thrive on being able to run the ball efficiently throughout the game. It’s going to be a challenge for our defense. Obviously we pride ourselves, most defenses in the country, you’ve got to be able to stop the run. Being able to stop the run is going to be huge. Obviously our fans, the community will be behind us as we do everything we can this week to prepare so we can go out and get the results we are looking forward to this weekend.”
 
On last week’s performance:
“I’m really proud of how our guys fought. Going down to a hostile environment, the weather was great – a little different than Huntington, but we brought some of that back with us. Going down to a hostile environment and playing as a team – I think the last couple weeks the one consistent thing that we’ve done, although there are things to clean up, is we’re playing really good complimentary football right now. Offense, defense, special teams, no side is perfect, but we’re all making plays when we need to make plays, or at some point we’re all able to make plays. Special teams obviously started it off with a bang – I’m not going to lie, the original call was for Jayden Harrison to shut it down, so we could see what kind of formation they were going to run to make sure our blocking schemes are consistent. When he took his first two steps, I said ‘what the hell is he doing?’ and three steps later, I said ‘run!’ All of those things are great – things we worked on in practice showed up in the game.
 
“Defensively I thought as the game went on, we kind of settled down and got into a groove. Another week in a row our defense has done a really good job of playing consistent bend, but don’t break defense. I think it’s unrealistic to think we’re just going to every play three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out, but what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to be consistent. Our redzone defense is really good right now, we’re forcing teams to kick field goals, and if you multiply by seven and they multiply by three, you’ve got a chance to be really good. We’re minimizing our missed tackles, although we had some early in the game, but as the game kind of settled down, we were able to tackle with a lot more consistency, which got us off the field. We were able to create some pressure on the quarterback, I think we had six sacks, so again, affecting the decision-maker, making it tough for him to distribute the ball, and I think he did a really good job of creating some plays with his feet. We’ve still got some things to clean up, they got a couple of guys, I won’t say behind us, but they got some deep balls that they had position on, our guys were in position, or some of the balls were overthrown or dropped. But again, it’s improvement – four weeks ago or whatever it was – App State, those were penalties for us, so although, no I don’t want guys behind us or places where guys are counting on a guy to drop a ball, I want our defenders to play with a lot more technique, which I think we are starting to see. Those penalties that were turning into big first downs a couple of weeks ago, so our guys are getting better.
 
“Offensively we’ve minimized, I’m pounding the table to eliminate the turnovers, but we’ve minimized them. We were a lot more explosive, but we’ve got to clean up some penalty things – I think we had two penalties that took points off the board, which changes the game drastically, but we were able to bounce back, move the ball and get some explosive plays and come away with a victory. There’s a lot to learn from, but I’m pleased with the progress I think this team is making, I think we still have got to continue to harp on the things that ultimately help you be successful long term. These coaches are working their tails off, these players are working their tails off and we have got to focus on the things we need to do this week to have success.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Head Coach Rick Stockstill’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
Opening Statement: 
“Really looking forward to this week, [I’m] excited about it. We’ve got FIU coming in here, and this is always a tough, competitive close game. Last year it went down to the last minute of the game and that’s what’s anticipated this year. Their record is not very good, but they’ve lost some close games. Their guys are still playing hard and that’s a credit to their players and their coaches in how well they’re competing and how hard they’re playing. Their quarterback I think is a really, really good player. He can throw the ball, he’s a pocket guy who has a really good release and strong arm. It appears to me that he’s getting better and better each week. He’s an accurate quarterback and has done a nice job. Their running back, we saw him last year, we scored and he took the next play 63 or 65 yards for a long touchdown run. They ran the ball for almost 300 yards on us last year, so we’ve got to stop the run and we can’t give up explosive plays defensively and to me, that’s where it starts on that side of the ball.
 
“Offensively for us, obviously we’ve got to eliminate the turnovers that we had, and I’m very confident that we will. We showed some signs throughout that game last week that we were doing some good things, but just weren’t consistent enough because of the turnovers, so we’ve got to eliminate those. [In] the kicking game, they’ve got a really, really, really special punter, so we’ve got to be able to handle that. They run a lot of fakes in the kicking game and we’ve got to be ready for that, so again, you don’t look at the record, you worry about yourself and we’ll have a great week of practice and be ready to play there Saturday afternoon.”
 
