University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Todd Monken Weekly Media Conference
10/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss Coach Todd Monken
Weekly Media Conference, Oct. 13, 2014
Opening Statement...
"Had the bye week last week, which really gave us a chance to work on us and improving our team fundamentally. Sometimes it is hard when you don't have a bye week, you are preparing for the next opponent and what issues they pose. We got a chance to get a couple of guys healthy. I anticipate we will get Dylan Bradley and Jalen Richard back. That comes at a nice time in the middle part of the season. It was a good week. The guys really came out Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and practiced with a great mindset. We ran on Friday and then let them off for a couple of days. We are excited about the next challenge as we continue to build this program and take on a North Texas team. One thing you know about a Dan McCarney team, they are going to play hard. They have physical players on defense and offensively, they are struggling a little bit, but they are going through a quarterback transition, going to a more athletic guy. We anticipate a good challenge. A well-coached football team. They have a really good staff. They do a nice job recruiting. We are going to have to play well to give ourselves a chance to win and I anticipate we will continue to improve."
What are some things that were focused on in the bye week?
"We took a little bit more individual time. We took more time to work on the things we need to clean up. We took one period and did some North Texas work, but for the most part it was, `how do we do it better.' Alignment and assignment gets you beat before mismatches. We have to do it better. We need to work on things we can control to give ourselves a chance to win. Good football and playing your butts off for each other are powerful things. Not turning it over. Not giving up explosive plays. How do we do it better."
Both teams with identical records, what does that do for you heading into the game?
"We have (both) played some good opponents so that has been a tough deal for both teams. The reality is, it is about us. I am sure (Dan McCarney) will say the same thing about them. How do we do it better, irrespective of who we play. Sure, there are certain things schematically on both side of the ball and special teams that we are all going to have to clean up. The reality is for us to continue to improve. How can we do it better. That starts with me as a head coach and our assistants moving forward. We have done everything we could in the last two games to kill momentum. Every time we've made a play, we have had a setback in one phase or another. It has been in all areas. When we get to the point where we are not doing those things and carry momentum over then you will see the progression I think we are capable of making. Right now we've been taking a step back. We focused on how do we carry the momentum forward in a game and how to put the pressure on your opponent which we are going to have to do this week on the road."
Will there be any major personnel moves this week?
"We are who we are. We are not at the point yet in our process to building this program up that we have enough depth. I anticipate Jalen Richard will be back and will play for us. I anticipate Dylan Bradley will be back. I anticipate they will be back and play significant football for us."
Did the bye week help the defense get their legs back?
"Some of that has been our own doing. You have to get off the field. Third downs extend drives. It has been a combination of us being able to run the ball better to be able to not get our defense exposed as much. We also have to be able to get off the field on third downs. Us running the ball better and then defensively being able to get off the field."
On having Jalen Richard back...
"Jalen is a very good receiving back and a good third-down back. He is our most experienced running back when it comes to pass pro and checking the ball down. We didn't have that. We've had two freshmen and a sophomore who is more of a power back. That is where we anticipate Jalen giving us an opportunity to utilize him a little more."
How do you feel about the running back position at this point?
"It is fine. We will see come tomorrow if we have Tez (Parks). Not sure if Tez will be ready. Ito (Smith) is back and ready. We have to do a better job of getting him involved. I know last week early on the road our two young running backs both fumbled, one Tez got hurt on. Your natural reaction is to play the older guys. George (Payne) was the only older guy available. If you are turning the ball over, you don't have a chance. That's probably why we went with George a little bit more. Ito's got to play. All three will play this week."
On North Texas' turnovers so far this season...
"Every week is different. I have been down that road. Every place I have been, you have a game or two where you end up turning the ball over. Unfortunately for them, it happened on the road and it led directly to scores. You can't count on that every week. That is going to be the number one focus is not turning the ball over. That is how you win games. Don't turn the ball over; create turnovers. Get explosive plays; don't give up explosive plays. Convert on third downs; don't let them convert. Score touchdowns in the red zone; don't let them score. Don't give up loss-yardage plays; create loss-yardage plays. That is it. At the end of the day, yards don't matter. It is a part of it. It is a byproduct of all of those five things. Where were we better on offense last week? Better on third downs. We turned it over, which hurt us. On the other end, we didn't do so well on third downs and gave up explosive plays. You are not going win when you do that. Those are the areas we need to continue to focus on. There are a lot of things that go into that. Easier said than done. Bottom line is we have to find a way to create turnovers and find a way not to turn the ball over."
