By now you now the drill. Coach talks, I comment in orange. Should be interesting this week.
Gregg Brandon
How did D.J. Young do in place of (the injured) Nick Davis) in Saturday's game?
"D.J. did OK. I mean, there were times when they blocked him. He is a good football player; he is a young and talented freshman who will only get better with more opportunities."
How are the injured players, particularly in the secondary, doing?
"Well, not having P.J. Mahone, who had won a starting safety spot in camp, and Antonio Smith has been huge. I mean, P.J. is a true freshman and we would love to have him back, but we will just throw another true freshman in there, Jahmal Brown. He has performed admirably, but again, with the youth of that group, sometimes their mistakes are exposed.
"Antonio Smith, we have had him (injured) for three straight weeks. He is obviously the most experienced kid back there, and he is only a sophomore. Antonio will be back this week."
No doubt. I hadn't noticed, while at the game, that Mahone was injured. We need him if for no other reason than he beat Brown out for the job. The d-backfield is a mess. We really need Antonio Smith--he's a playmaker! That partly--but not totally--explains what happened Saturday. (see comment about standing around and watching).
How is Anthony Turner progressing?
"He has to have the strength, not only to make the throws, but to go in and potentially take a whack. Right now, he doesn't have it, so he will be day to day. We will see how he is doing today (Tuesday), and then we will evaluate him again tomorrow, and basically, we will continue to evaluate his progress every day."
Based on this, I would be surprised if he plays, but I suppose we could be sand-bagging, too. The Kent game made it clear. We need AT in the game and healthy.
Even with Anthony injured, did you feel OK about your personnel for the Kent State game?
"Yes. I thought we could win the game with the guys we had. Tells you what I know."
On having so many young players in key roles:
"They will learn. I mean, (On one of the plays when Tyler Sheehan was in the game), we ran a spread-out, not a stop-out. Tyler is reminded of that with a helmet bruise in the middle of his back, so he will learn. The best way for these kids to learn is to make a mistake, learn from it and know it down the road, and that's where we are right now. That's where we are as a coaching staff, too.
You weren't exactly dealt that hand. Those are the cards you have in your hand, but it isn't like they came randomly distributed--as in a game of cards. This team's youth represents the failure to recruit in a couple earlier classes--the aces and face cards either didn't come here or they moved on too soon, and we're left with twos and threes.
"The reason why we put Tyler Sheehan in the game is because Tyler has been practicing well and has been improving throughout camp and throughout the early part of the season, so (we thought) hey, let's give him a shot. Does that mean he is going to go out and perform? We only know when you turn on the lights."
That's the problem! The Kent game was during the day. On the play of Chris Bullock:
"Again there is another kid that has been coming on. I mean he is a redshirt freshman, another youngster, and I saw a lot of promise in him after spring football. So it's nice to see him carry the ball. He put it on the ground once, which is unfortunate -- we just have to do a better job of taking care of the football. But he ran hard and made some nice runs; ran over some people and ran around some people."
What did Bullock show in the spring?
"Well, he showed a degree of toughness. I think he is kind of a cross between a tailback and a fullback. I think he has the finesse and speed of a tailback, but he also has the power to carry the ball. I think he can carry the ball 20 times for us. He carried the ball 17 times (vs. Kent State) and caught three passes for us and didn't play the whole game but he had 20 touches."
How will the veteran players respond after the KSU game?
"I think they will respond in a positive way. They understand that it was a tough loss at home and an embarrassing loss at home. There is no other way to spin it. We have to play better we have to make plays when the opportunity presents itself and the veterans are the ones who need to do that. And even some of the young kids that know how to make these plays, the veterans need to carry them along and show them the importance of running to the football.
"If I'm a defender, I just can not stand there and watch, I've got to run to the football every snap. And offensively, I can't take a play off. I have to run a great route, whether the ball gets a chance to come to me or not. I have to block full speed every time."
Stand there and watch? Sounds like our motion offense (just kidding). Seriously, I do not understand how this happens, but it was clearly a problem as dying quails fluttered into the hands of receivers. How did Freddie Barnes take the loss
"Freddie and I were the last two out of the lockerroom after the game. He was really down after that game, and so was I, and misery loves company so we just kind of hung out together. But Freddie is a competitor and a winner and Freddie will bounce back. He already has put that one behind him, which is what you have to do, and he has to move on to Ohio."
Your Mom was in town for the KSU game. What did she say to you?
"She said the sun would come up Sunday morning, which it did."
What can you tell us about Ohio University?
"Ohio is an improved football team. They did a great job in the second half against Northern Illinois, moving the football, mixing up the plays, executing and scoring some points. And, they did a nice job against Northern's offense holding them in the second half and being able to get a win on the road. I thought that was very impressive. You know, the last couple weeks they have lost to a two good teams, Missouri and Rutgers, who I believe are both undefeated. They are a much improved team."
OU is dangerous. We will be hard pressed to beat them on their field. They have the nation's leading punt returner in Chris Garrett.
"He is as quick as a hiccup. He had a couple (returns) against Rutgers that were just amazing. He is just a waterbug guy who makes people miss. That is what he does."
One more cliche and he wins a prize. Our punt formation is designed to prevent big returns, so let's hope it does.
For the most part, it seems like you have made improvements on special teams.
"Yes, I think we have our punt teams worked out. (Alonso) Rojas is doing well. He did have the one bad punt on Saturday, but aside from that he kicked the ball well. The last punt was in the wind and he hit that pretty well. Again, like all these freshmen, Rojas is no different. You have to bring your "A" game every day. You can't take a play off at this level, because everyone is good and everybody brings their "A" game. The ones who bring their "A" game most of the time are the ones who win the games, and we are continually pounding that into our young guys. You have to show up and practice with a level of intensity that will give you a chance to win a football game."
Fair is fair. Special teams were greatly improved. I think the kicking game should be a strength. Now we need to work on the other parts of the game--and keep this one up.
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