MSU Tuesday Football Press Conference
9/16/2009 5:58:31 PM | Football
Transcripts from Montana State's Tuesday press conferences with Bobcat head coach Rob Ash and selected MSU players are below.
BOBCAT COACH ROB ASH
How do you approach the open week?
RA: It's a combination of two things this week. One is that we want to get back to fundamentals, individual time, cleaning up things we've seen on tape in the first two games, but we also need to work ahead and take advantage of the fact that we have extra time to prepare for Northern Colorado. We'll begin to get into some game plan ideas this week, and especially toward the end of this week we'll begin to work on some schemes for that next game.
What kind of things will you work on cleaning up?
RA: We've got to work on secondary and linebackers on pass (coverage), getting those meshed together, linebackers working on deepening their drops and secondary working on being in the right place, so we can break on the ball and make more plays. We're close, but we're not quite there yet. Offensively we have to decide who we're going to play in the left side of our offensive line. Leo Davis played (Saturday) then got sick (during the game), then Ben Tauanuu came in and did a pretty decent job. We're going to open up the competition between Ben and Leo to see who the starter's going to be against Northern Colorado. That's important. We also need to keep working on the passing game. We're making progress, but we haven't had enough production yet from the outside receivers, especially the X, so we're going to work on some things over there. (EDITOR'S NOTE: If Davis starts it will be at left tackle, if Tauanuu starts it will be at left guard, with Conrad Burbank moving to tackle.)
What jumped out at you from the Dixie State game film?
RA: We're close, that's the thing, especially on defense. A lot of their plays, you have to give Dixie credit. Their receivers went up and made some great catches, came down with one foot barely in bounds, their quarterback threw on time. They did a nice job. We were just a little off with some of our drops, not as far off as you'd think coming out of that game. I was encouraged about that. I was very discouraged, though, by the turnovers and the penalties. Those are two things that will get you beat no matter who you play. I was especially bothered by the penalties because that's not the way we play. We're going to get that fixed, one way or another.
Do you find it tough to motivate teams during a bye week?
RA: Sometimes it can be tough during the bye week because there's no opponent. I think coming off the game we just played there should be plenty of motivation. We have a lot of things to work on. I think the guys realize that. And with conference play starting when we do come back a week from Saturday, I think that will provide a lot of motivation, as well. I'm hoping that the team will practice hard and get better.
What was the difference in the turnovers between the Michigan State and Dixie State games?
RA: The only difference I can think of with the turnovers is the mental preparation, the mental focus, that a team needs to have prior to every game. There's no question that going into Michigan State our team was very focused, they prepared hard mentally, they really thought about ball security and protecting the ball, and the discipline, too. I think you can roll the penalties into this. I just don't think our focus was as tight and as intense as it was the first week when we played Dixie State. A lot of it was because of the score two years ago. We tried to say to everyone that they are better, and they are better, but I think the mental focus as a group didn't provide the same outcome that we got the week before.
What went into Kevin Retoriano playing corner?
RA: We want to put our best players on the field. Kevin's certainly one of those. He can play anywhere. I think it really came down to the fact that Mike Rider's played so well. It's hard to take Mike Rider off the field right now, and again that was a good move when you look at the two interceptions (by Rider) and the good game he played. Kevin's a little rusty and he also has that big thing on his arm (elbow brace and padding), and that's hard to play with. I thought given the circumstances he played well. He gave up a play or two early and as the game went on he played better and better for us. I think he'll continue to improve and get better and better for us.
Will Retoriano stay at corner?
RA: I still can't take Rider off the field.
Will he be in that brace all season?
RA: He'll wear something all season. We're in conversations now with the medical people to see what's the least we can have him wear that will protect him fully so that he can play adequately. There's a lot of different options, and we have extra time this week to find a better solution.
Can you talk about Eric Fisher punting and kicking off into the wind and with the wind?
RA: Fisher had a great game. We nominated him for Big Sky special teams player of the week. I thought he had an excellent game. His kickoffs into the wind, I think he over-thought those a little bit. They were low line drives, didn't have enough hang time, I thought he could have just booted it into the wind. But his kickoffs into the wind and his punts both ways were spectacular. The 77-yard punt was a real field-changer and a great effort. But Eric's been around. He knows the wind. He knows the wind can be your friend. It's not always your enemy. He took advantage of it real nicely.
Where do the linebackers fit into pass coverage?
RA: Linebackers have to do a lot. They have to be able to stop the run, they have to be able to blitz, drop into pass coverage, they have to be aggressive but be smart and in position. It's a difficult job. One of the things we talk about as a staff is that we're still going through a little bit of a transition without Bobby Daly. Bobby played such great football here for all the years he was here. Our guys are going to be fine. We've got a good group of linebackers, but Bobby was special because he could balance all those things. He was a great pass rusher, and he was a great pass dropper, and a good run stopper all rolled into one. We need to grab an old tape of Bobby once in a while to remind ourselves just how good he was. Our linebackers are making progress, and they're a good group. They're going to be fine as we head into the conference season.
How do you get the X receiver more involved and productive?
