DALLAS - For the fourth straight week, 10 of the 11 Conference USA teams are in action in Week 5, including four league matchups. There is one game on Friday night, as Middle Tennessee hosts UTSA, and a five-game slate for Saturday, which includes three additional conference matchups - between Florida Atlantic and North Texas, UTEP and Charlotte and UAB and Rice. Louisiana Tech is on its lone bye of the 2022 season this week, while FIU did not hold its normally scheduled press conference due to the necessary media coverage in the area surrounding Hurricane Ian.

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:
“Really proud of our football team and the fight that we showed in the first half (at South Carolina). Obviously the third quarter did not go as we planned, but it was an incredible opportunity and experience for our team. We fought hard and we are getting better on a daily basis. I’m proud of where we are going as a team and proud of our guys for stepping up when we needed them.
 
You’ve completed the preseason, and now we are onto the conference schedule which is key for us. We have a massive game with UTEP coming up. Dana [Dimel] has done a tremendous job, with their recent win over Boise State. Held them to 179 yards of total offense and established their will in their 27-10 win. Everyone knows nationally how good of a team Boise State is and UTEP is on an emotional high for sure. It will be a tough match-up with a really good football team.
 
I know offensively they have a receiver that’s leading the conference in yardage. They are second in the conference in time of possession and top-2 in every statistical metric on the defensive side of the ball. Their offensive and defensive lines have played a lot of football and have a lot of starts amongst those groups. They can attack you in a lot of different ways on offense and they’re tough on defense and make life hard for you on that side of the ball. It’s a tough match-up for us and we have to have a great week of prep.”
 
On how weather may impact the game:
“Most of the time what happens in those types of games is that the team that’s the best upfront wins the football game. You could say that in most games, but especially in games like that. The turnover battle becomes important, field position, and special teams become massive in those types of games. We have practiced with wet balls or in the rain so we have prepared for those types of issues. The little things in this game will be so much more important. How well do we play at the line of scrimmage and how well do we tackle? We will practice with a wet ball as much as we can this week.”
 
On getting into conference play:
“We have a group of guys that have put their heads down and worked hard every week. It hurts me as a head coach when your players work hard and they don’t have wins to show for it, but I’m so proud of how much better we have gotten each week. I know what this team is capable of doing and I know they will reach their potential. To be able to go into conference play now, with all of our goals still ahead of us is exciting. Our leadership is strong and as we continue to get guys back and healthy it will only improve this team more. It will be fun to challenge ourselves with a good UTEP team this week.”
 
On competing at home again:
“I just want to play well at home. This place has been really good to us and our students have been amazing to us.  I want to play well at home for our fans and our students and I know these players do too.”
 
QB CHRIS REYNOLDS
 
On how he feels going into this game:
“I feel good and I’m excited to get into conference play. It feels like you get a little bit of a fresh start and can focus on the task at hand. This is a good football team and they have a great defensive front. They have a lot of experienced guys, with some transfers that have played football before. I just feel good and I’m ready to get going on Saturday.”
 
DE MARKEES WATTS
 
On UTEP:
“Up front they have some very physical guys. Their tackles are athletic and strong. They know how to get after you and finish off blocks. Their tight ends and their fullback are very aggressive and get after it after the ball is snapped. I know this week we are going to have to be aggressive and play strong if we want to make plays.”
 
FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Head Coach Willie Taggart’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
On Sophomore WR LaJohntay Wester:
"Just like with all of these guys, they all need time to develop and get better. That's what we're seeing out of LaJohntay now, he's on his third year and he has developed. He's been playing since [he was] a freshman now. Experience can work wonders for you. The kid not only is developing and getting better, he is developing and getting better with his work ethic and understanding how to prepare and work so that he can play that way. What we see on Saturday is exactly how he practices. This whole offseason, he's done a great job of working with N'Kosi (Perry) and those guys being on the same page with his route running and how he's going to break his routes and do certain things. I'm glad the rest of our players are seeing it too because they're seeing all of that hard work pay off for him. It all comes with experience."
 
