University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Larry Fedora Weekly Media Conference Quotes...Oct. 11, 2010
10/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 11, 2010
Head Coach Larry Fedora's Weekly Press Conference Transcript...Oct. 11, 2010
Opening Statement:
"After going back and looking at the film from Saturday, the film does not look any better. We did not play well enough to win the football game though we had many, many opportunities. You can go back and look at play after play, and if we make this play, we win the game or make that play we win the game. Give East Carolina credit. They made the plays when they had to make them and we did not make the plays when we needed to make them. We did not move the chains and sustain drives on offense. Defensively, we did some great things but we let them score too many points. We gave up a huge play in the kicking game that you could say was the difference in the game. There were a lot of situations in the game that if they went the other way we are a lot happier that we are right now. We have to move on and get ready for Memphis."
On receiver DeAndre Brown's health:
"I am not going to address his injuries. We are just taking it day-by-day and we will just let the rumors run rabid."
On the status of Korey Williams:
"We have not talked with the conference yet (on if he is suspended for the Memphis game after getting ejected vs. East Carolina), we have a call in, so I am sure we will make contact sometime today."
UPDATE:While the players were participating in their portion of the press conference, Coach Fedora re-entered the media room with the news that Korey Williams will be eligible to play this weekend at Memphis.
On the Penalties vs. East Carolina:
"There is not an excuse for personal fouls no matter what the reason is. The way we look at them is that they are selfish. You take away from the football team and put yourself in front of the team and you cannot do that in any situation. There is no excuse for them.
"We addressed it last night and hopefully we do not have to deal with that again this season. We talk about it weekly, if you have a personal foul you are hurting this football team. We had five penalties on one drive, there were personal fouls and we held them to a field goal. That is not what broke our back, but it got the momentum rolling the other way. It has been addressed and hopefully it will not happen again."
On the health of Martez Smith:
"He has a MRI today and we will know more after that but right now it does not look good."
On the fourth down that ECU converted on the final drive:
"There was no mix-up or anything, we were playing man coverage and he got the ball out quick. We had a guy right there on him - the kid was all over him. This is what I am talking about, making the play when you have to. The receiver makes the catch, breaks the tackle and wins the game. There is one play that can be the difference in the game. We were all over him and he makes the catch and then broke the tackle."
On the First Quarter:
"You go back and look and defensively for the first 35 plays of the game we pretty much dominated the game. Whether or not we lost our edge, there was nothing different as far as what ECU did after the first quarter. The only thing you can say is that we lost our edge. There were too many plays that we had the opportunity to make big plays and we did not make in those situations and you have to make those. We gave up to many chunks of yardage and field position in the kicking game. There was too much of the hidden yardage. I would not say it was a perfect first quarter, because we kicked some field goals and did not finish the drives."
On Bouncing Back after an Emotional loss:
"I worry about that. Any time you have a big game and an emotional game and it comes down to one play here or one play there and the team feels drained mentally, not so much physically drained, but mentally drained. So it is something I definitely worry about. We addressed it yesterday and will continue to address it throughout the week. I expect our guys to bounce back and come out to practice Tuesday and have a good work day."
On Desmond Johnson's reinstatement after a one-game suspension:
"Yes, he will be back this week."
On Johdrick Morris and Quentin Pierce:
"They are still up in the air right now and probably (we) will not know until tomorrow at practice. I would imagine that if they do practice it will be limited reps for them.
Johdrick's (injury) was the shot to the head on a vertical route down the field that they got flagged, but Quentin's injury was the one where he got knocked out."
On all the injuries thus far this season:
"It has been extremely difficult because you realize what kind of potential there is on this football team, but unfortunately it is making things a whole lot more difficult. I feel for each of those guys, because they have worked extremely hard to put themselves in a good position. Then, they have an injury that you have no control over. Obviously, someone else has to step up and that is part of the game. The next guy has to make plays for the football team."
On Kendrick Hardy:
"As Kendrick continues to improve his entire package, he will get more and more reps there is no doubt about it. He has shown in the last couple of games that every time you put the ball in his hands he has the chance to make something happen."
On what he told the team after the game after the loss:
"When was the last time someone went through this league undefeated? I do not think this one is anywhere close to being over with. Now we put ourselves in a position where we have to make sure we are 1-0 after this week. I do not anticipate any changes to be honest with you. We know what we have to do from this point on. Now are they disappointed about the other night, no doubt. They knew it was an opportunity that we do not get very often and we just had to take care of that and take advantage of it and we did not. That is why it is so hard to swallow."
On Memphis:
"They have struggled and have a new coaching staff, but there are athletes on that football team and any week they can put it together - any week. It is kind of like our first season, I knew that at some point that we would get that thing flipped around because of how hard we were playing, and their kids are playing hard right now. Who knows when that will happen for them. There are a lot of things with this game. It is an 11 a.m. game and that is something different for us. We have to be prepared for that. They are at home, we are back on the road and it is always tough to get a road win in this league."
On Austin Davis' ground game:
"Very few of those are just called QB runs, probably maybe three in the game. The rest of them are things that he decides to do because he knows he has that option on some plays. He has made good decisions when he has done that and he has been productive. It is something that we count on but you cannot guarantee it is going to happen because of what they do defensively."
On Johdrick Morris:
"He really played well the entire game. I think he had one play in the running game where they felt he did not do as well as he could have. He was out there for over 70 plays and played about as good as he could play."
On Korey Williams' ejection:
"I definitely talked to him about it, there is no doubt about that. We looked at the TV copy of the game and all the film we have and were not able to find anything. It is what it is."
