Brandon Presser....Some questions to answer

Coach Brandon is back with his weekly presser. Saturday was bad medicine. Wise-cracks in orange.

HEAD COACH Gregg Brandon

You said you needed to look at the film on Saturday to evaluate things. What has that brought to your mind? (The closing scene to Apocalypse Now comes to mind. Or, insert any B-grade horror flick where Miami has a kitchen appliance for an arm and BG is a buxom teenage girl).

`It was a game of missed opportunities. We start the game with a great kickoff return and then we go take a sack. We had an open receiver and we didn't get that done. I think there is a confidence thing right now that we have to get our swagger back, so to speak, like we had in the first four games. I think that is lingering and we are struggling through that right now. When things started to go bad Saturday, the doubt started to creep in, and I think that's why it turned into a rout. You look at that game, it was 14-0 and we drop an interception that should have gone for a touchdown. Now it's 23-7 and we are still fighting. We kick off they fumble the kickoff and we don't get it, and then we give up a big play. To me (if) we go in 23-14 in the half instead of 30-7 ... to me, that is the game. We didn't capitalize on their mistakes and they did on ours -- that is the game in my opinion. I think they slugged us in the chops early and we didn't respond."

This is pretty accurate, in my opinion, though it represents the most favorable version of the truth. It doesn't mention that Miami blew holes in our line and could have kept scoring, except they were so far ahead. It doesn't mention how poorly we took care of the ball.

There was also a key drop there in the first half.
"Third and 10, they blitzed it and we didn't execute. We handle that, we keep a drive moving and maybe it's a different game. (You know, I'm not a proponent of this thought process where you can track a 33 point defeat down to one play, and that was where the whole thing went bad. I watched the game. Chances are if we make that first down, we don't make the next one and they win. Probably 47-14.) They made the plays and we didn't; that's what it came down to. (Yessir!!) After watching the film I did realize that we just got blown out and got dominated. (Now, we are on the right track. To me, this is the only honest way to capture the game). Miami played well, I'll give them credit, but we didn't exploit their mistakes like they exploited ours."

Last year you guys went on a five-game losing streak at the end of the season. What did you learn from that, that you can apply to this team maybe so that it won't happen this year?

"I think last year was a completely different deal than this year, aside from the confidence. We need to get our confidence back, but last year we were just fighting to figure out how to score some points. This year we have demonstrated that we can score points. We didn't get that done Saturday, but we can do that. (Well, we have done that. However, teams seem to have a pattern to defend us....drop way into coverage. They've adjusted, and we have to prove we can still score. ) The thing that we have to do is stay focused with the kids, stay positive with them, and make sure that they understand the reason we lost the Miami game was critical errors and we didn't take advantage of their errors. Like I said if we do that it's a different game. (Maybe. Its probably 47-24)."

One bright spot that comes out of the Miami game is Roger Williams continues to show that he's a big threat in the kick return game. When did you realize he had that kind of potential?
"When we put him back there last year we knew he had a burst. In camp this year he was struggling at times to field the ball; that's why you didn't see him early. We just worked him and worked him and worked him. He kept handling kickoffs and handling kickoffs until he got comfortable back there with it. He has really emerged back there as a force for us. I think with the kickoff being from the 30 that has helped a kid like him because he gets the ball and gets going now. He's a load; he can break an arm tackle." He is our best KO returner in many years. Can't wait until he breaks one.

Is he just a kickoff returner?
"He is a back up defensive back and we are going to continue to use him there. He has played some at corner; we are going to continue to bring him on there. He's a good athlete."

Temple beat Akron on Saturday, and it seems that everyone is trading wins. Does that help you remember that, even though you lost to Miami, there is still a lot to play for?
"We can't be discouraged. It was a tough loss, but coming off the Boston College game and going on the road to Miami is going to be tough anyway. We didn't get it done down there, but we've got to understand that we are on the road again at Kent and anything can happen. It has been demonstrated in this league, anybody that shows up on Saturday that plays well has a chance to win. There is no dominant team right now."

Boy, that's for sure. This conference is going to be wide open. We are not out of it, but we have to run the table to have a shot. That starts with a tough assignment on Saturday.

This question has been asked quite a few times. You have felt that you could pass on anyone; obviously, Miami stopped that a little bit. (Dan) Macon ran on them a little bit. Is there going to be a little more balance?
"I think we will do what we need to do to score points. Running the football -- if that is what we need to do to take a little pressure off of Tyler (Sheehan) as he gets through this slump right now, then that's what we will do. He has been effective for us and he has to fight through it and we have to help him fight through it. If running the football is the way to do it, then we can run the football. We know how to do that and we have the ability to do that."

This answer mystifies me. We "know how" to run the football. Well, I hope so. I guess I want to believe that. However, every time we have tried, it has not gone well, and the lack of trying suggests the opposite to me....that we know we CAN'T run the football. Anyway, the attitude continues. Running is only needed because Tyler is in a slump.

You mentioned that Kent likes to run the football and (KSU's Eugene) Jarvis is pretty good at that. Is that their main focus?
"Well, I think their quarterback (Julian Edelman) is the guy. He's a run-around guy, a little playmaker, he's a fighter. A very competitive guy. They're just struggling with some untimely turnovers right now. They can move the ball; they can run the ball. They ran the ball against Ohio State. He's the guy I think, he's effective."

Guys like Edelman typically eat us alive, and if we don't stay in our lanes and fill the cutbacks up, he will look like a Heisman trophy candidate.

How about their defense?
"Their defense is very good. They're first in the conference in rush defense, and in total defense. They are built for speed, they run well."

More later in the week, but I think we match up poorly against Kent.

After a game like the Miami game, what do you try to do to keep the kids from getting discouraged?
"You just have to keep stressing that if we play fundamentally sound we have a great chance of winning a game. Usually errors occur when guys forget their fundamentals, or just don't do their responsibilities or techniques -- that happened Saturday. When Miami jumped up on us, some guys were trying to play outside of the system, and that is when you give up big plays. We just have to settle down and play a fundamentally sound football game. Play our techniques, play what we are coached to do, play the call. Don't try to put a cape on your back or an 'S' on your chest. If you play within the system, the system has worked. We can stop people defensively, we can score points offensively. I think the thing is, when some bad stuff happens, we have to remember to play fundamental football and do what we are coached to do. If we do that, we can get it back."

Well, as this team matures, we should be able to play fundamental football under duress. It has been a persistent, if occasional--weakness in the past few years.

You mentioned that you are looking for 11 fighters to get on the bus. Do you think there will be problem to find that?
"No, we talked about it again last night. There are enough kids on this team that were embarrassed by that loss that they will respond."

Good. Let's beat the Flashes.