DALLAS - Ten C-USA teams are in action again this week, with all five scheduled games being league contests. Friday night sees a key matchup between UAB and WKU in Bowling Green at 7 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network. A four-game slate on Saturday starts with a 2 p.m. CT matchup between Rice and Louisiana Tech in Ruston, a pair of 2:30 p..m CT fixtures that pits a pair of 3-0 league foes in North Texas at UTSA and FIU travels to Charlotte, and finally a 3 p.m. kickoff in Boca Raton between UTEP and Florida Atlantic.
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:
“Glad to be back at home this week. It is important for us to play well at home and there should be a really good crowd on Saturday. We had a tough and frustrating loss this past week against UAB. We gave ourselves opportunities to win the game, but we just weren’t able to pull it off down the stretch. Proud of the fight from our guys, but there comes a time where our fight and our effort have to be matched with a significant increase in execution. We are excited to see how we can improve on that this week and give ourselves the best chance to have success on Saturday.”
On sense of urgency for team:
“On Saturday, we saw how hard our guys played and strive for success. It’s not an effort issue. There are times where we want to find that success too much and press a little too much instead of being confident and doing our job. There is one thing I do not worry about with this team and that is a response. I told them that I have a really high standard throughout the week so that on Saturday we are able to reap the rewards we worked so hard for. The expectation the entire week is beat your best, and we still have a lot to work for the rest of the week. Our guys are fighters and they respond, so I know they are going to have a tremendous sense of urgency on Saturday to perform well at home.”
QB CHRIS REYNOLDS
On tight end unit:
“It was great to see Taylor make some plays again, especially in his home state of Alabama. Coming back from an ACL, its hard to come back both mentally and physically. It was very good for him to be able to make a few plays early in the game. So, I was happy for him to see him play well on Saturday. For Jake, is a competitor. He’s a grit guy, you know he’s going to get in the box and create some havoc inside. Those two guys, along with the whole tight end room, are special and they are some of the hardest workers on the field.”
DB WAYNE JONES
On players not pressing to achieve results:
“It has been a challenge because as a team I feel like we have a great process, but the results haven’t matched the work we’ve put in. Staying consistent is very important and believing that your process will pay off if you continue to work hard. Those are really the two crucial things that we need to look at as we continue this season. Just keep working hard and the results will pay off and not trying to force things to happen”.
FIU
Head Coach Mike MacIntyre’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
On this week’s opponent Charlotte:
“I know Will Healy their head coach well and he is an excellent young coach. I remember when he went to Austin Peay, and I think they'd lost like 30 games in a row, he turned that program around. Then at Charlotte and they've been struggling a little bit this year, but they play extremely hard, a lot of energy. And last week, they had a chance to be UAB and played really, really well against UAB who's perennial power in our league.
“So, you know, first of all their quarterback Chris Reynolds, I believe he was picked preseason first team all-conference or second team all-conference, he's thrown for a lot of yards and done a lot of excellent things there. They have two excellent receivers in Grant DuBose and Elijah Spencer. Spencer, I think it's he's making tons of plays, doing an excellent job
“And then on defense, last week was one of their best outings and they played really tough, they have some guys are making plays. They had a lot of injuries on defense, which has hurt them a little bit. And so, we'll go down there and do all the best we can in the game and it should be a beautiful day down there in Charlotte.”
On Charlotte QB Chris Reynolds and how they plan to defend him:
“Well, we just looked at a lot of different things that they do against similar type defenses or similar type coverages. And you know, every team kind of does little different things so, we'll look at that. Chris Reynolds, he had an excellent game last year. Those receivers did a good job in the game, and then every game he's been the quarterback in they've done a pretty good job offensively. He's been able to make plays and has great pocket presence and able to move in the pocket and still keep the ball alive. It's something that I noticed that he does really well. He's able to stay alive in the pocket, he has a unique ability to escape but it's not escaped to really run as much as it escaped to make them throw. And that's where they make a lot of their big plays where he's able to escape and make nice throws downfield and do different things like that.”