On how to bounce back after a tough loss:
“Each game is a season in itself and whether you win or whether you lose, you’ve got to flush it. You can’t beat your chest for six or seven days when you win, and you can’t step on your lip when you get beat for six or seven days. You’ve got to look in the mirror and get better, and come out and work and correct our mistakes. The leadership of our team is excellent, we’ve got good guys that care and we’re going to bounce back this week. We had a good practice yesterday and I have no doubt that tomorrow we’ll have a good practice, as we will the rest of the week. Again, it’s coach cliché stuff, every coach in America says it, but you’re just trying to win one game this week and that’s all our focus is – on FIU and we’re not gonna look back and we’re not gonna look past. We focus on FIU and get ready and play this game.”
 
NORTH TEXAS
Head Coach Seth Littrell’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
 
On the running backs:
"The backs are doing a great job, and up front they're doing good and taking pride in paying physical. Our runners ran really physical the other day, which is key. One man goes down with DeAndre getting banged up, and others step up and make some big plays and we had two 100-yard rushers. Physicality is where it starts. That's the most important thing.
 
"He [Ikaika Ragsdale] finally got back to being healthy and practicing. Especially with the young guys, they've been out with some different injuries and once that happens and you miss a week of practice, it takes a while to get back in the rhythm of doing it. Those young guys being able to practice and get the looks. I think they just look a lot more comfortable and back to where they were in fall camp. It's good to see those guys out there. [Freshman] Ayo [Adeyi] continues to get in and make plays for us and then those other two came up big, too."
 
On UTEP:
"Dana [Dimel] does a great job. He's an excellent coach. Offensively, they're physical and they're always starting up front and trying to establish the run game to get downhill. Their quarterback and receiver positions have a lot of skill and that's where they're different now. Those receivers get out there and make a lot of plays and the QB slings it around well.

"On defense, it all starts up front for them. They do a great job in the run game and the pass game. They bring pressure and play good, solid team defense. They're aggressive and they'll pressure you and know when to come after you. Again, they're just playing well together and you can see their confidence is growing every single week and guys are playing together and getting that continuity."
 
Press conference notebook

OLD DOMINION
Head Coach Ricky Rahne’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
Opening Statement:
“Obviously excited to be able to come back and play in front of our home fans. I know our guys are excited about that. Another opportunity for us to go 1-0. Looking forward to a great week of practice.”
 
On the difference between winning close games like they have the past couple weeks, and losing close ones earlier in the season:
“How you feel afterward. That’s one. Certainly feel a lot better after you win close games. No, I think it’s just about playing situational football a little bit better all the way around. You never know what play is going to be the difference in the game. It might be a play in the fourth drive of the game, or it might be the last play of the game. You never have an idea on that but just playing overall situational football. I thought first downs were going to be a big factor in this last game, and we were more efficient than them on first down by 0.3% which is negligible at best. But, we were much better, we were significantly better on second down than them and that led to us being infinitely better on 3^rd down. We were above 70% and they were below 38%. I think that just all those little certain things really help out. I would like to see us score more red zone touchdowns because in those close games that can come up and bite you. We’ve got to be able to take advantage of those and obviously we’ve got to eliminate the two turnovers. But our defense creating two turnovers, should have been two touchdowns. Joe Joe should have got one, but they blew the whistle, but he did a nice job of picking it up. Then Deeve making a great play and scoring on there, defensive touchdowns are always going to be a huge factor in a close game.”
  
On if two straight wins will make the team more hungry:
“Yeah, I would hope so. I would hope so. Obviously, you love having that feeling after a win, so you’d like to see it be hungrier. I thought it was something that we focused on all week, it was one of our messages about staying hungry and those sorts of things, and we had focused on it the whole game. I thought there were times where we could have laid the hammer down more and really put them away a little bit sooner. In the Sunday meeting I showed clips of the Canelo/Plant fight. Canelo’s obviously one of the all-time greats and he does a nice job for 11 rounds of fighting a great fighter in Plant, and then he sees the opening to take him down and he came out and tried to end it. I think we need to make sure we have that same mentality when we get the opportunity to knock somebody out, we’ve got to have that instinct.”
 
On QB Hayden Wolff:
“I thought he did some good things. There’s a couple throws that obviously he would like to have back, and I would like him to have back. But there’s one play in particular, it was second and 10. We called a play that’s a little bit more of a downfield shot play. They clouded the field. If he would have tried to force it, it would have been an interception. As soon as they clouded the field, he came down to what is essentially his third progression, which is exactly what he’s supposed to do, he threw the ball right to him. Zack catches it for an eight-yard gain. Next play Elijah scores a touchdown because we’re in third and short, and he goes 61. I thought that play was a great microcosm of how to play winning football at the quarterback position.”
  
