Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Blue Raiders hold Troy Press Conference
8/23/2008 3:55:00 PM | Football
Rick Stockstill
Opening comment:
We are excited about this season. In a normal game week today (Saturday) would be a Monday so this thing is sneaking up on us. I'm very pleased with our team and the way we have practiced, especially the last four or five days. Our sense of urgency and practice tempo has really picked up. Our new guys are getting an understanding of how we expect things to be done and then the game getting closer you start to feel the sense of urgency. It's been a good camp. If we didn't have the injuries to the offensive linemen I think it would have been the best I have been part of and not just here, but anywhere. I believe the new guys have given us a shot in the arm and our veterans have done a great job leading them.
You have said the quarterback will be a game-time decision. How does that affect the game plan here and for Troy? In my opinion we have two starting quarterbacks (Joe Craddock and Dwight Dasher). I feel confident we can have a successful offense with either one of them at the quarterback position. I don't want to be an offense where this quarterback goes this series or this one and the other goes the next one. I also don't want a quarterback that feels if he makes a mistake he's coming out. Both quarterbacks will play this week against Troy and both will play against Maryland. This will not affect our team in any way. In the big scheme of things I doubt it will affect Troy. They do what they do on defense no matter what we do.
Do you feel like the players are ready to go? "I do. I think they are focused, excited and we talked at the beginning of camp about having a chip on your shoulder where we are out there with something to prove every snap, whether it's on offense, defense or special teams. We want to play with a ton of enthusiasm and passion. We want to be a mentally and physically tough team and our young men have responded and played that way."
Why is passion so important to you when you talk to your team? I don't care what you do; you have to be passionate about your job. I'm a coach and this is my job so I'm passionate about it. As a player, this is your sport so you have to love football. It is not an easy sport to practice and play. You have to love what you are doing and if we develop a passion for this game then we will play harder, faster and better together as a team.
In the two years you have been at Middle Tennessee you have beat every Sun Belt team once and some twice with the exception of Troy. Is there a match-up problem there? The first year (2006) I thought we were a little more evenly matched than last year. I thought last year there were a lot of match-up problems. They were a faster team than us on both sides of the ball, but the first year was an even game. They were just the much better team last year so we tried to increase our speed and become more athletic in recruiting.
Did the Troy game last year make you realize you needed more team speed? No, I didn't have to see Troy to know we needed to get faster. We have tried to address that. We have only had 2-1/2 recruiting classes so it will take time. Our guys are getting faster, more athletic and that's our goal in recruiting.
What do you need from the fans Thursday night? Nothing special, just their support, to come to the game, be loud and support this team. I say it all the time, what this team has done in a two-year period, they deserve to have this stadium full. They deserve to have the fans and students support them. Off the field they have changed the image of this program nationally. We have had 40 of 42 players whose eligibility has expired graduate. For two straight years our football team has had the highest GPA in the Sun Belt. We have won more conference games in two years than we have since the 1995-96 seasons. This team is doing the right things on and off the field and they deserve to have this place filled. It may not happen Thursday but it's going to happen, I promise you that. This place is going to take off.
Keys to the game? I always believe the first game comes down to the kicking game. In my mind we lost the FAU last year because of the kicking game. To me, it will come down to the kicking game this time. We can't be putting our defense on the short field and things of that nature when we are punting and covering kicks. We have to be able to stay on the field more offensively than we did last year and we have to make some big plays down the field. Defensively, we have to stop the run, tackle, and get off the field on third down.
DL Trevor Jenkins
Is there any carry-over from the season finale last year against Troy? Most definitely. It's a great situation and I'm so excited about playing. I hate how that game ended last year against Troy so I'm very excited about this opportunity.
This rivalry also is the Battle for the Palladium. How important is that to you as an upperclassmen? Jeff Littlejohn informed me of the tradition when I first got here but our rivalry with Troy goes beyond that. It's a passionate rivalry and I'm looking forward to playing them.
Troy will have a new quarterback (Jamie Hampton). How does that factor into this game? I don't know anything about Jamie and it really doesn't matter. They are going to come out and do what they do. If you are not ready for this game you are not in the right business because this sets the tone for the whole season.
WR Patrick Honeycutt
Coach Stockstill has said he will not name a starting quarterback until game day. Does that matter? No it doesn't. We have two great quarterbacks and whoever the coaches believe gives us the best chance to win is fine with the team. We are fortunate to have two very good ones.
Are you ready to play the opener instead of hitting the same people? We are ready to go. We know we can get better and continue improving but the team has had a good camp and we feel good about things as we prepare to open the season.