On North Texas RBs:
"They're big backs that can run. They're going to commit to the run offensively. Those guys do a good job, the o-line does a good job of blocking and the backs are good. They don't have to change up what they do because of the back that's in the game, they continue to run their offense. You see who and what their identity is as a football team, and they're going to try to run the football. We have to do a great job of trying to stop the run in this ball game."
 
On the state of FAU entering conference play:
"We have seen a football team that knows how to play the game, that has shown that they can win games, but we have also seen a team that has done some things to themselves that causes them to lose…It was great to see our guys compete the way they did against Purdue. It showed that we can compete for four quarters and be in that game. Our guys dealt with adversity well in that ball game, which was good to see to keep them in that ball game. The problem is we keep hurting ourselves with turnovers and penalties. We all see it as a football team knowing that we have to correct those. If we don't have those turnovers and penalties, we're probably an undefeated football team right now. It's adamant that we get those things corrected. It's not a discipline thing, I think our guys are just trying so hard to win that we're just not playing smart when we try so hard. We have to be able to try hard and play smart as well. I think it's going to come for our guys, but we have to improve in those areas."
 
On depth in the secondary:
"That was the plan coming in, to play a lot of guys, so that we can play throughout the whole year. The first two years here, I felt we didn't have the depth and, I thought our football team wore down as the season went on because of depth. This year coming in, we felt this is the most depth we had as a team. We want to play a lot of guys throughout the year, one to continue to develop them, but also to keep our guys fresh throughout the entire year. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of injuries from the first game on the defensive side of the ball. We still haven't played an entire game with our starters on the defensive side of the ball. On the flip side, we got a lot of guys some reps early on in the year. That's going to pay off for us as we continue to go and get guys back."

On North Texas' defense:
"Both of their linebackers are really good football players. They do some things up front to try to get you. I know they've had some injuries too, but I think their defense is led by those linebackers. For us offensively, it's just about executing and trying to stay out of those ruts where we're coming out of the half and not starting fast. We've had plenty of plays that we leave out or we just don't execute well. We have to be better consistently executing plays while we're out there. That's going to be a huge focus for our guys, just one play at a time, and focus on executing."
 
On the road environment:
"I thought our guys did a great job handling the crowd noise. That wasn't the issue at all. It just shows we can go and compete on the road; we just have to go win the game. Like Al Davis said, 'just win baby.' It's football, no matter if it's here in Boca or on the road, it's a 100-yard field with hashmarks and numbers and a goal post. That's all it comes down to. There's no secret or anything like that, we just have to go and play winning football."
 
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Head Coach Rick Stockstill’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
Opening Statement:
“We start conference play this week. It's a short week, so we've got a lot of work to do in a short period of time. San Antonio, obviously, is a very good football team. They're the defending conference champions. Not probably, but they have the best quarterback that we've faced so far this year. He's very dynamic, very athletic. He can run, he can throw. They've thrown the ball more this year that what they did last year. 
 
“They're a very experienced team. They've got seven senior starters on offense. They've got eight senior starters on defense. So it's a very senior oriented team. A lot experience, got a lot of guys that have played a lot of snaps for them. It's a really good team. They've got good skill guys, they can run. They're attempting (passes) 40, 41 times a game, so they're throwing it an awful lot, a lot more than they did last year. And like I said, their quarterback is special, he's a really good player. We've got our work cut out for us on that side of the ball. 
 
“Defensively, the things that stands out the most is just how fast they are at every position. Their defensive line is big and athletic, they can run. Their linebackers and DBs are really fast guys also. It's a really talented team. They were picked the win the conference again this year in preseason stuff, it's their first conference game as well as ours. They're 2-2 right now, had an overtime with Houston, Texas, their two losses, and they beat Army and Texas Southern here last week. Very explosive team and we've got to have a great week of practice and get ready to roll.”
 
