Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
MT vs. Florida Atlantic presser
9/24/2018 1:48:00 PM | Football
Kickoff Saturday is 6 PM
Quotes from today's football press conference, featuring comments from Head Coach Rick Stockstill, lineback Darius Harris and quarterback Brent Stockstill.
Head Coach Rick Stockstill
Opening statement:
"We've got FAU this weekend which is a really good team. Defending conference champ. Very talented, very athletic, and a very fast team. They have a lot of experience coming back on both sides of the ball. Offensively for them it starts with their running back. We've got to do a great job of slowing him down. He's a really dynamic running back and he's very special. He runs hard, physical, and fast. I think he had 130 yards and three touchdowns against us last year. They've got good skill people around him. They've got a quarterback who transferred from Oklahoma. Then their receivers, they can all run and stretch the field. They've got really good skill on offense. They're going to go fast and go sideline to sideline. We've got to be ready for trick plays and special plays. We've got to get lined up and get ready to go because this is a really talented offense we're facing. Defensively they've got a lot of guys back. They've got nine starters back from last year's team. Their secondary is very talented. They've got all-conference line backers that they had last year back. They got some new guys up front but again this is a very fast and physical defense that runs and chases the ball. With special teams, if you watched the UCF game Friday night, their second team running back returning kicks was really dynamic. So we have to have a good week of preparation in our kicking game and I know we will .So we're looking forward to this game. It's a good opportunity for us. We had a good practice yesterday and off today and we'll be ready to go tomorrow."
On how the bye week helped his team:
"The first three games took a toll on us from a physical standpoint. You come off playing the #2 team in the country, that's hard to do. So we practiced last Tuesday and Wednesday, and they were off Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Us as coaches, we went out and recruited and came back and practiced yesterday. We came back with a great mindset, fresh mentally, and ready to go. So I think it was good."
On if FAU's defense is better than what they've been playing:
"I think it is because the first game of the year, Oklahoma scored a bunch of points on them and they've scored a bunch of points on everybody. UCF is an explosive team. It was a 21-17 game at half time. Then UCF got a couple of touchdowns in the second half. But this is a really good defense. Then they play Bethune Cookman and Bethune put up some points. Bethune scored a couple of times in the fourth quarter to make it look a little closer than it was. You look at them from last year, they didn't give up a bunch of points in conference play last year, and they basically have the same guys back.
On what they're doing to adjust to FAU's tempo:
"I thought we got lined up last year after the first two series. Last year the headsets didn't work and with Coach Shafer in the box, we had a hard time communicating our defensive calls. We struggled a little bit early last year because of that. But they are fast. Their tempo is faster than ours. They do a really good job of after the play is over, they sprint the ball to the official and get it spotted and lined up as quick as they can. Our defense has practiced really well in the two practices last week and yesterday. We're going to try to go against each other offensively and defensively to simulate that pace. But it is hard to do in practice. But you've got to understand that you if you make a play you can't do any celebrating. You've got to get lined up and get your call and be ready to go. I don't have any doubt our defense will do a great job of adjusting to their tempo. We've got to have success on first down defensively. If we can have success on first down defensively, that always has a tendency to slow down an offense a little bit."
On what he's seen from FAU's QB in his first 4 starts:
"He's got good players around him. He's got great receivers and he's got that running back behind him. He looks like he's probably a little bit more athletic and better runner than what they had last year, so he can move around and extend plays. He's got a good arm. And seems to be a good decision maker. He had done a really good job from a decision making standpoint. He's an excellent football player. You don't sign at Oklahoma if you're not a good player.
On FAU's RB:
"Last year he was the best. He was the offensive player of the year. He's the best right now and he's leading the nation in scoring and touchdowns. He was third all-time in the history of college football for touchdowns in a season last year when he had 33. You don't score that many touchdowns unless you're good. So the last year and a half, he's been the best running back in this conference."
On what he tells his team heading into conference play:
"I told them last week when we got back, in the big scheme of things, these first three games really didn't mean anything. They don't count other than towards bowl eligibility. This is when it starts. This is the first one for both of us. A couple of teams have already played some conference games. It'd be nice to get off to a nice start as we start conference play. These are the ones that carry a bunch of weight."
On Coach Lane Kiffen:
"He's done a great job at FAU. A lot of respect to him as a football coach. He's done a great job. They had a good football team last year and a good football team this year."
Quarterback Brent Stockstill
On FAU's defense:
"I don't really look at the stats, but from the games I've watched and all the film I've studied, they're a really good defense. They were really good last year and they returned a lot of guys. They've got good linebackers and good guys up front, we we'll have our work cut out for us against this really good team."
On what he saw from the sidelines of last year's game:
"I thought John (Urzua) played a really good game with the exception of a couple plays. I was actually watching that film this morning and he played really tough and threw for a lot of yards. We got close a lot and had trouble scoring touchdowns and had to kick a couple field goals early on. Studying that game, I was really impressed by John. He's been loyal to me and I'd like to talk about him. He's still around the program and he does such a great job, he's such a humble kid."
