Temple vs. CharlottePost-Game Transcription

September 24, 2016

Temple HC Matt Rhule

Statement

“Obviously appreciate everybody coming. Obviously it was good for us to get a win at Homecoming in front of our fans. Maybe not the start we wanted, I think the offense started pretty good, then giving up a touchdown, giving up too many big plays. We knew going in that Khalif Phillips, their tailback was a special kid, and two years in a row now he’s battled us, and he has probably won the battle. He’s a physical back and when they didn’t have him last week we knew he would be fresh for this week and ready to go, and he was. Obviously pleased with the second half, early in the second half coming out and making some plays to open the game up. Still too many little mistakes, little issues, little problems. We’ll continue to try and coach those. Tempo got to us, which means as we get ready for SMU we could have a lot of trouble with no huddle. I thought our quarterback played well. I thought our offensive line hit some big runs at crucial times, and obviously Brodrick Yancy, Romond Deloatch, and some other guys stepped up and made some plays. With that I’ll see what questions you guys have.”

On the 28 second quarter points:

“Well I thought that obviously the turnover and the field position and some of those things helped hitting the big play. You know we kind of came out no huddle early and tried to open them up a little bit, tire them out. I thought offensive coordinator Glen Thomas made a big call on the pass to Marshall Elick, and then obviously the turnover helped. I think we just kind of settled down on offense, got into a rhythm, and I think what you’re seeing is just when we are able to get our quarterback into a rhythm he’s playing pretty well.”

Where you think your team is at going into conference play?

“I don’t know. I hate to answer it like that, you know I just told the team it’s a good thing…it’s a positive step for the program when you win 48-20 and I’m angry on the sidelines. Sometimes those blowouts are hard because you try to do a good job and then making sure you don’t want to get guys hurt so you try and play all the young guys, and guys on our team deserve to play. Then you give up some plays, it frustrates you. Still I would say my gut would be, were still not stout enough inside versus the run, and you know Romon Deloach was the only one I think that really got to the quarterback. The pass rush was not where it needed to be, and then still too many silly penalties. That first drive got started and

stopped by a penalty, so I just think all those little things, the balls on the ground on a punt and the kickoff return, just trying to get our guys to lock in a little bit more and play. Our kickoff coverage didn’t look like it was as good as it needs to be. Those are some things that we need to correct if we want to try and win conference games.”

When did you decide you were going to use TE Romond Deloach on defense?

“This week. I mean we’ve been doing it since the Spring, and you know really two weeks ago he just hit an epiphany as to what he wanted to be as a player. I thought he played well last week, and then this week we had some packages for him. We went to it at the end of the half. It’s hard when they go no huddle, to substitute different packages for him, but they were going two minute at the end of the half so we tried to turn him loose.”

How did you respond from last week at Penn State going into today?

“I don’t think about that game, that game was over. We just try to pick up the momentum and move forward. I thought the offense did. That’s why we came out with the four wide receivers early on, to try and just pick up where we left off last game. These kids are resilient, they battle back. As I said to that question before I don’t know until I see the film because when you win sometimes that masks all ills. I want to know how we played at every position.”

On Dan Archibong, Freddie Johnson, and Kenny Yeboah:

“We’d been planning to try and redshirt Archibong, Julian Taylor didn’t play today. He’s back and forth with that knee, and Archibong he’s a tough, tough kid. And so we rewarded him after last week by taking him on the trip and he’s just a guy that loves football. All of the sudden on Tuesday he’s just battling in practice and all of the sudden I’m saying to other guys ‘you know maybe we should play the guy. So we played him and we played him early and it looked like he played well. Yeboah, again he’s another guy on the scout team that is just making plays and were saying ‘you know what, we like this new position were playing with Romond. Yeboah can be his backup’.” You know he gets in there the first play, catches the ball and runs, some special teams. We also played Freddie last week on some special teams, but we wanted to put the ball in his hands and see what he can do. We think there is a lot of

young talent on the team. It’s a mixture of trying not to let all the freshmen, they are freshmen they are going to make a lot of mistakes, so we try to not put them in huge roles, but give them roles so when the time comes we can put quality players on the field.”

On the wildcat formation with Isaiah Wright:

“I don’t know about next week, but when coach George DeLeone was at Miami they had Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams and they ran it. He was at the advent of that. We just feel like Isaiah is a guy we have to get the ball in his hands a little bit more. So he played receiver a bunch, I don’t know if he had any catches today, but that was a way to get him some quarterback powers and run him. It was a scary moment there when Phillip Walker went down, so having Isaiah Wright, who played high school quarterback, tailback, wide receiver, he did it all. Just having a chance to get him the ball in his hands and make a couple plays was nice.”