Is the offensive improvement because of the offensive line getting better?
"Sure it is. Part of it is who we are playing. It is more in our wheel house so we don't get exposed. We've got Mike Thomas who continues to get better. He joined up with us in July. Casey Martin who got with us in July. Kyle Foster got with us in July. Two young running backs. A sophomore running back that got hurt. And the offensive line. All of it collectively, plus Nick Mullens. Nick is only going to get better. They are going to grow together. And we saw teams that are four-down teams like we see every day in practice. We have made some switches up front that have helped us be able to process. The better we've played, the better we've been able to keep our quarterback upright. The better we've run the ball, the better we have been able to score."
With posting over 500 yards of offense against Middle Tennessee, the optimism heading into the second half of the season?
"We have to do it better earlier in the game. We found a way against Rice to score. We found a way later in the game (against Middle Tennessee). Ultimately, it is about points scored. It doesn't matter about the yards. With all the success we had in the first half, we had 12 points. That is it. Out of all of the opportunities we had, that's not enough. With the two turnovers and the two field goals, you took a lot of points off the board. It comes down to scoring touchdowns when you have those opportunities. Do you see progress? Of course you do. We have to find a way to do it better. The costly false starts and the turnovers which hurt us. You are going to struggle to score touchdowns and be consistent."
On defensive back Kalan Reed...
"The biggest thing with Kalan is keeping him healthy. Kalan is a good football player. When Kalan is out on the field, he makes a difference. Early in the year, he was creating interceptions. He is a physical player on the perimeter. He has had some soft tissue injuries which have kept him out. When Kalan is out there, he is our one experienced corner. Our safeties are experienced. Our corner position outside of (Reed) are two freshmen and two redshirt freshmen. They are inexperienced, but they have gotten better. The biggest thing is keeping Kalan healthy. He is a good football player, likes to play. He is a good teammate. Keeping him healthy is key."
Is it Kalan Reed's intelligence, physical nature, size, etc. that makes him a good player?
"It's a combination. He is an intelligent player. He is smart on and off the field. He is physical. He is not afraid to take risks and jump routs. That is by is preparation. How he prepares allows him to take those risks. We are better when we have him. He is a better football player. Hopefully, we will have him this week. We weren't able to have him finish at Middle Tennessee. We didn't have him. You don't have another guy that you can put in there. You are going to get exposed at times. He is capable of making some game-changing plays and some momentum plays. Big hits and interceptions that can change momentum in games."
Will you look to build off of the offensive momentum from Middle Tennessee?
I think our guys are feeling better offensively. From starting with some things we did at Alabama. A little better against App (State). Little bit better against Rice. We just didn't hit some explosive plays. We had opportunities to and that would have made it a lot different. Last week when you look at it, we had drops in the end zone that both led to field goals and we had two turnovers. That is anywhere from 14 to 17 to 20 points. I think they see that part of it, but in the end it still comes down to finishing drives and executing. Until we get to that point, we are going to struggle, because in this league, you have to score. Teams are scoring. The games aren't 21-17. You are going to have to get in the 30s. To beat the teams in our league that are good offensively. They have good skill guys, athletic quarterbacks. You are going to have to score more."
How does the success of the other in-state schools effect Southern Miss' recruiting?
"First of all, let me just say hats off to both Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze and their programs. It is awesome. I don't know what else to say but they have done a great job. Tremendous coaches. On one hand, those programs are better than they have ever been. There are certain players that when Southern Miss was winning and winning conference championships, you would have gotten those guys. They are getting better players than they have ever gotten there. The SEC just as a league is getting good players. Conversely, they are going to get better players now. They are going to put themselves in a market where maybe they weren't before. We can only go by the guys we have an opportunity to recruit that want to play at Southern Miss. I don't know how it effects it one way or another, but I think they have done a great job. We have to go and recruit and convince players to come here and be a part of something special in bringing this place back to the top."
