University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Todd Monken Weekly Media Conference
11/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Opening Statement
"We put the game to bed on Sunday night and we are on to Louisiana Tech. You always hope as a program you have the opportunity to play in the last week of the season for a chance to go to the conference championship. There aren't many teams that can say that. I thought our guys battled back against Old Dominion considering the circumstances that our guys knew this game really didn't mean anything. Win or lose, we were going to have a chance to play for a conference championship against Louisiana Tech to win the West (Division). If you win that, then you have a chance to play either Marshall or Western Kentucky. I did think our guys had a good week of preparation last week. We didn't play our best, but it's hard to play your best all the time. I did think our guys battled. When we needed plays, we made plays to win. Obviously, it's a real challenge this week. The way it has turned out for our conference is awesome. It has come down to the wire for both divisions. Skip (Holtz) has done a great job over there. He is a great coach. Last year they won the west and had every opportunity to beat Marshall in the title game. They won their bowl game and have a lot of the same guys returning.
"They have added Jeff Driskel, who is a great kid and I'm glad he got this opportunity to take another step forward in his career. No matter what level you play it is fun to win and fun to make plays and he has done that. They have a running back that does the same thing. It is going to be a challenge for us. Anytime you play for a divisional championship or conference championship you will play good people. We are going to have to do it better than they do it, starting with Sunday night, and this week. It's going to be fun. I told our team there is no reason to fear this game. This is what you play for. If you put yourself in enough of these opportunities, then you are going to break through and this is a big chance for us."
On holding teams to 3-and-out on defensive series this season…
"It's a tribute to our players and coaching staff. I feel like it helps when you play well on offense because all of that stuff plays in together. When you put teams in a position to where they have to throw it, then you get more chances. One of the big things is we have been playing well. We really didn't play well the first half against Old Dominion, but the last time I can remember us just not playing well might be the first half against Nebraska. Another big thing is we have been able to stay healthy for the most part. We have just continued to get better."
On adjusting to the second ODU quarterback after the starter left the game due to injury…
"I don't know if it was as much that as it was Shuler Bentley, who is a coach's kid. They function just as well on offense with him. He did a really good job for them. I thought we did a good job early, but he was able to come in and make some throws. Give credit to him and their coaching staff."
On a little bit of a shuffle on the offensive line over the last couple of games…
"Sure. Really, it is Jacob Fleming. He has bounced around (in the line) and will only continue to get better. Oliver Bates has been at guard (the last two games). We just kind of moved a couple of the interior guys and went from an eight-man rotation to a seven."
On relationships with coaches for games like these…
"It's interesting. I was a graduate assistant for two years and it changed my career path forever. Skip's Dad hired me as a GA and Skip was the wide receivers coach. I worked with the running backs my first year, then with the secondary my next year. I improved more in those two years with Skip and his Dad then I did during any other two-year period in my career. I have known Skip since then. He went on to become a head coach and I went to be an assistant. I have always kept track of him, like I'm sure he has kept track of me. It's funny, that over 20 years later, we are in the same league coaching against each other. We hang out at the coaching functions that we attend. His wife Jen is great. I'm happy for him and happy he got another opportunity to be a head coach. He did a great job at Connecticut and a great job at East Carolina, but sometimes some situations aren't easy. We went through that here. He has taken advantage of this opportunity and deserved all the success that he has had so far."
On RB Kenneth Dixon…
"He is a really tough football player. When you watch him run he rarely goes backwards. We did a good job on him last year until he caught that check down that kind of broke our backs. He took that check down around 85 yards for a touchdown. That kind of sparked them. He can do it in a number of ways, but the main thing with big powerful backs is, can you make them go sideways. Most of the time those big backs aren't as effective when they are going sideways. On that check down, he got his pads going and we couldn't bring him down. He is a tremendous player and I'm disappointed that he didn't come out for the draft. I was recommending that to him but he didn't do that."
On what a win at Ruston and a chance to play in a conference championship and bowl game mean for this program…
"It's just one more step. It's all about steps and getting this program back to what it was built on and that's bowl games and championships. This program has more C-USA than any other team in the history of the league. Jeff Bower started that and Larry continued it. We have to live up to that legacy and build our own legacy. Do our guys understand that? Yes, but you have to get to the first step, which is your own team's confidence. Do you do enough things right in the offseason that builds your players individual confidence that turns into team confidence? Then you have to put that product on the field. Then it is becoming a bowl team, which we have done, and are we satisfied with that? Gosh I hope not. We have earned this moment. It wasn't a gift. We lost one conference game on the road against a good Marshall team when we didn't play our best. We are good enough and that's what I want our guys to know. Let's take advantage of this opportunity."
