We are off to an 0-2 start playing the two best teams in the conference and we knew we had to play our best to win. We basically self destructed in the two conference games in the second half or fourth quarter. We have to protect the ball better.
Defensively we are much improved, but playing those two potent offensive teams puts pressure on the offense. Our football team prepared for both of them, but we didn't do enough to get it done in the second half of either of these games. We hit the road to play Connecticut who have had a few days off since they played on Thursday night, so we will put everything we've got into this week and try to get some people back healthy. We are still missing our quarterback Hayden Moore. Playing our backup quarterback in Ross Trail. We got a safety back last week and hopefully we can get more guys 100-percent healthy going into this game this week.
ON TRAIL'S PERFORMANCE AS A FRESHMAN QB
It is hard to be a leader when you are a redshirt freshman or freshman at quarterback because you've got some much to learn. I think we are missing a little bit of that because he's trying to understand his role and get better. The last two weeks he has gotten a little bit better. We put more on him last week against USF, against Miami (Ohio) we were pretty basic. We had more reads and throws downfield last week and we had seven plays on offense in the third quarter, that we just can't absolutely ever have. We missed blocks, we missed routes, one of the interceptions he threw was on the receiver all the way, just a horrible route we ran against the coverage, but it all comes back to one thing. It goes back to the quarterback and everybody looks at what happens and they say he threw three. Well he threw two that should've been intercepted and one we will put on the receiver. Ross has a learning curve, but he is getting better and again he will get better each week plays, practices and works with his receivers. It is what it is.
ON TWO WINS 20 OR UNDER AND OVER 40 IN LOSSES
We are better on defense. Last week we got out athleted in some long runs we gave up. I was proud of the preparation. It is a very mental game on defense when you play against the spread offense with quarterbacks that can run and that puts pressure on you. They also had a very good running back last week. We were in the right spots on several plays, we just missed a tackle. Guys running to the football was very good. We were much better pursuing the football and getting people to the point of attack. We made more plays downfield in the two losses, but the difference in the game last was we couldn't create any turnovers. You have to create turnovers for your offense especially when they are struggling with a new quarterback trying to learn. You have to give him a short field. Instead we gave him a long field. A couple of times they had the ball inside the 5 and that really puts pressure on the offense. We had a lot of guys with winning grades on offense and defense, just not enough. I was excited about our offensive line and how we blocked. We are much better than we were at the beginning of the year, a month and a half ago. We have to continue to get better at all those positions. It all goes back to mentally not making mistakes at WR, QB or RB or DB, those show up against athletic teams like USF and Houston.
ON QB SITUATION FOR UCONN
I like Ross, I like what he is doing and the way he can run the ball. Again he has been our quarterback because he has been the best guy in practice since Hayden Moore went down. We did play Gunner last week. He was hit and miss and it is tough to go in when you haven't played much even though you have played a lot of QB. He played a quarter and a couple of minutes and he looked a little rusty and that is how you are going to look. I still feel confident in both of these guys and they work hard in practice. They are good friends, help each other and compete. We will keep competing no matter who the quarterback is.
ON THE DEFENSE BASED ON EXPECTATIONS
We are much better defensively and we made plays. We were plus-4 on turnovers going into this game and we evened it up because we did get any and USF got four. We are much farther ahead in being aggressive and making plays. It is hard to judge the defense against USF and Houston because of the type of athletes they have all over the place. They put you in one on ones just like in basketball and even if you cover them you've got to make a play when they get the ball. It is a different type and we've held our own, but we didn't play good enough to win. We didn't win, but much better than we have been in the past. We will start getting guys healthy and we need to play smart like we are capable of playing. We have more in a rotation in terms of guys who can play at this level and we have to play better and better on defense since we have a transition on offense and a new quarterback and a new type of offense and the things that going along with it. The defense has to hold up more of their end of the bargain this week.
ON WHAT HE HAS SEEN THAT IS ENCOURGING
The work ethic of the players, even though we are 3-2, we've been in every game, players have practiced hard and worked hard. They understand the situation because we have some young guys playing, but we have a young group of guys and I'm proud of their work ethic and who knows what the future holds as we get into these next seven games, but our back has been against the wall pretty much the last few games. When you play a quick trigger guy you have to play great everywhere else and we have to help them out and hopefully in the future Hayden will be back and we will have three guys to choose from. The OL is getting much better and that is very encouraging because we have to run the ball. We had around 150 this week and that was our goal. We have to get better on defense and we are getting some confidence. Our kicking game has been lax, our kicker we thought he could go and he didn't. We didn't have a holder for a left-foot kicker so that put us in a bind and we've just had little things that have gotten to us this year. We have to work through that. We have a good group of seniors.