On the quick turnaround from Miami to UTSA and if UTSA is the toughest opponent thus far:
“As a coach, you start thinking about, start studying, start watching a little bit of it probably before the players do. When the players got here yesterday, the Miami game was over. We had to turn our focus over completely to San Antonio, especially when you lose a day, playing on Friday night. It expedites everything. So we put that one to bed yesterday, and we've moving on and have moved on to San Antonio. 
 
“Your next game is always the most important game. This is a really talented team. They're really good. It's as talented as any team we've faced this year.”
 
On UTSA's three senior wideouts and their roles in the offense:
“They're getting more opportunities this year than they did last year because they are throwing the ball more than did last year. They are all catching quick screens, fast screens, they're all catching that. They're all throwing deeper balls down the field. You can't look at one and say he's this guy, this guy is their screen guy or this guy is their intermediate guy. They're all involved in the offense. They're all do the same thing. They're all fantastic receivers and they've got a fantastic quarterback giving them the ball.”
 
On changes to the schedule for a Friday night kick:
“You try to keep it as normal as possible, but that's hard to do. Yesterday, we were going to go about 15-20 minutes longer than a normal Sunday practice. But we got lightning'd out, so we had to come off the field about half way through practice. We watched film, then we went back out, tried to get a little bit more done. But then the four hour rule starts creeping up on you. We got about an hour's work in yesterday. 
 
“Today, the class schedules are just so scattered all over the place. Monday is our normal day off. So today, we won't practice, but each individual position group is finding time to meet. We'll meet with our players today around our class schedules. Tuesday will be a normal day. Wednesday will be similar to the a Thursday, we'll go a little bit longer than a Thursday. And Thursday will be similar to a Friday, but a little bit longer. Just trying to make sure we've got everything covered and ready to go for Friday night.”
 
NORTH TEXAS
Head Coach Seth Littrell’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
 
Video available here: Tuesday Press Conference
 
On being more balanced offensively this season:
“It’s not so much a shift, but we’re more comfortable and everyone is on the same page with what we’re looking for. There’s no doubt in my mind we have to have a certain physicality to win a game and the run game is a part of that and we have to run the ball to have success, but last week (against Memphis) there weren’t many good run plays with seven, eight or nine guys in the box. You have to be able to make plays on the perimeter and pitch and catch the ball. We made some plays which will only build confidence. We’re gonna need that because we can’t allow people to load up the box on us like that.”
 
On DB/KR/WR Kaylon Horton: 
“I didn’t know he was coming here until he came. He graduated and wanted to come to North Texas and asked if he could be a part of the team, and we’re fortunate he did.”
 
On small mistakes that add up:
“It’s the little mistakes that add on together and stack on top of each other. They’re little but they become big. We have a good football team and a very talented football team that can win games, but at the same time it still takes execution and it’s not just about effort and energy.”

QB AUSTIN AUNE
 
On the remaining conference schedule:
“We’re 1-0 this year and have won six straight C-USA games. We’re confident we’re a great football team and we believe can finish the rest of the year on a high note and keep playing our football and the results should show.”
 
RICE
Head Coach Mike Bloomgren’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
 
Video Available here: Tuesday Press Conference
 
Opening statement:
“I loved the way our team prepared last week. I loved our mindset. I loved our approach and I loved how we attacked the game. We were fearless. We went in there and did so many of the things that I thought we were capable of. We came up just short. The best parts to me are the growth year over year, and the fight that we showed. You break down Rice Fight, Never Dies, I thought we exemplified that. Certainly, at the end of the fourth quarter when a lot of things did not go our way, our defense stood up. Our defense stood up one more time, got them to a fourth-and-one, and made them punt. We get the ball back with 24 seconds on the clock on our six-yard line and four plays later, we’re first-and-goal at the nine with a second on the clock. Everybody on our sideline still believed. Everyone believed that we were going to go and score right there and win the game. That’s really cool. That’s something that we’ve been pushing this program’s mindset to for a long time.
 
