Marshall University Athletics
Quotes/Notes/Video from WKU Press Conference
9/26/2018 12:58:00 AM | Football
Video, notes linked at right
Opening statement:
It is so important when you are about to go on the road that you take your leadership and toughness. Our captains for this week: on offense will be Marcel Williams and Keion Davis for the first time. Keion is just a really good football player who finds a way to make plays. I am excited about where he is right now. On defense, we have Ryan Bee and Malik Gant. Malik Gant is a guy who just keeps making plays and is really a tough guy out there. We are going to need that this week. As you know, we are going into conference play. It is always a challenge going on the road. We have the opportunity to go play one of the top teams in our conference. Western Kentucky has great tradition there. It will be a great challenge for us and we will have to have great preparation this week as we get ready to head that way.
On Western Kentucky's QB options:
Eckels is their senior. Whether he will play or not, I don't know. He started the first two games for them and he is the senior who played for them a year ago. He played in that game a year ago but the other two guys are younger players. They don't change a whole lot with what they do. The package has expanded a lot with Eckels in there because he is a senior and has played. However, if you look at them on tape they aren't a whole lot different with anyone they play. They are going to have some quarterback runs in there and all three of them have the ability to do that. They don't change a lot.
On Western Kentucky's Duncan:
He got them a victory. He got in there second half and I assume that is who we will see. That being said, he went in second half and did a great job for them. He found a way to go in for them and a get a win on the road. I am sure that means a lot to the coaches and players, that is probably who we will see starting.
On highs and lows of last Saturday:
There were some good things. I thought our players played extremely hard. I thought our special teams, as a group, played the best they have all year. We had that one mistake on the first kickoff but the kid was trying to do exactly what we told him to do and what we coach him to do, get that foot out of bounds and catch the ball because then we get the ball at the 35-yard line. That is what he is coached to do, he just didn't quite execute it. The rest of it was clean. Our kickoff returns were good, our kickoffs were excellent. We still need to improve in all areas. Isaiah (Green) stood in there and made some throws, did some good things. We need to get off the field on third down. Of course that quarterback (Finley) keeps a lot of teams out there on third down. He is extremely accurate with what he did and with his receivers make plays. We have to find a way to get off the field on third down and also stay on the field on third down on offense. We have to convert third downs as an offense and be more consistent running the football. We can't become one dimensional. We have to run the ball better. We will focus on that this week and see if we can get that done.
On the difference in approaching conference and non-conference play:
Obviously everyone has the same conversation at the beginning of every year. Our ultimate goal is to win a conference championship. You have eight straight games where you have to prepare like they are all the championship game. If you look around our conference there are a lot of teams that are similar and you have to be prepared every week to play or you get beat. We have to make sure we do a tremendous job preparing. Western Kentucky is a good football team with a lot of really good players.
On WKU:
It is our first conference game so, regardless of who we play, we have to go play like it is a championship game. We have had some history with Western Kentucky and they are an excellent football team. I am sure they are treating this like a rivalry. I heard their coach say it so obviously they think it is a rivalry and we do too. We will prepare and get ready to go play.
On WKU's receivers:
Those kids have played a lot of football for them. They lost Ferby, their tailback, who played a lot. They are playing with a couple young kids who are tailbacks. But the one thing you notice about them are their receivers who we have all seen play out here for a couple of years. I am sure that is the stability part of their offense. They have two guys who are good players and can make plays and they try to get the ball to them. They also have some good young freshmen. Number 14 is a kid from Louisiana that they try to get the ball to in space and of course they have a couple of freshmen tailbacks. One of them had close to 100 yards last week. They have good players and good skills. It will be a challenge for us.
On trying to establish the run:
I thought against Miami we did. I thought we ran the ball pretty well and we have to get back to doing that. Any team, whether it's us or whoever, if you become one dimensional, it becomes a problem. We have to do a better job at running the football and we are going to work hard to get that done.
On Keion Davis:
He is one of those guys that you say, "What in the world is he doing?" but then you look up and he has made a play. Whether it be on kickoff returns or on offense … he is doing a good job catching the ball. He just loves to play. He shows up every Saturday whether it's on kickoff return or playing tailback or wherever. He is a good player. He is deceptive. He doesn't look like he runs very fast but no one hardly catches him. He loves football and is a great kid. He is doing a nice job for us.