Defensively we are much improved, but playing those two potent offensive teams puts pressure on the offense. Our football team prepared for both of them, but we didn't do enough to get it done in the second half of either of these games. We hit the road to play Connecticut who have had a few days off since they played on Thursday night, so we will put everything we've got into this week and try to get some people back healthy. We are still missing our quarterback Hayden Moore. Playing our backup quarterback in Ross Trail. We got a safety back last week and hopefully we can get more guys 100-percent healthy going into this game this week.
ON TRAIL'S PERFORMANCE AS A FRESHMAN QB
It is hard to be a leader when you are a redshirt freshman or freshman at quarterback because you've got some much to learn. I think we are missing a little bit of that because he's trying to understand his role and get better. The last two weeks he has gotten a little bit better. We put more on him last week against USF, against Miami (Ohio) we were pretty basic. We had more reads and throws downfield last week and we had seven plays on offense in the third quarter, that we just can't absolutely ever have. We missed blocks, we missed routes, one of the interceptions he threw was on the receiver all the way, just a horrible route we ran against the coverage, but it all comes back to one thing. It goes back to the quarterback and everybody looks at what happens and they say he threw three. Well he threw two that should've been intercepted and one we will put on the receiver. Ross has a learning curve, but he is getting better and again he will get better each week plays, practices and works with his receivers. It is what it is.
ON TWO WINS 20 OR UNDER AND OVER 40 IN LOSSES
We are better on defense. Last week we got out athleted in some long runs we gave up. I was proud of the preparation. It is a very mental game on defense when you play against the spread offense with quarterbacks that can run and that puts pressure on you. They also had a very good running back last week. We were in the right spots on several plays, we just missed a tackle. Guys running to the football was very good. We were much better pursuing the football and getting people to the point of attack. We made more plays downfield in the two losses, but the difference in the game last was we couldn't create any turnovers. You have to create turnovers for your offense especially when they are struggling with a new quarterback trying to learn. You have to give him a short field. Instead we gave him a long field. A couple of times they had the ball inside the 5 and that really puts pressure on the offense. We had a lot of guys with winning grades on offense and defense, just not enough. I was excited about our offensive line and how we blocked. We are much better than we were at the beginning of the year, a month and a half ago. We have to continue to get better at all those positions. It all goes back to mentally not making mistakes at WR, QB or RB or DB, those show up against athletic teams like USF and Houston.
ON QB SITUATION FOR UCONN
I like Ross, I like what he is doing and the way he can run the ball. Again he has been our quarterback because he has been the best guy in practice since Hayden Moore went down. We did play Gunner last week. He was hit and miss and it is tough to go in when you haven't played much even though you have played a lot of QB. He played a quarter and a couple of minutes and he looked a little rusty and that is how you are going to look. I still feel confident in both of these guys and they work hard in practice. They are good friends, help each other and compete. We will keep competing no matter who the quarterback is.
ON THE DEFENSE BASED ON EXPECTATIONS
We are much better defensively and we made plays. We were plus-4 on turnovers going into this game and we evened it up because we did get any and USF got four. We are much farther ahead in being aggressive and making plays. It is hard to judge the defense against USF and Houston because of the type of athletes they have all over the place. They put you in one on ones just like in basketball and even if you cover them you've got to make a play when they get the ball. It is a different type and we've held our own, but we didn't play good enough to win. We didn't win, but much better than we have been in the past. We will start getting guys healthy and we need to play smart like we are capable of playing. We have more in a rotation in terms of guys who can play at this level and we have to play better and better on defense since we have a transition on offense and a new quarterback and a new type of offense and the things that going along with it. The defense has to hold up more of their end of the bargain this week.
ON WHAT HE HAS SEEN THAT IS ENCOURGING
The work ethic of the players, even though we are 3-2, we've been in every game, players have practiced hard and worked hard. They understand the situation because we have some young guys playing, but we have a young group of guys and I'm proud of their work ethic and who knows what the future holds as we get into these next seven games, but our back has been against the wall pretty much the last few games. When you play a quick trigger guy you have to play great everywhere else and we have to help them out and hopefully in the future Hayden will be back and we will have three guys to choose from. The OL is getting much better and that is very encouraging because we have to run the ball. We had around 150 this week and that was our goal. We have to get better on defense and we are getting some confidence. Our kicking game has been lax, our kicker we thought he could go and he didn't. We didn't have a holder for a left-foot kicker so that put us in a bind and we've just had little things that have gotten to us this year. We have to work through that. We have a good group of seniors.