There’s a lot of small things to celebrate but we’ll never be happy when we don’t find a way to win a game. We’ll keep building, keep working, and I really do like the way our team is growing right now. We’re growing at a good time because I think we’ve got a heck of an opponent coming in here this weekend in UAB who’s been the standard in this conference. They’ve won 45 games since they’ve come back to the conference in 2017. They are a really solid team in every phase of the game. They present a lot of challenges and it is going to be a great opportunity for us to open our conference slate against them in historic Rice Stadium.”
 
On if anything is different about UAB with an interim head coach in Bryant Vincent:
“I think it looks like their football team. It’s big, physical (and) sound in every phase. From what I understand, Brian Vincent is still calling the offense. That hasn’t seemed like it’s changed much. I think it’s the same defensive coordinator. Coach Reeves, I think, is calling and planning it. It looks really similar right now. The players on that side of the ball look really similar too. The edge rushers, the run, and hit linebackers. It seems like Noah Wilder, their leading tackler has been there for 10 years. There’s a lot of great players. The running backs that they have; I love our running back room, but the production that they’ve had from their running backs is out of sight. A lot of it stems from the fact that they’ve brought back everybody on the offensive line. It’s a really good football team that presents really good challenges in every phase.”
 
On UAB’s running game:
“It’s exceptional. That running back, they call him Deebo, but Dwayne McBride is like ‘Wow’ watching him run. They run a zone scheme incredibly well. He puts his foot in the ground, he’s decisive, and he runs through tackles.”
 
On if the work and effort has been standing out on game film:
“It does. I’m just so fired up about these guys. When you look at year-over-year, the growth in all three phases. Nothing catastrophic is impacting the game. We did an unbelievable job in the kicking game against (Nathaniel) Dell, who I believe is as explosive as they come. We made all of our kicks. Offensively, we moved the ball (and) did some good things. We have over 400 yards of total offense (and) scored some points. I wish we could have protected the passer a little bit better at times. I wish we could have presented more options for our running backs at times. But, that was good growth to be able to move the ball the way we did. Defensively, I thought we played really good. I thought we did a good job stopping the run. As a whole, we can do better. But, you look at how we grew during the game, I’m really pleased. We let them get behind us once. That’s really it. Again, those asterisks that I threw in there are what we have to eliminate to beat a great team like that. That’s what we’re working for.”
 
UAB
Interim Head Coach Bryant Vincent’s Quotes from Tuesday’s Press Conference
 
Video available here: Tuesday Press Conference
 
Opening statement:
"Alright guys, just wrapping up Georgia Southern, I thought that coming off of a tough Liberty loss on the road, I was really proud of our players and coaches coming back that next week. We had a great week of prep, we had great focus, we had great sense of urgency throughout that week, and I think as the game approached and got closer and closer, it just amped up as the week went. To be able to go out and play from the first snap really to the last snap of the game with a lot of passion, a lot of toughness, a lot of physicality, I was really proud of our coaches and players and our fans. I mean you could hear our fans when the big plays happened, whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams. I think our fans played a factor in the game. We had our student section packed again for the second straight home game. I'm extremely proud of our support from our students. Now, turning the page to last week, I thought we had a great week in our open week. We really got things cleaned up. We had a good opportunity to self-evaluate ourselves and where we're heading and be able to heal up. Now, we open conference play. We get to play Rice. We go to Rice this Saturday night to open conference play. A team that beat us last year 30-24 at home and a team that we've got a lot of respect for. We're ready to open conference play."
 
On using motivation from last year's game and handling emotion:
"I think the biggest thing is we understand that this season is a journey. We're just now beginning conference play. We've got now, with our open week behind us last week, we know we've got nine straight games. At UAB we're a little bit different. Our goal here is to play for a conference championship, to win a conference championship. Now we start on the road at a team that's probably the deepest Rice team that we've seen, probably the most athletic rice team we've seen up to this point. You see a lot of guys on that field on offense, defense, and special teams that really have been playing for three years, going on four. We know we've got our hands full. We've got to go on the road. We're opening conference play in a night game at Rice. It's an opportunity this team is looking forward to and we're excited about."