On TE Zack Kuntz’s progression this year:
“Yeah, he certainly ran more physical with the ball when he’s had it. One time, you know… he should’ve went out of bounds in the two-minute drill. But it’s alright, at least he was trying to run him over, which he was. He’s really played well. I think what he’s done is his blocking has led to his ability to get matchup problems on the field. We have two really good pass receiving tight ends right now, Donta’s done a nice job as well. They also block really well. Teams have got to make a decision, are we going to stay in nickel and let these guys bully us around or are we going to go in base and then maybe they have a matchup problem with their linebacker on our tight end. It’s creating some matchups for us that have helped us, and he’s taken advantage and run some good routes, and then we’ve been able to put him in some positions to be successful. It takes a lot of different things, pass protection has been excellent, and that’s helped him as well. I will say that I do think that one of the things in our game that is crazy is we do all these national awards, and we do the semifinalists in week four of the season. How stupid is that? It's basically how well you did the last year to be if you can get on the list to begin with and then after week four, they just cut it down to whoever they were going to do. I don’t know how the guy whose third in the nation in catches as a tight end is not on the Mackey semifinalist list. I’m sure I would like those people if I met them, but since I feel like Mike Gesicki should have won it in 2017, instead they gave it to a guy that basically plays slot receiver and never blocked, and yes, I hope he’s watching this. I know Mike was not a devastating blocker but at least he did do it. Our tight ends are blocking and they’re catching the ball. I think it’d be a great reward for our entire room if Zack was able to make that list.”
 
On Florida Atlantic:
“On offense you know obviously they’ve got the transfer quarterback who’s a good player. Athletic kid, can throw the ball down the field, does some good things. I’ve been impressed with… they’ve got some athletic guys on the outside, tight end and wide receiver and things like that, but I’ve really been impressed with their left guard and center. I think those guys are really good football players. As I watch them, athletic. They’ve played a lot of football for them and have done a nice job. Then their running back room is excellent, you know. Number 5 is a little guy but he’s extremely hard to tackle and very fast. They played three different running backs in the last game, and they were all very successful. They’ve done a nice job there. Defensively, they’ve got one of the larger human beings that we will play against this year at nose tackle. I don’t know how big he is, whatever he’s listed at I think he’s bigger. Maybe it’s the single digit. I don’t know how they got a single digit number (#8) that big. He’s a large human. That defensive line in general, they are big. They play well at linebacker, and they’ve got a great safety who is a very smart player but way more athletic than people give him credit for, number 35. Then they’ve got a corner, number 24, that has made some great plays on the ball and has been a consistently good player for them. Another good punter, playing another good punter so that’s going to be a good challenge for us. I thought we responded to that in the last week, so yeah. It's going to be a good opportunity for us. Their head coach is very experienced, he’s been a lot of different places, and been successful everywhere he’s been. It will be a good challenge for all of us.”
 
On when the thought about potential bowl eligibility becomes a talking point:
“When’s our last game? It’ll be 11/28, we’ll talk about eligibility. November 28 we’ll talk about it. Right when everybody’s eating their last remnants of Thanksgiving leftovers, we’ll be able to discuss those possibilities. Up until then, it's too big. It’s too much. I think it's too big to ask somebody to play, I know I’ve said it, but to ask somebody to play four quarters I think is too much. You’ve got to talk about one play at a time. You start talking about games and stringing things together like that weeks at a time, I mean that’s too difficult. It’s too difficult for most adults so for our young men, that’s really hard you know. We’re talking about stringing together one good day and then have another good day after that. I’m talking to guys about making sure they have a good study hall, then after that they can have a good you know, hey let’s make sure we eat right at dinner and those sorts of things. Breaking it up makes it much more manageable.”

RICE
Head Coach Mike Bloomgren’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
 
Opening Statement:
“I liked the way we prepared last week. We went into Charlotte with the right mindset. We started the game off the way we wanted to and did some good things. In a zero-sum world, it was a difficult loss. After watching the film, I think we did some really good things to be proud of. We dominated time of possession, we ran the ball well. We stopped the run well and we had a lot of really good individual performances. A lot of guys had their best performance in a Rice uniform. Guys like Ari Broussard, Cole Garcia and Jordan Dunbar. Antonio Montero played as well as he has. He’s had some great games here but he played as good as he has creating a big-time turnover that gave us a real boost there. But, unfortunately, when you don’t find a way to win the game, it’s hard to celebrate those things. So that’s tough. But, we’re going to celebrate every victory. We’re going to talk about the good and we’re going to learn from the bad as we always do and watch the game with a critical eye.
 
