Bobcat Tuesday Press Conference, 10/23/07
10/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Bobcat Tuesday Press Conference – October 16, 2007
BOBCAT COACH ROB ASH
How do you prepare going into this game?
RA: I think what we try to do is look at the video and see what we see, you know when we evaluate the team and watch and get prepared for practice we break down the tapes and so we’ll watch how they defend formations and how they defend down distance situations and how they defend the field and so you end up looking at plays and portions of their schemes as opposed to looking at the final score and so it’s easy to close that out and I think it’s important to close that out and to prepare just like we always prepare.
Did you see last year’s game that was here?
RA: I watched it last summer. I haven’t watched it this year yet, but I’ve decided this year to spend my time on the current games and that’s been my philosophy this year so far. But we have referred to it a few times, last year’s game.
Is the Northern Colorado defense going more to a blitzing man style rather than zone in effort to create some things?
RA: I think that’s probably right. They wanted to be a cover two team, that looked to us like their base, and they still play some cover two. But, now they’re starting to mix in some more pressure and man free trying, to be more multiple, and yeah, trying to get more people stopped and they’re doing a good job at it. I mean, if you watched any of their games, more than half the plays, two-thirds of the plays are plays that are stopped dead at the line of scrimmage. It’s just that there are some other plays that are successful and so in this type of the game it’s important for us to realize that we’re not going to get in a drive where we’re going to be real methodical, probably go down four yards that are cracked down the field, that probably won’t happen. They’ll make their plays. We have to hope we can find a way to make our plays too, but it will be hit and miss.
They seem to come and play harder every week even though they’re not having success, have you had a team like this before?
RA: For better or worse I did have a season like this once back in Pennsylvania and I… one line I’ve always said is that probably the two worst experiences in athletics are an undefeated season and then a winless season because you need to deal with both success and adversity to have a truly comprehensive experience in sports. If I had to choose I’d take the undefeated season over the winless season, (laughter) but back in Pennsylvania, I think it was 1981 or ’82, we won our first game of the season and then there was a mononucleosis outbreak in our county and we lost 22 players for the season and so we ended up losing eight games in a row and then we won our final game of the season, and that final win was one of the best victories that I’ve ever experienced in my coaching career. Coming off of that terrible mid-year, and it was very, very difficult, very difficult throughout the season, practices were hard, guys were discouraged and you do have to try to find different ways to motivate, try to find answers, and you know, habits form and you have to try to break those habits and I totally sympathize with what Scott (Downing) is going through right now. I have been there and I know it’s the most difficult, trying thing a guy in any profession could go through. I just hope it’s not this week that they get their breakthrough, (laughter) their breakthrough victory, because I know how important that kind of thing is.
The team played well in the second half, what’s one thing you would like to see improved this week?
RA: Let me make this comment first. To me the fascinating part about this game is how offense and defense and even the kicking game are so inter-connected. You know, in the first half there were three consecutive drives where Sac State had (drives) of 10, 11, and 12 (plays) on the drives and we meanwhile had drives of 3, 6, and 3 on plays. That combination just was the reason why we had no points (in the first half), I mean it wasn’t just the fact that defense was allowing some yards, it was a combination. We couldn’t get a drive to get our defense time on the sideline, they couldn’t get (off the field) so we could get right back there on offense, and then in the second half it completely flip-flopped where the offense had a couple of long drives and then the defense got a three and out and the offense was right back out there again, defense gets a three and out, offense goes out again, now the momentum gradually changes. Those two are inter-connected and I think that’s what really happened in the game. As far as fixes go, it still comes down to the red zone. We have to get the ball in the end zone. We’ve got to have touchdowns when we get down there. I think we’re close, looking at the tape. We had numerous opportunities: one guy missing a block, one guy missing a route, whatever it might be. One of these days I promise you we’re going to break out and be effective in the red zone. I hope it’s pretty soon.
Do you have to hit home that you can’t look at Northern Colorado’s record, or is that something the guys know, that they’re going to have to show up?
RA: I think the situation we’re in right now with, their backs to the wall, should help us a lot. Last year’s game should help us a lot, the fact that Northern Colorado played us so tough, and just the fact that we’ve played close games, here against Southern Utah who had no wins and against Sacramento State who had one win, I think that should get our attention, all of those things should, so I’m expecting a good week of preparation and good focus.
Talk about the Big Sky conference, how you only have one loss and your backs are to the wall.
