University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Head Coach Jeff Bower's Weekly Press Conference
10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 31, 2005
Opening Statement:
"We had a lot of opportunities to score points early in the game with our field position, but we didn't. We only got one touchdown off the four turnovers. That's something we had been doing a good job at, but we didn't do a good job. Our defense did a great job early getting those turnovers, including one by our punt team. We did not do a good job of capitalizing and taking advantage of their mistakes. We felt that they were going to line up and run the ball, and they did. Our key was to stop the run get them in long yardage situations, where we could do different things with that quarterback. We had a lot of three and outs in the game, about 67 percent of the game they were three and out. But as the game went on, the worse we tackled. We didn't tackle well at all in the game. We had a lot of missed tackles. On the long runs, we were in position to make tackles, but we didn't tackle well. That's disappointing.
We gave up entirely too many yards. We weren't able to make plays at the end of the game to win. Every time we scored they scored. That happened twice in the second half. We need to have a tougher mindset that when that happens. We had an opportunity to gain control of the game and establish some momentum by going out and stopping them, and we didn't do it.
I think our kicking game was solid. Our punt team was good; we had 42-yard net average and three punts inside the 20-yard line. We didn't do much on our punt return team. We only had one kickoff return. I thought Luke Johnson did a good job against a good kickoff return team. He had one out of bounds, but two in the end zone. They only had one return for 19 yards. We had one turnover on our punt team."
Players of The Game:
"We had co-players of the game on offense. Larry Thomas had 41 snaps and graded 92 percent. He had 14 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown. I thought he ran tough. Cody Hull had 21 snaps and graded 41 yards. I thought he ran hard too and protected well in the passing game. On defense, it was Kevis Coley. He played 77 snaps and graded 84 percent. He had 13 tackles, six assists, one sack, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. He had a great game for us. Luke Johnson was our special teams player of the week. He had 11 punts for a 43 yard average, 41.9 net average and three inside the 20-yard line. He also had two kickoffs into the end zone. He did a good job for us."
On Injuries:
"We got a little bruised up, but I don't' think we have anything too serious. Larry Thomas has a shoulder contusion. He will not practice today, but he will be ready on Thursday. Robert Henderson has a bruised elbow, but he should be fine. We should get Tavarres Williams, Caleb Hendrix and Pedi Causey for the Marshall game. We need to get some of the bruised guys healed up and ready to go on Thursday."
On Marshall:
"Marshall is coming off a big win. They were down by two touchdowns in the fourth quarters. They really played well defensively. Tulane only had 186 yards of total offense in the game. Two of Tulane's touchdowns came on interception returns. Marshall stoned them defensively. Offensively, they were a running football team in the fourth quarter. That's how they wanted it. They lined up and ran it right at them. They did a good job. They played two quarterbacks, starting one and the other one came in and helped them win the game at the end. I think they are a good football team. I'm not sure which quarterback we'll see. Bernie Morris is the one that came in. He's a talented guy. He's 6'4, 210 and athletic and can run. He had some good yards running in the game. They are only giving up 332 yards per game and averaging 337 yards of offense per game. Their running back, Ahmad Bradshaw, he's an outstanding player. Just like last week, we're going to have to be able to stop the run. They are a tough team at home. It will be a big game for us, jumping back into Conference USA action. We've got to go on the road and get ready to play and be successful. We know we've got to win on the road in this league to win the league. This will be a big one."
On Tom Johnson's Knee:
"He's only got a bruise. He may be limited today, but he should be ok."
On The Team's Schedule This Week:
"We'll practice today. The players will be off on Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll come back Thursday. The coaches will go out and recruit on Wednesday. We had to find a day for evaluation, with our schedule being like it is. We have a Tuesday game and then a Sunday game. We're going to use Wednesday as an evaluation day."
On If The Team Wore Down In The Game:
"I don't know if we wore down or not. We didn't wrap up and tackle well. Our fundamentals were poor and that's something we'll address this week."
On If The Team Goes In Full Pads This Week:
"Not until Thursday. We're going to treat this week like a regular game."
On The Tuesday Night Game And Marshall's Crowd:
"I'm sure they'll have a big crowd. They have good fans up there and they support the team well."
On Shawn Nelson's Dropped Pass In the End Zone:
"Dustin Almond threw it a little behind him. You've got to make the tough catches. He had a chance to catch the football and you've got to make the tough catches."
On The Team's Mood:
"They'll be fine. We can still win the championship and win the league. They'll bounce back."
On The Performance Of The First Year Coordinators:
"I think they're doing a good job. Our tackling is showing up at times this year. We need to continue to work on that. We've got to get better play out of our offensive line. They didn't play very well."
On If Tackling Is Something That Is Correctable At This Point In The Season:
"You can work on the fundamentals, which we always do. We'll go back and stress it and emphasize it a little bit more."
On If The Tackling Problem Is A Coaching Issue Or A Player Issue:
"I don't know. I know we work on it. Sometimes I think our guys, especially our defensive backs, go in and try to block guys down instead of wrapping up. That's not what we coach."
On Play Of The Offensive Line Against N.C. State:
"Their defense had a lot to do with it. Their defensive ends were really fast and they did a good job of putting a lot of pressure on our quarterback. We need to run block better and give our quarterback and routes time to develop."
On If Changes Will Be Made:
"No."
