Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Photo by: Brent Beerends/MT Athletic Communications
MT vs. Bowling Green presser
9/12/2016 12:30:00 PM | Football
Kickoff set for 11 AM
Head Coach Rick Stockstill
Opening Statement…
"I appreciate everybody being here. I'm looking forward to getting this week cranked up against Bowling Green. They are coming off a 27-26 win against North Dakota. They are 1-1 on the year. They got beat by Ohio State their first game. From watching them on film, offensively they are a wide-open spread team. There are a lot of four-wide. There are a lot of empty sets, a lot of screens and throws down the field. They have two really good backs (Fred Coppet and Josh Cleveland). Both of them are a little bit smaller, but they are really good in space and dynamic. Their receivers are good and have good speed. A couple of them are from Florida. Their quarterback (James Knapke) is a senior. He's a bigger guy. I haven't seen him much of threat as a runner in the two games they have played, but he has pulled it down and run it some. Their offensive line is really big. They do a good job from a protection stand point. Defensively, they played two really contrasting offenses in Ohio State and North Dakota. With a first-year head coach, it's a bit of an unknown with what we are going to see. Their inside players are big. Their defensive ends look like us. Their linebackers are really fast and their secondary is good also. I think they are solid in the kicking game. Going up there, they have the tradition of Bowling Green and the past success they've had, it's going to be a good football game. Like I always say, we've got to correct our mistakes. We've got to get better from where are after these first two games. I think we improved in some areas from the first game to the second game, but we still have some ways to go in correcting some of our mistakes and getting better. We're looking forward to this game. We're looking forward to the challenge again in going on the road and playing a really good MAC team."
On takeaways from the Vanderbilt game…
"Offensively, I thought we did a good job of moving the ball against a really good defense. There aren't a lot of offenses who put up 500 yards and 24 points against that defense. I thought we did a lot of good things. I thought we ran the ball a little bit better. The fumble, we've got to correct that. It's just an unforced error. The interception, give No. 20 (Oren Burks) some credit. That's a heck of a play. You don't see plays like that very often. We had an offside penalty there on 4th-and-2 or 4th-and-3 that made it long-yardage. We've got to get that corrected. I thought we protected well. If you throw it 65 times and only give up one sack, and that's in the last three or four minutes of the game. I thought our line did a good job. I thought Brent did a good job throwing the ball away. I thought he did a good job moving in the pocket and finding his third and fourth receivers. I thought our receivers did a nice job running routes. We dropped too many balls. I think we had eight drops in the game. We've got to get that corrected.
Defensively, Ralph Webb is a great back and had 200 yards plus almost had 100 yards on two plays. We have to eliminate the explosive plays in the run game. Kicking game, we missed a field goal and blocked a punt. We did some good things in the game. If you're looking for stuff to clean up I think that's what we need to do."
On slowing down Bowling Green offensively and defensively…
"Offensively versus their defense, we have to be really good on first down. That will be key in the game and get something positive on first day. I watched a little bit of film today and yesterday, so you're still in the evaluation process. They seem to want to bring some pressure on third down, so that's why our first down has to be good to stay in the third down and manageable distance. We've been really good offensively, I don't know where we are nationally, but we've been really good on third down. I think we're over 50 percent on third down (conversions). Part of that reason is because we have been good on first down also. We haven't been in a lot of long third down situations. I think that's a key.
Defensively, we have to tackle great in space because they run a lot of screens. They throw a lot of screens the the running backs and underneath. They spread you out and do a lot of crossing routes. They are going to try to get you in space, so we have to tackle well in space. Obviously, we can't give up a big explosion play."
On Bowling Green being 8-2 against non-conference opponents at home…
"That's the first I've heard about it. When you go on the road you have to be mentally tough. This is an early start. You expect teams to play good at home. They have a good football team. I'm sure they take pride in playing well at home. Their crowd will be behind them. You can't control what Bowling Green is going to do. I have no idea what they are going to do. All we can do is prepare to play our best and play better than we did last week. That's going to be our goal and motivation this week."
On wide receivers Patrick Smith and Ty Lee stepping up due to injuries…
"I've been impressed. For a true freshman (Ty Lee) to come in and play, we haven't eased him into it. He's started these last two games and held his own. He gets overwhelmed because of his size. He gets overpowered a little bit. But he's got a great competitive spirit. He competes, he listens, he's coachable and he works. He made a lot of mistakes against Vanderbilt but did some good things also.
