Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
MT vs. FIU presser
10/8/2018 12:12:00 PM | Football
Kickoff in Miami is 6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee Football Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Rick Stockstill
Opening statement:
"Another exciting week and another challenge for our football team. As we evaluate FIU I think it's probably the best FIU team we've played in a long time. You look at them from a statistical standpoint, they do a great job running the football. They're throwing the football very efficiently. They're second in the conference in scoring and they are just really good on both sides of the ball. They haven't given up a lot of points and they're good in the kicking game in every facet. Going down there, we've got our work cut out for us. We have to have a great week of preparation because this is a really good football team. Coach Davis and his staff are doing a great job there developing their program. They're going to have great athletes and they're very fast. They make you earn everything you get so it's going to be a heck of a challenge for us but one that we're going to be excited and ready for."
On how they're using the extra day off:
"We got back so late from Marshall. It'll help us from a giving them an extra day because we were a day short last. Saturday was the players day off so I'm sure they just laid around and watched TV and got off their legs a little bit and we practiced yesterday. As coaches we came in on Saturday and watched the film of the Marshall game and then started game planning for FIU. Were in a pretty good routine right now as a team with preparation and how we're taking care of our bodies."
On if he's talked to Chandler Brewer and Matt Bonadies:
"I have not talked to either of them. Neither practiced yesterday so we'll have a better idea of their availability tomorrow as we get into the rest of the week if they're going to be able to contribute anything on Saturday."
On what FIU's QB does so well to be efficient:
"Well he has good players around him. He does a good job. He's a transfer from Bowling Green. In the two years we've played them, he did not play in either of those games. He runs their offense with what they like for him to do. He throws the ball really well. He doesn't appear to be a scrambler with the ball. He moves around in the pocket well but he doesn't present that threat of pulling the ball down and running. But I'm very impressed with what he's done this year."
On FIU's running game:
"I think they're leading the conference in rushing. So anytime you can run the ball it takes pressure off of the quarterback. They're very balanced right now. It starts defensively because we've got to stop the run which we have been very poor at. The first three games, we were very poor at it. In the second half of the FAU game we were very good at it. We just have to be a little bit more consistent defensively in stopping the run. They're probably going to come in and try to establish the run so we've got to do a good job defensively."
On coming out of the game better in the first half:
"We started this game better defensively. In the past four they've taken the opening drive for a score. We stopped them on that first drive and on the second or third drive we had a couple of defensive penalties that led to them scoring. But we've just got to play better and I don't know the adjustment part of all that. Our coaches have done a great job and I'll give credit to our players, they've corrected themselves throughout the course of the game. Every game you play, every offense is going to present something new that you haven't practiced. So those are the in-game adjustments that you have to be ready to make and I think our players have done a great job of that and obviously our coaches have too."
On the amount of penalties against Marshall:
"We just have to play smarter. On one, we took a delay of game at the end on the punt to run more clock. So really we had 10. And like we all know, the pre and post snap penalties kill you. That's what hurt us. We have to play more discipline and our mental intensity has to be better than what it was. The emotions of the game can't dictate how you play. And I think that's what happened in some of those instances. If it continues then you worry about it as a coach. We've done a great job the first four games of not doing it. I've got all of the confidence in our players that it's not going to continue."
On if there's any fear of his team being tired:
"Get off the field, stay on the field. Offensively stay on the field, defensively get off the field. We played some really good offenses. Tennessee Martin is a good offense, Georgia was a good offense, and Vanderbilt was a good offense when we played them. Especially the tempo type teams that you play in Florida Atlantic and in Marshall, we knew there was going to be a lot of plays. The way you can reduce those plays is to get off the field. Our defensive guys are doing a good job during the course of the week of understanding that. I was worried going into the Marshall game than I will be going into the FIU game because you play Darius, Khalil, maybe Jovante, we had three or four guys on defense that also plays special teams that play 100 snaps in the FAU game. Then you turn around and you play another high tempo team on a day's less rest. So I was more worried about their legs and having to travel to Marshall than I am now with how they played 90 to 95 snaps again. They got an extra day in there to recover. But that's just the way football is now. But our guys do a great job taking care of their bodies throughout the week."
Quarterback Brent Stockstill
On FIU's defense"
"For the third week in a row, we're facing a really good defense that's really well coached. We play some difficult teams in this conference, and this is one of them. They're led by their linebackers and they do a great job with their zone coverage. As always, we'll have to have a great plan and execute it to be successful."
