Provided by UTSA SID:
On Dalton Sturm's first start and team's overall performance …
“He struggled in the first half. The second half is what I've seen everyday in practice. He just relaxed and played. He is a good football player, I don't know how we got him. I guess because not a lot of recruiters go to Goliad. I don't know if Notre Dame goes to Goliad or Penn State or these people, but he's competitive, he can run, has quick feet and a quick release. You saw some of the throws he made, just unbelievable throws. Of course, JaBryce Taylor really stepped up and made some big time plays for us and that was good to see. We needed that. And David Morgan. I'll say that I've had some great tight ends and I'll tell you that he's right there in the mix. He really is. He doesn’t have the speed some them had, but boy, as far as a blocker and a playmaker, my goodness. I think Dalton settled down [in the second half] and just played. The thing I encouraged him was, 'hey, just play, just play, just play. Just don’t' make it bigger than life, it's not. Just play and give us an opportunity,' and he definitely did that.”
On team's philosophy and expectations for the season …
“You know, we really, I guess from my standpoint and down, I don't know if pressure is the right word, but we have high expectations and I think there's nothing wrong with that. Also, you have to be in reality. We've got a lot of young players, some of the guys that are out there, but again, it's how we respond to it. Let's just play, let's go out and have fun and play the game like it's supposed to be played.”
On LA Tech's ability to slow down UTSA's run game …
“They're really good up front. They're very athletic. They're big. Number eight and number nine, you see those single digits up there are scary. When you see single digit defensive lineman, watch out. They're big, they're athletic and they're a very good defensive front and that's the thing. We've got to run the ball better for us to win and be consistent. Jarveon (Williams) has got to be a consistent guy for us. You think about Dalton going out and throwing for 300 yards to win games for us, that's probably not realistic. Hopefully he can do that some, but we have to be able to run the football. I'll tell you, in all of my career, in Miami and Oklahoma, when we couldn't run the ball, we struggled. The times we couldn’t beat Florida State, we couldn't run the ball. The first time we beat them, we would say, 'we're going to make positive yards, we won't get in negative situations' and we were able to win the football game. That's the thing we got to do here. We've got to make positive yards.”
On UTSA's defense generating turnovers …
“First of all, I think our confidence is starting to go up some. They're really playing with a lot of energy and confidence. Defense, for one, you've got to have a lot of confidence, especially to get the takeaways, and our defensive front is pretty good. I'll take them anywhere I could go. They can hold up and do a good job. You look at Brian Price, Kevin Strong, Jason Neill, and Marcus Davenport; those guys are good football players. They can play anywhere that I've been and that's a big strong point for us. We're not as deep as we have been. We have played with two groups there. We don’t have that this year, but I think we have a really strong group and I think they force the issue in forcing turnovers. I like our secondary. I really like our secondary. The guys we got there and I just think we've got a pretty dog-on good defensive football team. ”
On Michael Egwuagu's influence and special teams play ...
“He's having so much fun. That's what you like as a coach. Guys are playing efficient and enjoying the game, having fun. He's really done that and his energy goes to these other guys. They feed off him and that's the thing we've got to do. Somehow, we've got to — I don’t know if reboot is the right word — to get right, but I think we've got a good football team. Skip Holtz told me that before the game he said, 'Coach, your guys are really good.' I said, 'You know, the record doesn’t really indicate that,' but I think he sincerely said that. I told our players that yesterday, 'We've got good football players. We're going to have a good football team, but we have to somehow get our act together and get over that hump and start winning.' Good football teams win, don't they? That's a big point. I know some of the really good teams I've had played horrible, but were still able to get a win. Of course for us — offense, defense and special teams — we 've got to be consistent to win. Special teams probably played their best game on Saturday. They did a really great job on special teams. Perry (Eliano) does a super job with those guys.”
On third downs and the defense's struggle to get off the field …
“We have got to play well on third down. That's a big issue we had. LA Tech, the quarterback, he is really good. He may be as good that I've coached against ever. He is really talented, came from Tampa, Florida. Number one player in the nation in high school or whatever. Ours is from Chuy's (restaurant). No disrespect there, because I'll take our quarterback, but no, their quarterback, he was outstanding. Third down defense, you know, third down offense, third down defense, those are really key. You look at a game, what you do on third down can really indicate whether you win or lose."
