Marshall University Athletics
Doc Holliday Press Conference Transcript
11/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 2, 2010
HUNTINGTON - Opening Statement: I just want to recap last Saturday here at the start. I constantly preach to the kids that our plan to win here at Marshall is infallible. I thought we came as close to that as we could last week. It starts with playing great defense and going back to watch the tape; to hold that offense to 12 points and have them average 2.4 yards per rush, I thought the defense took a step in the right direction. I am proud of Coach Rippon and that whole staff with how they played. The second thing is to eliminate turnovers. Anytime you can do that, you have a shot to win and we had zero turnovers. We were 100 percent in the redzone. Our kicking game, I think it was a wash, but the thing I liked about our kicking game is that we took that kickoff down and had great field position for that game-winning drive. The other thing I liked about our team last week is I thought they grew up a little bit when facing adversity. That was the first time I had seen that group in the fourth quarter face some adversity, and Donald Brown said `Heck, we are going to make a play to win the game.' With that being said, he made a play, we got the ball and made a drive, and our defense came out on the field and got a stop. So there was progress last week.
We have a great challenge this week. UAB has 17 starters back, eight on offense and nine on defense. The one thing about UAB, with exception to the UCF game, they have been in every football game. They played a good Mississippi State team close. They took Tennessee into double-overtime; they just had a big win on the road last week at Southern Miss where they scored 50 points. Our work will be cut out for us. Offensively they are averaging 418 yards of offense. They are led by their two quarterbacks Bryan Ellis and David Isabelle. Brian Ellie seems to be the guy who has taken over. David Isabelle didn't play last week as he had a bit of a hand injury and is supposedly back this week. On defense, they are led by Marvin Burdette who is their leading tackler. So it will be a great challenge for us. For us, it is important to have a great week of preparation and it starts today.
On UAB's two quarterback system:David Isabelle can throw a little bit, but with that being said, Bryan Ellis is their throwing quarterback. He can run a little bit too. What they did against Southern Miss, too, is they ran they wildcat package. So it's not just Isabelle who can run. Both of their quarterbacks create an issue. But I am not sure if Isabelle is playing this weekend or not. They also have two great wide receivers in Frantrell Forrest and Mike Jones. Like I said, they average 418 yards on offense. Their tailback is averaging six yards per carry so they have been able to run the ball a little bit and have done a nice job with that.
On their tailback, Pat Shed: He is real quick. He is not a big guy, but he is extremely quick. He's a good back. He is also in their wildcat package and will take snaps from center.
Question: Have you ever been to Legion Field?
I played there in the old Hall of Fame Bowl (what at West Virginia). We played Kentucky, on-side kicked them to start the second half and beat them. But that was way back when.
On UAB not getting many fans and needing MU to be mentally and emotionally prepared: We have to. We will talk about it, but that's in the preparation. That game is, as all games are, won today, tomorrow and Thursday. We need to have a great week of preparation on then get on that plane on Friday and hope it carries over to Saturday.
Question: What makes a good game day practice?
Its enthusiasm and effort. We are not there yet but we are getting closer. I think they last two weeks were very good weeks of preparation. Our ultimate goal is to practice so hard that the games are easy. Because of depth and those kinds of things it is not there yet, but we want our practices to be very intense and high level speed. I always talk about, if you don't make plays in practice, you are not going to make them in the game. Last two weeks it has been excellent. I think Donald Brown is a guy who has really grown up in the last two weeks. It seems like our defense goes as he goes with his enthusiasm and what he brings to the table.
On the UAB defense:They scored 50 on Southern Miss and it seems like they are outscoring teams in the games they've won, but that linebacker No.43 [Marvin Burdette] is a great player. They have nine guys back so they have some experience there.
On Tron Martinez: You talk about Donald Brown and what he does for the defense; here is a true-freshman walk-on that brings it to the offense. He just loves to play the game. That's what we are going to get at one point, 22 guys out there who just love to play the game. When you play with great enthusiasm with guys who love to play the game, that's when you have a team. I felt like Tron did that for us. He just likes being out there. What's great about that kid is that he is on our all four of special teams. He went down there on the opening kickoff and made the tackle, and then he goes in there and plays like he did on offense, then he returns that kick for great field position. I think he touched the ball seven out of ten times on that final drive to go win the game for us. That just tells you what kind of kid he is and what he brings to the team. When you get 22 guys like that, you can go play against anybody, and that is what we are going to do here. We felt like we needed a spark on offense. He had two weeks of great preparation and we decided to give him a chance.
On why Troy Evans didn't play against UTEP: Troy had a death in the family and he was gone from Monday until Saturday and took the red-eye back Saturday morning. There was no way I felt good about putting that kid into a critical situation. I didn't know where his head was, being at a funeral all week and I just didn't think he was prepared to play.
On playing Brian Anderson and not Eddie Sullivan:It was a situation where, we wanted to play Eddie more, but the game dictated that we played Brian. The important thing is to win a football game. I didn't feel like there was a time where we could take Brian out and stick Eddie in because we were playing okay offensively.
On watching the secondary grow up against UTEP:You know, I was scared to death going into that game on Saturday. A year ago they threw for 527 yards against Marshall. But one of the goals we had going into that game was to not give up the big play and I thought we did a good job of doing that. I know we had a lot of young guys out there. We had Brandon Sparrow and two freshmen defensive linemen that played 29 snaps. I had a freshmen walk-on defensive tackle play 16 snaps. We have freshman all over the place and I think they are starting to grow up and make some plays. Coach Rippon and that staff are doing some good things with that group. We played good, sound, fundamental football and that is probably the best we have played all year.
On playing the two TE formation against UTEP: Tulane was able to run the ball on UTEP, so we thought that the two tight end set would give us an opportunity to run the ball, and it did.
On the offensive line play:They have done a really good job of protecting Brian. I think we have only given up two sacks all year. But he has been hit way too many times. The positive thing is that we were able to run the ball, and every time you have balance it makes things easier. The one thing we are doing concerning protection is, Brian has the opportunity to get the ball out of his hand quickly. We are not asking him to take five or seven foot drops He has options to get the ball out of his hand quickly.
On the health of Landis Provancha:He's got that ankle injury, and he is going to play as long as he can, but [Alex] Schooler is going to play. He has no choice but to go in there and play well because he is our only option right now. It is what it is. I don't know, maybe [Randy] Burnside (Sports Information Director) can play. But he is just a young guy that is playing. I am not being critical of him, but he is a freshman who should be in the weight room and getting ready to play for next year. But unfortunately he has had to take a lot of reps this year, and I think he has held his own. That group is a great group of guys who have worked extremely hard and we have to try to keep them together for the next four weeks.
On the UAB tight end, Jeffery Anderson: He is a very physical guy. He caught that two-point conversion to win the game last week against Southern Miss. He is excellent with the ball in his hands and he can block you too. I haven't seen the entire conference, but I know he will be as good as anyone we have played against.
