Marshall University Athletics
Quotes from Head Coach Bob Pruett's Weekly Press Conference
10/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Quotes from Head Coach Bob Pruett's Weekly Press Conference
10/12/2004
On Kent State quarterback Joshua Cribbs:
?He?s an exceptional player. He?s always stepped up and played well against us. I hope we can do a better job of stopping him this year than we did last year.?
?I think that offensively, (Joshua) Cribbs is someone we have to find a way to handle. Really, for the last three years we haven?t been able to handle him. He is a very talented, game-changing athlete?he is as game-changing for them as (Jonathan) Goddard has been for us. No one?s been able to corral him so far, and they do some really good things with him, surround him with some pretty good athletes. I think that if you go up there and think you?re going to shut him down completely you are just using wishful thinking.?
On Kent State:
?They?ve made this Homecoming, and they?ve made it a big ball game for a reason?we just have to go up there and expect to play good, find a way to manage him (Cribbs), find a way to find some offense, play good special teams, and do the things we have to do.
?Their running back is a good player, their receiver is a good player, they scored 33 points against us down here (in 2003)?they are very capable of doing a lot of real good things.?
On whether or not he expects Kent State to double-team Jonathan Goddard:
Well, Ohio U. did. They brought a back over there to help out. The fortunate thing about it is that we have four good people up-front, and when they started doing that, our defensive tackles stepped up and made plays. They had five sacks.
On the Kent State running game:
?Well, I think he?s (Alston) a good player. They spread their offense, they take some big splits at times, and do some things to create some running game. We?ve got our hands full in trying to manage the situation.?
On Marshall's defensive team speed helping combat Cribbs:
?I think it?s a plus for us, because we run very well on defense. That should help us.?
On the Marshall offense:
?Regardless of what the rest of our teams do, our offense has got to get better. Fortunately, our defense and special teams have been playing very well, while we have been playing these really good defenses. But you cannot always rely on it. We are closer offensively than we were. Before it was three of four guys (making errors), now its just one ? not always the same one. We will get better, you win as a team and you lose as a team.?
On the defensive coaching staff:
?Coach Wilt has done an outstanding job. He did an outstanding job last year when we led the league in total defense. All of our defensive coaches have done a great job.?
On Freshman Running Back Ahmad Bradshaw:
?He did a great job of making some runs without a lot of blocking at Ohio U. So he is going to continue to get tested and we will see how he does. He has done a good job.?