Talking about the flow of the game, I think for three and two-thirds quarters, we played about as well as we needed to. We certainly left some opportunities out there like you always do. We played good enough to win and we weren’t able to capitalize down the stretch and that’s really disappointing. We had a couple of plays here or there, as you do in any overtime game, that are just different. You win the game and you win it in regulation. The thing that I talked to the team about yesterday is that pressure is a privilege and being in overtime is just an opportunity to win the game right then and there and go celebrate in the locker room. We need to understand that overtime is a great place to be. It’s something that we’ve earned and it’s just another step for us to learn to finish those games.
 
But, we still have everything in front of us. We’ll continue to grow and trust our process. It’ll take an army. It’ll take every one of us to finish this season the way we need to. I have full faith in our players and staff to be able to do so.
 
Talking about Western Kentucky, we know that they have a dominant offense. They have a great quarterback and they have been playing as good a defense as they have all year. They’re creating turnovers. They’re really playing solid in all three phases. They’re really good on special teams. They get after it on special teams. So, it’s going to be an unbelievable challenge for us.”
 
On his key takeaways from the Charlotte game:
“The biggest thing is that we did some things technique-wise that were really, really good throughout the game. When the game is on the line and we have a chance to win a college football game, we’ve got to go green at that time too, more than ever before. We’ve got to fall back on our technique and our training and not abort those things. Because when we do things right, we’re pretty hard to deal with. If we try to do someone else’s job in addition to our 1/11, it’s just too much. There’s a reason why the schemes are built the way they are. If we just do our job and finish that game out, we’d be feeling really good right now. That’s the feeling we’ve got to get to in those pressure situations and understand that pressure is a privilege.”
 
On what he’s seen from the safeties:
“It’s always a next man up mentality. That’s the way it has to be in football. But when you lose George Nyakwol and when you lose Treshawn Chamberlain, guys that have played a whole lot of football and two of the anchors that we counted on this year, really the only elder statesmen back there is Naeem (Smith) in terms of directing things from the safety room. Now you’ve got young guys stepping up and making plays. You’ve got Gabe Taylor, you’ve got Kirk Lockhart. When Plae Wyatt’s gotten in there, he’s done a good job. So, they’re doing well, but there’s a little bit of trial by fire right now from the back end.”
 
SOUTHERN MISS
Head Coach Will Hall’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference (due to Tuesday’s off day for the Election)
 
Opening Statement:
"Little bit different Tuesday. Obviously, we are getting a little bit later in the year. We are a little bit thin with our scholarship numbers and we are a little beat up at the end of the year, so we went on a lighter day with more mental work, which is typically the end of the year for a lot of teams, but especially for us and where we are with our roster numbers. We have a lot of energy and will continue to improve, especially with our young guys. We have three more weeks in this season to finish it the right way and we are working on doing that.”
 
On the younger guys who have stood out:
"All of our young backs, Frank [Gore, Jr.] and Dajon [Richard] are some young guys. Brandon Hayes coming on at wideout. Zay Franks, Richard Mays has had a good year. We are not going to play him anymore and redshirt him. [We will] redshirt Zay. Jeremiah Robinson is a young man that is not redshirting and is playing well. Brendan Toles at corner, Jay Jones at safety. Those are all freshmen that are going to be really good players. Luke Baker is coming on at tight end and showing that he will be a really good player in this league. My’kal McLeod and Peyton McKinion are some young tackles that are showing that they can really play. Those are some true freshmen that are doing some really good things that we are seeing and are going to be really good players in this league down the road. “
 
Thoughts on UTSA:
"They start 15 seniors, six juniors, and one sophomore. They are a really good program that's recruited really well over a period of time. Their previous staff did a good job recruiting and the new staff has come in and done a great job with those guys. That's what we will probably be in year three here. We will look up in 2023, we will be starting start 15 seniors, six juniors, and a sophomore. That's why they are winning. They are older guys who have been in their program, they are well-coached and they play really good football. I have a lot of respect for Coach Traylor and how they have built it. They are a good, solid football team that doesn't have any deficiencies. I have a lot of respect for how they do it and it's very similar to the style that we will be moving forward.”
 
