University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Coach Fedora Weekly Media Conference Quotes...Oct. 6, 2008
10/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 6, 2008
Coach Larry Fedora's Weekly Press Conference Quotes
October 6, 2008
Opening statement:
"First of all I want to address the crowd from Saturday. The crowd was awesome. We had a tremendous sea of gold out there. The students were there early, and they were there until the very last snap - the entire student section and the entire crowd. We were really proud of that. We are looking forward to the crowd this weekend against Boise State, because we know it will be a great one.
"Recapping the game, as we looked at the tape, it's never as good as you think it is, and it's never as bad as you think it is. There were a lot of really good points in that game. A lot of the guys made some really good plays, in all three phases of the game, from Damion Fletcher's play on offense, the offensive line's play, DeAndre Brown's play, to special teams that had a blocked punt by Johdrick (Morris). We had Leroy Banks go down there and blowup a guy, and you had (Britt) Barefoot come through and make some plays in the end. On defense, Anthony Gray played a good game, and we had some of our linebackers play really well. So there were a lot of really good positive things in this football game that we will continue to build on."
"On the other hand, there were still too many mistakes that obviously cost us the game. You start with special teams, our kickoff team that has been pretty good throughout the season, gave up two, big 50-yard returns which both turned into points. Obviously, we had the fake punt on the 10-yardline on 4th-and-20, I believe. We had two guys designed to watch for the fake on that play and neither one of them did. They gambled and made a big play there, which resulted in a score also that series. Then four out of the five penalties that we had defensively, all resulted in scores. Every single one of them. Two of them were in overtime and those are the things that you can't do. You can't have penalties like that. Offensively we didn't finish off drives. When we got down to the red zone we had to kick six out of the 10 times, and we missed three of the six kicks. Any one of those things you could point to and say it made the difference in the game, and it did. So we have to get a lot better in each of those areas and we will continue to improve."
On building confidence back in team for game against Boise State:
"Well it's never easy. But that's what the game of football is about. It's about getting knocked down and getting up and fighting some more. That is what we preach day in and day out. It is never going to be easy; anybody can do it when it is easy. There would be a lot more people playing the game if it was easy, but it's not. It's a tough game for tough people. You have to understand that you are going to get knocked down and things aren't going to always go your way. There is going to be adversity. This shows what kind of character we have, what you do when you are down. You either get up and you fight or you don't, and we will find out."
On speaking with fans after the game:
"We had such a great crowd and I know obviously we were disappointed. The players were disappointed, the coaches were disappointed and I know the fans were disappointed. I just thought before I headed home I would go out there, and for the people that were still out there, just tell them how much we appreciated them being here and, hopefully, they will be back."
On confidence level of the team:
"I will just tell you this, I know there is not a coach right now, and I don't think there are any players right now that are losing any confidence in what we are doing. There is no doubt in my mind that what we are doing is the right thing and we will get better as a football team. It did not happen last Saturday, but as far as a lack of confidence, that won't be there. This is not my first rodeo. Maybe as a head football coach, but not as a football coach. I've been in this situation before, and I know what's going to be good and what's not. I understand there is going to be a learning curve involved. It's frustrating, but lack of confidence is not something I really worry about to be honest with you."
On the team's concentration level:
"I would say the other night that there were two penalties that were in my opinion a lack of discipline, actually. Two personal fouls, one on a wide receiver and one on the middle linebacker, that shouldn't have happened. The other penalties were all guys playing hard, trying to make a play. C.J. Bailey was pressing the receiver and got a call against him. Eddie Willingham is in the end zone with the quarterback scrambling around and the guy at receiver was running back and forth and they make the throw. He doesn't know the ball is in the air at the time when he makes contact with the guy. He was just trying to get on his guy.
"We didn't have any on special teams and that was a big improvement, because those guys focused in and they played extremely hard. The other on defense was Martez (Smith's) late hit on the quarterback. If I had to tell him anything to do differently, I would not tell him anything differently. He was going hard, the quarterback released the ball on a screen and there was no way he could have stopped. He took one step after the ball, he was already lowering his head and there is no way he could have avoided that. I mean I questioned what to call, to be honest with you. There were only two that I feel like we definitely shouldn't have had and those were discipline."
"Well, how far are we away from being 4-1 right now? Not very far. You could pick one play in each game and you could turn the whole game. We are not that far away, no one likes the results, but we are not that far away. We just have to get it done. DeAndre Brown is not a freshman anymore - he has played. Austin Davis is not a freshman in my mind anymore - he has played. The defensive linemen are not young anymore - they have played. They have been playing in every game. So it is time to make plays, it is time when you have an opportunity, to make a play and play smart."
On Boise State:
"Since 2000, they are the winningest football program in the country. That says a lot about what they are doing. They give you a lot of problems on offense because they are shifting, (in) motion, and moving on every single play. I don't know if they have run the same formation once in their first four games. It gives the defense problems. I mean there is a lot of communicating, a lot of talking, a lot of things that need to be done, especially with an inexperienced team. But you know what? There is no inexperience now. Those guys have played, we have played games together now. So it is time for those guys to step up and play. Defensively, they are a very sound football team. They are where they are supposed to be, they make plays and they make tackles. They are where we are trying to get to in the future. They have done a tremendous job, that staff, and their program is at a point where they are winning year in and year out, and that is what we are trying to get to."
On passing game:
"I think we are making the quarterbacks look pretty good when you don't put pressure on them and they get to sit back there and pass the ball. They are going to be able to pick you apart, you can't cover them forever. The field is too wide and players are too good these days to be able to cover them for a long period of time. He did a nice job, I give him credit. Every quarterback we have played has done a good job against us, and part of it is us not getting to him and not putting pressure on him."
On how many quarterback sacks are the goal for each game:
"I would like to sack them every time they drop back to pass, hurry them every time, but that's not reality. We haven't sat down and said `this is the exact number we want.' We just want to put pressure on a guy so we have got to try to get the ball out (of his hands) before he really wants to.
On health of Torris Magee and the team:
"Torris practiced last night and ran around very well. So I anticipate him being very involved in the game plan this week. Team-wise, right now, the only guy that didn't practice last night was Calvin Wilson, and I will find out about him, whether or not he will be able to go tomorrow."
More On Boise State:
"They are very sound in every phase (of the game). I mean they are good in the kicking game. I don't think they have anything that just blows you up and makes you say `wow,' but they are just very sound in what they do. On defense, (it is the) same thing. They make plays, tackle the football and don't miss tackles. They are aligned always; they are where they are supposed to be. They don't do a lot, they are not a big blitzing team, but they still get pressure with their front four. On offense, you have to pay attention, you have to focus, because they are always moving around, always shifting, they have a wide variety of plays. They do a great job with it and have been for a long time."
On Damion Fletcher:
"As I mentioned earlier, he did a tremendous job. Don't say Damion without saying the offensive line, because they did a great job. We were very concerned with what UTEP was doing defensively and how it was going to affect our running game. Because with all the movement and twisting, with guys hitting different gaps, we thought they would hit us more than they did as far as making plays. Damion made a lot of guys miss also, but the offensive line was very solid."