On time of possession and getting off the field: 
"I think it's very important. I think possessions are at a premium. Rice leads the league in time of possession. They were right at 37 minutes a game until last week versus Houston, now they're right at 35 minutes a game. Every possession is critical. When you look at time of possession, UAB and Rice, we've been one and two for a lot of years. We're a ball control offense, they've been a ball control offense. I think what you see from Rice this year is they're throwing the ball more. That's probably effected their time of possession a little bit. They're really good on third downs. They're right now, I think 48 percent on third downs. They've got three guys they really like to get the ball to: number 10 [Luke McCaffery], number two, and then number six. Those seem to be their three main targets they're getting the ball to. Their quarterback is doing a really good job. [Wiley Green] got hurt against USC in the first game and now TJ McMahon is doing a good job, he's distributing the ball, you seem him growing and getting better every week. We understand that turnovers are going to be key, time of possession is going to be key. We've got to go out there and win series and win possessions and get back on the field and get them off the field. It's going to be a big part."
 
On DL Michael Fairbanks:
"I think Michael Fairbanks, the key to Michael, the best way to describe him, he's consistent. He's very consistent, he's very reliable, he's extremely intelligent, he gives great effort, he knows exactly what to do, and you can count on him to get his job done every day. I've been very proud of Michael and his performance these first three games. I'm excited about him continuing to grow and develop and really be an anchor for us on our defensive line."
 
TE TERRELL MCDONALD

On the questions surrounding the tight end room:
"We always knew that it was going to be a question mark when [Hayden Pittman and Gerrit Prince] left, but all of us knew what we had in the room, we had full confidence. We just had to go out and prove it. With the help of Coach and everybody else, they got behind us and they knew what we could do."

On having a bigger role in the offense:
"It's been the same. You just got to stay down until it's your time. I had a lesser role last year because of [Hayden Pittman and Gerrit Prince]. I just had to do what I had to do. This year, I'm more of a leader– probably the oldest in the room. It's the same really, just a little more of an increase."
 
On switching positions from linebacker to tight end:
"Coming from defense, to now playing offense, it actually helps me see the defense more. I can understand all the fronts and everything that's coming in. When you give me a front, I know exactly what's about to happen, because I've played defense and I've been there and done that. It's just easier, it slows down the game."
 
NT FISH MCWILLIAMS
 
On his evaluation of the defensive line: 
"Losing the guys that we lost, just knowing that coming into spring ball, fall camp, [we focused on] getting more guys in, getting more depth. We've been grinding, putting our heads down, working at technique and little things we need to do. I feel like the first three games, we came out and showed everybody there's not drop-off. We're still the dominant defensive line we've had all five years I've been here."

On time of possession and getting off the field:
"It's very important. I think last year on fourth down, they were like 5-for-5 against us. That's very critical, you've got to get off the field. As a defense, we pride ourselves in getting off the field. We're very emotional about getting off the field. We know that this year, we've got to lock in and just get off the field. It's as simple as that, just get off the field."

On facing a balanced rice offense: 
"From watching film, I realized that over the years they like to run the ball and hold the clock longer. Like Coach [Vincent] said, last year they were near 37 [minutes], this year they've cut it down to 35. That has to do a little bit with trying to throw the ball more. Now that they're balanced, we've just got to still attack them the same way: stop the run, get off the field on third downs, and play our brand of defense."
 