On getting Marcel involved:
What is happening to us, and NC State did a good job with it this past weekend, is they are not going to let Brady beat them. They did a good job of taking Brady out of it and not letting what happened to them a year ago happen this year. That being said, other people have to step up and make some plays. We made the one play because of what they were doing to Brady, with Marcel. We also had the other opportunity with Willie but didn't quite throw and catch it. When that happens with Brady we have to be able to run the football a little bit better. We have to be able to step up and make some plays one on one. We were able to make one of them but weren't able to complete enough of them to take advantage of what they were trying to get done.
On Jaquan Yulee:
He is getting better. He just needs to learn what is going on … to make sure he is in the right gap and doing the right thing. He is a good player who is going to play more and more. I think that is his third forced fumble on kickoff. He has done a nice job with that part of it. As you mentioned, he played a lot more defense too. He continues to get better, and the more he continues to get better as far as his assignments go, defensively, the more he will play.
On different looks up front defensively:
Our goal was to play Bee for 30 snaps against NC State and he played 32. With that, he came out of it pretty good. I think Malik Thompson is playing better. With Hames in there, we have the option to throw Ty Tyler inside a little bit. You don't want to get those kids to where they are playing 60-70-80 snaps a game. Hopefully we can keep those guys around 45 or so and get a good rotation going. But Bee being back playing helps a lot.
On Darius Hodge:
He had an ankle (injury) the first couple weeks of camp, which put him behind a little bit, but these last two weeks he has really come on. He played quite a bit Saturday and that will continue. He has a lot of potential and he is starting to turn that potential into production because he is a talented young player.
On special teams:
That field position battle is always important. We go into every game trying to win that part of it. We work extremely hard on it. I looked at them (WKU) on tape and they also do some really good things too so it will be a challenge for us, as it is every week, to win that special teams battle. In order to have a shot to win, you have to do that. I thought Saturday we improved in all the areas. We have to punt the ball a little better. But it was great to see our field goal kicker come in and kick a couple field goals. He has done a great job coming in and kicking the ball off. I feel comfortable where he is and we just have to continue getting better in other areas.
On playing on the road:
I think everything gets magnified on the road. We played pretty well on the road. We opened up on the road this year. It is important that we go on the road and play well. I know our fans will travel well. I mentioned earlier that I am sure we will have as many fans as NC State brought here, probably more. Everywhere we go our fans follow and that will help us.
It is so important when you are about to go on the road that you take your leadership and toughness. Our captains for this week: on offense will be Marcel Williams and Keion Davis for the first time. Keion is just a really good football player who finds a way to make plays. I am excited about where he is right now. On defense, we have Ryan Bee and Malik Gant. Malik Gant is a guy who just keeps making plays and is really a tough guy out there. We are going to need that this week. As you know, we are going into conference play. It is always a challenge going on the road. We have the opportunity to go play one of the top teams in our conference. Western Kentucky has great tradition there. It will be a great challenge for us and we will have to have great preparation this week as we get ready to head that way.
On Western Kentucky's QB options:
Eckels is their senior. Whether he will play or not, I don't know. He started the first two games for them and he is the senior who played for them a year ago. He played in that game a year ago but the other two guys are younger players. They don't change a whole lot with what they do. The package has expanded a lot with Eckels in there because he is a senior and has played. However, if you look at them on tape they aren't a whole lot different with anyone they play. They are going to have some quarterback runs in there and all three of them have the ability to do that. They don't change a lot.
On Western Kentucky's Duncan:
He got them a victory. He got in there second half and I assume that is who we will see. That being said, he went in second half and did a great job for them. He found a way to go in for them and a get a win on the road. I am sure that means a lot to the coaches and players, that is probably who we will see starting.
On highs and lows of last Saturday:
There were some good things. I thought our players played extremely hard. I thought our special teams, as a group, played the best they have all year. We had that one mistake on the first kickoff but the kid was trying to do exactly what we told him to do and what we coach him to do, get that foot out of bounds and catch the ball because then we get the ball at the 35-yard line. That is what he is coached to do, he just didn't quite execute it. The rest of it was clean. Our kickoff returns were good, our kickoffs were excellent. We still need to improve in all areas. Isaiah (Green) stood in there and made some throws, did some good things. We need to get off the field on third down. Of course that quarterback (Finley) keeps a lot of teams out there on third down. He is extremely accurate with what he did and with his receivers make plays. We have to find a way to get off the field on third down and also stay on the field on third down on offense. We have to convert third downs as an offense and be more consistent running the football. We can't become one dimensional. We have to run the ball better. We will focus on that this week and see if we can get that done.
