Transcribed by Bill Seals
On any rivalry games that he’s been a part of in the past:
“These are what makes football really special. From my end of it, coaching-wise, the last 10 years being a part of a rivalry where we’re 20-some miles away Toledo and Bowling Green. Being on both sides of that rivalry within the state of Ohio. It’s a great rivalry game in its own right. The key is you do have to stay within yourself. It’s like every other football game – the team that takes care of the football and manages throughout the football game is the team that’s going to have great success. Our kids know that and unfortunately we had to learn a very valuable lesson for us to learn going forward, but certainly applies to the game we’re about to take part in this Saturday.”
On Iowa’s rough game defensively and if there are some things they can exploit:
“I continue to be so impressed with what I see in terms of Iowa defense. One of the things that I have appreciation for in what they do is the simplicity that they do things with, but the ability to allow their guys to play really fast and have great knowledge of what they’re doing. That’s such a huge advantage for them. Sometimes there’s simplicity and sometimes they have that ability to throw some complexity that they want to do. They’re guys that have been within the system for a long time that understand what they’re trying to do. It will be a great challenge for our offense as we go into the game on Saturday.”
On his assessment of the penalties versus UNI and how they can be cleaned up:
“As you look at those penalties, some of those are penalties where you look at them and are frustrated because they could have gone either way. You see our guys playing hard and trying to do the right thing. The other ones shouldn’t happen and there are probably three or four of those are knucklehead penalties. Whether that’s laziness in technique or not getting aligned correctly, you can explain it a million different ways.”
On a receiving corps led by Allen Lazard going up against Iowa’s strength in secondary:
“It will be a great matchup. Allen, Hakeem Butler is playing at a really high rate for us right now and Dondre Daley certainly had a great game Saturday night. That’s a matchup as you look into the football game and say that’s two really good spots on both sides of the ball for both teams. We’ve got to continue to find ways to get those guys the ball and let those guys have the opportunity to make plays.”
On the multiple ways that Iowa can beat teams on offense:
“When you really dissect this team and certainly the success they had a year ago, they’re so balanced in what they do in terms of formationally in what they’re trying to get accomplished. CJ’s ability to run the ball certainly has given them the ability to spread things out at times. His ability to throw it and create matchups of their own on offense. We’ve got to do a great job of being multiple in what we do defensively, understanding situational football and making sure we do a great job of defending everything they throw at us.”
On all the receivers that complemented Lazard well in week one:
“The one positive that we’ve been able to do is there’s great competition there right now. When there’s only one football, and my whole belief as you build a program is there’s great competition across the board, that’s an area of strength for us. There’s great competition in practice even to get the ball thrown to you. We’ll continue to draw on that within our own program and continue to find ways to use those guys to their success. I’m really proud of some of those guys. Marchie Murdock had a great play and has really come on in the last couple weeks of fall camp and leading up to that football game. We feel really strongly about what Hakeem Butler’s potential can be and the play he makes in the end zone was a fantastic play. Some of those guys are developing at a really high rate and we’re going to need those guys to continue to develop to have success.”
On if the team shies away from going right at Iowa’s King:
“You watch the match-ups he takes part in and he wins more than he loses a lot of times. Those are things that we need to have a great understanding where he’s at within the football game and where he aligns. If we want to attack him, what gives us the best opportunity to attack him. A great player like that, you don’t want to give that guy too many opportunities to change the game.”
On if the tight ends will be more involved as pass catchers:
“I’d certainly think so. What you did at least see from the tight ends is them being used within the offense. Those guys were solid on Saturday night. We played a couple guys there. The one nice thing all three of them do have is the ability to catch the football. The situation maybe didn’t dictate that the ball went to them throughout the game on Saturday, but I think you’ll see them with the ball in their hands throughout the rest of the year. Justin (Chandler) is a guy that can catch and make plays in space. Chase Allen has got some of that ability to do that. Sam Harms even is a guy that can catch the ball and make some things happen in space.”
On how the special teams graded out against UNI:
“It was an area where I really challenged our football team in going into the football game. I felt like we had an opportunity to maybe make some big plays. I felt like it went with the game. There were some really huge plays that happened within our special teams game and then there were about four plays that you’d really like to have back. The four plays – we missed an extra point, kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff team, from a punt standpoint we had a chance to pin them down deep and let them out of it with a poor punt, and then we had a punt return of 20-some yards that got called back.
“Now the flip side of it is we had a couple kickoffs out of the end zone. I thought Chris (Francis) did a really good job other than the one negative one. We were able to tackle them in space. Our kickoff return team had some positive things that occurred during the game and were able to get the ball out. I thought (Colin Downing) punted really well for us throughout the game and changed the field position.”
On the play of all the freshmen who saw playing time:
“They’re so similar, because of the changes that have gone on within our walls, to everybody else. This is everybody’s first time going through a lot of this. Our freshmen certainly are a huge part of that, because now it’s their first time playing on this level. For the most part, all those kids really did a great job. JaQuan Bailey had some big plays throughout the game. David Montgomery had some big plays, like a third-down conversion in the game. It was great to see when the lights come on, guys making plays. Now can we consistently do that and keep doing better.”