On DL Davon Strickland’s impact to the team:
Davon has come back and done real well. Last two games he's played well. We're kind of bringing him on a little bit little slow. They're bringing him back into to pace with everything. And perfect. He's kept improving and improving, improving. We're excited about what he does this week. He's a good leader, great young man and excited about him being back with a team and pushing hard through everything.
On OL Lyndell Hudson Jr.’s progress throughout his collegiate career and what he brings to the team on offense:
“Lyndell is an excellent talent at tackle. Phenomenal young man really fun to be around great, great personality. He just he was kind of beat up during fall camp, which kind of set him back a little bit. And then he's fought through a few little different injuries, been able to play with them and do a good job and so been really pleased at Lyndell’s progress in the last three weeks. When he's out there for our football team, I think it makes a big, big difference for our offense. I think it really does enables us; we haven't gotten into the endzone as much as we'd like but we sure are moving the ball better than we did early on. And he's been out there when we've been able to do that and he's a critical part. He's a critical part of our offense, and we need him out there playing so we definitely hope he stays healthy and keeps doing well.”
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Head Coach Willie Taggart’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
On what the team can improve on following the Rice win:
"I thought, offensively, capitalizing on the takeaways that we got. The defense did a great job of getting the ball back for us and getting us in good field position. We didn't take advantage of those opportunities. We had plenty of them which could have made the game totally different for us if we were able to capitalize. I thought we did a great job of controlling the clock, which was really good for us. I thought that helped our defense, but our defense did a great job of helping themselves by getting off the field on third down, which the first half of the season was really bad for us. They worked hard during the bye week, and it paid off for us in that game, getting off of the field on third downs. I think if we can continue to play where we dominate the time of possession, the defense can get us takeaways, and get off the field on third down, and then the offense starts clicking and taking advantage of it, that's the kind of ball we like to play and we should be able to play. And even though we didn't score many points, we scored enough to win the ball game. I thought our guys didn't flinch in the last game when there were plenty of opportunities where they could have reverted to old ways. They just stayed the course and kept fighting and made the plays that needed to be made when they needed to be made. That's what winners do. They find a way to make those plays."
On the defensive performance:
"I was really happy with the way our defense responded. We said we wanted to shut down the run. Our guys did a great job of shutting down the run, more importantly getting off of the field on third down, that was huge for us."
On Sophomore DL Evan Anderson returning from injury:
"I thought he made his presence known when he was out there. Having 'Big Ev' out there, those holes weren't as big as they had been. He did a good job being in there and controlling his gaps. He made some plays when he was there. For the limited number of plays that he played, I was really impressed with what he did for us."
On Redshirt Junior RB Johnny Ford:
"It was really the first game where he had a whole week of practice and was able to go out and execute the plays we had for him. We feel like we have a running back room that's really talented. Johnny is different than the other two running backs. He can do a lot of different things for us. We're going to continue to be creative in how we use Johnny knowing that we have two other good backs that can give us what we need. We have to continue to get Larry (McCammon) the ball and Zuberi (Mobley) needs a lot more carries. We just have to continue to try to be creative offensively and try to get those ballplayers the ball and being creative in how we do it so they can make plays for us."
On preparing for UTEP:
"It'll be another one of those games, from a possession standpoint. You might not get as many because of how they control the ball and try to run the football. Defensively, they're stout up front. They have their entire defensive line back from last year and a couple of linebackers from last year. You look on defense at how many honorable mentions they have from last year's team…On the road it's going to be another challenge for our guys, but it'll be a challenge that our guys will be up for, knowing that we have to play a clean game again to go and try to get a victory on the road."
On overcoming adversity to win:
"It goes back to our keys to victory. We know the way to win. It's just a matter of us going out there and doing it each and every week, being consistent and playing winning football, not turning the football over, getting off of the field on defense and then getting takeaways."
LOUISIANA TECH
Head Coach Sonny Cumbie’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
Opening Statement:
"It is an opportunity and a challenge for us this week against a really good Rice football that is good on defense and does a great job with their front and coverages to keep you off balance. They are playing really good defense and they play together. Offensively they do a really good job with their identity and they are going to make you stop the run. I do not know why they wouldn’t with how we defended it this past week. We are looking forward to homecoming and being back at Joe Aillet Stadium and having a great crowd.”