On FAU's linebackers:
"Linebackers are two-way players, they're good against the run and the pass. I know (Azeez Al-Shaair) has been here as long as I have, which is crazy. I think he's been a four year starter and he's had something like 100+ tackles every year he's been there. He's the leader of the defense, and they play sideline to sideline. It's tough to get east/west on them because of their linebackers."
On the bye week:
"Going in to the season, everybody thought it was a little early for a bye week, but after the first few games that we had, it was good to sit back and get refreshed physically and mentally. I got to watch a lot of football, so I was excited to come back to practice yesterday. It's fun to get away from it and see how other people do it, and then get back to it. I feel refreshed."
On John Urzua's new role on the team:
"He was the backup for two years, and it's always a weird dynamic between the backup and the starter. You often see negativity surrounding that, but not with us. He was so loyal to me, I got banged up a couple times and he was ready to go. That's the kind of guy he is, a humble team player. He had to step away because of some injuries, but he's our signal guy now and he's there at every practice and every meeting just helping the younger guys just like he would if he was playing. Everybody still looks at him as if he were a quarterback and we all respect them as a big part of this program.
On how he spent his Saturday:
"In my recliner and watching a lot of football. I watched a lot of Friday night games and I didn't leave my seat on Saturday. It's fun being a fan sometimes. It's so stressful playing, so any time you can get an open date and spend a Saturday watching football, it's fun."
On entering conference play:
"Obviously you want to win every game you play, but these are the ones that matter. 1-2 wasn't how we wanted to start, but we have a chance to get off on the right foot in the conference this weekend. It's fun to know you have several conference games in a row so you can get locked in a rhythm. Each game is very important, you want to get locked in and on a roll and everybody loves that."
Linebacker Darius Harris
On facing FAU:
"The main thing is the tempo. They have a lot of good players on offense starting with their running back, and they do a good job with the tempo and catching you off guard before you can even call a play."
On making improvements in tackling:
"(FAU running back Devin Singletary) broke a lot of tackles against us, so we got after it on this off week and tried to perfect our tackling because we know it'll be a big thing now in conference play."
On last year's game against FAU:
"Their tempo was a big factor and the play calling malfunction. We want to start out fast this year, and we should be able to do that this year since we know what to expect."
On beginning conference play:
"It's like a new season for us. Everything we want to accomplish is still up for grabs despite our record right now."
On what a win would mean:
"It would be a big win just because it's our first conference game. Every conference game is a big game for us to get to our goal of a conference championship. It's against last year's conference champion too, which would make a win even better."
On what Coach Scott Shafer emphasized last week:
"Execution was a big emphasis because we went shells and full pads on a bye week. That's going to help us make better tackles and execute better on defense."
Head Coach Rick Stockstill
Opening statement:
"We've got FAU this weekend which is a really good team. Defending conference champ. Very talented, very athletic, and a very fast team. They have a lot of experience coming back on both sides of the ball. Offensively for them it starts with their running back. We've got to do a great job of slowing him down. He's a really dynamic running back and he's very special. He runs hard, physical, and fast. I think he had 130 yards and three touchdowns against us last year. They've got good skill people around him. They've got a quarterback who transferred from Oklahoma. Then their receivers, they can all run and stretch the field. They've got really good skill on offense. They're going to go fast and go sideline to sideline. We've got to be ready for trick plays and special plays. We've got to get lined up and get ready to go because this is a really talented offense we're facing. Defensively they've got a lot of guys back. They've got nine starters back from last year's team. Their secondary is very talented. They've got all-conference line backers that they had last year back. They got some new guys up front but again this is a very fast and physical defense that runs and chases the ball. With special teams, if you watched the UCF game Friday night, their second team running back returning kicks was really dynamic. So we have to have a good week of preparation in our kicking game and I know we will .So we're looking forward to this game. It's a good opportunity for us. We had a good practice yesterday and off today and we'll be ready to go tomorrow."
On how the bye week helped his team:
"The first three games took a toll on us from a physical standpoint. You come off playing the #2 team in the country, that's hard to do. So we practiced last Tuesday and Wednesday, and they were off Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Us as coaches, we went out and recruited and came back and practiced yesterday. We came back with a great mindset, fresh mentally, and ready to go. So I think it was good."
On if FAU's defense is better than what they've been playing:
"I think it is because the first game of the year, Oklahoma scored a bunch of points on them and they've scored a bunch of points on everybody. UCF is an explosive team. It was a 21-17 game at half time. Then UCF got a couple of touchdowns in the second half. But this is a really good defense. Then they play Bethune Cookman and Bethune put up some points. Bethune scored a couple of times in the fourth quarter to make it look a little closer than it was. You look at them from last year, they didn't give up a bunch of points in conference play last year, and they basically have the same guys back.
