Cole Moore is one of those players who have performed well in the face of injuries
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Rob Ash Quotes from Tuesday Media Lunch, October 29
10/29/2013 5:13:00 PM | Football
A look at MSU's win over UC Davis and ahead at its game at Northern Colorado
BOBCAT HEAD COACH ROB ASH
What problems do you see in Northern Colorado?
"The first thing is, they've played us tough down there. It's been a tough place for us to play. I will never forget 2007, when we went down there and lost. That game is still vivid in my memory. They're tough, they play well at home, they're strong. I think physically their strength has always been a difficult matchup for us. I think when Scott Downing was there he brought in a good weight program from the University of Nebraska. They put that in place and really developed some great strength in their football team. That's made them difficult to match up against as we've played them over the years down there."
What have you seen that's been their biggest problem?
"I'm not going to be able to put a finger on a particular problem. What they've got is a very balanced football team, they just haven't put everything together yet in one game. Against Southern Utah they played them tooth-and-nail. They ended up losing, but that could have been a game that propelled them into something good for their season. That was difficult loss for them. UC Davis played a magnificent game against them, came in and just did everything right in the first quarter and got ahead and put them away. They've just had some difficult situations there. But, I like the quarterback, I like the receivers a lot, the linebacker corps is big and strong and tough, the running back's very physical, the line, like I said earlier, is very strong. So it's not really for me to evaluate them so much as to what's been their problems, I'm looking at their strengths."
Is it hard to resist the urge to look ahead?
"It's not hard to resist the urge, because we've cultured ourselves in this program – all of us, coaches, players – to look at the game that we're playing right now, and our guys are going to do that, and our coaches are going to do that because we do it every week. It's not something new and different to say we're going to focus on this week's opponent. It's just our culture of what we do. And it's really about practicing every day. We can't do anything today at Tuesday's practice except just try to get better ourselves. It doesn't matter who we're playing on Saturday, we have to get better today as a team when we go out and practice, and that's just how we'll approach every day this week."
Why do you think some teams have been able to run on you?
"We've had some issues with fits in our run game, and that's what we've tried to fix. The problem is it's not necessarily in one spot, one position, one player. Each week we've seen them and we've gotten them fixed, and we're going to continue to do that. This week's issues were different than the issues we had at Weber State. In fact it was interesting, UC Davis tried to run a couple of the same plays this week that Weber State had success with last week and those plays were not successful at all. So that was good for us to see. It's not like (we) have a recurring problem, it's just occasionally, each week, somebody's found a new place to attack. What I liked about this game was, where UC Davis had success running the ball in the first half, they tried those same plays in the second half this game and they were unsuccessful. So we're making our adjustments quicker, and we made them during the game this week, which was very satisfying."
Are you concerned at all?
"No, I think we're making progress and getting better every day. One of these games we'll put it together and get the game plan matched up and get it stopped completely. I just thought that UC Davis hit on a couple things and I thought (Gabe) Manzanares ran the ball well in this game we just played."
What do you do at the start of games played in stadiums without an electrifying atmosphere?
"Our message this week is that we've got to create our own energy and excitement. That's what we started talking about on Sunday, and that doesn't mean a lot of rah-rah yelling and jumping up and down or anything like that. It's just an emotional readiness to play. That's what we want our guys to be able to do. That means being ready on your assignments. When you're out there playing in front of a big crowd, if you're not sure what you're supposed to do you're not going to be performing very well. Guys get ready when they're playing in front of a big crowd because they want to have their assignments right because they'll be in front of a lot of people. We've got to do the same thing regardless of how many people are in the stands or what venue we're playing in. So it's going to be what we've been calling our integrity of preparation. And that's what we're going to try to do, we're going to try to make sure we're emotionally ready to play and assignment-ready to play at the same time."
Is there anything as a coaching staff you can pinpoint to get your players ready right out of the gates?
"I think I'm going to disagree a little bit that it's been a major issue. I think we've got a lot of guys, from DeNarius McGhee to Cody Kirk to Tanner Bleskin, Brad Daly, the veterans on our team, linebackers, I think most of the guys on our team have been ready to play. You get a couple guys that make a mistake or two and it shows up. But it's not an epidemic or a major problem, I think we've got the core of our team that always has been ready and always will be ready."