RA: You know, I was thinking about this the other day, if we had no losses our backs would be to the wall also, and I think everybody’s back is to the wall every day in this conference and you have to win all your games. You have to win every game you have a chance to win. If you happen to lose one then you have to go win the next one and so there’s not really any difference there. You never can afford to lose a game and you’re right about the parody. I keep thinking about that tape between Sac State and Northern Arizona. Here’s Northern Arizona having a great season, they’ve only lost one game in the league so far and that was to Sac State 38-9 and that’s their only win of the season and that was a complete dismantling by Sac State over Northern Arizona. I know anything can happen any week in this conference.
What is your quarterback situation going into Tuesday?
RA: Jack’s going to practice and Cory will practice so they’ll both get time on Tuesday together. On Wednesday Cory has a class so Jack will get a lot of time to kind of make-up, catch-up I guess from being out last week. Thursday they’ll both practice again and then a lot of the decision about playing time will be based on Jack’s health, how he feels, how his shoulder feels and what the trainers tell us about his risk factor is for banging up that shoulder again.
What is your philosophy on an injured player?
RA: My philosophy on injuries is, and I’ve told the team this, a player doesn’t lose his job because of an injury, but he doesn’t automatically get it back after he’s injured either. What it depends on is how well his back-up plays in his absence and if the back-up surpasses the injured player in his performance while that injured player is out then he’ll be ahead of him when the injured player comes back. So we evaluate, we give that player a chance when he comes in to earn the job by actually showing us what he can do on the field and we have to make a comparison between his current performance and the performance of the player when he was injured.
Are you waiting for Jack to be 100% before you can make that decision?
RA: Right, and I think that’s a consideration and I have to talk to the trainers, Jack and Coach Svoboda and see what everyone wants to do, but one of the potential scenarios would be for Jack to take another week potentially and not play and not get that shoulder banged up because the worst case scenario (is) to get into next week and have Jack back where he was two weeks ago. If he’s at risk then it would be less likely that he would play. If he’s not at risk then it’s more open for a decision about who’s going to play.
Corey started a little rusty on Saturday, but it seemed like he quickly got into it, is that because he has played and he has started?
RA: You’re right on that and Corey would tell you the same thing. He had a lot of confidence in this game because he has started here before and he’s quarterbacked winning games before and he was comfortable out there on the field. He’s been in that stadium before. All that made a huge difference for him going out there as opposed to someone who maybe had never started in prior days, and I thought he did a great job. His presence in the pocket was exceptional. He stayed in there, hung in there, got through his reads and delivered the ball decisively and accurately and those were things we expected he could do. You know, there are still some things we need to work on, some of the deep balls and some of the execution with the play action passing and so forth. You know, like anybody, he’s not perfect, but he played an awfully good game.
What’s the latest on the other Kory…Austin?
RA: Kory’s still day to day. We’re hoping he can get through this ankle (injury) and we’ll take him to Northern Colorado and hope he’ll play. I don’t expect he’ll practice much this week.
What have you seen on tape of Northern Colorado’s offense?
RA: What we’ve seen on tape is that they’re very big and strong and physical up front. They have big linemen, big tight ends, shoot, their quarterbacks are big. Their quarterbacks are as big as some of our linemen, and they’re good players, and then their running backs are smaller, one in particular and so it’s hard to find him back there, and they do a good job of knocking you off the ball. We’re very committed to trying to stop their running game. We know that’s going to be a key to this contest, and their size.. you know, our defense is built for speed and they’re built for size and so it will be that matchup of their size against our smaller, quicker guys, and we’ll see how that plays out.
How did Corey (Carpenter) take on the backup role at quarterback after starting last year?
RA: I thought Corey handled it extremely well, he never complained, he never knocked on my door, walked in and said, “Hey, why am I not the quarterback?” He always practiced well and hard and listened and tried to get better. The number two gets less reps than number one in practice and so that was a potential difficulty, but he never complained about that either. I thought he was a great team player throughout this whole time and I think he knew that he was ready and he would be fine if he had to go out there. He was hoping, I think, deep down inside, that he would get a chance sometime, but he also was a team guy and he knew that Jack was playing well and we were winning, so he just assumed his role and the best thing is that as a backup. We try to tell backups all the time, just like Eric Fisher did in the kicking, Corey did it as a quarterback, when your opportunity comes you have to be ready and both of them were ready when their opportunity arrived.
What about the struggling running game?
RA: You know, the running game is about two things. It’s about the matchups, the physical matchups and then it’s about the scheme and the commitment of the other team to stop the run. When you play man-to-man defense you get an extra guy in the box and that makes it tough from a scheme standpoint to run. What we have to do is, it still comes back to being able to win against man-to-man coverage, force people into zones and then we’ll be better able to run the football. We also are struggling at time with matchups because the defensive fronts we’ve played all season long have been extremely good, tough physical fronts in terms of their linemen and linebackers and that’s still a challenge for us.
