University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Head Coach Jeff Bower' Weekly Press Conference
9/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Head Coach Jeff Bower?s Weekly Press Conference
Opening Statement:
?I think we played well against
We had a chance to play a lot of people on both sides of the ball. That is always good. Our No. 2 offensive line played about 30 snaps in the game. We did some good things. There are still some things we can get better at. Defensively, we gave
Players Of The Week:
?On offense, it was Larry Thomas. He played 44 snaps, and graded 88 percent. He finished with 22 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns and also had two catches for 38 yards. I thought he played well. On special teams it was Stephen Daigle. He doesn?t get a lot of recognition, but has done an excellent job for us snapping the ball. He really improved his velocity in the off-season. Tom Johnson was the defensive player of the week. He had 34 snaps and graded 82 percent. He had a fumble recovery, quarterback hit, a tackle and two assists. He was very active.?
On
?They are a good football team. They really move the ball on offense. They average 475 yards a game on offense, almost 200 on the ground. They have a lot of balance. They have a big, strong offensive line and good skill positions. Defensively, they had a bit of a change of scheme from last year. They?ve played some good competition and good offenses, but they play hard with their interior linemen. They cover well in the secondary. It?s our first Conference
On Injuries:
?Gerald McRath looks to be out six-to-eight weeks and I guess you could say that?s the year. He broke his fibula. We will miss him, because he was really playing well. Other than that, we didn?t sustain any serious injuries. Antwon Courington has a bruised contusion, but he should be fine. Howard Overby was in an automobile accident yesterday. He spent a few hours at the hospital. It was a pretty serious wreck and his seatbelt saved him. He has some lacerations and hurt his ankle, which is swollen. He will be out this week. He is at home right now, but he will be back mid-week. C.J. Barrows will have hernia surgery sometime this week and he will be out for the year. We can?t afford to lose anyone else.?
On Who Fills In For McRath:
?I don?t know yet. We played a lot of nickel in the game. I haven?t talked with Jay Hopson yet on what our plan is yet.?
On If He Saw The Improvement He Wanted:
?Nothing is ever good enough, but we did make some improvement. I thought our receivers blocked downfield a lot better. I didn?t think Dustin Almond was sharp in the game. He?s got to be a better player for us. It was good to see us get the running game going and play a lot of players. The kicking game is a concern. I don?t know if we?ve made a lot of improvement there. We did some better things defensively.?
On Being Able To Use Three Running Backs In The Future:
?We were in a situation where we could play a lot of them in the game. Hopefully we can do that a lot, but the game dictates that. I thought Tony Miner came in and made some nice runs. Cody Hull, with the exception of the fumble, did a nice job. We also got Cole Mason some work in our one-back set. It was good for us to see those guys and get them some touches.?
On Wayne Hardy:
?He is doing a good job. He still has some things he needs to work on. He needs to play better with his eyes. I?ve been pleased with him. Thank goodness we made the move and it worked out like it did, because we?d be hurting if it didn?t. We were already so thin there and we just lost McRath.
On Recruiting Hardy As A Linebacker:
?He played some safety in high school. We thought he was a fullback or a one-back guy. He has a linebacker body. He has good size and can run. When we had the necessity there, we thought it would be a good experiment to put him there to see if he could do it and he did.?
On James Denley:
?He came in the game and played pretty well. He knows what to do. He?s been around long enough. I think he?ll be fine.?
On Marcus Raines:
?He?s still learning. I don?t think you put a guy on the field unless you trust them based on how they perform in practice. He?s still in the learning mode. We will need to get some other linebackers ready to play.?
On The Fan Support Saturday:
?I was shocked. Our Athletic Director Richard Giannini told me he didn?t think it was going to be a good crowd, because of limitation on hotels and so many were affected by the hurricane. I was surprised. I told the players on Friday to not expect a good crowd for those reasons, but the fans showed up. The student body was tremendous and maybe was the best I?ve seen.?
On The Tight Ends:
?We?re making an effort to get them the ball. We had a few opportunities to get them the ball. We?ve got to find ways to get Shawn Nelson the ball. He?s a talent.?
On Tom Johnson?s Improvement:
?He has really matured and grown up. He understands what we?re doing better now than he did a year ago. Tom is excited. He?s having fun and playing hard. I?ve seen a real change in him compared to last year. He?s picked it up and is playing the way he is capable of playing.?
On The Kickoff Coverage:
?We?ve got some technique problems. We?ve got a lot of first time guys there and we need to go back and work on techniques. We broke down way too quick this week. They have to know where the ball is. We had some guys out of lanes. We?ve got to coach them up better.?
On Robby D?Angelo:
?He was real sick before the game. We?ve got a virus and I think we?ve still got it. Tom Johnson went to the doctor today and Luke Johnson is not feeling well. We?ve still got something going on. Robby couldn?t play the whole game and he got gassed. I think once it was all said and done, he took about 46 liters of fluid. I think he is fine. Ricardo Clark came in and played well.?
On If Conrad Chanove Is On Scholarship:
?He?s on track scholarship, but when he plays for us, he has to be counted as one of our 85.?
On Dustin Almond:
?I thought he played well against
On The No. 2 Offensive Line:
?They got a lot of playing time, which was good. We?ve got some seniors on the second line, so we?re not that inexperienced. Ryan McKee played for the first time and played well. He?s going to be a very good player for us.?
On Josh Barnes:
?I?m pleased with him. He has made some improvement since we reported. He had a good week of practice last week and showed us some things. We wanted to get him in the game and he did some nice things.?
On Anticipating Playing A
?I don?t know.