UTEP
Head Coach Dana Dimel’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
Video Available here: Monday Press Conference
 
Opening statement:
“Obviously, I was happy with the way our guys played last weekend. I thought we played physical football and did a lot of positive things in all three segments. That's what was really encouraging is how well we played. It all started with the defense and the defense held them. We started off the game not very good. To start off the game three and out and then a punt that got shanked to the right and defense gets to start. I think they started on our side of the field, especially on our side of the field to start the game 45 or somewhere close to that. And the defense does a really good job of holding them to a field goal right there. So that was a big tempo setter right there in itself, and obviously allowed us to stay patient and do what we wanted to do on offense. And from that point on, we pretty much did what we needed to do. We controlled the clock, ran the ball through the ball. Gavin was ten of 11, threw the ball well and did some good things throughout that first half to get that lead. The score there towards the end to get us up 10 to 3 was really big for us. Went into the half 10 to 3 and playing really good football and then they came out and put together a really good drive in the third quarter, mixed in some tempo to what they were doing and put together a nice drive and converted on that big third down during that drive, it was a third and a third, an extra-long, and converted it and then finished their drive. But then we responded really well from that point on. Again, offensively, defensively, as far as reestablishing the offense and getting to put in some good drives together and then obviously pinning them down there and getting the punt return for a touchdown was really good execution. That was led by good offensive possession and good defensive possession. 
 
“Pinning them down there and then having good defensive possession and then getting a good punt return. So, the special teams played a big part in that touchdown as well as both sides of the ball. And that last drive where we took the ball for nine minutes plus and ran the ball, we were in two tight ends every play on that formation, that whole drive, whether it was when there was one back two tights and the offensive line just did a great job and so did Trent Thompson and Zach Fryar, they did a really good job. But throughout the whole day, the running backs ran really, really hard and it was really a nice compliment. Getting Ray Flores back in the backfield a little bit because of some of our other receivers are stepping up, it takes a little bit of pressure off Ray and we can use him as a running back because he's just as good a running back as he is a receiver and he really showed that in the game. Deion Hankins and Ronald Awatt ran reallyhard and they create a lot of yards after contact, a bunch of yards after contact and allowed us to put together drive. We've had a lot of drives like that before where I've been, but I don't know if we've ever had anything as impressive as a nine-minute drive when the game’s on the line, and then to piggyback it again with one to close out the game and get first downs when we need to close out the game again, it was really good football for our offensive unit. Gavin Hardison played really well, managed the offense extremely well and was pleased with the outcome. So, it was a good win for us and got us back to 2-2 in our non-conference slate, which with the type of games that we had you put together four non-conference games and none of them were fun events for us, right? I mean, a rivalry and two perennial powerhouse teams and then another Mountain West opponent. So, it wasn't like we had any gift games this year in our non-conference by any means. 
 
“So, to get us back to 2-2 there and now get us back to a conference road game, leading into the conference road game, which is really a big game for us. Obviously, we have the long travel that leads to the games in our conference when we play teams on the East Coast. I think Charlotte's a great setting. I love that stadium; I love the set up they got there. So, it's a good place to play against, just have to manage the trip and manage the time difference. 
 
“The game’s obviously starting later where it’s 4:00 our time, but 7:00 Eastern Time out there. It'll get us to have to acclimate to that by getting up a little bit earlier than what we're used to as we go through the week and go through the games Friday, Saturday schedule. Charlotte, like always, is a really athletic team got a lot of team speed on both sides of the football. They have a new defensive coordinator this year and he's establishing his system there and they're getting better all the time within the system and how they're playing. They've had a tough schedule. Their record is probably not anywhere indicative of the type of team that they are because they've had again, they haven't had any 1-AA opponents or anything. Well, they did have one, a good one, William and Mary, who's a good football team. Charlotte’s starting quarterback was out for that game. But the rest of their slate’s been a pretty difficult slate with some tough team, and they had a big win over Georgia State in one of their games. So, again, it'll be trying to handle Reynolds, their quarterback's always a handful. He's very athletic and very much of a really good creator. The receivers have got really good speed at their receiver position. So that definitely will be a challenge. One of their games this year against Georgia State, they passed for 401 yards in that game. So, they definitely can throw the ball and move the ball on and have a really good offense. And as I said defensively, they got tons of team speed and lots of athleticism on the defense and so that'll be a challenge for us as well. And like I said, a road conference game, as we go through this whole schedule, every game is going to be, the rest of the way, every game is going to be a battle. I mean, that's just what they are. And so, we're looking forward to going to Charlotte and our big quest is to go down there and play really good, fundamentally sound football and do what we do best and execute our schemes and play good in all three segments again.”
 
