On his thoughts on being 2-0 …
“Yes, 2-0, and eager to get to this next one. I thought the game was a tale of two halves. I thought the first half was everything that we game planned to do. Offensively, you can’t ask for better than the first seven drives consecutively; 100 percent on third down, 100 percent in the red zone and a touchdown in each one of those drives. That was quality football — good decisions by our quarterback, sound blocking by the offensive line and production by receivers and backs and tight ends, as well. Defensively, I thought we were stingy. We forced three-and-outs. Not until the last drive of the fourth quarter do they even convert a third down. I thought we did well with special teams, as well. We kicked the ball well, pinned them back in there from a kickoff standpoint. From a return standpoint, (we) fielded the ball and did all the things that were appropriate. In the second half, we would like to continue to develop our team and that doesn’t mean ‘don’t score touchdowns or lack of production.’ It means when your opportunity comes and it’s time for you to take the field, to do the things that you’ve been trained to do; the things that we practice on a weekly basis. And so that opportunity presents itself and we have to be able to capitalize on it.”
On what he thought about the backups who played on Saturday …
“I thought defensively, it was good. We still did some good things. We had a misfit on one touchdown run around the left side, but outside of that particular play those young guys lined up, communicated and tackled well defensively. Offensively, we had a quarterback-center exchange miscue, we had a ball deflected for an interception and then we had an errant pass, as well as a receiver did not attack the ball, so we all take ownership of it. We’ve got to correct those things. Those guys, they can do better. They’re better than what they displayed and we’ll be able to do those things. I thought it’s priceless, though, those reps. To be able to go in there in a meaningful situation in the game by time, where the game was still in the balance, although the score wasn’t indicative of that, we still had to go get first downs, position ourselves to score touchdowns or, as we did, a field goal. So, a lot of really good things happened on Saturday and a lot of things to be corrected. Our Sundaycorrection was very similar to any other day. We had enough plays that we needed to correct to better ourselves. That’s the whole key to it — identifying it, acknowledging it, understanding what happened, then going to the practice field and fixing why it happened, and giving them the remedy. This is how you fix that problem.”
On the challenges this game brings …
“It’s the next game. It’s the next opponent we’re playing and we look forward to it. We’ll prepare for this Saturday. I think it’s important for us to be at our best against Everett Withers and his staff. You look at his background when he was the DC (defensive coordinator) at Ohio State with Urban Meyer and those guys, and they were fantastic. They play odd front, they pressure the ball, they make it difficult for you by putting seven or eight men in the box at times and I think they have some talent there. Offensively, his offensive coordinator is a young guy also from Ohio State, so I think there is a lot of resemblance of Urban Meyer-style football where it’s run-oriented to set up the pass but done so from a one-back personnel — 11 personnel — grouping where they use their tight end or their H to block in the run game, to get out in the passing game, and can pose a problem for you, and also, you know, to account for the quarterback. I know Damian Williams. He’s a New Orleans kid. He went to Rummel High School and Mississippi State, so I‘ve watched that young man and evaluated him since he was a high school player. Tough kid. Gritty. Makes sound decisions, as well. We’ll have to play well. There are some concerns because they are a quality football team and they are well-coached. So, we’ll have to be at our best.”
On how Texas State has played on defense this season …
“They could easily be 2-1 right now. You watch them against Houston Baptist and they were dominant. You watch them against Colorado and they compete, play hard, run to the ball. They played hard. I respect that program. I respect that head coach.”
On place-kicker Jared Sackett …
“I thought he did a good job, an admirable job. The one that got away from it, so much goes into it from the snap to the hold to the strings or not strings to the hit it where it needs to be to the tilt of the ball, so there were some mechanical things we need to clean up. From an operation standpoint, they were all 1.2 (seconds) and under, so our operation was good, just probably not as clean as we would like them to be. I thought he hit it well, got underneath it, put some pop into it. I like him. He’s progressing well.”