On the halftime locker room atmosphere:
"We have a very mature team and a great coaching staff. That's been the difference with this team. We've been down at the half two weeks in a row and there hasn't been any taking back and forth between teammates. We just use halftime to catch our breath and let our coaches tell us what adjustments to make. I think we're doing a good job of executing in the second half."
On how he's getting his team ready:
"I think our guys know how important this game is. No matter what conference you play in, it's going to be a battle every week. I think both teams will come out ready and excited to play."
On Angelo Owens' performance in relief of Chandler Brewer:
"I thought he did a great job. A lot of times, you don't know how those guys are going to react until they get thrown into the fire and have to step up. I thought Angelo did a great job and the offense didn't miss a beat. He did a great job though and the number two and three offensive linemen have been getting more reps to try and take a load off the first team."
On historical struggles with FIU:
"At least for the past two years, they've been a really good team. Coach Davis has done a great job with that program. It's always a dogfight in any conference game, but they play really well at home and it's always a tough test when we go down there. They're also a very experienced team, which is a credit to how that program is evolving."
On Ty Lee's recent success:
"He's been doing a great job all year. When you move a guy from the inside to the outside, it's harder to give him those easy touches. You can't throw him bubble and quick screens. He may not have as many catches, but he's getting the big 15 and 20 yard explosive plays. I just need to continue to get him the ball because he's doing a good job at getting open."
On his connections with Ty Lee:
"We both love to throw it over the top, but the past few weeks we've play real good corners. That's the beauty of throwing the vertical ball is if your guy wins you can throw it over the top and if doesn't, you can throw it back shoulder. That comes from a couple years of playing together and a lot of practice."
Linebacker Darius Harris
On FIU's rushing offense:
"It's going to come down to tackling. Their running backs are good, but we need to do a better job at tackling. We had a lot of missed tackles this past week and we need to get that cleaned up."
On FIU's offense compared to FAU and Marshall:
"We can't overlook anyone in conference, so we try to take it one week at a time. It's always a dogfight and we expect this game to be one as well."
On how the players have implemented halftime adjustments:
"We do whatever it takes to win. When we come into the locker room and know that something needs to be changed, it's on all of us to make those adjustments."
On how MT plans to have a better first half:
"It's starts tomorrow with our preparation. We have to learn the game plan and just come out with more focus and more energy so we don't have to play from behind."
Head Coach Rick Stockstill
Opening statement:
"Another exciting week and another challenge for our football team. As we evaluate FIU I think it's probably the best FIU team we've played in a long time. You look at them from a statistical standpoint, they do a great job running the football. They're throwing the football very efficiently. They're second in the conference in scoring and they are just really good on both sides of the ball. They haven't given up a lot of points and they're good in the kicking game in every facet. Going down there, we've got our work cut out for us. We have to have a great week of preparation because this is a really good football team. Coach Davis and his staff are doing a great job there developing their program. They're going to have great athletes and they're very fast. They make you earn everything you get so it's going to be a heck of a challenge for us but one that we're going to be excited and ready for."
On how they're using the extra day off:
"We got back so late from Marshall. It'll help us from a giving them an extra day because we were a day short last. Saturday was the players day off so I'm sure they just laid around and watched TV and got off their legs a little bit and we practiced yesterday. As coaches we came in on Saturday and watched the film of the Marshall game and then started game planning for FIU. Were in a pretty good routine right now as a team with preparation and how we're taking care of our bodies."
On if he's talked to Chandler Brewer and Matt Bonadies:
"I have not talked to either of them. Neither practiced yesterday so we'll have a better idea of their availability tomorrow as we get into the rest of the week if they're going to be able to contribute anything on Saturday."
On what FIU's QB does so well to be efficient:
"Well he has good players around him. He does a good job. He's a transfer from Bowling Green. In the two years we've played them, he did not play in either of those games. He runs their offense with what they like for him to do. He throws the ball really well. He doesn't appear to be a scrambler with the ball. He moves around in the pocket well but he doesn't present that threat of pulling the ball down and running. But I'm very impressed with what he's done this year."
On FIU's running game:
"I think they're leading the conference in rushing. So anytime you can run the ball it takes pressure off of the quarterback. They're very balanced right now. It starts defensively because we've got to stop the run which we have been very poor at. The first three games, we were very poor at it. In the second half of the FAU game we were very good at it. We just have to be a little bit more consistent defensively in stopping the run. They're probably going to come in and try to establish the run so we've got to do a good job defensively."