On difference in road games:
“I have been thinking about that a lot but haven’t quite put my finger on it yet. We have been analyzing everything we do from the trips to the time we spent at the hotel to the demeanor of our players. We have to figure it out because we have a lot of games left on the road this season. From a mentality standpoint the last two road games our team and staff came out flat. We have to get out ready to go and play all four quarters.”
On WR Smoke Harris:
"We have a better understanding of who he is as a player and now we are putting him in a position to be successful. Him just relaxing and not forcing it, letting him get comfortable and getting the ball in his hands to take over has made a difference. He wants to make every play for the team and get every touchdown but when he relaxes and lets his ability take over that is really where he can make plays. We are making a conscious effort to get him the ball to give him the chance to be successful.”
On his assessment of the team thus far:
“We have some playmakers on offense with Tre (Harris), Smoke (Harris) and Griffin (Hebert) those are guys that have really been making an impact. I have been impressed with Parker’s (McNeil) resiliency and how he has improved. Joshua Mote has been really consistent and steady on the offensive line. From a defensive standpoint BeeJay Williamson has battled every game and Jaiden Cole. Myles (Brooks) and Willie (Roberts) are goof corners… Collectively as a team we play hard but we have to execute better. What I want to find out about our program at this point of the season is our toughness and our ability to push through resistance and obstacles. Are we going to tap out or fight back. We will find that out.
NORTH TEXAS
Head Coach Seth Littrell’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
Video available here:
Tuesday Press Conference
On this week’s UTSA matchup:
“It’s always a very competitive game with passion on both sides. There’s a lot of guys who played against each other and there’s alumni and fan support on both sides. It’s a passionate game and both teams obviously want to go out there and win. It is what it is. It’s a rivalry game that you look forward to playing every single year.
“There has been some great games and we’ve been on the good side of some and not on the good side of some. It’s not a good feeling when you’re not. But once the dust settles throughout the week and the anticipation leading up to it, once it kicks off it’s truly another game and it’s about making routine plays and trying to execute as best you can. We have to have a lot of great preparation this week in order to play good enough to win the game.”
On UTSA QB Frank Harris:
"He's extremely smart and manages the game so well, I feel like he's been around as long as I have. He has a lot of experience, and their coaching staff does a great job with him. He understands how to get the ball to his playmakers. He takes his shots but does a great job of making quick throws to get the ball in playmakers' hands to go make plays."
On the atmosphere awaiting UNT in San Antonio:
“I think they’ll have great support at the game and I know it’ll be loud. It’ll be an exciting atmosphere. The good thing is we’ve had the opportunity to go on the road and play in some good atmospheres. But in the dome, it’ll be rocking and I know both teams will be excited about that.
“Last week builds momentum and validates preparation throughout the week and validates what we’re doing and where our minds are at. Our men have worked hard and overcome a lot of adversity and they just keep plugging away. It’s a credit to those men on the field. We started fast last week in all three phases – defense had 3-4 stops and we were getting the ball and scoring and put pressure on them and then we got the run going which was important with their explosive offense. We felt like we needed to be really good at running the football.”
RICE
Head Coach Mike Bloomgren’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
Video Available here:
Tuesday Press Conference
Opening statement:
“Unfortunately, the game didn’t go as we wanted it to. We didn’t get the results that we wanted against (Florida Atlantic). Watching the film, it certainly was not effort related. We played incredibly hard. We tried to make everything physical. I told our defense in the locker room that I thought they gave us chances to win. There’s no doubt about it. In the modern era of college football, if you hold an opponent to 17 points; if you get the ball back twice for our offense in a four-minute situation and give them a chance to go win the game, you’re doing your job. There’s no question about that.
“The thing is, we win and lose as a team. The job for everybody on this team is to make sure we score one more point than the opponent. Whatever that looks like. I think our defense is very, very good. I think they are going to give us a chance in every ballgame we play. But we also have a chance to take this defense to the stage of being elite. That’s really what we’re challenging them to do right now. It’s to get a shutout this year. I expect our defense to take another step this week, just like I expect everybody on this team to take a step forward.