BOBCAT TIGHT END BRANDON BOSTICK
Even though Northern Colorado’s record isn’t good, talk about how important it is to come out and perform in practice.
BB: You’ve got to prepare every week almost the same, not depending on who your opponent is. Just do your thing. Even though they haven’t won a game this year they still have the capability on Saturday to be anybody at any given time. We’ve got to prepare that way, to play the best we can.
UNC gave you guys as good a battle as anybody last year, so you know you have to be ready to play.
BB: Exactly. And you’ve got to practice that way, that they’re going to give you the best game they’ve got. Every week’s that way, everybody’s going to come out and give us their best game.
The tight ends are getting the ball this year, and when you do you’re making plays.
BB: It’s real great with Coach Ploessl including us in the offense as much as he has this year. We’ve both been getting a lot of balls and we have been making good plays with them. We’ve both been getting within five, 10 plays of each other every game, so we’re both getting equal reps.
You (tight ends) hold yourselves to a high standard in practice, does that push you?
BB: It’s a good thing that we’re both (Bostick and Elliott Barnhart) as confident as we are so that we’ve got each other to push. If (the other player) can take your spot at any given time, that makes you want to do as good as you can every day to keep that position. And we do hold a pretty high standard. When we do drop a ball we get pretty upset with ourselves. And it’s nothing against anyone else, we just expect to catch anything. I guess that’s a good standard to hold.
Do you enjoy the versatile role the TE plays in this offense?
BB: I like doing everything that Coach Ploessl has put in the offense this year. The motion stuff, that’s just another factor that keeps the defense on their toes and they don’t really know exactly what’s coming. I think Coach Ploessl has done a real good job of involving Elliott and I in the whole offense.
Do you take pride in run blocking?
BB: Personally I take a lot of pride in the fact that I can run block as well as go out on routes and catch the ball, too, and Elliott does a good job of that, too. That’s why we’ve done a lot of two tight end sets, because we’re both pretty versatile at both run-blocking and (running) routes, catching the ball.
What have you seen on film from Northern Colorado’s defense?
BB: Coach Arnold was telling us this morning they started off more as a zone team, and in the last couple weeks they’ve gone to more of a man team with lots of blitzing. So, we’re expecting a lot of blitzes, but it’s kind of up in the air at this moment of what we’re going to be seeing.
Talk about pass protecting against Sac State’s blitzes last week.
BB: Every team’s different and they have different playmakers, so you just have to practice every week for what schemes that team brings in. That’s what for Sac State, and I think we did pretty well blocking their blitzes all game.
Do you feel like you’re prepared for anything at this point?
BB: I think we do a real good job adjusting to what we see during a game if it’s something we haven’t seen on film, be it halftime or on the sideline. We do a real good job of communicating with the coaches what we are seeing on the field and what to do to block that scheme.
BOBCAT QUARTERBACK CORY CARPENTER
How do you cope with being the backup?
CC: You can’t just sit and sulk about it, you’ve got to be able to move forward and still provide the energy and enthusiasm as the number two guy. Obviously you don’t get as many plays as the number one, but that’s OK. The quarterback position, there’s only one guy on the field, you’re one guy away from going in.
As the backup quarterback do you have the feeling that you have to be prepared at any time?
CC: Jack and I last spring suffered the same injury so that kind of took our armor down just a little bit more. The season’s a long season, the quarterback position takes a few shots here and there, and you’re probably going to get a shot to be on the field.
How important is the team’s depth?
CC: It’s huge. If you’ve got guys that can step on the field in a backup role, that’s absolutely huge. That’s something we’ve had throughout the last few years.
How have you kept your head in it? Do you have to keep the attitude that you’re the starter?
CC: I wouldn’t say that every single practice I am like that, to be honest with you, but that’s the notion you have to go into it with, Hey, I’m one snap away. Like in Eastern Washington, Jack gets through the first half just fine, played pretty good, then one hit and he’s done. So you have to be ready at any moment.
Does the uncertainty of who’s the starting quarterback drive you, push you?
CC: I think it does. You just come into practice and give it your best.
How has it been to learn this offense? Was it a difficult change?
CC: The biggest learning curve to get over was the terminology. X’s and O’s are X’s and O’s, a post is a post, a corner is a corner, a hitch is a hitch. Being a fifth year senior and being able to be around a lot of football for quite some time, Jack and I were both pretty able to grasp the concepts of this offense.
You and Jack Rolovich are both fifth-year seniors, how has Coach Svoboda worked with you guys? Has he tried to fix anything?
