University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Larry Fedora Weekly Media Conference Quotes...Sept. 27, 2010
9/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 27, 2010
Southern Miss Head Coach Larry Fedora
Weekly Press Conference Transcript
Marshall Week...Sept. 27, 2010
Opening Statement:
"Going back to Saturday night, we got a win on the road which was a good win. They always are. The defense played really well, we played just ok in our special teams and played very poorly on offense. As a team, we won the football game and that is what is important. Offensively, we ran 92 plays and were on the field for 38 minutes. We did what we needed to do as a team to win the football game.
"We obviously have to play much better in all three areas to be a major player in our league. We are happy to get started with conference play this week and more than happy to be at home in The Rock in front of our fans. We know there will be a great crowd and a great atmosphere. Our players love that."
On the Offense vs. La. Tech:
"Our receivers have to make plays. Peanut (Kelvin) Bolden was the one guy who really made plays. We have to be more tenacious and finish our blocks. We cannot just block them as long as we think we need to and then just let them go. We have to finish them. We have a lot of work to do in that area this week."
On WR DeAndre Brown:
"Right now, he is day-to-day with a lower leg strain. He will not practice tomorrow from my understanding. There is no concern that this is a lingering injury from his (leg) break in 2008."
On Playing at Home:
"We have our crowd behind us and they do a great job. Our students do such a great job. Our players feed off that energy and it is a pretty neat situation to play in that environment. There is a tradition here and our players take a lot of pride in that tradition.
"If you are going to be a good football team you have to win your games at home. That is just the way it is and something we have been stressing since the very beginning."
On beginning C-USA Play:
"We talk about our goals, which are to win the East and play for a C-USA Championship and that all starts this week. I do not know if there is a huge amount of emphasis, but we make the guys aware of it. We will practice the same and nothing will change in the way we prepare but they know this is for all the marbles now."
On Marshall:
"Just watching them overall, they are a new staff with kids still learning what they want them to do. They have been playing real hard, but just have not gotten over the hump. They were in the game with West Virginia all the way to the end and played Ohio real tight Saturday. Maybe that was the game that gets them where they need to be. I know its tough on Doc (Holliday) and what he is doing with his players, but they have enough players to win football games. There are some guys who have really stood out in the film that I watched today that I have been real impressed with."
On if the team is ready to compete in C-USA:
"I hope so. That was kind of the way we wanted to work things and why we played so many players in the first four games, so we would be ready for C-USA play. I think we are ready now. We need to get healthy and gets some guys healed up and back to 100 percent so that we can play our best football."
On the Golden Eagle Defensive Tackles:
"The last three weeks Anthony Gray has been motivated and really a man on a mission. He has played really well (over those three games). He has been selected captain the past three weeks by the coaches and that is all based on the way he has played in the games. He knows that he basically has two more months of football here at Southern Miss.
"John Henderson is right on Anthony's tail. He has played well. It is just that Anthony has edged him out right now, but John also played a great game the other night. We have some great competition there and it's a nice situation."
On Offensive lineman Jason Weaver:
"Jason is done for the season with a knee injury. He had surgery on Thursday and will be out for the season. He injured it in the Prairie View game. Thomas Edenfield played great the other night. We were really pleased with the way he played. I am disappointed for Jason because he put a lot of work into it and for the team, because it chips away at our offensive line depth and that is always a concern."
On the Marshall Defense:
"The Harvey kid had a heck of a year last year and they are doing more things with him this year. They are also putting him at end to get more pass rush and (Vinny) Curry is a special player. He can get off the ball and harass the QB.
"They have gotten better as a team week after week and I am sure that is what Doc is trying to do. I am sure he is getting them ready for C-USA play also. I am sure they will come in here and be ready to go."
On the play of the offense at Louisiana Tech:
"It is not like every week for the last two years the offense has performed at a high level. They just did not play well the other night and I will expect them to bounce back and play at a very high level this week and do not see any reason why they won't. Whether we have lost someone or not, someone else has to step up and make plays."
On the La. Tech Offense:
"I thought our defense did a great job handling the QB runs. That was one of the keys for them was to go in and stop the running game and they did. The QB had one run of any significance. I think (La. Tech offensive coordinator) Tony (Franklin) tried to do some of the same things that we saw in the New Orleans Bowl but he did not have the same type of QB that he had at Middle Tennessee last year."
On Cordarro Law:
"He is a guy that we count on getting pressure to the QB and winning one-on-one situations and know that we can rush four and get pressure and that is big. Anytime you can get pressure rushing only four you can do a lot of things defensively."