On the hit on Phillip Walker:

“I don’t know. He just said he got hit and then he was ready to get back in there.”

What did you think of Nate L. Smith?

“I would be lying if I said I know. I was as much on the offense today I have ever been probably, and I was really trying to help with the defensive line, so I would be lying to you if I said I know. He’s had a good year, he’s playing hard for us, but I’m sorry. I’ll answer on Tuesday, I’ll watch some film and answer Tuesday.”

On the offensive line rotation.

“He started. It looked like at some moments he was play away from making a block. He’s still a little bit light still. We think he’s going to be a really good player, and we just said Jovahn Fair is really banged up, Leon Johnson has been banged up, so that was the most we’ve ever rotated our offensive line ever. I mean we played at the guard Jovahn and Hennessy, at the other guard we played Brian Carter and Adrian Sullivan, and we rotated Jaelin Robinson on the second and third series at tackle, and the fifth series. We feel like that depth is coming, and those guys are going to be really good, so you have to kind of live with some things right. I’ll have to watch the film to see how exactly Hennessy did, he’s like Isaiah Wright, just kind of a kid that is ready to play, so we put him out there.”

On the improvement of the offensive line:

“I thought Phillip Walker did a good job of running and getting out of the pocket. I think he did as good of a job as he has ever done with some late check-downs. Really the ones to Ryquell maybe could have scored. Phillip is really getting into a rhythm of not taking sacks. I’d have to really watch the offensive line to tell you how it looked. It looked like Dion Dawkins made some of those runs to the left side that popped. We just felt like if we spread them out a little bit and then came back into big sets we would be able to run the ball and then throw some play actions we could give them three things to worry about. Larry Ogunjobi is a great player for them, Brandon Banks is a great player for them, and it looked like they played well. I think the offensive line had no catastrophic errors, and from there we can just see where we were technique wise.”

On the battle for the backup quarterback spot:

“I would say they are both probably neck and neck. We are going with Logan Marchi first based off the preseason, then we kind of see the film. We got Logan in there then we got Frank in there, and we wanted them both to get the chance to make some throws. I thought Logan made a nice throw on the one to Freddie Johnson. Just some things he’s doing, he comes out in the naked and they cover it. Just run the ball, getting in there and getting a chance to play I think is good for Logan. Frank got out there, we called a naked for him. Frank got out there we called a drop back pass for him. We wanted those guys to get a chance to play. We wanted Freddie to get the ball in his hands, David Hood, Jager Gardner, all those guys put the ball in their hands and see what they can do.

How important is it to have a guy like Ryquell Armstead, a change of pace to Jahad?

“We think Ryquell Armstead is just a good player, and we just try and find ways to get different guys on the field. Obviously some of the spread stuff we have Jahad out there, and Hood, and then some of the downhill stuff we try to get Ryquell and Jagger Gardner in there. I think Ryquell has a second gear, and I think as the light continues to go on for him he will score on some of those big runs. You know even Jager popped one for a big run, just getting them reps and getting them more confident”

On Charlotte’s s late successful drives:

“I don’t like to make excuses, so you know I thought they had nice plays. Their kids were running hard, physical. Obviously the penalty hurt us, the long catches didn’t help us, and you know Derrek Thomas is a starter for us. You saw finally at the end; him knock away the ball for us. You know he’s 6 foot 4 when

he’s covering those guys. T.L. Furd we knew was a good player. They are jumping up and catching the ball. Whoever goes in the game for us needs to play well. That was an opportunity for a lot of guys to get in the game and play. You know the good thing is even if you put the second or third group in and maybe a play gets out, you know there are a lot of guys when you watch the film where you say ‘boy this guy can really play, we have to play this guy some more’ so you have a chance to play some guys. It’s not always the results you want, you have a chance to see other guys play. So that was kind of the purpose of that.”

On Phillip Walker’s progression the last couple weeks especially throwing the ball downfield.