On the overall quarterback situation …
“I don't know yet for sure. Hopefully we have the choice of either one of them, but I like and feel good about both players. Blake's (Bogenschutz) still our starter, when he's healthy and it’s one those things that we have. I guess the Dallas Cowboys don’t feel sorry for me, do they? I don’t think, but I like this team, I like them a lot, I like their attitude. We've got to somehow — coaches and players — get our head on straight, whoever's out there. We didn’t practice yesterday. We met, lifted and did some workout things there, but we'll know by tomorrow and see how Dalton practices. Blake was here yesterday, yes. He is not cleared to play. We'll know more about that as the week goes on. ”
On the replay with the Jeff Driskel slide in the fourth quarter …
“Well, what they said was that he was not actually out of bounds. They would have stopped the clock if he was out of bounds, but he wasn’t out of bounds. A couple things were big for us that did not go our way. One of them was fumbling through the end zone and the ruling there was a facemask as the play was going on. That led them to, of course, score a touchdown and that was a huge, huge turn of events for us. For us, you play to make breaks, and then we made that break and it didn’t happen for us, but to me, that was sort of a difference maker. It was definitely a fumble and it was our football. Then they went to score a touchdown in that series so that's a pretty big turnaround right there.”
On sensing any potential frustration with losing …
“I'm sure there is I from all of us — coaches and players — and we're going to address that this week and frustration doesn’t help us, but we have to practice better and play better. We have to turn that into energy and I don’t know the magic formula there. We still got a lot to play for. You look at our schedule. We're 1-1 in the league, we've got a lot of league games left and we have a chance to go to a bowl game. There's a lot of things we have to play for and that's the thing we want to sell. But now, we have to win a game and that's the first thing we've got to do is win. I think we're in position. Louisiana Tech is a good football team. There's a reason why they're picked to win the division and they lost one to Western Kentucky. I don’t know if you've seen Western Kentucky, but they're pretty good. It was like a 41-38 game, it was a shootout. The thing I see as a league is some of the top teams are pretty good and it's kind of like a mixture, guys can beat other guys. We beat UTEP and could've beaten Tech, and you can look at all the whole mixture that is there, I don’t think we can rule anything out.”
On Dalton Sturm's first start and team's overall performance …
“He struggled in the first half. The second half is what I've seen everyday in practice. He just relaxed and played. He is a good football player, I don't know how we got him. I guess because not a lot of recruiters go to Goliad. I don't know if Notre Dame goes to Goliad or Penn State or these people, but he's competitive, he can run, has quick feet and a quick release. You saw some of the throws he made, just unbelievable throws. Of course, JaBryce Taylor really stepped up and made some big time plays for us and that was good to see. We needed that. And David Morgan. I'll say that I've had some great tight ends and I'll tell you that he's right there in the mix. He really is. He doesn’t have the speed some them had, but boy, as far as a blocker and a playmaker, my goodness. I think Dalton settled down [in the second half] and just played. The thing I encouraged him was, 'hey, just play, just play, just play. Just don’t' make it bigger than life, it's not. Just play and give us an opportunity,' and he definitely did that.”
On team's philosophy and expectations for the season …
“You know, we really, I guess from my standpoint and down, I don't know if pressure is the right word, but we have high expectations and I think there's nothing wrong with that. Also, you have to be in reality. We've got a lot of young players, some of the guys that are out there, but again, it's how we respond to it. Let's just play, let's go out and have fun and play the game like it's supposed to be played.”
On LA Tech's ability to slow down UTSA's run game …
“They're really good up front. They're very athletic. They're big. Number eight and number nine, you see those single digits up there are scary. When you see single digit defensive lineman, watch out. They're big, they're athletic and they're a very good defensive front and that's the thing. We've got to run the ball better for us to win and be consistent. Jarveon (Williams) has got to be a consistent guy for us. You think about Dalton going out and throwing for 300 yards to win games for us, that's probably not realistic. Hopefully he can do that some, but we have to be able to run the football. I'll tell you, in all of my career, in Miami and Oklahoma, when we couldn't run the ball, we struggled. The times we couldn’t beat Florida State, we couldn't run the ball. The first time we beat them, we would say, 'we're going to make positive yards, we won't get in negative situations' and we were able to win the football game. That's the thing we got to do here. We've got to make positive yards.”