CC: He’s tried to get rid of some bad habits that we’ve picked up. He’s come in and done a fantastic job working with all of us quarterbacks. He’s just done a really good job.
Did he find anything that you slipped into that he’s helped you work out?
CC: Just to make quicker reads. I can still make the read, but to be bang-bang-bang, ball’s gone. Things like that.
Has your ability to move in the pocket and buy time with your feet helped?
CC: That helps. Any time you can buy an extra beat to keep your eyes downfield is very beneficial.
What do you see from Northern Colorado on film?
CC: It looks like they’re bringing a lot of pressure. That’s OK. We’ve got to (use that as a) challenge, the O-line has to pick it up, we’ve got to throw, do what we do.
What’s it like to get back on the field and be ‘The Guy’ from a mental standpoint?
CC: It felt great to get back there on the field, it felt good to actually have fun, and I’m not saying I don’t have fun in practice, but it’s a totally different thing as soon as you step on the field.
Is the possibility of not playing just part of the territory of playing quarterback?
CC: Like I said earlier, the quarterback position, there’s only one guy on the field at a time. It’s hard, but you just say, What can I do to get better, what can I do to make the starter better, and just go from there.
Does facing Sac State’s pressure prepare you for what you might see this week?
CC: Definitely. Game experience is absolutely huge, and being able to play a full game, just a few snaps, actually, would make you better for the next week.
Do you feel any ill-effects from last year’s injury?
CC: I’m completely healed. You might feel a little soreness from day to day, or when the weather comes rolling in, but other than that I’m good to go.
PUNTER/KICKER ERIC FISHER
How did you feel making that first field goal, knowing you were contributing right away?
EF: It felt good. Any time you can help a team that’s kind of struggling and get the momentum back, it feels good. Obviously it worked, because we took the momentum and ran with it.
Has coach talked to you about your status this week?
EF: I watched it last summer. I haven’t watched it this year yet, but I’ve decided this year to spend my time on the current games and that’s been my philosophy this year so far. But we have referred to it a few times, last year’s game.
How did you prepare going into this game, regarding handling all the punting and kicking?
EF: For this week that’s the plan, and I guess we’ll go week to week and see how my leg holds up.
How did you approach the field goal situation after losing the job in week one?
EF: It was just the same mentality. You can’t get down on yourself too much or think bad things about the guy that took your job. I wish the best for Sweeney and he was doing a great job and I know exactly what he’s going through this week. He’ll recover just like I did. It’ll happen.
How much does knowing the kicking job is a week-to-week decision play into your thinking?
EF: It plays in a little bit. Coach told me it’s my job to lose, but I like to think that it’s my job to keep. It’s now my job and I have it and I’m going to do the best I can. We’ll see how it goes.
What’s the mentality of being the guy that can swing a game one way or the other?
EF: It’s a key position, but at the same time we’re still a role player. We’re not the star player going out there being expected or being looked upon for key plays or anything like that. We’re expected to do our job, and as long as we do we’re under the radar and when we don’t we kind of get made fun of a little bit (laughs).
Knowing the defense is playing well, do you guys look at it as the next field goal might stand up as the winner?
EF: The way the defense has been playing, especially when the offense is struggling, it’s been nice to know that if we can get down and get a field goal, our defense will hold them, that will hold up. Our offense will start putting points on the board, it will happen, and hopefully get me a lot of PATs instead of field goals.
What’s the mentality like in a low-scoring game for you?
EF: Any time in a low-scoring game that comes down to field goals, it’s not just field goals that come into play, it’s field position, as well, the punting and kickoffs and kick coverage. Our team did a great job of covering. I didn’t do a great job of punting, could have done better, but our guys did a great job of covering that thing, and I think we gave up five or six yards a return per punt return, so they’re doing a great job.
Talk about how important field position is.
EF: Field position is one of the biggest parts of the game that goes kind of unnoticed, that people don’t really think about. There are hidden yards in there. If we get a good return off a punt and then offense doesn’t do anything and we get a good punt and they cover it real well and their offense doesn’t do anything and our defense plays well, there can be a 20-yard swing in field position right there that can help our offense out on the next drive.
How do you practice, do you try to practice punting, kickoffs and place kicking the same amount?
EF: I just keep the same amount of time on all three. I don’t really want to wear my leg out doing too much of one thing and not enough of another because that one can start falling apart a little bit. If I’m struggling in one area I might work on that a little bit more, but for the most part I keep practice time distributed pretty evenly, just trying to get the same amount of kicks every week.
What’s the longest field goal you’ve ever kicked?
EF: In practice, 55 or 60, in a game it was Saturday (32 yards), for college, and in a game situation I think I had a 50-yarder in the spring scrimmage.