RA: It's just a matter of practice reps translating into game reps. I think you watch the tape and look at that and say to the guys who are playing out there, 'It doesn't matter what you do in practice if it doesn't transfer into the game.' Now these two tapes we have, Michigan State and Dixie, that's what our team is right now. It doesn't matter what we did on Thursday or Tuesday, it's what we do on Saturday. That tape is like gold. It's valuable. Now the receivers have to look at that, learn from it, polish those fine points, and make sure the next time we play on Saturday we get it right.
Does this bye week come at a good time?
RA: It does. Every bye week comes at a good time because somebody gets healthy that wouldn't have played that week. I'm excited to get Cory Nicol back. I think that will help us a lot with our secondary. He's a good player, he's a senior, he's anxious to play, eager to play, and it'll help us back there. Zach Coleman played pretty reasonably on Saturday, so Zach will still get some snaps, I'm sure. But that'll be nice to get (Nicol) back. Brad Smith is a dominating player, too. To get him back is really going to be a key for us. Any time you have a bye week you get healthy. What I'm concerned about is that we start nine straight weeks after this bye with no breaks. It's going to be a long haul. But we're going to take advantage of it now.
BOBCAT LINEBACKER JEFF PRICE
How does the team improve its pass defense?
JP: Looking back on the tape we got some good pressure last week, but getting pressure on the quarterback is probably the biggest thing we need to accomplish, getting in the passer's face and speeding him up, forcing his hand a little bit and causing him to speed up his progression. Making sure he's not comfortable in the pocket is probably the biggest thing we need to accomplish.
How do you balance rushing the quarterback with helping in coverage and stopping the run?
JP: You just have to have that mentality that you can't be blocked and that you have to get there. Any time you're bringing a blitz or bringing pressure that's what it is dependent on, getting in the quarterback's face and causing an errant throw or a sack. I think when you get hits on the quarterback it can get in their head a little bit and cause them to speed up their clock a little bit and force them to make decisions maybe they didn't want to make.
Is it hard to stay motivated during a bye week?
JP: For me I feel like this week, looking back on the film, is a good opportunity for us to really focus on the things that we didn't do very well in the previous two games and really hone in on that and practice without having to consider another team. The motivation's there to improve.
Is the Dixie game a wakeup call?
JP: Dixie was a good team. They came out and really smacked us in the mouth. I think that maybe we weren't as prepared for them as we thought we were. Any time you have a close (game) like that you can learn from it and it's a motivator to get back out there and improve on whatever you messed up on the week before to make sure you don't have those mistakes again.
Is it nice to have a bye week right before Big Sky play?
JP: I definitely think that Big Sky games are extremely valuable, and those are the worst games to lose. You lose one of those and your chances of winning the conference are diminished pretty quickly. I'd say any Big Sky team, no matter who it is, it's always nice to have two weeks to prepare for that and get ready for it.
BOBCAT TIGHT END JOE SCHREIBEIS
What stuck out to you from the Dixie State game?
JS: There's a lot to learn from the game. I think we played hard, but we just played 10-man football at times. We have a lot of areas to clean up. I'm pretty hopeful about our team, I think we're going to be pretty good, but we have a lot of work to get done. (We have to) get back to the grind, and we have a lot to clean up.
What is 10-man football?
JS: It seems like we have one guy missing a block, one guy jumping off sides, one guy running the wrong route. On offense you have to be a finely-tuned unit. If you have that one guy that does something wrong it can kill a play. On defense one guy can make a play, but on offense if everyone's not clicking… you have to have such unity.
Do you learn more about your team from a game like this than a blowout?
JS: I think we learn a lot more from a game like this, see what we're made of a little more. Last year we won by about 50 (against Adams State), it's hard to learn much from that. But we did have that Minnesota game, which we learned a lot about ourselves, the K-State game, it was hard to learn anything there, and we learned something from the Michigan State game. I think we're developing early, which is good.
How important is the experience of playing in a close game?
JS: It all plays in. As many reps as you can take, as many times you're on the field. Game reps are the best, you learn the most there and when you watch it on the film you correct yourself. I know for me personally, I never know a play well unless I mess it up once in practice or whatever, so it's good to work out those kinks early. Hopefully we'll look really good in conference play because we've been tried early.
Was the Dixie State game a wakeup call, and does that motivate you more during a bye week?
JS: I think we have a lot to evaluate about ourselves. If we would have won by 50 we would have been more relaxed about this week. We realize we're not as good as we all thought at first. We're a good team, but we have to prove that, we have to work for it, it's not going to come easy.
As a captain do you take more of a leadership role?
JS: I think it's important just to work hard in practices and gain ground and not let days slide by where we take the day off. Really, we're out there competing against the other team every day in practice, so we need to get better every day. If we slip and take days off, we're losing compared to the other teams. If we want to win this conference, which we all do, we have to work hard.
Does the bye week come at a good time?
JS: I think there's ups and downs to it. It's a good time because we can learn a lot and assess ourselves again. But it's hard to tell. Sometimes a bye week is better when it's late in the season and you're more banged up. But you we'll see.