“The special teams was solid. We didn’t punt the ball quite as well as we had in previous games. But we did a couple of good things in terms of making ourselves part of the boundary. Even though we didn’t return a kick, our average starting field position after a kick was the 30-yard line.
“Offensively, we were on the team to start fast. We wanted to start fast and come out of the gate, and we did that. We had one poor drive where a penalty kind of put us behind the sticks. Then on the second and third drives, we scored. The defense was doing a great job and we were up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. And then we were not able to keep that going offensively. The reasons, I would tell you, is that we took turns making mistakes. Everyone wants to point to the guy playing the toughest position in sports, and talk about being 10-of-30, and the ball security issues. There’s no doubt that that was not the game that we expected from TJ (McMahon). There’s no doubt that that’s not how he wanted to play. But, there were so many opportunities for guys on our offense to do their job and do it exceptionally well and help him out. That’s what you do as a team. When somebody’s not having their best day, that happens in sports. That happens in life. But, we pick each other up. Whether it’s a running back finding a way to step out of something and making a Superman play. Whether its Bradley Rozner going up on their sideline in the fourth quarter and catching a ball at the highest point instead of letting it come down so the (defensive back) can make a play on it. Whether its Luke (McCaffrey) catching the ball in the end zone. There’s so many opportunities for our team to help the quarterback position and help each other to get to the point where we want to be successful.
“With all of that said, I credit Coach (Willie) Taggart and the FAU Owls for finding a way to win. You have to because they kept fighting and they found a way. The thing that I’m left with after watching the film is knowing that we are still a really good football team.
“Going out to practice yesterday and watching these guys fly around, I would again remind them that we are a very good football team. I’ve said before that I think the only team that can beat the Rice Owls is the Rice Owls. We’ve got to take the steps to be better and better in every phase this week. We’ve got to go win a road game. That’s what we have to do. It’s the next game on the schedule. That has to be our mindset. We have to have the best week of prep so that we can go get a road win against Louisiana Tech and that’s where our focus is.”
On Louisiana Tech:
“Sonny (Cumbie) is doing a great job up there with the scheme offensively. He’s got talented weapons. I jokingly call the two receivers the Harris brothers. Smoke Harris feels like he’s been at La Tech since I’ve been coaching. He’s got a lot of time played against us and he’s an explosive player. I think Parker (McNeil) is doing a great job at the quarterback position. He’s doing a great job dealing the ball around. Defensively, they hired a really good defensive coordinator. A guy who’s had success, most recently at (Stephen F. Austin). He created a dominant defense there. So, it’s really going to be a great challenge for us. But, the challenge is in our Tuesday practice. The challenge is in our Wednesday practice. The challenge is in this room when the team meets together because it’s all about us and how much better we can get between now and our next opportunity on Saturday.”
On how to try to settle down QB TJ McMahon:
“I think he’d tell you he got sped up. We’ve got to get him to be able to go through his progressions. I thought Coach Tuiasosopo did an unbelievable job yesterday. He pulled up practice video of Wednesday of the same call against the same defense and we executed. We read it properly, we made our blocks, we ran the ball. He showed a clip, literally, one clip for everybody on our offense. So, we do it right on Wednesday and we do it well on Wednesday, and then we do something completely different on Saturday. While we’re all searching for answers, we have to be able to take what we do on that Tuesday and Wednesday practice, and do it that way on Saturday or these things don’t work. We’ve got to have the discipline to grow and to say ‘If there’s something we don’t feel good about, we have to say that to our coaches on Thursday and Friday.’ It is players over plays. It is players being able to play fast, know their assignment and play. We’ve recruited a really good football team. We need them to play fast and with confidence right now.”