Patrick is becoming more consistent each day. He made some nice plays Saturday. He made a nice touchdown catch there and had some nice back-shoulder catches. He works also. He competes. They aren't a finished product by any stretch of the imagination, but they have a great attitude and are getting better every day."
On cleaning up mistakes…
"The interception, that was a great play on his part. We've thrown it over 100 times this year and have only had two interceptions. One of them was a heck of a play against Vanderbilt by their guy and the other was a little bit of a miscommunication on the route in the first game against Alabama A&M. I think we've done a great job protecting the ball in the passing game. The fumble there by Ruben (Garnett) was inexcusable. It wasn't a great hit or anything like that, it's just ball security. We have to do a better job coaching that and making sure Ruben protects the ball and is more cognoscente of ball security in those situations. It's the first drive of the game, we're driving down there, we get on the plus-side of the field and turn it over and the defense starts on the 7-yard line. We've got to get better at that. Our guys, they take pride in getting better and I don't have any question that we will get better."
On early start time affecting preparation…
"I told our team wrong yesterday. I thought it was an 11 o'clock Eastern start and 10 o'clock on our watch, but this morning they told us it was 12 o'clock Eastern. We played a bunch of 11 o'clock games last year. You have to prepare for that throughout the week. You have to rest, you have to hydrate, you have to eat Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and you can't wait until just Friday because you aren't going to get much sleep on a Friday night. That's just part of the mental preparation that you have to prepare for in this week's game. Every kick time is going to be different. You have to prepare for it now because you can't come out and still be tired or sleepy. You're going to get your butt beat if you do that. We talked about it yesterday so we'll be prepared for it."
On forgetting about a loss…
"It's a lot easier said than done. You have to put it behind you. You beat your chest for 24 hours when you win and you step on your lip for 24 hours when you lose. You have to be mentally tough in this business as a player. You have to understand what you did good, what you did bad and why you weren't as successful as you wanted to be, and you have to get those mistakes corrected. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you. You can't go around moping and all that. You have to stay positive. It's a long season. It's one game. We're disappointed because we lost it, but you have to move forward and get on to Bowling Green or you aren't going to be as successful as you want to be this weekend."
On impressions of Bowling Green quarterback James Knapke…
"I think his competitiveness. They got beat pretty good against Ohio State, but he kept competing and he hung in there. Watching him on film you don't know the personality of players, but he looks like he's a good leader for them. He looks like he is a tough guy I respect that in a quarterback. I think he's a competitive, tough leader for them. He's got a strong arm. Against North Dakota they played a lot of the game in the rain. They jumped out in front and it got to be close there in the end. I think his toughness, arm strength and competitiveness stand out to me."
On Conference USA vs. MAC matchups benefitting both leagues…
"I think so. A lot of our bowl matchups are Conference USA against MAC opponents. Geographically, we fit together with a lot of the other Conference USA schools and MAC schools. I think it's good. I think it's an opportunity for fans of both sides. It might be easier for them to travel to those games as opposed to going far away. I think it's good for both leagues
QB Brent Stockstill
On the offensive line: I say it every week: The offensive line is my favorite group on the field. They're also the closest group and toughest group, and they do a great job protecting me. It starts with them. We've been moving the ball OK, but yards don't matter—points do. We didn't get enough of those this weekend. We'll clean that up and learn how to finish. We've still got plenty of room for improvement.
On Ty Lee and Patrick Smith stepping up: I like the way they compete. They both have a long way to go. They're not finished by any means, but they'll compete. They give it their all every play and love to work every day in practice. That was a big stage they were on Saturday. They had a good defense with some good players, so I'm proud to see them step up.
On running the ball: The first game I did slide, but the player hit me as I was coming down. The one last week I thought I was a little closer to the first down marker than I was, and I just wanted to make a play for our team. I know when to protect myself and when not to. When in doubt I'm going to be a little more physical and tough and give it all I've got for my team. That's college football.
