University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Head Football Coach Jeff Bower' Weekly News Conference
10/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head Football Coach Jeff Bower?s Weekly News Conference
Opening Statement:
?It was a good win for us over
?We didn?t have any turnovers in the game, which was good. Luke Johnson did a great job of kicking the ball off for us. Our time of possession of 36 minutes to their 24 minutes was a real positive. I thought our offense did a good job of converting on third and fourth down. We were 9-of-17 in the game. The defense held them to negative three rushing yards. We had eight sacks for the game. We ran the ball well, with 264 yards rushing. If there was a negative, we had 10 penalties in the game. That?s way too many. We need to continue to tackle better. We need to come out with some intensity in the second half. I was disappointed that we let them take the ball downfield and get a field goal. On the other hand, the offense got the ball back, and we took it downfield and scored a touchdown. We had a lot of good things happen in the game.?
Players Of The Week:
?On offense, we had co-players of the week. Anthony Harris had 21 snaps and graded 81 percent. He had 12 carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Sherron Moore had 22 snaps and graded 86 percent. He had 13 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown. Kevis Coley was the defensive player of the week. He played 22 snaps and graded 81 percent. He had three tackles, two tackles for a loss, a sack, two quarterback knockdowns, a pass breakup, and had a caused fumble. He was very productive for only 22 snaps. On special teams, it was John Eubanks. He had a kickoff return of 84 yards and a punt return of 51 yards. All of these players did well for us in the game.?
On Injuries:
?Marvin Young has a turf toe. It?s pretty swollen. We just talked to Head Athletic Trainer Todd McCall, and we?ll probably get him back on Thursday. We need to get some guys healthy. We?ll get Dustin Almond back for the
On Dustin Almond Will Start Against
?Yes, he?ll be back and ready to go.?
On If His Hamstring Injury Was Not As Serious As First Thought:
?Some guys are able to recover quicker. He got to a point where he started to get better pretty fast. We could?ve played him if we needed him against
On How Almond Will Practice This Week:
?I think we?ve got to take it slow. We?re going to put him back in the mix, but will be careful with some things that we do offensively.?
On Damion Carter?s Performance:
?He played ok. He had some mental errors. The missed touchdown throw to Marvin Young was wide open. He never stepped into his throw. I don?t know if he saw him so wide open and wanted to hurry to get him the ball. He?s still got to make some improvement mentally and on the mechanics of throwing.?
On The Offensive Line:
?We played pretty good there. We played a lot of guys on the offensive line. We played almost three-deep at all of the positions but one. The offensive line was in for 40 snaps and the two and three line had a combined 36 snaps. There was equal playing time. We played a bunch of people. I didn?t think that our second line played as good as I thought in the game. They did have the nice drive right before halftime. But other than that, they played ok and need to be better.?
On John Eubanks:
?He?s really good. He wants the ball. I?ve never had a guy that wants the ball like he does. He wants to be in the game on every play. He?s good and has a knack. He?s got good speed. I know he?s disappointed that he dropped the ball on that punt return. He?s a good one.?
On Possibly Using Eubanks On Offense:
?No, just because we ask him to do so many other things right now. That?d be stretching it. I?d rather have him be in the game as a punt and kick returner.?
On Eubanks Being Physical On Defense, Despite His Smaller Frame:
?He?s a pretty tough guy. He?s pretty physical, and he?s gotten better and really improved at being physical.?
On The Differences With The Offensive Line This Year:
?Experience and just understanding what we?re doing. We?ve still got to eliminate some mental errors. I was surprised with some of the mental errors of some of them during the game. It wasn?t a lot, but we?ve got to totally eliminate it. I think we?re pretty athletic up front. George Batiste was a high grader on the offensive line this past week. He?s really playing well for us. He?s a physical player too, and we want to make improvement on that aspect.?
On If The Team Will Keep Using Three Running Backs:
?Yes, we?re going to keep working them and keep getting them all better. They all got about the same amount of carries. Harris had 21,
On Patrick Corbett?s Third Catch Of The Season Against
?He?s hot and on fire. We?ve got to keep getting him the ball.?
On If He?s Ever Been Part Of A Team That Dominated So Much In The First Half:
?Yes, we?ve had games like that.
On The Crowd:
?It was really good, and we?re appreciative. Our fans have been great all year long. During both home games, the crowd has been great and vocal. They were a little quiet when
On The Students Throwing Money And The Band?s Warning:
?We?ve got a wealthy student body. Our band got a warning. That?s good though, but we?ve got to back them down a little bit. We don?t need a penalty.?
On Ron Zook?s Firing:
?I just heard. I?m a little surprised that it came in midseason. I don?t know any of the reasoning behind it.?