UAB
Interim Head Coach Bryant Vincent’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
Video available here:
Monday Press Conference
Opening statement:
“Good morning. Obviously very proud of our football team. Proud of our players and our staff. Had a lot of momentum swings, had a lot of adversity, early in the game, especially in the first half, had lead changes in the second half. I feel like each team has to go through that and we’ve been through that several seasons here at UAB. It’s college football. You’re going to have adverse situations and adverse situations provide the opportunity, really, for your team to show its character, for your team to show its toughness. It provides an opportunity for your team to build on its character and its toughness. We came out, we start the game, we turn the football over on the first play of the game, they drive down and score, and boom, here we are. I thought our team never blinked, we stuck together, we were positive, and you’ve got to go through these games. You’ve got to have the opportunity to show what you’re made of and be able to respond. It’s not how you react, it’s how you respond, and I thought this team responded well. We were down 14-10 at half. There was no blink, we were together, we were focused. To come out the second half and outscore Charlotte 24-6 in the second half was a big statement and it was a big moment for this football team. Defensively, Grayson Cash comes out with the interception on the first play of the second half and sets the tone. We start making plays, we drive down, we kick a field goal. We still had not taken the lead yet. We go back and forth, the defense gets another stop, and boom, we’re able to eventually take the lead. Charlotte responds back and takes the lead back and we were able to respond again. Just extremely proud of our players and our staff. That was a big moment. Each team, throughout the season, you’ve got to have those opportunities and that moment. We had that opportunity earlier in the season and we didn’t get it done. There’s growth and development from our team. Felt like the leadership continues to grow on this football team, and that was a great conference win at home. Moving forward, we’ve got Western Kentucky who is sitting there 2-1, they’ve got one of the top offenses in the country, they’ve got the number one rush defense in the conference. We’ve got to go up there on a Friday night. It’s a big game, big opportunity. It’s a tremendous challenge in front us on both sides of the ball and as a football team.”
On playing better on the road:
“Number one, offensively, we’ve got to protect the football. If you look at our two losses this year, we had four turnovers against Liberty and then we had two costly turnovers against Rice. We’ve got to have great ball security. We’ve got to be savvy in situations, whether it’s third down, whether it’s red zone, whether it’s goal line. Like last game, we’ve got to make some adjustments there and be able to execute. Defensively, they’re going to throw the football. They’re one of the top offenses in the country. They snap the ball a lot, their quarterback’s completion percentage is around 70 percent. We’ve got to be able to defend these guys on the perimeter. They’re a big perimeter offense. They like to stretch the field. We’ve got to tackle well, we’ve got to swarm the football, and we’ve got to be great in situational football.”
On Western Kentucky QB Austin Reed:
“I think Austin, he’s played a lot of football. From what I understand, he’s a transfer from West Florida. They had a lot of success at West Florida, won a national championship, made deep runs. He transfers in and he’s very accurate. You can tell he’s experienced. He makes a lot of good decisions, because the ball is in his hand every snap and they’re throwing it a lot and he’s making decisions. He’s accurate, he gets it out quick, he keeps the team in good situations and really you can just tell he’s got a firm grasp of what they’re doing. They’re a tempo offense, they’re going to put pressure on us to line up fast, and he’s going to have a lot of options. He’s going to have perimeter options, he’s going to have run game options, and we’ve got to make sure that we line up and we’re able to get the call in and be able to execute our call.”
On the success of UAB’s passing defense:
“I think in the back end, our secondary as a whole has played extremely well. They’ve executed the gameplan week to week. We have faced several high-powered passing offenses, but each one is a little bit different. This one against Western Kentucky, they’re a little bit different themselves. We’ve got to be able to line up, we’ve got to keep them in front of us. We can bend, but we can’t break. If you look at our linebacker play, our second level play defensively, I feel like our linebackers have really helped stop the run in a three-down front. They’ve been physical, we’ve been able to get pressure with the three and five-man fronts. Our second level has played extremely well, we’ve tackled well with Noah Wilder, Jackson Bratton, and Reynard Ellis. Those guys have just done a phenomenal job and the effort and the relentlessness of our defensive front has really showed up. It’ s tough sometimes to get pressure with a three-man front. Those guys, from [Isaiah Forte], to [Fish McWilliams], to [Kelle Sanders], to [Kyle Harrell], to [Drew Tuazama], to [Michael Fairbanks II], those guys have really stepped up and in some tough situations have risen up and made some big plays for us. Really, just defensively as a whole, we’ve risen up and had tremendous challenge week after week. We have another huge challenge with a team that averages over 40 points a game, that’s top 10 statically in over seven categories. Again, we have a tremendous challenge, we have a short week, it’s a huge conference game on a Friday night. We’ve got to turn around and make a trip and head up there Thursday. It’s a challenge that our defense gets excited for. They welcome challenges; they’re a very spirited, competitive group that’s going to be excited to play this game.”
