MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (October 9, 2018) – West Virginia University Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Tony Gibson, Offensive Coordinator Jake Spavital and select members of the West Virginia University football team met with the media on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On how Iowa State’s offense performed last week
I thought their quarterback kept plays alive, that was the biggest thing. He ran around the pocket a little bit. I thought the run game was working well. He can obviously run the ball; he was their leading rusher. Then, they made some big throws down the field. You watch their first couple of games, and then you turn this one on, it looks like a totally different offense.
On preparing for multiple quarterbacks
Well, obviously, we have to be worried about the quarterback-run game with (Brock) Purdy. We’re going to have to do our due diligence with that. (Kyle) Kempt isn’t much of a runner – he doesn’t like to run, I should say. He will pull his own read, and they ran power with him last year a few times. But that’s not his forte. It’s really nothing different – we’ve had to do this a few times this year already. The only time we didn’t do it was at Texas Tech, and it came back to bite us after their quarterback went out. We’ll continue just to keep working, do what we do and get our guys prepared.
On coming to respect the simplicity of Iowa State’s offense
That one thing that you notice about Iowa State is that they’re very well-coached, they are very disciplined, they don’t create a lot of stupid penalties. I like coaching against these guys just because they’re really good coaches, they have good schemes. This is a lot better than some of the stuff we see in our league, actually. It’s real football, and it’s refreshing to see at times.
On the size of Iowa State’s receivers
They’ve always had them. Last year, they had two other guys that were 6-5, 6-4, 6-6. Hopefully, we can tackle them. That’s going to be the key.
On what David Montgomery brings to the Iowa State offense
Obviously, we have to tackle him. That’s the biggest thing. Two years ago, out there, we struggled tackling him. Last year, here, we did a pretty good job with it, but he’s really elusive. He’s a powerful kid. Very rarely do you ever see him go backwards when he gets hit, and he makes a lot of guys miss. (ProFootballFocus) does a thing on backs after the season, and last year, yards after contact and making people miss, he was the No. 1 running back in the country at doing that. He’s a really good player, and he doesn’t turn the ball over, either. I think last year he had one fumble, and it was in the bowl game.
On how to cover Iowa State’s size at the receiver position
We’re going to put (redshirt junior cornerback) (Josh) Norwood on (redshirt junior cornerback) Keith’s (Washington Jr.) shoulders and let them cover them that way. We’ve had good practice at it. Texas Tech was big, so what we have to do is create confusion for this quarterback and not give him any easy throws to that big target. That’s our key every week and to try to create some pressure and make quick throws so we can keep him in front of us. If you get into the jump-ball situation with them, we’re going to lose that.
On how junior JoVanni Stewart has adjusted to playing linebacker
I like him. I would say he’s probably the smallest linebacker in college football, 193 pounds, I think. But he plays like he’s 6-2, 200. He’s energetic, he flies around, he’s physical. I really like the way he’s progressed. He’s been a big piece to our success over the last few weeks. I don’t know if we’re going to keep him there next year or not, but I’d say it’s going to be hard to talk him into going back to safety. I think he likes it in there. So, we’ll see where we’re at with that.
On how to use sophomore cornerback Derrek Pitts Jr. when redshirt senior safety Toyous Avery Jr. returns to the field
If they are both healthy, then we’re going to use both of them just so we don’t run into the same situation we’ve been in where one guy is playing, and he goes down on play 40 or 50, and we have to move another guy in and start moving pieces. The good thing about Pitts (Jr.) – and we knew he’s a versatile guy that has played both – we’ll concentrate on more of him at safety right now.
On the depth of the cornerbacks
(Redshirt junior) Jordan Adams will be the next guy in now. He’s our fourth corner at this point, and he took a lot of reps last week at practice. So, we feel confident if someone needs a breather – right now, we’re going to stay with the same three that we’ve been playing the last weeks – but Jordan would be that next guy in.