On I'Tavius Mathers: I think he's doing real well. What sticks out is his toughness. I didn't think he started out great against Vanderbilt. I told him that. I thought he was selling himself short a bit. When I talked to him, I told him he's a heck of a player. As the game went on, he continued to get better and better. I think he made nine guys miss, made some plays in the open field and caught a ball out of the backfield. As a running back, when you take a year off without seeing competition, it's hard to get back in the flow of things. He's doing a great job so far.
On the weather delay: We made some adjustments. I don't know how long we were in there, but we made some adjustments, had some time to relax and get fluids in us. There wasn't much to do other than stay focused on our game plan and think about what we needed to do coming out of the break.
On facing Bowling Green's defense: It's about us. We're moving it good on offense. If we can eliminate things we can control like pre-snap penalties, if I protect the ball better, if we don't put it on the ground. If we do that, we don't need to worry about anything else right now. We're the only thing that matters.
On importance of getting over a loss: I'm a very competitive guy, and I think everyone on this team is. I hate losing more than anything in this world, so it's tough. I love practicing on Sundays because, win or lose, you get to come to work and get the bad taste out of your mouth. I follow the 24 hour rule: you have to get rid of it, learn from it and move on.
LB DJ Sanders
On Vanderbilt's explosive offensive plays: It didn't set the tone for the rest of the game because the first drive in the second half, we got a three-and-out. We had a couple of missed tackles, but we'll clean things up this week.
On facing a different offensive this week: We got against the spread offense every day in practice, so we'll be a little more prepared this week. We don't face a power run offense very much, so that was a real challenge for us.
On the evaluation of the defense so far: We're playing better than I thought initially. We're tackling well. It's not perfect, but we're tackling well. We just have to take away explosive plays.
On Bowling Green's offense: I've only watched one game, and I know they have a spread offense, and that's about it.
On an early start on Saturday: It's just another chance to play football for us. We'll be anxious. The hard part is going to bed on Friday night. The good part is we wake up in the morning and it'll be time to play pretty soon.
On the practice plan this week: Thursday is more like a walk-through, then we got full-speed on Friday. I like it because Thursday is more of a mental day for us to correct the things we may have done wrong earlier in the week, and then Friday we get to go full-speed. It helps us a lot.
On personal routine on the road: I really like to watch the Friday night games. It's just another chance to watch college football, and I love to watch football. I also listen to a few songs. I like R&B and old school rap.
Opening Statement…
"I appreciate everybody being here. I'm looking forward to getting this week cranked up against Bowling Green. They are coming off a 27-26 win against North Dakota. They are 1-1 on the year. They got beat by Ohio State their first game. From watching them on film, offensively they are a wide-open spread team. There are a lot of four-wide. There are a lot of empty sets, a lot of screens and throws down the field. They have two really good backs (Fred Coppet and Josh Cleveland). Both of them are a little bit smaller, but they are really good in space and dynamic. Their receivers are good and have good speed. A couple of them are from Florida. Their quarterback (James Knapke) is a senior. He's a bigger guy. I haven't seen him much of threat as a runner in the two games they have played, but he has pulled it down and run it some. Their offensive line is really big. They do a good job from a protection stand point. Defensively, they played two really contrasting offenses in Ohio State and North Dakota. With a first-year head coach, it's a bit of an unknown with what we are going to see. Their inside players are big. Their defensive ends look like us. Their linebackers are really fast and their secondary is good also. I think they are solid in the kicking game. Going up there, they have the tradition of Bowling Green and the past success they've had, it's going to be a good football game. Like I always say, we've got to correct our mistakes. We've got to get better from where are after these first two games. I think we improved in some areas from the first game to the second game, but we still have some ways to go in correcting some of our mistakes and getting better. We're looking forward to this game. We're looking forward to the challenge again in going on the road and playing a really good MAC team."
On takeaways from the Vanderbilt game…
"Offensively, I thought we did a good job of moving the ball against a really good defense. There aren't a lot of offenses who put up 500 yards and 24 points against that defense. I thought we did a lot of good things. I thought we ran the ball a little bit better. The fumble, we've got to correct that. It's just an unforced error. The interception, give No. 20 (Oren Burks) some credit. That's a heck of a play. You don't see plays like that very often. We had an offside penalty there on 4th-and-2 or 4th-and-3 that made it long-yardage. We've got to get that corrected. I thought we protected well. If you throw it 65 times and only give up one sack, and that's in the last three or four minutes of the game. I thought our line did a good job. I thought Brent did a good job throwing the ball away. I thought he did a good job moving in the pocket and finding his third and fourth receivers. I thought our receivers did a nice job running routes. We dropped too many balls. I think we had eight drops in the game. We've got to get that corrected.