OL MATTHEW TREHERN
On Western Kentucky’s rush defense:
“Us, as a unit, we accept the challenge. Like [Coach Vincent] said, we welcome the challenge in and just like he said, we’re going to do what we do and we’re going to run the football.”
On the mentality of running the football:
“The mentality really starts on Monday’s practice. We talk about it to the offense, bring the mentality today and it will bleed over to Saturday. When you bring that mentality every day, it bleeds over to Saturday.”
On handling Western Kentucky’s pass rush:
“We try not to worry about the other team as much. We try to worry about us as a unit, us five, and where we can fix our technique and other things like that. We’ll be fine.”
LB NOAH WILDER
On facing teams with high-powered passing offenses:
“We just embrace it like we would [defending] the run. I enjoy when we face some passing offenses, let’s me see our defensive backs work and excel and show the world how good they really are. A lot of those guys, I worked out a lot with them this summer to try and improve my passing game. Just learning from those guys, and having so much confidence in those guys, they’re really good, and I’m proud to play with those boys. I’m excited to watch them go out there and play this Friday.”
On UAB’s defensive front:
“Our defensive front, they’re really really good. There are some dogs down there. We’ve got three-down lineman and they make my job easy. A lot of the tackles that I get are because of those guys down there. It’s an honor to play with those guys. I’ve been playing with [some of] them for the last three years, like [Fish McWilliams] and [Isaiah Forte]. We’ve got new guys stepping up like [Drew Tuazama], who transferred in. I’ve grown really close to Drew. He’s a great ballplayer and he’s going to have a lot of success. you see the big play that he had for us that really got the momentum going. As long as we can handle our business with the three-down linemen and linebackers then we’ll be alright. I trust the defensive backs to cover on the backend and just get better every week and execute the plays we need to execute to go out there and win the game.”
On the challenges of playing on the road:
“I love road games. When you play a road game you get to, the biggest thing, you get to embrace the moment. You’re going down there in their house, especially with a team like Western Kentucky that’s a really good team and [one] I have a lot of respect for. They’ve got a really great offense all around the board like Coach Vincent said. When you go down there, [you just have to] give everything you’ve got. Everything isn’t always going to go our way, but as long as we keep fighting until the end [we have a chance]. Away games are always hard, especially when you go to in environment like Western Kentucky. I played there, I think it was a couple years ago and we weren’t fortunate enough [to win]. It’s fun playing road games and embracing that moment. It’s a big deal and going out there and executing and doing what you do is the most important thing. Just doing what you do.”
UTEP
Head Coach Dana Dimel’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
Audio available here:
Monday Press Conference
Opening Statement:
“We'll get started here. Talk a little bit just about where our team is at this point and where we are moving forward. We went through the first seven weeks, which is really a long, strenuous stretch for our football team magnified by the fact that we started off on July 27th. I think (that) is when we reported and went seven straight weeks and had some really tough contests and opening up with a conference game. Those two back-to-back road games leaving the state definitely was a difficult task for our football team. And so, I speak about that because I think our team needed (the bye). The open week came at a perfect time for our football team. I feel like we got a lot of good work in last week with the guys. We got in at a smart, efficient pace with trying to serve two things in getting a head start on our last five games of the season, A, and then B, getting them a chance to get a little bit of rest and get ourselves more mentally healthy as well as physically healthy. Then taking the second part of the last couple of days of the week, Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday, and really saturating our recruiting all across. We sent four coaches into California JC’s, had multiple coaches into Texas and then into the Kansas and Mississippi Junior Colleges as well. So got a lot of good work and the guys did a nice job. I think we're even ahead of where we've been in the past with that stage of things, which I think is important for us as well, to try to maximize our time there.