BOBCAT COACH ROB ASH
How do you prepare going into this game?
RA: I think what we try to do is look at the video and see what we see, you know when we evaluate the team and watch and get prepared for practice we break down the tapes and so we’ll watch how they defend formations and how they defend down distance situations and how they defend the field and so you end up looking at plays and portions of their schemes as opposed to looking at the final score and so it’s easy to close that out and I think it’s important to close that out and to prepare just like we always prepare.
Did you see last year’s game that was here?
RA: I watched it last summer. I haven’t watched it this year yet, but I’ve decided this year to spend my time on the current games and that’s been my philosophy this year so far. But we have referred to it a few times, last year’s game.
Is the Northern Colorado defense going more to a blitzing man style rather than zone in effort to create some things?
RA: I think that’s probably right. They wanted to be a cover two team, that looked to us like their base, and they still play some cover two. But, now they’re starting to mix in some more pressure and man free trying, to be more multiple, and yeah, trying to get more people stopped and they’re doing a good job at it. I mean, if you watched any of their games, more than half the plays, two-thirds of the plays are plays that are stopped dead at the line of scrimmage. It’s just that there are some other plays that are successful and so in this type of the game it’s important for us to realize that we’re not going to get in a drive where we’re going to be real methodical, probably go down four yards that are cracked down the field, that probably won’t happen. They’ll make their plays. We have to hope we can find a way to make our plays too, but it will be hit and miss.
They seem to come and play harder every week even though they’re not having success, have you had a team like this before?
RA: For better or worse I did have a season like this once back in Pennsylvania and I… one line I’ve always said is that probably the two worst experiences in athletics are an undefeated season and then a winless season because you need to deal with both success and adversity to have a truly comprehensive experience in sports. If I had to choose I’d take the undefeated season over the winless season, (laughter) but back in Pennsylvania, I think it was 1981 or ’82, we won our first game of the season and then there was a mononucleosis outbreak in our county and we lost 22 players for the season and so we ended up losing eight games in a row and then we won our final game of the season, and that final win was one of the best victories that I’ve ever experienced in my coaching career. Coming off of that terrible mid-year, and it was very, very difficult, very difficult throughout the season, practices were hard, guys were discouraged and you do have to try to find different ways to motivate, try to find answers, and you know, habits form and you have to try to break those habits and I totally sympathize with what Scott (Downing) is going through right now. I have been there and I know it’s the most difficult, trying thing a guy in any profession could go through. I just hope it’s not this week that they get their breakthrough, (laughter) their breakthrough victory, because I know how important that kind of thing is.
The team played well in the second half, what’s one thing you would like to see improved this week?
RA: Let me make this comment first. To me the fascinating part about this game is how offense and defense and even the kicking game are so inter-connected. You know, in the first half there were three consecutive drives where Sac State had (drives) of 10, 11, and 12 (plays) on the drives and we meanwhile had drives of 3, 6, and 3 on plays. That combination just was the reason why we had no points (in the first half), I mean it wasn’t just the fact that defense was allowing some yards, it was a combination. We couldn’t get a drive to get our defense time on the sideline, they couldn’t get (off the field) so we could get right back there on offense, and then in the second half it completely flip-flopped where the offense had a couple of long drives and then the defense got a three and out and the offense was right back out there again, defense gets a three and out, offense goes out again, now the momentum gradually changes. Those two are inter-connected and I think that’s what really happened in the game. As far as fixes go, it still comes down to the red zone. We have to get the ball in the end zone. We’ve got to have touchdowns when we get down there. I think we’re close, looking at the tape. We had numerous opportunities: one guy missing a block, one guy missing a route, whatever it might be. One of these days I promise you we’re going to break out and be effective in the red zone. I hope it’s pretty soon.
Do you have to hit home that you can’t look at Northern Colorado’s record, or is that something the guys know, that they’re going to have to show up?
RA: I think the situation we’re in right now with, their backs to the wall, should help us a lot. Last year’s game should help us a lot, the fact that Northern Colorado played us so tough, and just the fact that we’ve played close games, here against Southern Utah who had no wins and against Sacramento State who had one win, I think that should get our attention, all of those things should, so I’m expecting a good week of preparation and good focus.
Talk about the Big Sky conference, how you only have one loss and your backs are to the wall.
RA: You know, I was thinking about this the other day, if we had no losses our backs would be to the wall also, and I think everybody’s back is to the wall every day in this conference and you have to win all your games. You have to win every game you have a chance to win. If you happen to lose one then you have to go win the next one and so there’s not really any difference there. You never can afford to lose a game and you’re right about the parody. I keep thinking about that tape between Sac State and Northern Arizona. Here’s Northern Arizona having a great season, they’ve only lost one game in the league so far and that was to Sac State 38-9 and that’s their only win of the season and that was a complete dismantling by Sac State over Northern Arizona. I know anything can happen any week in this conference.