On UTSA's defense generating turnovers …
“First of all, I think our confidence is starting to go up some. They're really playing with a lot of energy and confidence. Defense, for one, you've got to have a lot of confidence, especially to get the takeaways, and our defensive front is pretty good. I'll take them anywhere I could go. They can hold up and do a good job. You look at Brian Price, Kevin Strong, Jason Neill, and Marcus Davenport; those guys are good football players. They can play anywhere that I've been and that's a big strong point for us. We're not as deep as we have been. We have played with two groups there. We don’t have that this year, but I think we have a really strong group and I think they force the issue in forcing turnovers. I like our secondary. I really like our secondary. The guys we got there and I just think we've got a pretty dog-on good defensive football team. ”
On Michael Egwuagu's influence and special teams play ...
“He's having so much fun. That's what you like as a coach. Guys are playing efficient and enjoying the game, having fun. He's really done that and his energy goes to these other guys. They feed off him and that's the thing we've got to do. Somehow, we've got to — I don’t know if reboot is the right word — to get right, but I think we've got a good football team. Skip Holtz told me that before the game he said, 'Coach, your guys are really good.' I said, 'You know, the record doesn’t really indicate that,' but I think he sincerely said that. I told our players that yesterday, 'We've got good football players. We're going to have a good football team, but we have to somehow get our act together and get over that hump and start winning.' Good football teams win, don't they? That's a big point. I know some of the really good teams I've had played horrible, but were still able to get a win. Of course for us — offense, defense and special teams — we 've got to be consistent to win. Special teams probably played their best game on Saturday. They did a really great job on special teams. Perry (Eliano) does a super job with those guys.”
On third downs and the defense's struggle to get off the field …
“We have got to play well on third down. That's a big issue we had. LA Tech, the quarterback, he is really good. He may be as good that I've coached against ever. He is really talented, came from Tampa, Florida. Number one player in the nation in high school or whatever. Ours is from Chuy's (restaurant). No disrespect there, because I'll take our quarterback, but no, their quarterback, he was outstanding. Third down defense, you know, third down offense, third down defense, those are really key. You look at a game, what you do on third down can really indicate whether you win or lose."
On the overall quarterback situation …
“I don't know yet for sure. Hopefully we have the choice of either one of them, but I like and feel good about both players. Blake's (Bogenschutz) still our starter, when he's healthy and it’s one those things that we have. I guess the Dallas Cowboys don’t feel sorry for me, do they? I don’t think, but I like this team, I like them a lot, I like their attitude. We've got to somehow — coaches and players — get our head on straight, whoever's out there. We didn’t practice yesterday. We met, lifted and did some workout things there, but we'll know by tomorrow and see how Dalton practices. Blake was here yesterday, yes. He is not cleared to play. We'll know more about that as the week goes on. ”
On the replay with the Jeff Driskel slide in the fourth quarter …
“Well, what they said was that he was not actually out of bounds. They would have stopped the clock if he was out of bounds, but he wasn’t out of bounds. A couple things were big for us that did not go our way. One of them was fumbling through the end zone and the ruling there was a facemask as the play was going on. That led them to, of course, score a touchdown and that was a huge, huge turn of events for us. For us, you play to make breaks, and then we made that break and it didn’t happen for us, but to me, that was sort of a difference maker. It was definitely a fumble and it was our football. Then they went to score a touchdown in that series so that's a pretty big turnaround right there.”
On sensing any potential frustration with losing …
“I'm sure there is I from all of us — coaches and players — and we're going to address that this week and frustration doesn’t help us, but we have to practice better and play better. We have to turn that into energy and I don’t know the magic formula there. We still got a lot to play for. You look at our schedule. We're 1-1 in the league, we've got a lot of league games left and we have a chance to go to a bowl game. There's a lot of things we have to play for and that's the thing we want to sell. But now, we have to win a game and that's the first thing we've got to do is win. I think we're in position. Louisiana Tech is a good football team. There's a reason why they're picked to win the division and they lost one to Western Kentucky. I don’t know if you've seen Western Kentucky, but they're pretty good. It was like a 41-38 game, it was a shootout. The thing I see as a league is some of the top teams are pretty good and it's kind of like a mixture, guys can beat other guys. We beat UTEP and could've beaten Tech, and you can look at all the whole mixture that is there, I don’t think we can rule anything out.”