On offensive identity development:
“I think when we were sitting here a week ago, we said, ‘hey, let's get back and do what we did' and so what we did this week in the Boise St. game was really what we had done a lot last year, we just tried to control the clock and then take the things that were there for us. We ran the ball probably better in this game against Boise St. than we did any time last year. But we do want to run the football and so when we can, we will and so that's Gavin really start getting to be able to pick people apart and we were able to pick and choose our shots and obviously we hit the shots that we needed to hit and that converted some really good third downs as well. And so that part of it was good identity for us. So, we'd love to do what we did all year. I mean, that's obviously when you have a big win like this, you'd like to emulate that as much as you can. And I think more like anything as a team morphs through a year, you kind of figure out what's their identity, what's what do we do best? And like we've talked about before our practice is so expansive that we can do whatever fits our personnel. And so, if we have personnel that throws the ball well; last year, second half the year, we threw the ball well and threw the ball more than we ran it because that fit the personality of that team. And this year this might be the best thing for us to do this year is just run the ball more and control the clock more and do the things that we did Friday. So, obviously it was successful for them and we'll see how it goes for the rest of the year.”
 
On defensive identity:
“If we would have protected them a little bit more, their stats would probably be even better, you know, which we’ve traditionally done and so I think the more we can do that, the more it gives them the opportunity. But the thing that we have to do is what we did, score points too because when you score points, it puts pressure on the defenses, it puts pressure on the offenses to try to do more aggressive things against our defense and that allows our defense to have the opportunity to get more big plays and more disruptive play. So definitely want to continue to try to do that as we go through the conference play right now to establish that kind of identity. But any time you have 40 minutes plus of time of possession, it's hard for an offense to be in any kind of rhythm, you know? I mean, you just can't, you can't get much rhythm when you only have the ball 19 minutes plus, it's just very difficult. But that's a two-way thing, sometimes a three-way thing. This time of possession is not just offense is defense offense. You know, working together.”
 
On hometown kid Reynaldo Flores and his leadership:
It's a super good story. You know, it really is. It's a really good story about Ray and I do think about how cool it is for El Paso to have a guy that came and walked on to a program and then earned his way up and has proven himself into being not just a good player, but really is one of the premier stars of our program. Probably one of the most valuable players in our whole program. I'm not ever going to say somebody is the most valuable, but he's one of the most valuable players and his leadership is just I mean, if everybody in the city could see the way that kid leads this team and how he makes sure if someone might have the right intentions of leading, as an example, this week, one of our players had the right intentions of leading, but he didn't know exactly how to do it. Ray kind of steered him in the right direction on how to lead. And so, his leadership skills are just outstanding as well.”
 
UTSA
Head Coach Jeff Traylor’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
On his big takeaways after watching the Texas Southern film:
“We’re just, defensively … we didn’t tackle real well. We weren’t as sound on some gaps as we wanted to be. It was disappointing. Offensively … didn’t run the ball real well but a lot of that is dictated by the way the defense plays and, you go back and watch … you know, you all have been around me long enough to understand that if you give me one on one, we’re going there … outside. We’re not, I’m not going to try to run the ball into a bad look. There are sometimes you have to and when we had those opportunities, we didn’t do it very well. Obviously third and one was a huge disappointment, not being able to run the ball for a first down. As for special teams, we’re really excited about the play of our kickoff return team. You know, first touchdown in school history. I’m very disappointed in our “nightstalkers” (the kickoff team). Overall, I think after the game I was asked about what my assessment of the four games was and I didn’t have a real good answer at the time but looking at it … we played really well against Houston and lost, played really well against Texas and lost. We didn’t play very well against Army and won, didn’t play very well against Texas Southern and won. So, that’s why I always talk about … we’re disappointed right now as a team. We didn’t represent the brand we don’t feel like. We were not as physical on defense as we wanted to be. We did not run the ball very well. Our nightstalkers are not very good kicking the ball off and covering.”
 