On UTSA in CFP Rankings:
"Yeah. They've done what they are supposed to do. They've beaten everybody on their schedule and there is a lot to be said for that. They play who they play and they win. They win on the road and win at home. They have done a great job and that's a part of it when you get into rankings and people’s opinion and all that. You are going to control what you can control and they have done that to this point.”

UAB
Head Coach Bill Clark’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
Opening Statement:
“Obviously it was a big win on Saturday. We did video this morning and there are always things that we want to correct. I was proud of the lead up to the game. I look at what our practice is like. The open date was huge for us and being able to get a few guys healed up after the eight-game stretch. Going into the game we were in a really good spot. We started out good offensively and then we get behind. We were just talking about the fake punt that really turned things around for us. It was back-and-forth to get ahead before half. I was really proud of the offense in the second half. I thought we had a really good second half defensively as well, for the most part. But really proud of our offense. It was really one of the first times all year that we felt like they responded at the end of the game. It was a big touchdown by Lucious Stanley at the end and obviously Debo (DeWayne McBride) had a huge day for us. For a guy that was pretty banged up with an ankle. I’m really proud of him for his efforts. It was a great team win.
 
“Now we go to Marshall. They are playing extremely well. It is a tough place to play as we know. We are going back to the place where we played the championship game last year. I’m sure they haven’t forgotten that. It does help that we’ve just been in that stadium not too long ago. They are playing really well on all sides of the ball. They had a big win over Florida Atlantic, which it’s really tough to win at their place. We are going to have our hands full.”
 
On Marshall:
“Their quarterback is playing really well. I thought a lot about him last year as a freshman. I think you see him mature and doing more things. He’s making more throws. They are diversified on offense. They do a lot of different things and have a lot of formations, a lot of shifts, a lot of motions. They run the ball really well. Their running back leads the nation in rushing touchdowns – he reminds you a lot of our guy (DeWayne McBride). They have good speed and dynamic receivers all around. Their tight end played wildcat quarterback against us last year. He’ll be in the tight end position, and then he flexes out. They’ve got weapons offensively. Defensively they are playing well. It’s just a really good team.” 
 
On things that need to be cleaned up:
“There are a lot of things that always need to be fixed. There were a lot of tackles that need to be cleaned up. We are always looking at penalties, we are looking at little things. It is always a work in progress for us. That is why we do the good, bad and the ugly on Monday morning. It’s the constant state of trying to get better. I wasn’t happy – being a defensive minded coach – we are trying to go for a shutout every week. We knew Louisiana Tech was going to score some points on us. We are always working on every side of the ball. I though special teams really answered the call last week. We had a couple special teams plays with some different kicks they gave us, but all-in-all I think special teams responded.”
 
On the rushing attack:
“For us we really want to be multiple. We want to be able to run the ball and throw the ball and be balanced. I’ve always said that you can take something away from somebody. You put enough guys in the box, you can take the running game away. You drop people and you can take the pass game away. We can be multiple, but to see our running game in the fourth quarter is something that we would like to see. For Dylan (Hopkins) there were some throws early on that were a little tight. He came back and had a good second half. You are always working; it’s always based on your opponent. Our guys know what’s at stake, their guys know what is at stake. It’s going to be a big one.”

UTEP
Head Coach Dana Dimel’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
On playing UTSA last week:
“Last week I thought UTSA came out and did a really nice job. We tip our hats to them and what they did. They seemed to be hitting on all cylinders. I think a lot of it was stimulated by that 75-yard run on the second play of the game. It really got them going and the momentum going. It just seemed like all the little intricacies of each play, they were running normally all year, we’ve been able to stop those types of plays and after that it seemed like their execution was really good, and our defense was a little bit off. They got after us and did a great job and scored a lot of points on our defense. Our defense had been playing extremely well all year, but they got the better of us, and they’re a good football team. They’re a physical football team and they have a lot of good players.
 
“Offensively, we obviously missed that field goal that would’ve got us within a touchdown. And then we had the drive to start the second half where we drove the ball down the field and didn’t execute well on the that two plays of that drive. That was unfortunate, because we had a guy wide open on the touchdown pass, but didn’t get the ball to him.”
 
On playing at North Texas on Nov. 13:
“We go back [to practice] and get ready for what becomes another big game for us. It’s an opportunity for our football team to get to seven wins; to get to a 7-3 record after 10 ball games. To me, that’s really something to strive for and have our best yet to ourselves to that point for our football team is ready to out and perform, and get things fixed that we didn’t do well last week, and continue to try and improve.
 
