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(Opening statement)
“Well, we’re excited to get to game two. I think we’re going to play a really good football team in James Madison that knows how to win. They’ve done it over the years, they’ve proven it. They play a good brand of football. They give you a lot of things that you’ve got to deal with both offensively and defensively. They’re well-coached and they’ve got really good players. I think for us, improving on our mistakes from last week – which were penalties and turnovers
– is going to be vital to success and making sure we get that fixed up and then we’ll definitely have to play our best and be sound in what we’re doing. They’ve got a really good quarterback who can run and throw with a good running back and some weapons on the outside and they play a good brand of defense as well. So I just think this will be a great test, it’ll be a fun Friday night and we look forward to playing the game.”
(On the takeaways from Saturday’s game against EKU after watching film)
“I was disappointed to have that many penalties, but to have them in that type of game is good for us. Quite a few of them are correctable and things we can fix. Probably over half of them are with new players that have on the team that we’ve just got to teach what is a hold and what’s not. You’ve got to be physical to a certain extent and give in at certain points when you’re getting beat or losing placement on a defender or someone you’re blocking. So fixing the holding calls will be crucial. We had a face mask on special teams, we had something on the sideline and those things can’t happen as well. And then I think we just had three turnovers that, when you’re in a good tight game and you lose the turnover battle 3-0, you’re probably not going to win the game. So I just think those things need to be addressed and worked on this week and I think that’s good and the fact that a lot of guys got to play was good for the team, but now we’re going to face some really good, competitive football teams that have already won at a high level and beaten really good opponents throughout the last couple of years and we’ll have to be ready to go.”
(After seeing the rest of league and marquee wins for Florida State and Miami reinforce your opinion of the strength of the ACC?)
“I’ve always thought the ACC is very competitive football from top to bottom and I still think the same thing. You saw Florida State back in the mix again, playing a really good brand of football and they’re well-coached and disciplined and sound at what did. Miami came ready to play, they’ve got a ton of talent and a really good quarterback and they showed how good they are. I think there are a lot of really good football teams and once we get into conference play, you have to be ready to go every week or you’re just not going to win. We had that last year, yes we lost some close games, but we won some close games too that we easily could have lost against opponents in our league. So, we’re going to have to just improve every week, really be good at all those small things you talk about that get boring to continue to talk about, but you’ve got to be sharp at it and you’ve got to make plays and figure out ways. This week we’ll face a much faster team on offense, not only in their talent level, but in the pace they go, the things they do. They’ll make you defend the whole field. You’ll have to honor their quarterback, the quarterback run and all the things that he can do. The scramble lanes, and then like I said they’ll go to no-huddle pace that will make you get ready to go fast and communication has to be good.”
(On JMU’s defense)
“They’ve got a new defensive coordinator, so you take a little bit of what they’ve done in the past and now what they’ve done through game one – I’m sure they didn’t run everything. So you’ve got to be ready for all of that. I think they have good players. They’ve had a good scheme over the years. They’ll be aggressive in their approach, so we’re preparing for a lot, not knowing what we’re going to see. But we go against a lot with our defense all spring and summer so hopefully we’ll be ready to go.”
(On the defense, especially Jordan Guerad and Rene Konga)
“As we evaluate our team, without question, the guys that have been here, they show up and you can count on them. And those are two young men who have been here, they understand what we’re doing… the speed of the game, our package, how we practice, what we need work on, and they’ve definitely made a lot of plays. But there were some newcomers that stood out as well. Clev Lubin on the outside and some others, Jabari Mack at corner, a lot of guys have stepped in and done a good job, but creating that mix – I think we’ve got a good plan for it. Obviously we’ll be tested this week, but I think we have some depth at certain positions and throughout the year at some point I think they’re all going to have to play and you never know how much.”
(On playing a night game at home)
“Well, I love playing night games. It doesn’t bother me to play weekday games as well. I think this stadium has seen a lot of them, a lot of really good ones. I thought the crowd Saturday was great for a first game. They were ready for football and football season, which is a lot of fun to see our players respond when they are into it as well. We are looking forward to a good crowd on Friday night. We’ll need the fans to help us, be loud and that definitely makes an advantage for our team and we’ll have to utilize every component of that we can.”
(On the difference in preparation with a short week)
“It’s not a whole lot different, you’ve just got to speed some things up and the process happens a little faster. So, the break, we normally give them Monday off, we will be practicing today, so you just have to be ready to go faster. I think as coaches you have got to stay a little longer and make sure you’re up to speed. Sometimes some of the stuff will carry over and you hope that happens. But you have to have a couple of new wrinkles in all three elements of your game and hopefully we’ll have those ready to go for Friday.”
(On the bonus of return yards on special teams)
“Well, it’s huge. If we can be good in the return game, it can really help our football team, and I think we have some weapons back there to do that. It’ll be tested this week to see just how good we really are. It’ll definitely make a difference. We had five or six penalties on special teams, which I don’t know if we had that many all last year. So to get that fixed, to make sure that doesn’t happen will be important. But yes, gaining an advantage on special teams, whether it’s blocked kicks, whether it’s changing the field position, or scoring a touchdown can help us win games, and those elements we’ve got to, whatever our strengths are on special teams, we’ve got to utilize that moving forward.”