It doesn't seem that there's much of a talent loss in the 'next man up', do you see that?
"We're trying to do that. We're trying to build our program with depth, with good recruiting, with guys in place projecting when they're going to have to play down the road and building good backups to have in place when somebody does go down. We know football is a game of attrition. We know people are going to get injured. We try to recruit to give us insurance against that, we try to bring in depth at all the positions so that when somebody does get injured we're ready to go. It shouldn't be a surprise to all of us as coaches when somebody gets injured and somebody does go down. We know it's going to happen, we just don't know where. Then we hope the guy that's there is ready to go."
Have you been pleased with the guys that have stepped up?
"I have been. It goes way back to July when we lost Na'a Moeakiola and the guy that stepped up, the next man up, was Mike Foster, and he's having a fabulous season. So I'm obviously pleased with that, I'm pleased with Cole Moore, that he's been able to play every snap where he was sharing time before with Lexi Grosulak, and it goes on down the list of all the guys that have had to play. Rob Marshall has been getting in there for Eryon Barnett. There's multiple times…JP Flynn getting in there when Eekhoff went down, even Jake Bleskin did a very good job when he went in there for DeNarius. So overall I'm very happy with how our backups have played when they've been called on."
Your team is one of the last undefeated teams in the Big Sky, how nice is it to see your team step up in these games that are on the schedule?
"Every week we've got to win the next game. It really doesn't matter how many we've won before, the next game is a big game and we have to win the next one. It's like my old player Billy Cundif used to say when he was kicking in the NFL, he still is kicking in the NFL, he said, 'If I make a kick, then I've got to make my next one, if I miss a kick I've got to make my next one.' And that's just the way it is. It doesn't matter what we've done before, we still have to win the next one."
How would you evaluate James Nelson's first college start?
"I thought he did exceptionally well. He was especially good against the pass. He had a couple problems with run fits that we have to get fixed, and I thought overall he played very aggressively, he wasn't timid out there, he made several good plays, a couple pass breakups. I was very happy overall with his performance."
What's Sean Gords' status for the weekend?
"Sean Gords is getting cast put on his hand, and he's going to practice today and play on Saturday."
What's the term you're using, run fits?
"That basically has to do with getting a man in every gap. If a linebacker doesn't fit the run properly, doesn't get into the right gap, then he missed his run fit."
How concerned are you with the injuries in the secondary?
"Actually we're in better shape now than we've been for a while because Eryon Barnett got cleared today also, and James Nelson has gotten a game under his belt with video he can watch so we can evaluate him and he'll be better, and Sean Gords is back, so we actually gained two defensive backs from Saturday, with Gords and Barnett both being able to play. So I feel a lot better today than I did a week ago."
Can you comment on the status of Ijumaa (Armstrong)?
"He's no longer on the team."
Any thought about switching Eryon back to corner?
"No. He's spent a lot of time at safety, he's made the total transition to safety. He's going to be a little rusty, I'm really happy that he's back (and) going to be able to practice and be out there and play, because anyone gets out of sync a little bit when they miss practice time, in particular, and playing time, also. So we need him to be able to build on the base that he had at safety and stay there."
Will Rob Marshall start there?
"I'll have to see how practice goes, but my guess is that he probably will."
You mentioned Northern Colorado's strength program, aside from that have you been able to pick up on any other reasons they've played your teams so tough?
"I think that's the base reason. I looked at last year's game yesterday, watched the entire game, every play, on video, and I was impressed with how they matched up in the trenches against us, running the ball, stopping the run, where the strength really pays off. We've been our own worst enemy a couple of times in games against them, not taking care of the football in particular, and that will allow any team to have a chance to compete with you. So you combine a little bit of sloppy play with some good, physical athletes with strength, like we've been talking about, the game can be close. They also, two years ago, executed very well on offense, and it's the same quarterback we're playing this year. He's a good player, and we know he can do it because he did it against us two years ago."
Can you talk about the problems Clarence Bumpas presents?