“As we go through this week and go through last week, obviously you want to clean up the things you're not doing well. There's been heavy emphasis on us to clean up on finishing drives. I think that's going to be important for us down these last five games that we finish drives at a high rate. I think we're built to do that because we can run the football well. So, I think we should be more efficient in the red zone. I think we just need to work towards doing that. We're spending more time there, putting more emphasis, trying to have the best schemes out there for our guys to execute and then executing the schemes at a high level. And then winning the turnover margin. The things that have kept us from getting wins in the games that we've lost is losing the turnover margin. So that's a focus for us as well.
“Getting a third receiver to step up is really important for us as well. We have plenty of talent. I mean, our receiving crew's got lots of talent. There's just some young guys there that have to step up and get their practice focus to where it needs to be so their level during the games is high enough to allow us to have success in games. And like I said, there's plenty of talent for us to do that as well. Those are the areas of emphasis, to minimize giving up the big plays. We don't want to give up big plays. We want to create more big plays. Last year we created a lot of big plays and did a lot of things that way to get our yards per completion at a high level. So, I thought that was a positive. I've gone back and watched just tape of last season, obviously watched just us playing some of the opponents that are coming up. I do feel like as I watch our team perform right now in a lot of areas, I think we're a better football team, a much better football team as I compare how we're executing.
“So, I'm very excited about the last five weeks as some of our younger players have got more and more experience at some of the positions where we've had to bring those guys along, whether it was due to injury or just losing some guys to graduation. So, I'm really looking forward to our football team having the opportunity now to play three of our last five games at home and having one more open week ahead of us in this five-week stretch. So, I think it's set up really good for us. We just need to take care of business, play good home football, which we've been able to do over the last three seasons. We've been able to defend our home turf pretty well. That's going to be important for us with these three games coming up and then obviously two road games, but they're in the state of Texas so the trips won't be as difficult for our team. So, I like the way the schedule is laid out. We just need to take advantage of it.
“Obviously, it just starts with one game at a time, and Florida Atlantic definitely is a team that's got lots of physical talent. They've got good size up front on their offensive line. They got two really talented running backs, a good group of wide receivers and a quarterback that's very athletic and is really improved as a quarterback throughout his last two years. Then defensively, they play a lot of guys on defense, they rotate a lot of defensive linemen, they rotate through their linebackers, they've been rotating their secondary. I mean, they play as many guys as anybody that we've faced all year because they're able to get that kind of talent down in the state of Florida. They have a lot of talent all across the board, across their defense. It'll be a challenge for us, but one that we need to be up for and play really good football. We've proven that when we play good football, we can play with anybody on our schedule. So, we just need to, like I said, do the things that I talked about, get better at those things, improve on those things, and we'll have a really balanced football team.”
On getting off to better starts in games:
“That's probably something I didn't hit on that I wanted to hit on. It’s something that we got to be better at and that's pretty obvious. Our first-quarter effort hasn't been good, and I think it would definitely be a positive for us to do that. I think we might change strategies on what we do. We've been a heavy defer (team) and letting them take the ball first. I'm not sure if we'll do that moving forward. I still got to evaluate. That's a little bit based on weather at the time of kickoff. But I do feel confident that our offense can maybe take the ball first and maybe generate a lead first for us. I think that would be very helpful for us. And then we got to be smart about not turning the ball over early. I think that's one of the things (factoring into slow starts), that we've got to be smart with the football. We got to do what we do best, which is run the football on offense and minimize turnovers. And I think that'll help our start. I’ve been involved in seasons where you might not be good at one quarter, might not be good in another. There's not a whole lot of ways to change that except for just do what you do best in those type of situations. So, we might tweak a little bit of our strategies there, but it's definitely important, very important for us to get off to faster starts.”
On cutting down on turnovers:
“Yeah, I think we need to be more patient, and it is an area of emphasis. I just think be more patient no matter what happens, no matter what the score of the game is. If we happen to fall behind early and don't have a great first quarter, which we haven't really started well this year, if we don't start well, just stay true to what we do and be patient with what we do and don't force things. I think that's what's led to some of the turnovers, just trying to do too much, if we fall behind and trying to catch up with one play instead of just doing it with a patient mindset. So that's a big part of what we're talking about right now.”