On trying to confuse a freshman quarterback
Well, I’m not very smart, I don’t want to confuse myself. We’ll do what we do, and we’ll throw some different looks at him, obviously, like we do every week. We’re just so different. I guess the disadvantage we have this week is Iowa State does a lot of the same stuff we do, so there’s a lot of carryover that this kid has probably practiced against in camp. I don’t know if he’ll be phased by that, he seems like he knows what he’s looking at and knows what to do with the football. Just watching him against Oklahoma State last week, he made some plays and made them go.
On finding additional depth at linebacker
Yeah, a little bit. We played (junior) (Adam) Hensley a little bit. And we put the younger guys in at the end of the game, and they didn’t do too well. I think they got 10 snaps and gave up a touchdown that I wasn’t happy about. We have to go out and stop people. Usually, on Sunday, what I do in our defensive meeting is we’ll watch film, and I’ll pluck anywhere from 15 to 20 snaps out of it every Sunday and go over it with the whole defense – good and bad. This week, it was the twos, they got their turn. Those were the only 10 plays we watched, and it wasn’t good.
On junior linebacker Adam Hensley
It was good to see him get in. When he got into the game, it was 21-14. He held his own in there and looked good.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On freshman running back Leddie Brown
I don’t think he blinks, I think that’s one of the main things about him. Obviously, he has all of the physical tools, he has the intangibles. But the thing about him is the work ethic. He puts the work in, he has a tremendous work ethic. You talk to him after the game, he got a little rolled up, you ask him if he’s OK, and he says he’s fine. You monitor him to see what happens, and he approaches the game like a pro. He put a lot of extra time in treatment and just making sure he’s on the same page in terms of mentally and physically. I think that is just what makes him a little bit different than everybody else.
On his concern with the number of tackles for loss that Iowa State’s defense has this season
I think it changes how you call the game, too, and I think that’s what happened last week with the Kansas game. We kept getting hit for negative plays that tweaked my playcalling at times, where you’re going for more high-efficient pass plays at times when you’re behind the chains because your running game wasn’t popping the way that you wanted it to in the first half. These guys are very multiple with what they do – a little bit different than what (associate head coach – defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony) Gibby (Gibson) does. They cause confusion, and what they do is everything looks the same before every single snap. They are either playing man or dropping eight, they’ll zero pressure you, they’ll do all sorts of things. That’s why it’s a big week of being disciplined and making sure we’re going through the progressions and making sure that we’re ID’ed to the right guys because, potentially, there’s problems if we lose that lack of focus each play.
On if he anticipates Iowa State defending like Kansas did
I think a lot of teams are starting to do that. They did do a couple things that are different; they came out with what they had not shown in terms of how they ran their stacked front with the Mike (linebacker) that was about seven yards behind. It was kind of like three levels, a diamond, 3-2-1 in the box, which Iowa State runs that. So, we’re getting good reps at it is the way I look at it. The way I talked to the offense, teams are going to keep things multiple. They’re going try to change it up on them, and they’re going to try to keep you on your toes and off-balanced. We have to be able to react and identify what we’re trying to do and make sure that we go attack it. We met as a complete unit and watched the entire game, and I thought there was a lot of good dialog, and I think we’re continuing to get on the same page.
On if redshirt junior offensive lineman Joe Brown will be available this week
He should be, as far as I know.
On how redshirt junior offensive lineman Joe Brown can affect the offensive line
It just adds more depth, and you can start practicing these guys more in certain positions. When you get into Joe being out, now you have to take (redshirt sophomore) Jacob Buccigrossi and have him play some guard and get center reps where you are stealing reps at center for him. Now, you’re starting to gain more depth, and we can work more bodies and let them get good at their craft for that week. We’ve always been opposed to having these guys work multiple positions throughout the course of a week, but that’s what we were forced to do the past couple of weeks.
