Marshall University Athletics
Mark Snyder Press Conference Quotes
10/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 16, 2007
We're excited. We're playing a very good football team in Southern Miss. We're going head-to-head with the NFL, but it is on national television. We have a chance to represent our university against a very good football team. I feel like we match up fairly well with Southern Miss. I think Coach Bower has don a fantastic job. He's got a very good football team again this year. They've been steady ever since coach has been there. He's a guy that I've always looked up to as a football coach because of the success he's had. He wins with toughness, good defense and special teams so this should be very big challenge for us on Sunday.
On Southern Miss's different quarterbacks ... They're the same offense. Young can get out of trouble a little bit better than Reaves can. He can create things with his feet. That's not to say Reaves can't do that.
On Damien Fletcher and the USM offense ... He is really good. I think their tight end is really good. Running the ball is their centerpiece. They throw the ball to their nice tight end, and they have a couple of wide outs that they can get the ball to as well. Fletcher is a good back and he has a good offensive line in front of him. That's what makes that engine go in the running game. He is a good back. There is no question. The offensive line makes him a great back. He's get in behind those big bodies and then puts his foot in the ground and goes. He's a smart runner.
On facing a traditional offense ... We're actually going to see a normal offense this week for the first time in a month with formations that I can recognize. They do things the old fashioned way. It's easier to prepare for but you still have to stop it. They're very good at what they do. They're fundamentally sound. It should be a little easier on our corners because in those spread formations someone is going deep every time. Southern Miss runs more combination routes instead of go routes.
On the USM defense ... They're just athletic. Their whole defense is athletic. They have some guys up front and their linebackers are athletic. No. 6 out there at corner is one of the best I've seen. They do a lot of moving and let them use their athletic ability. If we can come out and run the ball on this group right here I'll say that bowed our neck. There front is pretty good.
On the USM offensive line ... They have the left guard and left tackle. I've been so impressed with their fight guard. He plays with a low back and drives people off the ball. I don't think it's any secret that they pull their left side because they're so athletic.
On Johnny Jones' performance versus Tulsa and the defense's improvement ... He did o.k. The thing is Johnny got hurt and couldn't run well for the last three quarter. The good knows was that Shane Moore was able to finish the game. That really helped us. We were able to keep Johnny on the sideline, which was good because we're going to need that big body every week. We improved. We still have a long way to go but we improved. We finally rushed the quarterback.
On keeping his team motivated ... One day at a time. One play at time. Playing the game you enjoy. What keeps you motivated? You love what you're doing. Right? It's the same thing with them. You try to keep it fun and show them their improvements. Then you also show them where they're not improving. We have a great group of kids though. They like football and that makes it easier.
On playing on Sunday night ... I kind of like it. It's different. It's better than playing every Saturday at noon. It's a change of pace. I really don't have an opinion. I've been at a place where we played every game at 8:00 p.m. central time. I've been at a place where we played every game at 12:00 p.m. It gets monotonous. Then again, if I had my druthers to be the No. 1 team in the country and play every Saturday at noon on ABC I'd probably do that. This is a good change of pace. It gives us another day to prepare and get healthy.
On Sunday's crowd ... We need a big crowd. We have a chance to put our university in front of the country on national TV. If we want that right next year we need to show up in the stands and we need to play well as a team. It'll be a total team effort. We have the privilege of being selected to play on Sunday night against the NFL. That was by design because we have great fans and we turn on TV sets. We need to represent that on Sunday in all facets. We're going to do our part in practice and we'll be ready to play on Sunday.
