University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Head Football Coach Jeff Bower' Weekly News Conference
11/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head Football Coach Jeff Bower?s Weekly News Conference
Opening Statement:
?We made too many mistakes in the game. The turnovers were big in the game. We gave them three short fields in the first half that led to 17 points. We had an interception, fumble and a partially blocked punt right before halftime, where we made an effort to go downfield and get points, but didn?t complete any passes. The second half, we gave them a short field one time on a fumble. You can?t make that many mistakes against anybody. It?s hard to overcome. I thought we played the run pretty well, but we gave up big plays in the passing game. They beat us in man coverage a few times for big plays and also did a nice job in the third quarter of converting on third down. We didn?t play very well, especially on pass defense, in the game. We gave up five touchdowns, which is the most we?ve give up since I?ve been the Head Coach here. We didn?t play well in the kicking game. That was a phase that we felt like we could make some things happen and create some big plays. We didn?t make things happen there. It?s disappointing to turn the ball over that much and make mistakes. We?ve got to bounce back and learn from our mistakes. We?ve been good with the ball this year, and we weren?t this game. We didn?t create any turnovers either.?
Players Of The Week:
?On offense, it was Addaryl Edwards. He had 46 snaps and graded 80 percent. He played very solid in the game. Chad Ruffin is our defensive player of the week. He played 53 snaps and graded 86 percent. He had three tackles, two assists and one knockdown. He played extremely hard. We did not have a special teams player of the week.?
On Injuries:
?We hope to get Caleb Hendrix back for the UAB game. He has a dislocated elbow. We?ve got a few guys that are bruised up, but nothing major. No one will miss any practice time, though a few might be a limited early in the week. We?ll all be ready to go on Friday.?
On
?They are very explosive on offense, averaging 460 yards a game on offense. They have a great running back in D?Angelo Williams, who is the best running back I?ve seen all year. He?s very good, fast and can really change direction. He?s a good pass receiver. They get him the football in a number of ways. Quarterback Danny Wimprine is having a good year throwing the football. They have a good group of receivers. They can really score a lot of points. Defensively, they like to blitz a lot. They?re giving up some yards in the passing game, but are a very quick and fast defense. They?ve done a good job getting to the quarterback. They?ve only had three sacks this year on offense, which is amazing, because they?ve thrown it 280 times. He gets rid of the ball quickly. They?re coming off a disappointing loss to
On If
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On Marvin Young?s
?He?s doing ok. He hurt his toe again early in the game. I?m sure he?ll be limited this week in practice.?
On Who Starts If Young Is Unable To:
?Tavarres Williams. We?ve got to start working Damion Carter more at wide receiver with our situation at wide receiver, as thin as we are at that position.?
On The Backup Quarterback Situation As A Result Of Carter Seeing More Practice Time At Receiver:
?Jeremy Young will get more repetitions in practice. We?re banged up at receiver, and we need help there. With Dustin being back and feeling better about his health, he got through the game feeling good; we?ve got to have some help at receiver.?
On If Almond Felt Any Twinges With His Hamstring:
?No he did not. He felt good.?
On
?They?re very good. They move the ball on everybody. They have a lot of weapons on offense. They?ve been doing their type of offense for a long time. They spread you out and motion you. They do a good job, and they?re a good offensive football team. It will be a great challenge for us defensively.?
On What He Saw On Tape With The Pass Defense:
?They did a lot of max protection and when we were in zone, we didn?t drop very well with our middle players. They hit some deep crossing routes, and we need to get more depth there and play that better. In man coverage, they just beat us. They double moved us two times on two scores, and we didn?t cover it.?
On Who Starts In Place Of Caleb Hendrix:
?Howard Overby will be our starting corner.?
On How Overby Played In Place Of Hendrix:
?He played ok. He?ll get better this week.?
On The Secondary Being A Concern With The Loss Of Seth Cumbie and Caleb Hendrix:
?It?s always a concern when you lose starters and your top corners. Caleb has been playing really well. With Caleb and Seth out, that?s football. Other guys have to be ready to get in and play, and play well enough to win.?
On Tavarres Williams:
?He?s got a lot of poise. He?s very natural and has outstanding hands. I think, considering he?s a true freshman, when he?s been in the game he?s shown a lot of poise. He has played well for us.?
On How Wide Open Williams Was Late In The First Half:
?He was pretty open. I thought Dustin tried to throw the ball in there, instead of laying it up. He was behind everybody. There wasn?t much room for error there. We had some opportunities to hit some plays, but we didn?t. That was one of them.?
On If That Touchdown Would Have Made A Difference:
?I think so. It was 10-3 and we were trying to get the ball downfield right before halftime, at least to get a field goal and some momentum going into the locker room. If you hit an 80-yard bomb there or even get yourself into field goal range, then they?re not going to get a possession at the end of the half. We would?ve been tied. I wanted to be aggressive and make something happen, instead of sitting on the ball.?
On Being Surprised That Joe Lee Dunn?s Defense Is Giving Up A Lot Of Points Considering His Reputation:
?Yes a little bit. They?ve played some good offensive teams.
On The Play Of Jeremy Parquet and Chris White Against
?It was not up to their standards. We?ve got to play better. The heartbeat of our offense is our offensive line. With the exception of Addaryl Edwards, we didn?t play as well as we needed to play as a group.?
On If The
?No. I just told our guys that we just need to get ourselves ready to play. You?ve got to have great practices every single week and prepare hard every week, regardless of who we?re playing. We know we?re playing a talented football team this week. We?ve got to put the Cincinnati loss behind us, hit the practice field today with enthusiasm and go get better to fix those things that didn?t do well and get prepared to play Memphis.?
On If The Team Had A Bad Week Of Practice Before The
?I thought defensively we had a real good week. On Wednesday, I wasn?t pleased with our offense.?
On Playing On Friday:
?We?ve just got to play. It?s fine. The sooner the better after the
On If High School Coaches Are Being More Vocal About
?I haven?t heard much, except what?s been said in the last month with our