On if he’s talked to the team about needing three wins to become bowl eligible:
“Not at all. Not at all. But is it there? Yes. I mean, it's obviously, (it would) be a really neat accomplishment for us to be able to do that back-to-back years, but we can't do that until we win this one. We can't start thinking about. So that's really important as a football team to be able to lock into what we're doing. But obviously, it's there for us. If we can just play good football down the stretch, the opportunity is right there in front of us, but we can't do it unless we play good football. Our league is so evenly matched that whoever plays best on that given gameday is going to win the game. So, it's going to be important for us to improve on the things we need to improve on and keep doing the things we're doing well and get better at those things as well. So, we really do have to take the 1-0 mentality to what we're doing right now.”
UTSA
Head Coach Jeff Traylor’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
On his thoughts/review of the game against FIU:
“Defensively we were really good. It’s as good as we’ve played. Tied a school record for most TFL in a game. Offensively I thought we were probably average at best. I was really proud of our offensive line again. A lot of changes up there. But, just some mistakes, you know, I just felt like we weren’t as clean as we have been. Really proud of how we ran the football … Kevorian Barnes. Good to see Dan Dishman make a really big play after not making a play the week before. Really proud of Walker Baty and how he stepped up at left tackle. Frankie (Martinez) continues to battle out there. We can’t take for granted the play of the three guys in the middle. You know, KD (Kevin Davis), THaynes (Terrell Haynes) and (Ahofitu) Maka have been steady all year. But we just weren’t as clean. Special teams wise … we just weren’t clean there either. But, whenever you go on the road, tough environment, they had that place rocking. There weren’t a lot of fans there, they just had it really really loud system in there … we could hardly communicate. And we got out of there with a win. A tough environment.”
On the status of his offensive line health this week:
“I would say that … those guys are just like they were last week … day-to-day decisions. We hope we have some, if we don’t … we’ll just roll with the guys we’ve been playing with. The harder you try and get Frankie (Martinez) out of the lineup, the more he stays in it man. You can’t get him, man. He’s a tough kid. “
On how North Texas’s running game is so successful and the challenges it provides:
“They scheme as good as anyone in the country, and they’ve got four backs that’re as good as anybody, so it’s both. You know, I have a lot of respect for those guys that have been doing it. I’ve known them for a long time. Talked ball with them for many, many hours. They’re good football coaches. It always helps when you’re handing it off to four really good running backs too.”
WKU
Head Coach Tyson Helton’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
Video Available here:
Monday Press Conference
On this week’s game against UAB:
"UAB week, great to be back home, had a really good rivalry win last week against Middle Tennessee, but I know our guys are excited to be back. Expecting a great atmosphere, expecting a great game. A lot of things are going on on campus, this is what you want college football to be. You know, I think everyone is anticipating a really good match up. UAB is a really good football team, they make you earn everything you get. There is no easy way with them. If you make a play, you earn it on all three phases, so they're doing a great job. It should be a very competitive game but a game we're all excited to get going with."
On UAB’s offense:
"Coach Vincent is a really good play caller, so you know he's going to take what you give him. If you load the box and stop the run, he's going to throw it over your head so you've got to be disciplined in all phases. First thing is try to stop the run. You know they're going to win the game running the football. Both those running backs are spectacular, the offensive line is very very physical, the quarterback does a great job managing the game and then Coach Vincent the play caller does a nice job of picking his spots and making plays when he needs to make them. So definitely a challenge for our defense for sure, but you got to stop the run first and then when the shots come you hold your breath and hope you match up with them.”
On the importance of starting fast on Friday:
“I think it's critical, because possessions are going to be very limited. They're a football team that on average you might get 11 possessions. So, we got to be able to play good defense and get the ball back to our offense and then we've got to make the most of our opportunities, so every possession is critical for us for sure, but we can't get off to a slow start you know turnovers will be key in this game for sure. It is one of those games where you have to do everything right. You're not going to get away with a turnover here or turnover there or missed assignment. I thought offensively last week we did some really good things, but we shot ourselves in the foot here and there and had turnovers, and was sloppy with that said we put up a lot of yards and moved the football but against a really good defense like UAB like I said they are going to make you earn everything you get. So, we got to hit on all cylinders offensively and play sharp for sure.”