"Physically he's one of the most impressive players in the Big Sky Conference. He's a big man, he's very experienced now, also, a smart guy, runs well, he's a great presence in the middle of that defense. You're not going to be able to break a tackle, you're not going to be able to block him with one guy or finish a block. He's awesome at shedding and he controls the middle in a dominant way. I'm very impressed with him. He's a box linebacker, so what we've got to do is try to get him out of there and make him play more in space, more on the edges if we can. He's still pretty good out there, but when we go inside, that's his territory and he's going to police it very well."
Can you comment on what's made Cody Kirk what he is today?
"Cody Kirk has done an amazing job with his personal training. He's stronger, he's quicker, he's got better balance, he weighs more, he's faster, in every respect he's improved himself physically. Then you add on top of that that he studies the game as much as anybody I've ever coached, like a quarterback would study the game. He studies blocking schemes, he meets with the offensive line, he understands all the blocks in front of him. So you add good physical skills and great work ethic with a mental approach to the game that's very sharp, that's why you've got a complete player."
Can you comment on Brad Daly's ability to play hurt?
"I'm so impressed with Brad, he's so tough. He doesn't feel very good out there but he loves to play and he knows his role is important. The numbers he's putting up – and we don't dive into the numbers and study them – but when you look at the end of the game his stat line is pretty impressive every week. That's a testimony to his dedication to the team, because a lot of guys I don't think would even be out there."
Can you talk about Preston Gale's mental fortitude getting through all these injuries?
"I think Preston turned the corner on Saturday. He went out there and played like he can play, he made some big plays, and I think he feels confident now. I'm very, very excited about him being back, and it gives us another player at that position to rotate with Odin and Brad on the defensive end spots. It's going to be really, really helpful for us."
How about his mental strength getting through these multiple knee injuries?
"I think he's back. He was very down at first, then he got very committed to his rehab, he got a setback when we played North Dakota and he found out he wasn't quite ready, but I think that just made him more determined to come back – but smart about it. We didn't bring him back until he was really ready the second time. Now he feels confident. He can turn and go on that knee right now and I think he's just going to go play and have fun."
Are you guys set with the offensive line unit you have now?
"Alex (Eekhoff) is backup for the foreseeable future, but we just talked about next man up, if we have any injury at any spot in the line Eekhoff would go in the game. Quinn's the moving part, we'll move him around, so Alex has to be ready."
What problems do you see in Northern Colorado?
"The first thing is, they've played us tough down there. It's been a tough place for us to play. I will never forget 2007, when we went down there and lost. That game is still vivid in my memory. They're tough, they play well at home, they're strong. I think physically their strength has always been a difficult matchup for us. I think when Scott Downing was there he brought in a good weight program from the University of Nebraska. They put that in place and really developed some great strength in their football team. That's made them difficult to match up against as we've played them over the years down there."
What have you seen that's been their biggest problem?
"I'm not going to be able to put a finger on a particular problem. What they've got is a very balanced football team, they just haven't put everything together yet in one game. Against Southern Utah they played them tooth-and-nail. They ended up losing, but that could have been a game that propelled them into something good for their season. That was difficult loss for them. UC Davis played a magnificent game against them, came in and just did everything right in the first quarter and got ahead and put them away. They've just had some difficult situations there. But, I like the quarterback, I like the receivers a lot, the linebacker corps is big and strong and tough, the running back's very physical, the line, like I said earlier, is very strong. So it's not really for me to evaluate them so much as to what's been their problems, I'm looking at their strengths."
Is it hard to resist the urge to look ahead?
"It's not hard to resist the urge, because we've cultured ourselves in this program – all of us, coaches, players – to look at the game that we're playing right now, and our guys are going to do that, and our coaches are going to do that because we do it every week. It's not something new and different to say we're going to focus on this week's opponent. It's just our culture of what we do. And it's really about practicing every day. We can't do anything today at Tuesday's practice except just try to get better ourselves. It doesn't matter who we're playing on Saturday, we have to get better today as a team when we go out and practice, and that's just how we'll approach every day this week."
Why do you think some teams have been able to run on you?
