University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Head Football Coach Jeff Bower' Weekly News Conference
10/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head Football Coach Jeff Bower?s Weekly News Conference
Opening Statement:
?We had a good win against
Players Of The Week:
?On offense, it was Dustin Almond. He played 63 snaps, completed 16-of-28 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. He also had six rushes for 35 yards and a touchdown. We did not have a player of the week on defense. John Eubanks was our special teams player of the week. He had three returns for 158 yards, including a 97-yard touchdown return. He gave good effort and we blocked extremely well on that return by the 10 other guys on the field. He gave good effort on his 97-yard return.?
On Injuries:
?We?re in pretty good shape. Dustin will be out for a while, we don?t know how long. We?re going to hold Sherron Moore out of contact, he has a stinger. Other than that, we?re in good shape physically for the game this week.?
On The Quarterback Situation:
?We?re going to give Damion all the repetitions at quarterback this week. We?re going to bring Travis Clark up and start giving him some reps, along with Jeremy Young, to have three quarterbacks ready to play against
On
?
On Damion Carter:
?He?ll be fine and will rise to the challenge. Just like anybody on this team, we?ve got to have a good week of preparation and get better every single day and have a tremendous week of preparation.?
On The Differences With Damion Carter and Dustin Almond
?Damion is a little more athletic running the football. He doesn?t have the experience that Dustin has. I?ve seen Damion throw the ball really well in games, and we?ve got to work towards consistency this week in practice. We?ve got to give him a good offensive package and get him ready to go. I believe in him, and I think he will play well.?
On Changing The Offensive Game Plan With Carter:
?We?ll have to a little bit. Damion and Dustin are difference quarterbacks, and we have to play to Damion?s strengths.?
On If The Players Have Faith In Carter:
?Yes I think they do. It?s a confidence booster to them the way he played at the end of the
On The National Recognition:
?It?s nice, but there?s a long way to go. It?s not good enough. We?ve got to be better. We can?t pay attention to the polls. We?ve got to get ourselves ready to play a good football team and get better every single day this week.?
On If Anthony Harris Will Still Start At Running Back:
?Yes, as of right now. With Sherron Moore being out with no contact, we?re going to give Larry Thomas some more carries in practice.?
On What To Do To Stop
?We?ve got to stop the run. At the same time, I don?t know what quarterback we?ll see. They?ve got some ability to throw the football. They?re young at receiver, but they?re very talented. You can?t give up the big play.?
On Jeremy Parquet:
?He?s been a good player for us. He?s been consistent for us. We expect a lot out of him. He?s had a lot of snaps with us. He?s a good athlete. It?s critical that the offensive line plays well every single game. It?ll be a challenge this week, playing against
On Running The Ball On
?They?re tough to move the ball on and everyone?s had that problem against them. The biggest difference with them this year, is last year they gave up a lot of plays in the passing game. They?re really playing well in the secondary this year. They?re doing more than what we saw a year ago from a blitz standpoint. They?ve got some good packages.?
On Why
?I think it?s another year with the coaching staff. They?ve got some experience back on defense as well.?
On Sherron Moore:
?He continues to get better. He?s made some plays for us. He has run the ball well this year and has taken care of the football.?
On If Playing
?I think anytime you go back to your home state, it?s important. I?m sure it will.?
On Extending The
?I?m not sure what we?ve got planned for the upcoming years. Director of Athletics Richard Giannini has worked on some things. It?s always a challenge to play
On Knowing When Dustin Almond Would Return:
?We think after the open week. With his injury, some guys bounce back quicker than others. It?s too early to tell.?
On Knowing When Dustin Is Making Progress In Recovery:
?I don?t know. Hamstring injuries are weird. They?re like ankle injuries, some guys heal fast, others it lingers on.?
On If He?d Ever Injured An Hamstring:
?I could never run fast enough to injure one.?
On What He Told Damion On The Two-Point Conversion:
?I don?t remember what I said, but it was something positive. He was cool.?
On
?It?s tough to get ready for. We played it well last year. This year, they had some wrinkles. They did a nice job of game planning us.?
On Army?s Win:
?It?s a big win for them. I haven?t looked at the stats, but they were close against TCU. They?ve been knocking on the door. It?s a good win for them.?