“North Texas is on a two-game win streak now, so they got some momentum to what they’re doing. They’ve had two nice wins and they’re running the football well, so it’ll be a good test for our defense to stop their run game. They’re doing some good things with that and being physical and getting the ball to their tight ends. Defensively, I think Phil Bennett’s [UNT Def. Coordinator] coming into a really nice job with their defense, and they’re getting better. They’re a physical team up front, defensively, and it will be a good test for us. It’ll also be a good road test for us.”
 
UTSA
Head Coach Jeff Traylor’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
On his takeaways from the game against UTEP:  
“Our ability to come out and score so quick was huge. I thought it was an unbelievably designed play by Coach (Barry) Lunney. Our kids executed it so well. It was just good. They only allowed 90 yards a game on the run, and our goal was to double them up. We got 75 yards on that one play. I thought that was huge. Defensively, we came out strong early. We didn’t finish the game the exact way that we wanted to, but you have to give UTEP a lot of credit. Special teams wise, the kick by Hunter (Duplessis), his seven touchbacks, all of his extra points and the big tackle by Rashad Wisdom on the kickoff were all very big plays in the ball game.”  
 
On his reflection on being 9-0 on the season: 
“I start off every Sunday morning in my journal with quiet time. I would be lying if I did not say this has been surreal, a dream. I appreciate how it has been mentioned to our fanbase to enjoy these moments. These are special moments. We will look back in time one day and think, ‘Wow, that was an incredible ride.’ I hope we have many more of those in front of us. To be undefeated, there are four of us left in the country, with such a new program, I am so thrilled for my kids, my players. It makes me feel so good for them. They are the ones that deserve all of this. I am so happy for them.” 
 
On the importance of the single-digit number players:  
“I want y’all to ask my guys, ‘Who is the most important coach in your life?’ Every one of them will say that they are the most important coach in their lives. I am not the most important coach in their life. They are the only ones that really know what they are doing when they are alone. They are the only ones that can look in that mirror. The only man that really matters is the man in the mirror. Our players will take care of that. If they don’t, we will not play well on Saturday. I have not yet seen us not show up. I would be willing to argue and debate that at any moment in our 12 games last year and our nine game this year, in 21 games, we showed up every single one of them. Were we perfect? Heck no. Your head coach is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Your players are not perfect, but I promise you that we always give perfect effort.” 
 
On what they are going to prepare for against Southern Miss:
“They have great tradition. I am very impressed with how hard they play. It is new. You have a new program with a new coach coming in there. There is a lot of tradition and they have a lot of athletes.” 
 
WKU
Head Coach Tyson Helton’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
  
Opening statement:
“Another big conference game this week, going on the road, playing a tough Rice team. Been very impressed with them. They had a big win over UAB a couple of weeks ago at UAB which is hard to do. And had 2 overtime losses to 2 good conference teams. So, it’s gonna take our best effort this week and you know we just gotta keep the ball rolling and take care and control the things we can control. But definitely need to play our best this week to get this conference win.” 
 
On the matchup with Rice:
“Good hard-nose football team. They’re gonna big boy you, they do an excellent job in the run game. Getting 22 personnel, 12 personnel, 11 personnel, empty sets, they kind of do it all. I think they’re very physical, they want to control the clock. I’m sure against us, that’s what they’re gonna try to do, limit our possessions, control the clock offensively, try to have long drives. They’ve really done that the past 3 weeks, that’s kinda been their winning formula for them. So defensively we gotta do a great job; get stops, get the ball back. I think it’s important offensively for us to start fast to try to maybe get an early lead where they can’t control the clock. That’s hard to do on the road though, you know. So that’ll be the challenge of our offense. You definitely are gonna face a team that is a hard-nose, hungry football team… I see a team that’s really hungry. I watch them, their sidelines are enthusiastic. They’re battling, fighting, scratching, and clawing I said it last week, they’re a lot like us you know. They go out there and compete every week, I don’t think they’re concerned about records or any of those kinds of things. So, it’s gonna take our best football game for sure.”
 
On traveling for a road game:
“I think the biggest thing is it’s hard to win on the road. So, we gotta play our best, we gotta rally around each other, we gotta create our own mojo, our own enthusiasm. You know it’s gonna be a crowd that nobody’s pulling for ya. There’s not probably gonna be many of our fans there just because of the distance piece of it. So, we gotta go there and do everything right and be ready to go, and have our jaw set and treat this like a championship game, have a championship mentality.”