“I am really excited about Week Two. We are sitting at 1-0 and feeling good about it. Obviously there are some performances that we wish we could have back but definitely some learning moments for our team and specifically for our offense. But we also had learning moments for all three phrases: special teams, offense and defense.”
“I am happy with a lot of the performances that we saw from individual players. Obviously we would like to see more points on the board and like to have more PATs than punts. But when you’re looking at it and evaluate the film, very fixable things where we can be in a better position to have more success in all three phases. All three phrases are looking to improve.”
“I want to compliment the ROC and the rest of Cougar Nation that were in the stadium. The electricity and energy was a definite positive for us. We appreciate it.”
Thoughts on Southern Utah
“Well coached team. Coach Fitzgerald does a great job, they are really tough. Really familiar with them being an in-state team, seeing them play quite a bit. After their performance against Arizona State, they have our attention. A lot of respect for them. I coached down there. My oldest child was born in Cedar City. We have a lot of fond memories of the program and looking forward to them being up at LaVell Edwards Stadium.”
How did you think the offensive line look as you watched the film?
“The mistakes go all around. I know that people are going to want to talk about mistakes on offense so it wasn’t just on one side or one position. It’s definitely humbling for them so let’s get back to our natural old ways and that usually comes back to the basics. We have seen them play better and we are looking forward to getting that done again this weekend.”
On the depth chart
“The competition is always going to be the key but when you’re looking at it in terms of the game, we have the knowledge that you guys don’t see and know when all 11 guys are doing the right thing. It’s hard to get frustrated at somebody that’s running the ball or that’s catching the ball or throwing the ball when the other 10 guys aren’t doing what they are suppose to be doing. You can’t just judge it on one game, we have all the information and we feel like these are the guys that got us there. But there is always an opportunity to for us to tweak it depending on who’s performing the best. That way the competition lives on.”
On the linebackers
“Really good players but there’s room for improvement. I don’t think they played without mistakes but the thing is that when mistakes are happening they are just trying to make the play. It can’t be freelance, it has to be in your responsibilities. They are suppose to be in a certain place at a certain time and make those plays. I can’t say they were perfect but we are looking for that perfect game. The one thing I can count on those guys is that they play hard and play physical with a lot of energy. I can always count on them being around the ball. I am really pleased with the level of physical play.”
On new players and the offense's slow start
“I think of most of it that I am going to focus on is that we make quite a few mistakes. That’s our job as coaches to make sure that we don’t make so many mistakes.It was a big time environment and some players first-time in the stadium. I would like to make excuses but we don’t have time for that, we have to see production. We have to see guys make better decisions and perform like we have seen them in practice.”
On the defensive line
“I thought that they were really disruptive. I thought they created a lot of alleys for our linebackers to run through. I thought they got great knockback at the line of scrimmage but there are things they can improve on. They lost a couple of gaps and didn’t use the right technique. A lot of that is guys just trying to step up and make the play rather than make the play through their assignment. Teams are going to have a hard time being successful against this defense if they can’t run the ball.”
On punter Ryan Rehkow
“Everybody knows that he has a strong leg and is a very good athlete. He’s got so many abilities and talents. He’s always been a team player and it’s not about him. I know one thing is that if we need him to make a play and make a kick that he can do it. I wish we could have blocked the fake punt a little better so he could show off his legs a little bit more.”
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