Marshall University Athletics
Pruett Press Conference
8/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Pruett Press Conference
8/31/2004
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Thundering Herd football coach Bob Pruett held his first press conference of the season today at the Shewey Building. The following is a transcript of his remarks from the day.
On the start of season:
We're excited to get the season started I think we are fairly healthy for the first time in all of pre-seasons. Right now we only have two questions marks as of this morning?Wilbur Hargrove and Tank Tunstalle both of them offensive players, one wide receiver and one of them a running back. Defensively we have for the first time our three linebackers back in full force, and we are glad to have them back. Troy I think is... they have seventeen starters back, three guys who had started who were out last year with injury and the big defensive tackle who started eighteen games for Georgia Tech who sat out last year at troy, 6'5" 305, great, great football player according to the people at Geogia Tech, so I think probably getting ready to play the best football team we've played at Marshall at this stadium since I've been here. We've got an excititng month, a very very tough month, it will be a program testing and team testing month. I think we've got some good players, and it will be a challenge. We keep talking about raising the bar here and I hope our pole bends enough to spring us over the top.
On Marshall?s leadership:
We've seen little signs of leadership, we've seen little signs of things being able to do that. I think certainly the keys to the season as we talked about last year in the games we lost we turned the ball over six times in each game and we didn't take it away any. So, protecting the football and creating turnovers will be huge, and you never know how good you are until you're stressed. In anything you do stress really points to how you handle it.
On Troy:
I think that they are an older football team, and I think the quarterback when he started against us it was only the first or second game he had played. They do have a young quarterback that's a scrambler, sprint out guy, that's got a lot of talent, that's a true freshman. I think overall they are a veteran team. It's one thing when you've never beaten someone; it?s like you're going into uncharted territtory. Now we were 3-0 going against them and just coming off the Kansas State win last year and go down there and they win the football game, so they are bound to be coming up here with a lot more confidence than the team we played last year.
