JACKSONVILLE STATE GAME NOTES

Opening Comments:
“We had a very competitive game against Georgia State on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta. A lot of people thought it was more competitive than they thought it would be. You assume that somebody that is putting together a football team, that it lacks experience, but there were a lot of experienced players and coaches out there. They were very prepared and prepared some unique things for us. We ended up not having some consistency defensively. We were challenged and anyone that has that many penalties and turns the ball over is going to have a hard time getting it done. We have gone through some games where we have done enough things to keep us from winning and yet we find a way to win – primarily because of Marques (Ivory) directing last drives of the game. I think it's the best I have ever seen in any of the places I've been. But, If we keep playing like this, we won't survive it.”

“We are going into our league right now and anybody that has been around knows that we have eight chances to win or lose a football game. Historically, these games with Eastern Illinois are slim margins. We feel enormously challenged and Eastern Illinois is the only team on our schedule that we have a losing record against – meaning the tenure of me, the coaches and the players. We are minus-4 against them and last season it came down to the kicking game. They blocked a kick, returned a kick off for a touchdown and recovered an onside kick. I feel that I got out-coached in that area.”

“I think they come at us more than we expect and I think under these circumstances – they are frustrated and not used to be where they are right now. They can shift all those fortunes on how they play against us. Defensively, I think they are as good as they have been – maybe short of a couple of players. I saw them knocking Iowa backwards. On offense, they have not found their go-to guy yet.”

On the JSU special teams at Georgia State:
“It's not as bad as I thought it was after looking at the film. It wasn't a total breakdown; it's one or two of the 11. We are playing a lot of first-year players and maybe they haven't adjusted to the speed that you need to have. I don't see any reason why we can't be good on special teams. We don't lack the pieces, but we don't have it all put together.”

On Eastern Illinois' offense:
“They have an element in their offense like the pistol. It goes back to Nevada having it in their system. It's similar to a shot-gun I-formation. They have the players, I just think it's an offense that hasn't found its identity yet.

On having the target on the back to win the OVC:
“Hopefully, we have grown to accept the challenge. We don't need to get sky high for EIU because you are going to have your highs and lows. We need eight trips of consistency, for every peak there is a valley. This is right where we want to be and it's by no accident.”