On how they’re changing the practice schedule for a short road week:
“We practiced last night, believe it or not … we just … the kids know I’m upset, they’re upset. So, we put the ball down and went to work last night. So, we’ve already got in one practice so Tuesday is already done. Today is Monday because of the kids’ class schedule but tomorrow will be Wednesday even though it’s a Tuesday and so forth the rest of the week.”
 
On how the team is doing from a health perspective:
“It won’t be 21 (student-athletes on the injury list), but it’s not as good as I wanted it to be. A few of those guys could not practice last night which is unfortunate. If they can’t practice this week, they won’t be making the trip.”
 
On where to find the offensive balance (with the passing game going well and running game not):
“Well, common sense still prevails. We’re built so the quarterback has control of this thing and we’re … if it’s there we’re going to take it. Where I’m disappointed … I’m not … I would rather run the ball more than we are right now but that’s not the way people are playing us. When people play us differently, we’ll start running the ball more. But right now, they’re not and, for the life of me I don’t know why you’d single cover our receivers but if they’re going to do it, we’re going out there. I know it looks great when it hits and when we don’t catch it and we’re punting it? It’s not great. I just don’t believe in running the ball into looks where they have got extra hitters in there. And this coordinator is as good as we’ve gone against. We’ve never exploited this guy. He has held us in the 20s for two straight years in a row. And it’s even misleading because our defense has been so dominant the last two years against them. So, he has really had our number and we’ve got a lot of respect for him. Coach Shafer does a fantastic job. They are very well coached … they know their scheme … he does a fantastic job. Scott has been there 17 years. They (other NCAA teams) are trying to fire coaches every week nowadays and 17 seasons … that’s pretty remarkable.”
 
WKU
Head Coach Tyson Helton’s Quotes from Monday’s Press Conference
 
Video Available here: Monday Press Conference
 
On starting conference play and needing the home crowd to show up Saturday:
“Troy this week; really, really excited about them. I really want to thank our fans last week had a great atmosphere last week. Need them to show up and show out at home again. Got a great opponent coming in in Troy, real good football team, very competitive team. I’ve been really impressed with them. I think our team knows it’s going to be a highly competitive game. And so, we’re looking forward to the contest. With that said, questions.”
 
On this week’s opponent, Troy:
“I think they’re a tough nosed football team. I think they’re well-coached. I think coach Sumrall’s done a fantastic job with them. I mean, you don’t just go to App State… You know, technically in my mind, they’re supposed to win that game, you know. And for them to bounce back like they did, kind of like us against Indiana. You know, it says a lot about their football team. Their defense gets after you, you know, they line up and play. They’re good tacklers. They run to the football. They do what they do. They run their scheme extremely well. Offensively, they’ve got some playmakers and their skilled players. Quarterback is a good game manager, offensive line does a good job, running back’s a physical runner. I think they just complete, you know, they’re a complete football team, and they’re playing good football. And when I look at them, I see a lot of similarities to us. You know, they look like they’re competitive. They enjoy the game. They like the competition piece. So, I expect a really good football game.”
 
On Troy’s Offense:
“Well, like you said, it starts with stopping the run. We got to stop the run. And then we can’t give up the explosive plays in the passing game. Last week, their game against Marshall, they had some explosive plays in the passing game. You know, they’ll go the distance, you know. It’s nothing for this team to have long drives and their seven-minute drives and they try to limit your possessions and so we got to get off the field defensively. And then offensively, we’ve got to play fast; we’ve got to start fast and, you know, got to be explosive and try to make it to where they’ve got to try to catch up, but you know they match up, but you know they match up well with us, we match up well with them. I think it’s two very similar football teams going to play each other this week.”