JSU GAME NOTES (.pdf)

Opening Comments:
“We had a very tough football game against Murray State. It's very obvious that they are pretty good at what they do in just the first season in that system. We should be better as we go forward from this experience. We got behind early and I thought we had some special teams plays that helped us. They had 92 offensive plays and we had 57 plays. At one point, we had a 19-point lead and struggled keeping the lead and ended up in a very tight football game. If you give someone's offense the ball that many times it will end up tight. I think if we had reduced it to around 65 plays, then it would have been a different game. We were challenged and very fortunate to win the game. I will say this again – there are a lot of playmakers on this team and there are new and different ones each time we go out there. We have a challenge to move forward to another conference game. Conference games have an enormous challenge because each team knows each other so well. What I expect when we go play UT Martin is that running the ball and stopping the run will be the utmost importance. We have got to take care of the ball and try to get the ball away from them. The last two times we have been up there, they have run the ball against us better than anyone else in the league. We've missed an extra point, snapped the ball over the punter's head and failed on a fourth and inches. We haven't played very good football there, so this team is not that team and I don't expect that to be the case this year. I think our offensive line has played about as courageously as any group that I have seen in a while.”

On UT Martin playing last Thursday:
“It helps them a lot. I know for us physically, being able to play on a Thursday and having two extra days helps a lot. It also helps the coaches on preparation time. You have five games of film now, so with the way video systems are now, you can break that down in minutes. I'm sure they have an enormous book on us.”

On UT Martin:
“They will run and pass and are one of the most conceived offenses in this league. They will make you think run and throw and then make you think pass and run it. They will run at you in every area. They are a well-conceived offensive football team. You have to basically play everything all the time. They do good job of moving it around. They have run the ball more consistently on us than they have on anyone in this league.”

On what happened last year early in the game:
“Those interceptions were in third down situations and we were in a cover two. I think what helped is that we got them in third and long early in the game.”

On teams rotating quarterbacks:
“I think at some point and time you get past it and I don't think that will be the case this week. They have played five games with one guy. I do think we probably are a litmus test for a lot of people. I always have a pattern of getting the back up quarterback into the game.”