On coming out of the game better in the first half:
"We started this game better defensively. In the past four they've taken the opening drive for a score. We stopped them on that first drive and on the second or third drive we had a couple of defensive penalties that led to them scoring. But we've just got to play better and I don't know the adjustment part of all that. Our coaches have done a great job and I'll give credit to our players, they've corrected themselves throughout the course of the game. Every game you play, every offense is going to present something new that you haven't practiced. So those are the in-game adjustments that you have to be ready to make and I think our players have done a great job of that and obviously our coaches have too."
On the amount of penalties against Marshall:
"We just have to play smarter. On one, we took a delay of game at the end on the punt to run more clock. So really we had 10. And like we all know, the pre and post snap penalties kill you. That's what hurt us. We have to play more discipline and our mental intensity has to be better than what it was. The emotions of the game can't dictate how you play. And I think that's what happened in some of those instances. If it continues then you worry about it as a coach. We've done a great job the first four games of not doing it. I've got all of the confidence in our players that it's not going to continue."
On if there's any fear of his team being tired:
"Get off the field, stay on the field. Offensively stay on the field, defensively get off the field. We played some really good offenses. Tennessee Martin is a good offense, Georgia was a good offense, and Vanderbilt was a good offense when we played them. Especially the tempo type teams that you play in Florida Atlantic and in Marshall, we knew there was going to be a lot of plays. The way you can reduce those plays is to get off the field. Our defensive guys are doing a good job during the course of the week of understanding that. I was worried going into the Marshall game than I will be going into the FIU game because you play Darius, Khalil, maybe Jovante, we had three or four guys on defense that also plays special teams that play 100 snaps in the FAU game. Then you turn around and you play another high tempo team on a day's less rest. So I was more worried about their legs and having to travel to Marshall than I am now with how they played 90 to 95 snaps again. They got an extra day in there to recover. But that's just the way football is now. But our guys do a great job taking care of their bodies throughout the week."
Quarterback Brent Stockstill
On FIU's defense"
"For the third week in a row, we're facing a really good defense that's really well coached. We play some difficult teams in this conference, and this is one of them. They're led by their linebackers and they do a great job with their zone coverage. As always, we'll have to have a great plan and execute it to be successful."
On the halftime locker room atmosphere:
"We have a very mature team and a great coaching staff. That's been the difference with this team. We've been down at the half two weeks in a row and there hasn't been any taking back and forth between teammates. We just use halftime to catch our breath and let our coaches tell us what adjustments to make. I think we're doing a good job of executing in the second half."
On how he's getting his team ready:
"I think our guys know how important this game is. No matter what conference you play in, it's going to be a battle every week. I think both teams will come out ready and excited to play."
On Angelo Owens' performance in relief of Chandler Brewer:
"I thought he did a great job. A lot of times, you don't know how those guys are going to react until they get thrown into the fire and have to step up. I thought Angelo did a great job and the offense didn't miss a beat. He did a great job though and the number two and three offensive linemen have been getting more reps to try and take a load off the first team."
On historical struggles with FIU:
"At least for the past two years, they've been a really good team. Coach Davis has done a great job with that program. It's always a dogfight in any conference game, but they play really well at home and it's always a tough test when we go down there. They're also a very experienced team, which is a credit to how that program is evolving."
On Ty Lee's recent success:
"He's been doing a great job all year. When you move a guy from the inside to the outside, it's harder to give him those easy touches. You can't throw him bubble and quick screens. He may not have as many catches, but he's getting the big 15 and 20 yard explosive plays. I just need to continue to get him the ball because he's doing a good job at getting open."
On his connections with Ty Lee:
"We both love to throw it over the top, but the past few weeks we've play real good corners. That's the beauty of throwing the vertical ball is if your guy wins you can throw it over the top and if doesn't, you can throw it back shoulder. That comes from a couple years of playing together and a lot of practice."
Linebacker Darius Harris
On FIU's rushing offense:
"It's going to come down to tackling. Their running backs are good, but we need to do a better job at tackling. We had a lot of missed tackles this past week and we need to get that cleaned up."
On FIU's offense compared to FAU and Marshall:
"We can't overlook anyone in conference, so we try to take it one week at a time. It's always a dogfight and we expect this game to be one as well."
On how the players have implemented halftime adjustments:
"We do whatever it takes to win. When we come into the locker room and know that something needs to be changed, it's on all of us to make those adjustments."
On how MT plans to have a better first half:
"It's starts tomorrow with our preparation. We have to learn the game plan and just come out with more focus and more energy so we don't have to play from behind."
Players Mentioned
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