On several of the backups playing well, specifically Marcos Curry, on Saturday …
“Wasn’t that fun? Sacks, tackles for loss. It was good to see those guys go out there and compete. They were hungry for an opportunity. I think he may have gotten 30 snaps. He and Anthony Hickey played well. That’s good team football. When those types of numbers show up. The first game we played 52. This past week we were at 71, 72, 73, somewhere in that range. To play that many players is a good thing for our football program, for the development of our football program. There’s goals there. They’re attainable now. ‘I can see the field. Okay, I’ll get a shot.’ That’s a good thing. They played well”
“Yes, 2-0, and eager to get to this next one. I thought the game was a tale of two halves. I thought the first half was everything that we game planned to do. Offensively, you can’t ask for better than the first seven drives consecutively; 100 percent on third down, 100 percent in the red zone and a touchdown in each one of those drives. That was quality football — good decisions by our quarterback, sound blocking by the offensive line and production by receivers and backs and tight ends, as well. Defensively, I thought we were stingy. We forced three-and-outs. Not until the last drive of the fourth quarter do they even convert a third down. I thought we did well with special teams, as well. We kicked the ball well, pinned them back in there from a kickoff standpoint. From a return standpoint, (we) fielded the ball and did all the things that were appropriate. In the second half, we would like to continue to develop our team and that doesn’t mean ‘don’t score touchdowns or lack of production.’ It means when your opportunity comes and it’s time for you to take the field, to do the things that you’ve been trained to do; the things that we practice on a weekly basis. And so that opportunity presents itself and we have to be able to capitalize on it.”
On what he thought about the backups who played on Saturday …
“I thought defensively, it was good. We still did some good things. We had a misfit on one touchdown run around the left side, but outside of that particular play those young guys lined up, communicated and tackled well defensively. Offensively, we had a quarterback-center exchange miscue, we had a ball deflected for an interception and then we had an errant pass, as well as a receiver did not attack the ball, so we all take ownership of it. We’ve got to correct those things. Those guys, they can do better. They’re better than what they displayed and we’ll be able to do those things. I thought it’s priceless, though, those reps. To be able to go in there in a meaningful situation in the game by time, where the game was still in the balance, although the score wasn’t indicative of that, we still had to go get first downs, position ourselves to score touchdowns or, as we did, a field goal. So, a lot of really good things happened on Saturday and a lot of things to be corrected. Our Sundaycorrection was very similar to any other day. We had enough plays that we needed to correct to better ourselves. That’s the whole key to it — identifying it, acknowledging it, understanding what happened, then going to the practice field and fixing why it happened, and giving them the remedy. This is how you fix that problem.”
On the challenges this game brings …
“It’s the next game. It’s the next opponent we’re playing and we look forward to it. We’ll prepare for this Saturday. I think it’s important for us to be at our best against Everett Withers and his staff. You look at his background when he was the DC (defensive coordinator) at Ohio State with Urban Meyer and those guys, and they were fantastic. They play odd front, they pressure the ball, they make it difficult for you by putting seven or eight men in the box at times and I think they have some talent there. Offensively, his offensive coordinator is a young guy also from Ohio State, so I think there is a lot of resemblance of Urban Meyer-style football where it’s run-oriented to set up the pass but done so from a one-back personnel — 11 personnel — grouping where they use their tight end or their H to block in the run game, to get out in the passing game, and can pose a problem for you, and also, you know, to account for the quarterback. I know Damian Williams. He’s a New Orleans kid. He went to Rummel High School and Mississippi State, so I‘ve watched that young man and evaluated him since he was a high school player. Tough kid. Gritty. Makes sound decisions, as well. We’ll have to play well. There are some concerns because they are a quality football team and they are well-coached. So, we’ll have to be at our best.”
On how Texas State has played on defense this season …
“They could easily be 2-1 right now. You watch them against Houston Baptist and they were dominant. You watch them against Colorado and they compete, play hard, run to the ball. They played hard. I respect that program. I respect that head coach.”
On place-kicker Jared Sackett …
“I thought he did a good job, an admirable job. The one that got away from it, so much goes into it from the snap to the hold to the strings or not strings to the hit it where it needs to be to the tilt of the ball, so there were some mechanical things we need to clean up. From an operation standpoint, they were all 1.2 (seconds) and under, so our operation was good, just probably not as clean as we would like them to be. I thought he hit it well, got underneath it, put some pop into it. I like him. He’s progressing well.”
On several of the backups playing well, specifically Marcos Curry, on Saturday …
“Wasn’t that fun? Sacks, tackles for loss. It was good to see those guys go out there and compete. They were hungry for an opportunity. I think he may have gotten 30 snaps. He and Anthony Hickey played well. That’s good team football. When those types of numbers show up. The first game we played 52. This past week we were at 71, 72, 73, somewhere in that range. To play that many players is a good thing for our football program, for the development of our football program. There’s goals there. They’re attainable now. ‘I can see the field. Okay, I’ll get a shot.’ That’s a good thing. They played well”