What is your quarterback situation going into Tuesday?
RA: Jack’s going to practice and Cory will practice so they’ll both get time on Tuesday together. On Wednesday Cory has a class so Jack will get a lot of time to kind of make-up, catch-up I guess from being out last week. Thursday they’ll both practice again and then a lot of the decision about playing time will be based on Jack’s health, how he feels, how his shoulder feels and what the trainers tell us about his risk factor is for banging up that shoulder again.
What is your philosophy on an injured player?
RA: My philosophy on injuries is, and I’ve told the team this, a player doesn’t lose his job because of an injury, but he doesn’t automatically get it back after he’s injured either. What it depends on is how well his back-up plays in his absence and if the back-up surpasses the injured player in his performance while that injured player is out then he’ll be ahead of him when the injured player comes back. So we evaluate, we give that player a chance when he comes in to earn the job by actually showing us what he can do on the field and we have to make a comparison between his current performance and the performance of the player when he was injured.
Are you waiting for Jack to be 100% before you can make that decision?
RA: Right, and I think that’s a consideration and I have to talk to the trainers, Jack and Coach Svoboda and see what everyone wants to do, but one of the potential scenarios would be for Jack to take another week potentially and not play and not get that shoulder banged up because the worst case scenario (is) to get into next week and have Jack back where he was two weeks ago. If he’s at risk then it would be less likely that he would play. If he’s not at risk then it’s more open for a decision about who’s going to play.
Corey started a little rusty on Saturday, but it seemed like he quickly got into it, is that because he has played and he has started?
RA: You’re right on that and Corey would tell you the same thing. He had a lot of confidence in this game because he has started here before and he’s quarterbacked winning games before and he was comfortable out there on the field. He’s been in that stadium before. All that made a huge difference for him going out there as opposed to someone who maybe had never started in prior days, and I thought he did a great job. His presence in the pocket was exceptional. He stayed in there, hung in there, got through his reads and delivered the ball decisively and accurately and those were things we expected he could do. You know, there are still some things we need to work on, some of the deep balls and some of the execution with the play action passing and so forth. You know, like anybody, he’s not perfect, but he played an awfully good game.
What’s the latest on the other Kory…Austin?
RA: Kory’s still day to day. We’re hoping he can get through this ankle (injury) and we’ll take him to Northern Colorado and hope he’ll play. I don’t expect he’ll practice much this week.
What have you seen on tape of Northern Colorado’s offense?
RA: What we’ve seen on tape is that they’re very big and strong and physical up front. They have big linemen, big tight ends, shoot, their quarterbacks are big. Their quarterbacks are as big as some of our linemen, and they’re good players, and then their running backs are smaller, one in particular and so it’s hard to find him back there, and they do a good job of knocking you off the ball. We’re very committed to trying to stop their running game. We know that’s going to be a key to this contest, and their size.. you know, our defense is built for speed and they’re built for size and so it will be that matchup of their size against our smaller, quicker guys, and we’ll see how that plays out.
How did Corey (Carpenter) take on the backup role at quarterback after starting last year?
RA: I thought Corey handled it extremely well, he never complained, he never knocked on my door, walked in and said, “Hey, why am I not the quarterback?” He always practiced well and hard and listened and tried to get better. The number two gets less reps than number one in practice and so that was a potential difficulty, but he never complained about that either. I thought he was a great team player throughout this whole time and I think he knew that he was ready and he would be fine if he had to go out there. He was hoping, I think, deep down inside, that he would get a chance sometime, but he also was a team guy and he knew that Jack was playing well and we were winning, so he just assumed his role and the best thing is that as a backup. We try to tell backups all the time, just like Eric Fisher did in the kicking, Corey did it as a quarterback, when your opportunity comes you have to be ready and both of them were ready when their opportunity arrived.
What about the struggling running game?
RA: You know, the running game is about two things. It’s about the matchups, the physical matchups and then it’s about the scheme and the commitment of the other team to stop the run. When you play man-to-man defense you get an extra guy in the box and that makes it tough from a scheme standpoint to run. What we have to do is, it still comes back to being able to win against man-to-man coverage, force people into zones and then we’ll be better able to run the football. We also are struggling at time with matchups because the defensive fronts we’ve played all season long have been extremely good, tough physical fronts in terms of their linemen and linebackers and that’s still a challenge for us.