On any rivalry games that he’s been a part of in the past:
“These are what makes football really special. From my end of it, coaching-wise, the last 10 years being a part of a rivalry where we’re 20-some miles away Toledo and Bowling Green. Being on both sides of that rivalry within the state of Ohio. It’s a great rivalry game in its own right. The key is you do have to stay within yourself. It’s like every other football game – the team that takes care of the football and manages throughout the football game is the team that’s going to have great success. Our kids know that and unfortunately we had to learn a very valuable lesson for us to learn going forward, but certainly applies to the game we’re about to take part in this Saturday.”
On Iowa’s rough game defensively and if there are some things they can exploit:
“I continue to be so impressed with what I see in terms of Iowa defense. One of the things that I have appreciation for in what they do is the simplicity that they do things with, but the ability to allow their guys to play really fast and have great knowledge of what they’re doing. That’s such a huge advantage for them. Sometimes there’s simplicity and sometimes they have that ability to throw some complexity that they want to do. They’re guys that have been within the system for a long time that understand what they’re trying to do. It will be a great challenge for our offense as we go into the game on Saturday.”
On his assessment of the penalties versus UNI and how they can be cleaned up:
“As you look at those penalties, some of those are penalties where you look at them and are frustrated because they could have gone either way. You see our guys playing hard and trying to do the right thing. The other ones shouldn’t happen and there are probably three or four of those are knucklehead penalties. Whether that’s laziness in technique or not getting aligned correctly, you can explain it a million different ways.”
On a receiving corps led by Allen Lazard going up against Iowa’s strength in secondary:
“It will be a great matchup. Allen, Hakeem Butler is playing at a really high rate for us right now and Dondre Daley certainly had a great game Saturday night. That’s a matchup as you look into the football game and say that’s two really good spots on both sides of the ball for both teams. We’ve got to continue to find ways to get those guys the ball and let those guys have the opportunity to make plays.”
On the multiple ways that Iowa can beat teams on offense:
“When you really dissect this team and certainly the success they had a year ago, they’re so balanced in what they do in terms of formationally in what they’re trying to get accomplished. CJ’s ability to run the ball certainly has given them the ability to spread things out at times. His ability to throw it and create matchups of their own on offense. We’ve got to do a great job of being multiple in what we do defensively, understanding situational football and making sure we do a great job of defending everything they throw at us.”
On all the receivers that complemented Lazard well in week one:
“The one positive that we’ve been able to do is there’s great competition there right now. When there’s only one football, and my whole belief as you build a program is there’s great competition across the board, that’s an area of strength for us. There’s great competition in practice even to get the ball thrown to you. We’ll continue to draw on that within our own program and continue to find ways to use those guys to their success. I’m really proud of some of those guys. Marchie Murdock had a great play and has really come on in the last couple weeks of fall camp and leading up to that football game. We feel really strongly about what Hakeem Butler’s potential can be and the play he makes in the end zone was a fantastic play. Some of those guys are developing at a really high rate and we’re going to need those guys to continue to develop to have success.”
On if the team shies away from going right at Iowa’s King:
“You watch the match-ups he takes part in and he wins more than he loses a lot of times. Those are things that we need to have a great understanding where he’s at within the football game and where he aligns. If we want to attack him, what gives us the best opportunity to attack him. A great player like that, you don’t want to give that guy too many opportunities to change the game.”
On if the tight ends will be more involved as pass catchers:
“I’d certainly think so. What you did at least see from the tight ends is them being used within the offense. Those guys were solid on Saturday night. We played a couple guys there. The one nice thing all three of them do have is the ability to catch the football. The situation maybe didn’t dictate that the ball went to them throughout the game on Saturday, but I think you’ll see them with the ball in their hands throughout the rest of the year. Justin (Chandler) is a guy that can catch and make plays in space. Chase Allen has got some of that ability to do that. Sam Harms even is a guy that can catch the ball and make some things happen in space.”
On how the special teams graded out against UNI:
“It was an area where I really challenged our football team in going into the football game. I felt like we had an opportunity to maybe make some big plays. I felt like it went with the game. There were some really huge plays that happened within our special teams game and then there were about four plays that you’d really like to have back. The four plays – we missed an extra point, kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff team, from a punt standpoint we had a chance to pin them down deep and let them out of it with a poor punt, and then we had a punt return of 20-some yards that got called back.
“Now the flip side of it is we had a couple kickoffs out of the end zone. I thought Chris (Francis) did a really good job other than the one negative one. We were able to tackle them in space. Our kickoff return team had some positive things that occurred during the game and were able to get the ball out. I thought (Colin Downing) punted really well for us throughout the game and changed the field position.”
On the play of all the freshmen who saw playing time:
“They’re so similar, because of the changes that have gone on within our walls, to everybody else. This is everybody’s first time going through a lot of this. Our freshmen certainly are a huge part of that, because now it’s their first time playing on this level. For the most part, all those kids really did a great job. JaQuan Bailey had some big plays throughout the game. David Montgomery had some big plays, like a third-down conversion in the game. It was great to see when the lights come on, guys making plays. Now can we consistently do that and keep doing better.”