Defensively, Ralph Webb is a great back and had 200 yards plus almost had 100 yards on two plays. We have to eliminate the explosive plays in the run game. Kicking game, we missed a field goal and blocked a punt. We did some good things in the game. If you're looking for stuff to clean up I think that's what we need to do."
On slowing down Bowling Green offensively and defensively…
"Offensively versus their defense, we have to be really good on first down. That will be key in the game and get something positive on first day. I watched a little bit of film today and yesterday, so you're still in the evaluation process. They seem to want to bring some pressure on third down, so that's why our first down has to be good to stay in the third down and manageable distance. We've been really good offensively, I don't know where we are nationally, but we've been really good on third down. I think we're over 50 percent on third down (conversions). Part of that reason is because we have been good on first down also. We haven't been in a lot of long third down situations. I think that's a key.
Defensively, we have to tackle great in space because they run a lot of screens. They throw a lot of screens the the running backs and underneath. They spread you out and do a lot of crossing routes. They are going to try to get you in space, so we have to tackle well in space. Obviously, we can't give up a big explosion play."
On Bowling Green being 8-2 against non-conference opponents at home…
"That's the first I've heard about it. When you go on the road you have to be mentally tough. This is an early start. You expect teams to play good at home. They have a good football team. I'm sure they take pride in playing well at home. Their crowd will be behind them. You can't control what Bowling Green is going to do. I have no idea what they are going to do. All we can do is prepare to play our best and play better than we did last week. That's going to be our goal and motivation this week."
On wide receivers Patrick Smith and Ty Lee stepping up due to injuries…
"I've been impressed. For a true freshman (Ty Lee) to come in and play, we haven't eased him into it. He's started these last two games and held his own. He gets overwhelmed because of his size. He gets overpowered a little bit. But he's got a great competitive spirit. He competes, he listens, he's coachable and he works. He made a lot of mistakes against Vanderbilt but did some good things also.
Patrick is becoming more consistent each day. He made some nice plays Saturday. He made a nice touchdown catch there and had some nice back-shoulder catches. He works also. He competes. They aren't a finished product by any stretch of the imagination, but they have a great attitude and are getting better every day."
On cleaning up mistakes…
"The interception, that was a great play on his part. We've thrown it over 100 times this year and have only had two interceptions. One of them was a heck of a play against Vanderbilt by their guy and the other was a little bit of a miscommunication on the route in the first game against Alabama A&M. I think we've done a great job protecting the ball in the passing game. The fumble there by Ruben (Garnett) was inexcusable. It wasn't a great hit or anything like that, it's just ball security. We have to do a better job coaching that and making sure Ruben protects the ball and is more cognoscente of ball security in those situations. It's the first drive of the game, we're driving down there, we get on the plus-side of the field and turn it over and the defense starts on the 7-yard line. We've got to get better at that. Our guys, they take pride in getting better and I don't have any question that we will get better."
On early start time affecting preparation…
"I told our team wrong yesterday. I thought it was an 11 o'clock Eastern start and 10 o'clock on our watch, but this morning they told us it was 12 o'clock Eastern. We played a bunch of 11 o'clock games last year. You have to prepare for that throughout the week. You have to rest, you have to hydrate, you have to eat Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and you can't wait until just Friday because you aren't going to get much sleep on a Friday night. That's just part of the mental preparation that you have to prepare for in this week's game. Every kick time is going to be different. You have to prepare for it now because you can't come out and still be tired or sleepy. You're going to get your butt beat if you do that. We talked about it yesterday so we'll be prepared for it."
On forgetting about a loss…
"It's a lot easier said than done. You have to put it behind you. You beat your chest for 24 hours when you win and you step on your lip for 24 hours when you lose. You have to be mentally tough in this business as a player. You have to understand what you did good, what you did bad and why you weren't as successful as you wanted to be, and you have to get those mistakes corrected. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you. You can't go around moping and all that. You have to stay positive. It's a long season. It's one game. We're disappointed because we lost it, but you have to move forward and get on to Bowling Green or you aren't going to be as successful as you want to be this weekend."