"We've had some issues with fits in our run game, and that's what we've tried to fix. The problem is it's not necessarily in one spot, one position, one player. Each week we've seen them and we've gotten them fixed, and we're going to continue to do that. This week's issues were different than the issues we had at Weber State. In fact it was interesting, UC Davis tried to run a couple of the same plays this week that Weber State had success with last week and those plays were not successful at all. So that was good for us to see. It's not like (we) have a recurring problem, it's just occasionally, each week, somebody's found a new place to attack. What I liked about this game was, where UC Davis had success running the ball in the first half, they tried those same plays in the second half this game and they were unsuccessful. So we're making our adjustments quicker, and we made them during the game this week, which was very satisfying."
Are you concerned at all?
"No, I think we're making progress and getting better every day. One of these games we'll put it together and get the game plan matched up and get it stopped completely. I just thought that UC Davis hit on a couple things and I thought (Gabe) Manzanares ran the ball well in this game we just played."
What do you do at the start of games played in stadiums without an electrifying atmosphere?
"Our message this week is that we've got to create our own energy and excitement. That's what we started talking about on Sunday, and that doesn't mean a lot of rah-rah yelling and jumping up and down or anything like that. It's just an emotional readiness to play. That's what we want our guys to be able to do. That means being ready on your assignments. When you're out there playing in front of a big crowd, if you're not sure what you're supposed to do you're not going to be performing very well. Guys get ready when they're playing in front of a big crowd because they want to have their assignments right because they'll be in front of a lot of people. We've got to do the same thing regardless of how many people are in the stands or what venue we're playing in. So it's going to be what we've been calling our integrity of preparation. And that's what we're going to try to do, we're going to try to make sure we're emotionally ready to play and assignment-ready to play at the same time."
Is there anything as a coaching staff you can pinpoint to get your players ready right out of the gates?
"I think I'm going to disagree a little bit that it's been a major issue. I think we've got a lot of guys, from DeNarius McGhee to Cody Kirk to Tanner Bleskin, Brad Daly, the veterans on our team, linebackers, I think most of the guys on our team have been ready to play. You get a couple guys that make a mistake or two and it shows up. But it's not an epidemic or a major problem, I think we've got the core of our team that always has been ready and always will be ready."
It doesn't seem that there's much of a talent loss in the 'next man up', do you see that?
"We're trying to do that. We're trying to build our program with depth, with good recruiting, with guys in place projecting when they're going to have to play down the road and building good backups to have in place when somebody does go down. We know football is a game of attrition. We know people are going to get injured. We try to recruit to give us insurance against that, we try to bring in depth at all the positions so that when somebody does get injured we're ready to go. It shouldn't be a surprise to all of us as coaches when somebody gets injured and somebody does go down. We know it's going to happen, we just don't know where. Then we hope the guy that's there is ready to go."
Have you been pleased with the guys that have stepped up?
"I have been. It goes way back to July when we lost Na'a Moeakiola and the guy that stepped up, the next man up, was Mike Foster, and he's having a fabulous season. So I'm obviously pleased with that, I'm pleased with Cole Moore, that he's been able to play every snap where he was sharing time before with Lexi Grosulak, and it goes on down the list of all the guys that have had to play. Rob Marshall has been getting in there for Eryon Barnett. There's multiple times…JP Flynn getting in there when Eekhoff went down, even Jake Bleskin did a very good job when he went in there for DeNarius. So overall I'm very happy with how our backups have played when they've been called on."
Your team is one of the last undefeated teams in the Big Sky, how nice is it to see your team step up in these games that are on the schedule?
"Every week we've got to win the next game. It really doesn't matter how many we've won before, the next game is a big game and we have to win the next one. It's like my old player Billy Cundif used to say when he was kicking in the NFL, he still is kicking in the NFL, he said, 'If I make a kick, then I've got to make my next one, if I miss a kick I've got to make my next one.' And that's just the way it is. It doesn't matter what we've done before, we still have to win the next one."
How would you evaluate James Nelson's first college start?
"I thought he did exceptionally well. He was especially good against the pass. He had a couple problems with run fits that we have to get fixed, and I thought overall he played very aggressively, he wasn't timid out there, he made several good plays, a couple pass breakups. I was very happy overall with his performance."
What's Sean Gords' status for the weekend?
"Sean Gords is getting cast put on his hand, and he's going to practice today and play on Saturday."