On what they're doing to adjust to FAU's tempo:
"I thought we got lined up last year after the first two series. Last year the headsets didn't work and with Coach Shafer in the box, we had a hard time communicating our defensive calls. We struggled a little bit early last year because of that. But they are fast. Their tempo is faster than ours. They do a really good job of after the play is over, they sprint the ball to the official and get it spotted and lined up as quick as they can. Our defense has practiced really well in the two practices last week and yesterday. We're going to try to go against each other offensively and defensively to simulate that pace. But it is hard to do in practice. But you've got to understand that you if you make a play you can't do any celebrating. You've got to get lined up and get your call and be ready to go. I don't have any doubt our defense will do a great job of adjusting to their tempo. We've got to have success on first down defensively. If we can have success on first down defensively, that always has a tendency to slow down an offense a little bit."
On what he's seen from FAU's QB in his first 4 starts:
"He's got good players around him. He's got great receivers and he's got that running back behind him. He looks like he's probably a little bit more athletic and better runner than what they had last year, so he can move around and extend plays. He's got a good arm. And seems to be a good decision maker. He had done a really good job from a decision making standpoint. He's an excellent football player. You don't sign at Oklahoma if you're not a good player.
On FAU's RB:
"Last year he was the best. He was the offensive player of the year. He's the best right now and he's leading the nation in scoring and touchdowns. He was third all-time in the history of college football for touchdowns in a season last year when he had 33. You don't score that many touchdowns unless you're good. So the last year and a half, he's been the best running back in this conference."
On what he tells his team heading into conference play:
"I told them last week when we got back, in the big scheme of things, these first three games really didn't mean anything. They don't count other than towards bowl eligibility. This is when it starts. This is the first one for both of us. A couple of teams have already played some conference games. It'd be nice to get off to a nice start as we start conference play. These are the ones that carry a bunch of weight."
On Coach Lane Kiffen:
"He's done a great job at FAU. A lot of respect to him as a football coach. He's done a great job. They had a good football team last year and a good football team this year."
Quarterback Brent Stockstill
On FAU's defense:
"I don't really look at the stats, but from the games I've watched and all the film I've studied, they're a really good defense. They were really good last year and they returned a lot of guys. They've got good linebackers and good guys up front, we we'll have our work cut out for us against this really good team."
On what he saw from the sidelines of last year's game:
"I thought John (Urzua) played a really good game with the exception of a couple plays. I was actually watching that film this morning and he played really tough and threw for a lot of yards. We got close a lot and had trouble scoring touchdowns and had to kick a couple field goals early on. Studying that game, I was really impressed by John. He's been loyal to me and I'd like to talk about him. He's still around the program and he does such a great job, he's such a humble kid."
On FAU's linebackers:
"Linebackers are two-way players, they're good against the run and the pass. I know (Azeez Al-Shaair) has been here as long as I have, which is crazy. I think he's been a four year starter and he's had something like 100+ tackles every year he's been there. He's the leader of the defense, and they play sideline to sideline. It's tough to get east/west on them because of their linebackers."
On the bye week:
"Going in to the season, everybody thought it was a little early for a bye week, but after the first few games that we had, it was good to sit back and get refreshed physically and mentally. I got to watch a lot of football, so I was excited to come back to practice yesterday. It's fun to get away from it and see how other people do it, and then get back to it. I feel refreshed."
On John Urzua's new role on the team:
"He was the backup for two years, and it's always a weird dynamic between the backup and the starter. You often see negativity surrounding that, but not with us. He was so loyal to me, I got banged up a couple times and he was ready to go. That's the kind of guy he is, a humble team player. He had to step away because of some injuries, but he's our signal guy now and he's there at every practice and every meeting just helping the younger guys just like he would if he was playing. Everybody still looks at him as if he were a quarterback and we all respect them as a big part of this program.
On how he spent his Saturday:
"In my recliner and watching a lot of football. I watched a lot of Friday night games and I didn't leave my seat on Saturday. It's fun being a fan sometimes. It's so stressful playing, so any time you can get an open date and spend a Saturday watching football, it's fun."
On entering conference play:
"Obviously you want to win every game you play, but these are the ones that matter. 1-2 wasn't how we wanted to start, but we have a chance to get off on the right foot in the conference this weekend. It's fun to know you have several conference games in a row so you can get locked in a rhythm. Each game is very important, you want to get locked in and on a roll and everybody loves that."
Linebacker Darius Harris
On facing FAU:
"The main thing is the tempo. They have a lot of good players on offense starting with their running back, and they do a good job with the tempo and catching you off guard before you can even call a play."
On making improvements in tackling:
"(FAU running back Devin Singletary) broke a lot of tackles against us, so we got after it on this off week and tried to perfect our tackling because we know it'll be a big thing now in conference play."
On last year's game against FAU:
"Their tempo was a big factor and the play calling malfunction. We want to start out fast this year, and we should be able to do that this year since we know what to expect."
On beginning conference play:
"It's like a new season for us. Everything we want to accomplish is still up for grabs despite our record right now."
On what a win would mean:
"It would be a big win just because it's our first conference game. Every conference game is a big game for us to get to our goal of a conference championship. It's against last year's conference champion too, which would make a win even better."
On what Coach Scott Shafer emphasized last week:
"Execution was a big emphasis because we went shells and full pads on a bye week. That's going to help us make better tackles and execute better on defense."
Players Mentioned
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