“We weren’t as good catching the ball today as we were last week. I think if our receivers were to have been a little more aggressive today it would have been a special day. I think in the middle of the second quarter P.J. got a little bit antsy, he kind of got hit a couple times then he settled down and I thought played really well. I think he is hitting his stride and we are getting him in rhythm, hes got some guys that can get open. You know Ventell Bryant is still not out there, who’s probably going into the year our most accomplished wide out. He’s developing some new weapons; he’s doing a nice job. Cortelle Simpson and Ventel didn’t play today, Brodrick Yancy stepped up, Marshall Ellick stepped up and made some big plays, Adonis Jennings. So I think he’s getting the production he needs from the outside. Hopefully were doing a better job of protecting him, and were calling the plays to let him go and be good. Were being aggressive and throwing the ball down the field.

On Charlotte’s first touchdown drive and the penalties and if it made him mad:

“You know I was probably only angry at the end of the game, I think I called them up in whatever quarter it was and I just said like ‘is anybody going to start doing their job here?’ I think early in the game I tried to have a lot of energy and juice with the guys and say ‘just keep playing’ I think it’s really nice for our offense, they were able to come right back out and answer the score. Some penalties happen, like Avery Ellis got hit with a slap to the quarterback’s head at the end of the game pass rushing. Those things happen, even the one out of bounds, those things happen. When you play football at Temple, we’re going to run to hit the guy. It wasn’t egregious, I mean the guy is falling out of bounds and they happened to land on each other. We’re going to play that way, and if it happens it happens. What I don’t like is balls hitting the ground on punts, balls hitting our own guy, and that is the stuff we need to clean up and I’ll find a way to get that done with my staff.”

What were the reason behind the sideline penalties?

“I think we were just in his way. I think the kids that were signaling for us maybe kept trying to step out, and we had the chains on our side, so we had to adjust and just put them behind the chains. We made that adjustment and we were good.”

What’s missing with the pass rush?

“I don’t know it’s always hard to say that, until you’ve seen the film? A lot of these spread teams are doing a nice job, everything is a run/pass option, so you’re playing the run and throwing the ball down the field, but I’d have to go in and see it. We gave up leverage like three or four times on pass rushes where the quarterback got out to his right. At the end of the game Michael Dogbe had a great pass rush, but we’re not containing the quarterback, keeping him in the box, so I’d have to see it and tell you on Tuesday. That’s usually something that’s going to take some time to figure out. It looks like we’re getting some penetration were just not getting home as much as we’d like to.”

On play action calls used today:

“I think any time you line up big people in run sets and then throw the ball over the top, take advantage of what the defense is giving you. We knew going in that they were going to pack the box, and so we are able to hit some big plays on them. Even the nakeds can be big plays and then as a result I thought it was good to get the “I” run game going. Being in the “I” and being in two tight end stuff, I thought the field position was in our favor a lot of the game. That helped and obviously the play action and guys being able to protect it, Walker being able to go get the ball there that was a great job by Adonis Jennings.

On coming out in no huddle in the first half:

“Like we were saying before that’s what we did at the end of the Penn State game, so we said ‘let’s pick up where we left off and do it.’ Get the ball in a lot of guys’ hands. Our plan was really to get the quarterback in rhythm and move into some of the play action stuff and take some shots. I thought that was a good decision and it paid off. We came out in that first drive and hit the ball to some different guys. Everyone touched the ball, Romond Deloach leads with a catch, Marshall Yance has a couple catches, Jahad Thomas catches the ball and then you can get into some rhythm.

How would you say Jahad looked after playing for the first time last week?

“Obviously he didn’t hit the home run or anything like that but I thought he played fast. They were able to tackle him a couple times in the open field. He maybe didn’t win as many one on ones as he’d like,

but it looked to me like he played clean. The run in the red zone was a nice run, so we’ll keep trying to create space and get him the ball.”

Is the plan to continue to use Deloach at defensive end in the future?

“I don’t know. I hope so, it just depends, trying to do that against SMU might be hard because they are going to run 100 plays against us, so he’s probably not ready to play the whole defense because we play a lot of defenses. He’d probably just be ready to be a nickel pass rusher, so if we can get him in in that scenario we’d like to. It’s just a matter of when.

How has Yance helped you?

“He’s great, and Brodrick Yance has been really tough and competitive. All those other plays hes being physical, I like what he’s doing, he’s a really competitive, tough kid.

(QB) Phillip Walker

On performance today…

“I think I played well. I think I missed a few throws. The one to Kirkwood on third down was a big miss for us. Overall I think we moved the ball pretty well. Offensively we were efficient. We just tried to move the ball and get first downs.”

On shoulder…

“It’s alright. I’m fine. It’s a nagging injury that comes and goes. I’m just going to work my hardest this week and strengthen it up.”