BOBCAT TIGHT END BRANDON BOSTICK
Even though Northern Colorado’s record isn’t good, talk about how important it is to come out and perform in practice.
BB: You’ve got to prepare every week almost the same, not depending on who your opponent is. Just do your thing. Even though they haven’t won a game this year they still have the capability on Saturday to be anybody at any given time. We’ve got to prepare that way, to play the best we can.
UNC gave you guys as good a battle as anybody last year, so you know you have to be ready to play.
BB: Exactly. And you’ve got to practice that way, that they’re going to give you the best game they’ve got. Every week’s that way, everybody’s going to come out and give us their best game.
The tight ends are getting the ball this year, and when you do you’re making plays.
BB: It’s real great with Coach Ploessl including us in the offense as much as he has this year. We’ve both been getting a lot of balls and we have been making good plays with them. We’ve both been getting within five, 10 plays of each other every game, so we’re both getting equal reps.
You (tight ends) hold yourselves to a high standard in practice, does that push you?
BB: It’s a good thing that we’re both (Bostick and Elliott Barnhart) as confident as we are so that we’ve got each other to push. If (the other player) can take your spot at any given time, that makes you want to do as good as you can every day to keep that position. And we do hold a pretty high standard. When we do drop a ball we get pretty upset with ourselves. And it’s nothing against anyone else, we just expect to catch anything. I guess that’s a good standard to hold.
Do you enjoy the versatile role the TE plays in this offense?
BB: I like doing everything that Coach Ploessl has put in the offense this year. The motion stuff, that’s just another factor that keeps the defense on their toes and they don’t really know exactly what’s coming. I think Coach Ploessl has done a real good job of involving Elliott and I in the whole offense.
Do you take pride in run blocking?
BB: Personally I take a lot of pride in the fact that I can run block as well as go out on routes and catch the ball, too, and Elliott does a good job of that, too. That’s why we’ve done a lot of two tight end sets, because we’re both pretty versatile at both run-blocking and (running) routes, catching the ball.
What have you seen on film from Northern Colorado’s defense?
BB: Coach Arnold was telling us this morning they started off more as a zone team, and in the last couple weeks they’ve gone to more of a man team with lots of blitzing. So, we’re expecting a lot of blitzes, but it’s kind of up in the air at this moment of what we’re going to be seeing.
Talk about pass protecting against Sac State’s blitzes last week.
BB: Every team’s different and they have different playmakers, so you just have to practice every week for what schemes that team brings in. That’s what for Sac State, and I think we did pretty well blocking their blitzes all game.
Do you feel like you’re prepared for anything at this point?
BB: I think we do a real good job adjusting to what we see during a game if it’s something we haven’t seen on film, be it halftime or on the sideline. We do a real good job of communicating with the coaches what we are seeing on the field and what to do to block that scheme.
BOBCAT QUARTERBACK CORY CARPENTER
How do you cope with being the backup?
CC: You can’t just sit and sulk about it, you’ve got to be able to move forward and still provide the energy and enthusiasm as the number two guy. Obviously you don’t get as many plays as the number one, but that’s OK. The quarterback position, there’s only one guy on the field, you’re one guy away from going in.
As the backup quarterback do you have the feeling that you have to be prepared at any time?
CC: Jack and I last spring suffered the same injury so that kind of took our armor down just a little bit more. The season’s a long season, the quarterback position takes a few shots here and there, and you’re probably going to get a shot to be on the field.
How important is the team’s depth?
CC: It’s huge. If you’ve got guys that can step on the field in a backup role, that’s absolutely huge. That’s something we’ve had throughout the last few years.
How have you kept your head in it? Do you have to keep the attitude that you’re the starter?
CC: I wouldn’t say that every single practice I am like that, to be honest with you, but that’s the notion you have to go into it with, Hey, I’m one snap away. Like in Eastern Washington, Jack gets through the first half just fine, played pretty good, then one hit and he’s done. So you have to be ready at any moment.
Does the uncertainty of who’s the starting quarterback drive you, push you?
CC: I think it does. You just come into practice and give it your best.
How has it been to learn this offense? Was it a difficult change?
CC: The biggest learning curve to get over was the terminology. X’s and O’s are X’s and O’s, a post is a post, a corner is a corner, a hitch is a hitch. Being a fifth year senior and being able to be around a lot of football for quite some time, Jack and I were both pretty able to grasp the concepts of this offense.
You and Jack Rolovich are both fifth-year seniors, how has Coach Svoboda worked with you guys? Has he tried to fix anything?
CC: He’s tried to get rid of some bad habits that we’ve picked up. He’s come in and done a fantastic job working with all of us quarterbacks. He’s just done a really good job.
