University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Jeff Bower Weekly News Conference Quotes
9/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2007
Bower Announced the Coaching Staff's Players of the Week: Offense: Damion Fletcher - 19 carries for 156 yards and one touchdown; Defense: Gerald McRath - five tackles, six assists and one for loss; Special Teams: Tory Harrison - 51-yard kickoff return.
Opening statement: "I thought we played okay, and I think we did some things really well. We did well in the kicking game. We had a couple of good returns, one of which was for 51 yards. On the punt return game, we had one return for 22 yards, but I think Chris (Johnson) did a nice job and made some good decisions. The kickoff coverage was pretty good, with one touchback. The average start was about the 28 yard line. On the kickoff return, I think our average start was on the 43.They popped a couple over the middle, trying to get a couple of them, but we did a good job of recovering those. The net punt was good at 44.5 yards. I thought (Britt) Barefoot did a good job and had a few inside the 10 yard line. We settled in a little bit defensively. We gave up a couple of big plays, but we didn't play bad. We need to play better and eliminate the mental errors and missed assignments. Offensively, the best thing we did was run the football. We've got to work on our throwing and catching and being more consistent there.
"Overall, it was a good first game, and we came out of it healthy. There were no major injuries. Robert Henderson has a little strained ham string. I don't think there's anything to keep anybody out."
On Tennessee: "We'll obviously have to play a lot better, because we're playing a really talented team who is really fast. They moved the ball up and down the field against California. They can run and throw it. They're not calling it in the huddle, but from the field. We got some work with that last week because Tennessee-Martin did the same thing. They have a physical defense. They missed a lot of tackles in the game --I know that. That's one thing they weren't happy about, but California is extremely talented. Tennessee always has a lot of talent, and this team is no different."
On Fletcher's fumble in the endzone during the first quarter: "It was out, and I thought that during the game. It was a fumble and a good call. He has to wrap it up. He was going to score. When you get in a contact situation like that you have to cover it up with the other hand. He'll learn from it."
On if there was a low snap on the missed field goal in the first quarter: "Yeah, but you still have to make it. There's no excuse for missing the field goal, but we've got to be better with our operation."
On facing Tennessee quarterback Eric Ainge: "He's really good. I don't think that broken pinkie is bothering him. He gets rid of it quick, and he's smart. He obviously has a lot of experience. I think he might have gotten sacked one time, but he's going to get the ball out fast. He understands the game. They move him around a little bit; he's not always dropping back. He looks like he has all of the intangibles in addition to being a gifted athlete."
On needing to utilize the passing game more: "I think we've got to throw it more. We just have to throw it more effectively. If we don't, we're going to get seven in the box and one-on-one coverage out there. That's where you've got to be good, and I think we'll see some of that. We have got to get better throwing the football and catching. We didn't protect very good at times."
On offensive linemen Ryan Hebert and Micah Brown, who have been hampered with injuries during the preseason: "Ryan played pretty good and felt good. We held Micah out. I think there's a chance that we'll have him ready to go this week."
On fellow offensive lineman Calvin Wilson, who transferred from Mississippi State and has been asked to play different spots on the line: "He did okay. He played guard and tackle and got a lot of snaps. We want to see him be more physical, but he's coming."
On reserve center Cameron Zipp: "He did pretty well. He played a number of snaps and did okay. I think we were just alright on the front. There wasn't anything good or bad; it was just an average game on the offensive line."
On true freshman V.J. Floyd who saw action in his first game, rushing for 43 yards on nine carries: "I saw in the game what I saw earlier in camp, which was a little quickness. I was pleased to see him run that way."
On facing Tennessee's wide receivers: "Athletically, that's where they're young, but there's no question they're very talented."
On Antwain Easterling and the NCAA Clearinghouse: "We're supposed to know Tuesday. He's been cleared to practice, so we'll have him on the field tonight. We'll be waiting to hear something tomorrow."
On the effect of taking first-time players to Neyland Stadium: "It will be a big atmosphere, but if you're prepared and your focus is there, you won't be thinking about that. You'll be blocking that out. We're going to work with crowd noise this week. We're going to do some things to do our best to duplicate it, because you want to work on that communication aspect. You won't be able to hear a lot of times. We have to rehearse that this week."
On junior tight end Shawn Nelson: "He did alright. He had a dropped pass and blocked pretty decent. We were trying to get him the ball some. There were probably a couple of times when the ball should have gone his way. He's got to get more involved with us. He's got to continue to be a better blocker, and we've got to get him more involved in the passing game."
On the defensive front: "They did okay. I think we've all got to play better. It's not that we played poorly, but we've all got to get better."
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