On season…

“We just have to pick it up in practice. That’s where it starts. If the defense sees us having a bad day in practice, we expect them to expect more from us. If we see the defense having a bad practice or doing things that they don’t usually do. It’s a whole team thing, as well as special teams. Special teams is a big thing for us on Wednesdays. We need to make the best of it. I think it starts in practice and the way we prepare during the week is the way we play in the game on Saturdays.”

On Romond Deloatch…

“He’s been doing a lot better. Just overall as a player because he knows how important he is to the offense and the defense. Obviously he got a sack today. So it’s just go out there and play your game. Don’t try to do too much and let the game come to you. There were times where he was telling me to hand the ball off. Just the knowledge and how much he’s grown as a player to know the game as well as he does now.”

On Brodrick Yancy…

“Brodrick is someone who has played as a freshman. Sophomore year he got hurt and redshirted. I think that this year he put it together and is starting to become that leader for that group. You can see it during the game and practice. He’s out there being the first one and just being competitive and doing his job, knowing what he has to do. If he knows he has to do something, he can hold everyone in that receiving core accountable, the same way he holds everyone else accountable.”

On offense as a unit…

“I think as an offense we are just getting better. I think we are going to be a lot better toward the middle of the season. We have so many weapons on offense and so many guys that can make a lot of plays and it shows. We don’t even play all of our running backs – Jager Gardner, David Hood, Isaiah Wright. They all can go back there and have a big game at any moment. We just have to go out there and keep competing I think that’s the best thing about our running backs and receivers. They know that they need to bring their ‘A’ game every day.”

On Brodrick Yancy stepping into the John Christopher role…

“He’s a gritty football player who tries to makes plays. He blocks for the guys around him and he’s going to do his job. He has taken that JC role and just doing everything that JC has done. Brodrick is also out there making plays with the ball in his hands. I think that is helping us a lot.”

On what he is doing differently over the last two weeks…

“I am just taking what the defense gives me, not forcing anything. I’ve stopped throwing the ball so high to receivers and giving them a chance. If I have to throw it low and give them a chance to let them curl under it and fall – just things like that. I’m not throwing the ball so hard, as well, checking the ball down to the back when it’s there – just making efficient throws and taking what the defense gives me. Also, running the ball as a threat, just to keep the defense honest and show them that I can run and pass.”

On importance of scoring after Charlotte’s field goal to start game…

“It was big for us because we needed to get going offensively. We knew it would happen, it just takes time. A lot of people come with the same energy at the beginning of the game. It’s a matter of just letting that energy wear off a little bit and taking our chances when we have them as an offense.”

On field position and being in red zone…

“Once we got the turnover, we had another opportunity in the red zone to make something happen and we did it. If you give us the ball in the red zone, we have to be able to make a play.”

On conference play…

“I’m looking forward to it. There are a lot of great teams in this conference. I think this conference can go either way – anybody from the west or anybody from the east. There’s a lot of great talent. We just need to bring our ‘A’ game every week and we have a long stretch here.”

On first four games…

“I think the record should be different but there are learning curves to this game. We just have to keep going out there and building as a team. That was the first four games and now we have a whole new season to play. We are 0-0 and now its conference play.”

On Logan Marchi…

“He can extend the play and throw the ball down the field. I think he’s a good player and he makes a lot of plays off schedule. He can run the ball. Just having that dual-threat guy like Logan Marchi who can actually make plays on the run is big for this team.”

(RB) Jahad Thomas

On performance…

“I wasn’t pleased with my fumble early on in the game but I think I did pretty well today.”

On state of offense…

“I feel pretty good about who we are. We still have to get better in a lot of places but we are definitely not peaking at the wrong moments. It’s still early in the season but conference play starts next week and the little details that we are always preaching that we talk about, we really need to fix those in order to do well in our conference.”

On competitiveness of running back position…

“It is very competitive. It is more so a brotherhood. We go against each other every day to become the best that we can be and it brings out the best of us all the time. I know if I’m not doing my job, Ryquell Armstead, Jager Gardner or David Hood can step in and replace me. One of the mottos our coaches have is whoever is most productive is going to play.”

On starting slow offensively…

“I’m not sure, honestly, maybe penalties. That’s the way it has been since I’ve been here and we could never really figure out why. Definitely penalties are part of that. Penalties kill drives. We were moving the ball a little bit in the first quarter and we had an offside or something and it kind of killed that drive. Once we just limit that then I think we will be pretty good.”