On the difference in approaching conference and non-conference play:
Obviously everyone has the same conversation at the beginning of every year. Our ultimate goal is to win a conference championship. You have eight straight games where you have to prepare like they are all the championship game. If you look around our conference there are a lot of teams that are similar and you have to be prepared every week to play or you get beat. We have to make sure we do a tremendous job preparing. Western Kentucky is a good football team with a lot of really good players.
On WKU:
It is our first conference game so, regardless of who we play, we have to go play like it is a championship game. We have had some history with Western Kentucky and they are an excellent football team. I am sure they are treating this like a rivalry. I heard their coach say it so obviously they think it is a rivalry and we do too. We will prepare and get ready to go play.
On WKU's receivers:
Those kids have played a lot of football for them. They lost Ferby, their tailback, who played a lot. They are playing with a couple young kids who are tailbacks. But the one thing you notice about them are their receivers who we have all seen play out here for a couple of years. I am sure that is the stability part of their offense. They have two guys who are good players and can make plays and they try to get the ball to them. They also have some good young freshmen. Number 14 is a kid from Louisiana that they try to get the ball to in space and of course they have a couple of freshmen tailbacks. One of them had close to 100 yards last week. They have good players and good skills. It will be a challenge for us.
On trying to establish the run:
I thought against Miami we did. I thought we ran the ball pretty well and we have to get back to doing that. Any team, whether it's us or whoever, if you become one dimensional, it becomes a problem. We have to do a better job at running the football and we are going to work hard to get that done.
On Keion Davis:
He is one of those guys that you say, "What in the world is he doing?" but then you look up and he has made a play. Whether it be on kickoff returns or on offense … he is doing a good job catching the ball. He just loves to play. He shows up every Saturday whether it's on kickoff return or playing tailback or wherever. He is a good player. He is deceptive. He doesn't look like he runs very fast but no one hardly catches him. He loves football and is a great kid. He is doing a nice job for us.
On getting Marcel involved:
What is happening to us, and NC State did a good job with it this past weekend, is they are not going to let Brady beat them. They did a good job of taking Brady out of it and not letting what happened to them a year ago happen this year. That being said, other people have to step up and make some plays. We made the one play because of what they were doing to Brady, with Marcel. We also had the other opportunity with Willie but didn't quite throw and catch it. When that happens with Brady we have to be able to run the football a little bit better. We have to be able to step up and make some plays one on one. We were able to make one of them but weren't able to complete enough of them to take advantage of what they were trying to get done.
On Jaquan Yulee:
He is getting better. He just needs to learn what is going on … to make sure he is in the right gap and doing the right thing. He is a good player who is going to play more and more. I think that is his third forced fumble on kickoff. He has done a nice job with that part of it. As you mentioned, he played a lot more defense too. He continues to get better, and the more he continues to get better as far as his assignments go, defensively, the more he will play.
On different looks up front defensively:
Our goal was to play Bee for 30 snaps against NC State and he played 32. With that, he came out of it pretty good. I think Malik Thompson is playing better. With Hames in there, we have the option to throw Ty Tyler inside a little bit. You don't want to get those kids to where they are playing 60-70-80 snaps a game. Hopefully we can keep those guys around 45 or so and get a good rotation going. But Bee being back playing helps a lot.
On Darius Hodge:
He had an ankle (injury) the first couple weeks of camp, which put him behind a little bit, but these last two weeks he has really come on. He played quite a bit Saturday and that will continue. He has a lot of potential and he is starting to turn that potential into production because he is a talented young player.
On special teams:
That field position battle is always important. We go into every game trying to win that part of it. We work extremely hard on it. I looked at them (WKU) on tape and they also do some really good things too so it will be a challenge for us, as it is every week, to win that special teams battle. In order to have a shot to win, you have to do that. I thought Saturday we improved in all the areas. We have to punt the ball a little better. But it was great to see our field goal kicker come in and kick a couple field goals. He has done a great job coming in and kicking the ball off. I feel comfortable where he is and we just have to continue getting better in other areas.
On playing on the road:
I think everything gets magnified on the road. We played pretty well on the road. We opened up on the road this year. It is important that we go on the road and play well. I know our fans will travel well. I mentioned earlier that I am sure we will have as many fans as NC State brought here, probably more. Everywhere we go our fans follow and that will help us.
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