Did he find anything that you slipped into that he’s helped you work out?
CC: Just to make quicker reads. I can still make the read, but to be bang-bang-bang, ball’s gone. Things like that.
Has your ability to move in the pocket and buy time with your feet helped?
CC: That helps. Any time you can buy an extra beat to keep your eyes downfield is very beneficial.
What do you see from Northern Colorado on film?
CC: It looks like they’re bringing a lot of pressure. That’s OK. We’ve got to (use that as a) challenge, the O-line has to pick it up, we’ve got to throw, do what we do.
What’s it like to get back on the field and be ‘The Guy’ from a mental standpoint?
CC: It felt great to get back there on the field, it felt good to actually have fun, and I’m not saying I don’t have fun in practice, but it’s a totally different thing as soon as you step on the field.
Is the possibility of not playing just part of the territory of playing quarterback?
CC: Like I said earlier, the quarterback position, there’s only one guy on the field at a time. It’s hard, but you just say, What can I do to get better, what can I do to make the starter better, and just go from there.
Does facing Sac State’s pressure prepare you for what you might see this week?
CC: Definitely. Game experience is absolutely huge, and being able to play a full game, just a few snaps, actually, would make you better for the next week.
Do you feel any ill-effects from last year’s injury?
CC: I’m completely healed. You might feel a little soreness from day to day, or when the weather comes rolling in, but other than that I’m good to go.
PUNTER/KICKER ERIC FISHER
How did you feel making that first field goal, knowing you were contributing right away?
EF: It felt good. Any time you can help a team that’s kind of struggling and get the momentum back, it feels good. Obviously it worked, because we took the momentum and ran with it.
Has coach talked to you about your status this week?
EF: I watched it last summer. I haven’t watched it this year yet, but I’ve decided this year to spend my time on the current games and that’s been my philosophy this year so far. But we have referred to it a few times, last year’s game.
How did you prepare going into this game, regarding handling all the punting and kicking?
EF: For this week that’s the plan, and I guess we’ll go week to week and see how my leg holds up.
How did you approach the field goal situation after losing the job in week one?
EF: It was just the same mentality. You can’t get down on yourself too much or think bad things about the guy that took your job. I wish the best for Sweeney and he was doing a great job and I know exactly what he’s going through this week. He’ll recover just like I did. It’ll happen.
How much does knowing the kicking job is a week-to-week decision play into your thinking?
EF: It plays in a little bit. Coach told me it’s my job to lose, but I like to think that it’s my job to keep. It’s now my job and I have it and I’m going to do the best I can. We’ll see how it goes.
What’s the mentality of being the guy that can swing a game one way or the other?
EF: It’s a key position, but at the same time we’re still a role player. We’re not the star player going out there being expected or being looked upon for key plays or anything like that. We’re expected to do our job, and as long as we do we’re under the radar and when we don’t we kind of get made fun of a little bit (laughs).
Knowing the defense is playing well, do you guys look at it as the next field goal might stand up as the winner?
EF: The way the defense has been playing, especially when the offense is struggling, it’s been nice to know that if we can get down and get a field goal, our defense will hold them, that will hold up. Our offense will start putting points on the board, it will happen, and hopefully get me a lot of PATs instead of field goals.
What’s the mentality like in a low-scoring game for you?
EF: Any time in a low-scoring game that comes down to field goals, it’s not just field goals that come into play, it’s field position, as well, the punting and kickoffs and kick coverage. Our team did a great job of covering. I didn’t do a great job of punting, could have done better, but our guys did a great job of covering that thing, and I think we gave up five or six yards a return per punt return, so they’re doing a great job.
Talk about how important field position is.
EF: Field position is one of the biggest parts of the game that goes kind of unnoticed, that people don’t really think about. There are hidden yards in there. If we get a good return off a punt and then offense doesn’t do anything and we get a good punt and they cover it real well and their offense doesn’t do anything and our defense plays well, there can be a 20-yard swing in field position right there that can help our offense out on the next drive.
How do you practice, do you try to practice punting, kickoffs and place kicking the same amount?
EF: I just keep the same amount of time on all three. I don’t really want to wear my leg out doing too much of one thing and not enough of another because that one can start falling apart a little bit. If I’m struggling in one area I might work on that a little bit more, but for the most part I keep practice time distributed pretty evenly, just trying to get the same amount of kicks every week.
What’s the longest field goal you’ve ever kicked?
EF: In practice, 55 or 60, in a game it was Saturday (32 yards), for college, and in a game situation I think I had a 50-yarder in the spring scrimmage.
Wednesday, June 10
Friday, March 27
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