On the play of offensive line…

“I don’t know the number of times that Phillip was sacked or was rushed, but we had some pretty good holes out there and I think they played pretty well.”

On momentum going into conference play…

“It is really good. You definitely want to be on the winning end and have that confidence behind you going into conference play because you know how tough our conference is. Everyone week in and week out, will be playing their best football. Everyone at the end of the year is trying to hold that trophy up. We definitely are going to correct our mistakes and watch some film to get ready for conference next week.”

On protection from offensive line…

“I am very happy. They are doing a great job. Coach George DeLeone and all the coaches are working with all the young guys. This is a lot of their first times playing on stages like this. For them to be able to step in as offensive line men and make the progression is really good. I am really proud of those guys.”

On amount of carries…

“I wouldn’t necessarily say I want more. They are doing a great job of getting the ball in my hands. When you are as versatile as our offense is, anybody can go off at any given time. I’m not one of those selfish guys. I take pride in not being selfish. I don’t care if I only get the ball four times a game, as long as we are winning and I am doing all I can, that’s all I really care.”

On throwback pass down the sideline…

”That play has been in since my freshman or sophomore year. Phillip has been doing it since he has been playing. I have caught one before. It has been in our playbook for a while.”

On Phillip’s play…

“He has definitely been productive. Definitely coming into the season, talking about his completion percentage, him being a senior with people breathing down your neck, I’m pretty sure that’s why he’s been playing so well the past two games.”

On the way conference teams views Temple…

“When you win, I think everyone looks at you differently. When you have a target on your back because we won our side of the conference last year, each team wants to win this division, too. We don’t really worry about that. We just go out there and do what we need to do.”

On freshmen’s contributions…

“It shows the trust that our coaches have in young players and how far they’ve come since they’ve came. Its tough playing on the college stage being a freshman with everything going on – managing class, your workload, practice, study hall hours – it can be tough. To come in and not only play but produce, it shows the hard work they really put in.”

On Dion Dawkins fumble recovery…

“As soon as I fumbled, I instantly punch the ground and out of the corner of my eye I saw it bounce into his hands. He got the first down so that was a little enjoyment but upsetting too.”

(RB) Ryquell Armstead

On having big runs up the middle……

“It was very important to help my team out and get us out of the hole. Also, I wanted to give Jahad a breather as well.”

On the flow of the offense over the past two games……

“Definitively just rotating a lot of guys and guys are making the most of their opportunities.”

On making the best of your opportunities coming behind Jahad……

“They’re very important when I get those opportunities because I know there are not going to come as much. So you just have to make the most plays with what you get.”

On the importance of today’s game before conference games

“Today was very important. This game showed us where our team was going, it shows we’re headed in the right direction.”

On good lanes to run through today……

“Yeah our offensive line blocked fantastic I give them praise every week. They do a great job every week even if it doesn’t seem like it. They’re just making our jobs as running backs so much easier.”

On something to improve in your game over the next six conference games

“Just be involved more in the passing game and being more physical.”

On the four men running back rotation……

“We all have different styles that make us effective. It’s easier to use with game planning against each team. Every game plan is different so one of our styles will fit that game plan.”

(DL) Praise Martin-Oguike

On defensive fumble recovery……

“I just was doing my job the quarterback was trying to put the ball in the flat. I just picked up the ball and tried to run wish I scored.”

On getting more pressure on the quarterback……

“We just have to keep working, usually we’re one of the best units on the team over the past couple of years. We just have to play to our potential. We’re going to come back and see what we’re doing wrong and fix it.”

On the difference of health from last season to this season......

“I feel much better I’m just trying to be patient and keep working. I’m not chasing any players I’m just going to keep doing my job and good things will come.”

On getting pressure to the quarterback when facing teams that run the spread……

“In conference play we play a lot of fast paced teams. For pass rushers, it gets frustrating sometimes, but you have to keep going. You never know when the quarterback is going to throw the ball so you have to keep going and be ready.”

On containing the edge……

“Yeah you just have to keep going because you never know when your chance will come.”

On being ready for conference play after preseason play……

“I believe so. We’re going to look at the whole preseason. Our conference luckily is a lot of teams we play, we just have to keep trusting our coaches. We haven’t played to our full potential yet. I feel we’re going to look at the mistakes we made and correct them.”

On the consistency through the season thus far……

“Not really, I know the guys we have in the locker room. Like Coach Rhule said earlier defenses usually don’t know what type of defense they have until after the fourth game. By now the new guys and everybody else understands what they have to do.”

