University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss coach Todd Monken Weekly Media Conference
9/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Opening Statement...
"After looking at the game tape from yesterday, we have moved on. We are looking forward to coming home and playing here at The Rock this weekend in front of a great crowd against another in-state rival. In terms of Alcorn State, Jay Hopson has coached here previously and done a great job there. They had a great season last year. I see them on the recruiting trail looking at some of the same guys we are, which is a good sign for them in terms of who they are on. We expect to start off the week with a great practice on Tuesday and ourselves to play a lot better this Saturday."
After looking at the film, what grade did you give the team?
"It is hard to put a grade as a mass. I will say that you never want to start the game the way we did. After a great kickoff cover, we gave up an 87-yard drive and we turned it over on the third play. That is not a formula to win on the road. Then the positive was, and you don't see it all the time, four plays the defense rises up and stops them from getting in. Our defense, over the next three or four possessions, kept us in the game. We had a chance, but a couple of costly turnovers in the first quarter. We have to play better offensively. We knew it was going to be a challenge. They are good up front. We are young and inexperienced up front offensively. We knew it was going to be a challenge so it is hard to put a grade on it. I voted them in the Top 25. The last three games defensively, they have given up one touchdown. They won the Liberty Bowl, 44-7. Ole Miss didn't score a touchdown. (Ole Miss) blocked a punt that was it. They are going to give a lot of teams fits. We didn't play as well as we can play. I think that it tells us where we are at as a coaching staff and a program. We are not where we want to be. That is fine. It is not an end all. We just have to continue to get better and not let one game stop us from the goals that we still have in terms of becoming a really good football team."
On the turnovers against Mississippi State...
"It has been an emphasis. It can be a little deceiving. We threw a screen pass and the ball got tipped. You'd like to avoid that. The one with Trip (Markese Triplett), he should go down, which is hard for a competitor like he is. They did a nice job there. The ball right before the half, we just have to keep it outside. Nick (Mullens) has done a great job all camp trying to protect it. So have our running backs. I don't think that is going to be a problem moving forward, but obviously it is a key to victory. We are going to continue to harp on it and find ways to not turn it over."
What do you see from Alcorn State?
"What you see starting offensively is that they have a quarterback who is a young player like ours. Tall, athletic, can run and throw it. They are only going to get better with him. They spread the ball around. Their coordinator came from Middle Tennessee. They do a nice job offensively. You can tell that by how much they have scored and the success they had last year. Defensively, they pose problems by jumping in and out of three and four down (linemen), which forces your line to have to communicate in pass protection and your run game. Communication up front offensively and how we control quarterback."
How has the team bounced back after Mississippi State?
"We are fine. Disappointed, I am sure. It should sting. There is no way it should look like that. That is it. It is over. We were done with it starting yesterday. Now it is to move forward. I don't want our guys to forget in terms of the things they learned from the game. What did we see in the game? We are going to continue to improve. Every game you are going to get better, but don't dwell on it. Whether we lost by one or we lost by 49, it doesn't matter. It is one (game). We have to move forward. We can't let it eat us up this week and not play our best this weekend against Alcorn."
On Alcorn's dual threat quarterback...
"We ought to be more prepared. We should have a little bit of an idea after spending the offseason getting ready for Mississippi State. That is probably one advantage we have. If there is an edge, we have spent working against a dual-threat quarterback. They are going to do things a little bit differently than Mississippi State does, but it is the same issues of how do I get aligned. How do I know my assignments? And how do I play fast? Because the more adapt to what we do offensively and defensively, the faster you will play."
Is Alcorn a hurry-up offense?
"They will do some hurry-up, but mainly they are a spread offense. They try to get mismatches and get you in space. They use the quarterback as a runner somewhat. They are pretty skilled on the perimeter and they do a good job.'
How important is it to score early?
"It is always important to start fast. I don't know when it is not. You want things to go well early. When building a program, you want things to go well early in a game. It is important for us to get a good start, but ultimately, it is a long game. We just have to put four quarters together consistently, offensively, defensively and special teams."
On the prospect of getting a win this week...
"I think (the players) are excited to play again. After Saturday night and the excitement of playing (at Mississippi State), to not have the outcome you would like to have. They are excited about getting another opportunity and about coming home. They don't care who it is. It just happens to be Alcorn up the road. Our guys are ready to get that taste out of their mouths. There is nothing like singing the fight song in the locker room. That is what we are working towards. And we are working towards getting better. We have still have a lot of things to improve on, starting with me. What do we take from Mississippi State? Irrespective of the physical mismatches that is okay, but we can't put it all on that. It is unfair to say we got physically outmatched. We have to do it better as coaches. We have to figure out ways to run the football, how to not turn it over and how we can stop from getting beat up. A lot of things we did well defensively gave us a chance early. They just got worn down. Offensively, we made (the defense) play too many plays in the first half."
After watching the film, what did you think of the running game?
"After watching it, Ito (Smith) looked like what we had seen in practice as a kick returner. One of the kick returns, he kind of came out of there. You didn't see him and then all of a sudden he is out of there. He did a little of that at the running back position. He is a good in space player. He doesn't say much, just fights. He is going to continue to improve. He has played one game for us. He has started and played one game. He is going to get better in pass protections. Once we lost Jalen (Richard) with a thumb injury, you had George (Payne) in there who has played in about six games as a freshman running back. We are going to continue to get better. Those guys all have talent, which is the most exciting thing. We are not void of talent. We are just void of experience offensively. It is going to continue to grow and it is going to continue to build. We don't waiver. We don't change who we are. We just have to do it better."
On the defensive line...
"Defensively, I thought our defensive line wasn't a mismatch. Mississippi State might say differently. I didn't think that we were overwhelmed up front. I felt from top to bottom, the ones, twos and threes, when Mississippi State subbed, I thought our guys held their own, which is a real positive. If you are good up front and you continue to move forward, then you are always going to have a chance. I thought we put pretty good pressure on (Dak Prescott) when he needed to throw. I thought we got good pressure. The problem is, we didn't put him in enough of those situations. We didn't help out offensively and defensively we didn't get him in enough third and longs. When we did, we put a lot of pressure on him."
How good do you think this defense can be?
"Yyou are looking at a group where 10 of the 11 starters are juniors and seniors. The two safeties have played a lot of football here. The one corner, Kalan Reed. Alan Howze has played a lot of football. Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Das McCullum, Michael Smith. You are talking about a lot of experienced guys who are going to play consistent football. I think they are only going to get better. As our corners get better, Brian Anderson and our young linebackers get better and the young defensive linemen, we are just going to get better. We are going to improve greatly from game one to game two. I think you will see that Saturday night."