What's the term you're using, run fits?
"That basically has to do with getting a man in every gap. If a linebacker doesn't fit the run properly, doesn't get into the right gap, then he missed his run fit."
How concerned are you with the injuries in the secondary?
"Actually we're in better shape now than we've been for a while because Eryon Barnett got cleared today also, and James Nelson has gotten a game under his belt with video he can watch so we can evaluate him and he'll be better, and Sean Gords is back, so we actually gained two defensive backs from Saturday, with Gords and Barnett both being able to play. So I feel a lot better today than I did a week ago."
Can you comment on the status of Ijumaa (Armstrong)?
"He's no longer on the team."
Any thought about switching Eryon back to corner?
"No. He's spent a lot of time at safety, he's made the total transition to safety. He's going to be a little rusty, I'm really happy that he's back (and) going to be able to practice and be out there and play, because anyone gets out of sync a little bit when they miss practice time, in particular, and playing time, also. So we need him to be able to build on the base that he had at safety and stay there."
Will Rob Marshall start there?
"I'll have to see how practice goes, but my guess is that he probably will."
You mentioned Northern Colorado's strength program, aside from that have you been able to pick up on any other reasons they've played your teams so tough?
"I think that's the base reason. I looked at last year's game yesterday, watched the entire game, every play, on video, and I was impressed with how they matched up in the trenches against us, running the ball, stopping the run, where the strength really pays off. We've been our own worst enemy a couple of times in games against them, not taking care of the football in particular, and that will allow any team to have a chance to compete with you. So you combine a little bit of sloppy play with some good, physical athletes with strength, like we've been talking about, the game can be close. They also, two years ago, executed very well on offense, and it's the same quarterback we're playing this year. He's a good player, and we know he can do it because he did it against us two years ago."
Can you talk about the problems Clarence Bumpas presents?
"Physically he's one of the most impressive players in the Big Sky Conference. He's a big man, he's very experienced now, also, a smart guy, runs well, he's a great presence in the middle of that defense. You're not going to be able to break a tackle, you're not going to be able to block him with one guy or finish a block. He's awesome at shedding and he controls the middle in a dominant way. I'm very impressed with him. He's a box linebacker, so what we've got to do is try to get him out of there and make him play more in space, more on the edges if we can. He's still pretty good out there, but when we go inside, that's his territory and he's going to police it very well."
Can you comment on what's made Cody Kirk what he is today?
"Cody Kirk has done an amazing job with his personal training. He's stronger, he's quicker, he's got better balance, he weighs more, he's faster, in every respect he's improved himself physically. Then you add on top of that that he studies the game as much as anybody I've ever coached, like a quarterback would study the game. He studies blocking schemes, he meets with the offensive line, he understands all the blocks in front of him. So you add good physical skills and great work ethic with a mental approach to the game that's very sharp, that's why you've got a complete player."
Can you comment on Brad Daly's ability to play hurt?
"I'm so impressed with Brad, he's so tough. He doesn't feel very good out there but he loves to play and he knows his role is important. The numbers he's putting up – and we don't dive into the numbers and study them – but when you look at the end of the game his stat line is pretty impressive every week. That's a testimony to his dedication to the team, because a lot of guys I don't think would even be out there."
Can you talk about Preston Gale's mental fortitude getting through all these injuries?
"I think Preston turned the corner on Saturday. He went out there and played like he can play, he made some big plays, and I think he feels confident now. I'm very, very excited about him being back, and it gives us another player at that position to rotate with Odin and Brad on the defensive end spots. It's going to be really, really helpful for us."
How about his mental strength getting through these multiple knee injuries?
"I think he's back. He was very down at first, then he got very committed to his rehab, he got a setback when we played North Dakota and he found out he wasn't quite ready, but I think that just made him more determined to come back – but smart about it. We didn't bring him back until he was really ready the second time. Now he feels confident. He can turn and go on that knee right now and I think he's just going to go play and have fun."
Are you guys set with the offensive line unit you have now?
"Alex (Eekhoff) is backup for the foreseeable future, but we just talked about next man up, if we have any injury at any spot in the line Eekhoff would go in the game. Quinn's the moving part, we'll move him around, so Alex has to be ready."
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