On getting burnt two weeks in a row on long run plays……

“I mean its guys not doing their job. I feel like you try to mix in a lot of guys in there. Whoever does their job will play. I feel like we’re going to correct those mistakes.

Logan Marchi (QB)

On getting a chance to get on the field…

“It felt good being able to transfer what we do at practice to the field. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a game, so it felt good to get your feet wet and play with the guys you practice with all year.”

On the importance of taking advantage of opportunities…

“Anytime you touch the field, it’s an opportunity; you either take advantage of it or you blow that opportunity. I got to take advantage of every rep; every time you touch the field is very important.”

On how he has grown as a QB…

“Personally I think I came a long way; being able to study under Coach Thomas who’s really taught the game to me. I understand more things. Coming out of high school I did not know that much about coverage’s. Being able to learn under him has been a good thing for me. I came a long way as a QB, not only just as a player.”

Karamo Dioubate (DL)

On playing against a Spread Offense…

“We have to be able to get set and get our job done. We have to slow the game down ourselves.”

Brodrick Yancy (WR)

On chemistry with Phillip Walker…

“I think it’s pretty good; the more I catch the ball, the more he’s going to end up trusting me.”

On bouncing back from injuries and getting on the field

“It’s great, I had to just wait my turn. I knew eventually it would come and I would be able to make the plays when it was my time. “

On being ready for conference games…

“It’s a tough conference so we are going to have to come out every single game playing the hardest as we possibly can.”

(WR) Romond Deloatch

On whether your mother thinks he’s prepared or not…

“We have a lot of tremendous players and everyone is very good, but I try to be ready when my time comes to play and that’s what my mom has been waiting for.”

On the coaching staff trying to get the ball to him more…

“Yes, they told me they were going to start using me more. I’m here to do anything, Special teams, offense, defense. I just want my team to win. Anything I can give counts.”

Brad LambertCharlotte Head Coach

Opening Statement:

“We gave them way too many big plays. I give temple a lot of credit. They are one of the most physical teams we play all year. I like what they do. Their kids play extremely hard. We have to be in position and make plays. We can’t give up big plays like that. We are disappointed in our secondary and giving up too many big plays down the field. We let them convert too many times. We have to find a way to make some plays in there. Late in the game we didn’t tackle as well. They wore us down a little bit and we missed some tackles.”

On Terrance Winchester’s status…

“He is going to be day to day. He separated his shoulder again. I told him on the sideline he needs to be patient. We knew the odds were it was probably going to happen again and it probably is going to. We don’t need to do surgery it’s just a matter if it stays in position or not. It is painful and he is going to be day to day.”

On switching punters…

“That was a game plan thing against Temple. We just wanted to use the lefty against them in that situation.”

On Kalif Phillips being back and his impact…

“He is huge for us. He ran extremely hard. I like working where he is, we have to continue to build on that and play off our tailbacks because now we have a pretty solid 1, 2 with him and Robert. We have Benny sitting there also. We have to continue to have guys healthy. He played hard today.”

On the offensive line performance…

“I thought our O line was doing okay. The fumble on the exchange really hurt us. I think Temple’s defense is as I would use the word violent. They play really hard. They are a hard playing group. I knew coming in it was going to be uphill for our offense and our offensive line. I thought we responded and played hard. We just cannot make mistakes like the kickoff return. They really hurt you and affect the game.”

On upcoming conference play…

“I just told our guys that four game season is over. Our next four games are league games, we have to get back and start Monday morning. Starting Monday it is a whole new season for us, and that’s the way we need to approach it.”

On a more difficult non-conference slate…

“I don’t think so. We played Eastern Michigan last week, on the road. We played Temple last year. Our guys knew what to expect and they knew they would have to come in and play extremely hard against

this group. It’s just the next move for us to get into conference play. We are playing hard all the time just not smart all the time.”

On the QB injury and his comeback into the game…

“Yeah they hit us with a bomb. You have to make people earn it and continue to play. You can’t give up 60 or 70 yard plays. You just get yourself behind and it just makes it too hard on you. We call them gifts, and you just can’t give them.”

On what has been going on in Charlotte lately…

“I’m sure it has been on their mind. It is all over the media. Our guys have shown up every day to work and they are communicating with each other. They are talking about it. Our guys have worked extremely hard this week and they came out on the field knowing what they had to do on and off the field.”