On impressions of Bowling Green quarterback James Knapke…
"I think his competitiveness. They got beat pretty good against Ohio State, but he kept competing and he hung in there. Watching him on film you don't know the personality of players, but he looks like he's a good leader for them. He looks like he is a tough guy I respect that in a quarterback. I think he's a competitive, tough leader for them. He's got a strong arm. Against North Dakota they played a lot of the game in the rain. They jumped out in front and it got to be close there in the end. I think his toughness, arm strength and competitiveness stand out to me."
On Conference USA vs. MAC matchups benefitting both leagues…
"I think so. A lot of our bowl matchups are Conference USA against MAC opponents. Geographically, we fit together with a lot of the other Conference USA schools and MAC schools. I think it's good. I think it's an opportunity for fans of both sides. It might be easier for them to travel to those games as opposed to going far away. I think it's good for both leagues
QB Brent Stockstill
On the offensive line: I say it every week: The offensive line is my favorite group on the field. They're also the closest group and toughest group, and they do a great job protecting me. It starts with them. We've been moving the ball OK, but yards don't matter—points do. We didn't get enough of those this weekend. We'll clean that up and learn how to finish. We've still got plenty of room for improvement.
On Ty Lee and Patrick Smith stepping up: I like the way they compete. They both have a long way to go. They're not finished by any means, but they'll compete. They give it their all every play and love to work every day in practice. That was a big stage they were on Saturday. They had a good defense with some good players, so I'm proud to see them step up.
On running the ball: The first game I did slide, but the player hit me as I was coming down. The one last week I thought I was a little closer to the first down marker than I was, and I just wanted to make a play for our team. I know when to protect myself and when not to. When in doubt I'm going to be a little more physical and tough and give it all I've got for my team. That's college football.
On I'Tavius Mathers: I think he's doing real well. What sticks out is his toughness. I didn't think he started out great against Vanderbilt. I told him that. I thought he was selling himself short a bit. When I talked to him, I told him he's a heck of a player. As the game went on, he continued to get better and better. I think he made nine guys miss, made some plays in the open field and caught a ball out of the backfield. As a running back, when you take a year off without seeing competition, it's hard to get back in the flow of things. He's doing a great job so far.
On the weather delay: We made some adjustments. I don't know how long we were in there, but we made some adjustments, had some time to relax and get fluids in us. There wasn't much to do other than stay focused on our game plan and think about what we needed to do coming out of the break.
On facing Bowling Green's defense: It's about us. We're moving it good on offense. If we can eliminate things we can control like pre-snap penalties, if I protect the ball better, if we don't put it on the ground. If we do that, we don't need to worry about anything else right now. We're the only thing that matters.
On importance of getting over a loss: I'm a very competitive guy, and I think everyone on this team is. I hate losing more than anything in this world, so it's tough. I love practicing on Sundays because, win or lose, you get to come to work and get the bad taste out of your mouth. I follow the 24 hour rule: you have to get rid of it, learn from it and move on.
LB DJ Sanders
On Vanderbilt's explosive offensive plays: It didn't set the tone for the rest of the game because the first drive in the second half, we got a three-and-out. We had a couple of missed tackles, but we'll clean things up this week.
On facing a different offensive this week: We got against the spread offense every day in practice, so we'll be a little more prepared this week. We don't face a power run offense very much, so that was a real challenge for us.
On the evaluation of the defense so far: We're playing better than I thought initially. We're tackling well. It's not perfect, but we're tackling well. We just have to take away explosive plays.
On Bowling Green's offense: I've only watched one game, and I know they have a spread offense, and that's about it.
On an early start on Saturday: It's just another chance to play football for us. We'll be anxious. The hard part is going to bed on Friday night. The good part is we wake up in the morning and it'll be time to play pretty soon.
On the practice plan this week: Thursday is more like a walk-through, then we got full-speed on Friday. I like it because Thursday is more of a mental day for us to correct the things we may have done wrong earlier in the week, and then Friday we get to go full-speed. It helps us a lot.
On personal routine on the road: I really like to watch the Friday night games. It's just another chance to watch college football, and I love to watch football. I also listen to a few songs. I like R&B and old school rap.
Players Mentioned
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