On how redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier approaches different defenses
It’s very similar. (Iowa State is) a three-down team, so there are going to be things that trigger what we’re looking for. They are different than what you do against a four-down team, but there’s a realm of what you can do out of a three-down front and there are things that everybody is looking for. As coaches, we find the things and identify what can possibly hurt us and make sure that they are aware that is we get this certain look, then this is what we need to do.
On the number of options the receivers have supplied to the offense
It’s releasing for me, but I really think it’s really good for (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier). You see Will having the comfort to be able to distribute the ball like he is right now. I don’t know how many guys are touching the ball per game, but it’s a good amount. That’s what you want to get to, where when you’re looking at us from a scouting report, there’s a lot of people across the board getting touches. That’s going to help us in the long run where we aren’t just showing tendencies and leaning on one receiver the entire time. I am pleased with where (redshirt sophomore receiver) T.J. (Simmons) is.
On where junior receiver Marcus Simms is at in his overall progression
Marcus keeps getting better every day. The main thing with me and him right now is making sure he’s running as fast as he can and keeping him fresh. This is the time where we’re starting to hit a wall a little bit, everybody does halfway through the season. I think the bye week is coming at a good time. You keep him fresh, because I think he has the speed that scares a lot of defenses, and that’s what we need to continue to play with is have that threat where he can take it over the top at any time.
On if the depth at receiver is helping keep everyone fresh
I think (assistant coach – wide receivers) Coach (Tyron) Carrier does a really good job at monitoring that. We ran into some issues with (sophomore wide receiver) Tevin (Bush) not finishing the game, and you saw (senior receiver) Dom (Maiden) come in at the slot position, and he didn’t blink. He executed the plays cleanly, which is tough because he had never repped it. Coach Carrier does a good job in teaching them the whole scheme and making sure these guys have an understanding of what they are trying to do. He has a good feel for looking at them and understanding when and what time we need to give them a breather. And it’s hard to do, especially when you’re running 80 plays, especially when it’s 80 degrees. The climate changes a lot with us right now, because I think we’re going to practice in 80-degree weather here and it’s going to be 40 degrees when you kick off against Iowa State. So, Carrier just has a good feel of where they are at, and he handles all of the substitutions and does a good job.
On using a variety of different players during games
It goes back to the depth issues. I thought that’s where we hit a wall last year. When you got into this point of the season, we didn’t have very good backups at that time that we trusted or (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) trusted. We ended up running those guys ragged in a way where they weren’t as explosive as they needed to be. When you have a lot of different backs that you’re confident in and a lot of different receivers, that’s naturally going to play out over the course of the season, because you have (redshirt freshman running back) (Alec) Sinkfield coming back. It’s a long season, and in the attrition of it, you need all of these guys to play. That’s why I like having a lot of different options, because as a play caller, you don’t change what your thought process is because you have confidence in whoever you are putting out there. Last year, I only had certain plays that I could run at certain times because these were the guys that practiced it and these were the guys that could do it. That’s always a good thing to have multiple players.
Redshirt Senior Quarterback Will Grier
On finding comfort in spreading the ball around
Very comfortable; I think it’s a good thing. I’m very comfortable with all of our guys. I think we have a lot of weapons, and it’s good to be able to spread the ball around. All of these guys can make plays, and it’s my job to make the right reads and get us in good plays and get the ball in their hands. Like I said, I think we’re doing a lot of things well, and we’re close to playing complete games and really ironing all of this stuff out. We’re right there, we just need to make a few more adjustments and continue to get better. But we do do some good things, and I’m really happy with where the offensive line is at, I’m happy with our skill positions and what they do when they get the ball.
On how much deeper the receiver group is outside of the starters
They’ve developed a lot, especially from last year to this year. I have all the trust in the world in our two-deep. (Senior) Dom (Maiden) had a great game. He came in and blocked really well, had a catch that was really important. He will continue to play a role in this offense. (Sophomore) Tevin (Bush) does a really nice job, he’s great in space. All of these guys know the plays and know where to be, and they’ll continue to get more playing time and be a part of this offense, which is great.
On getting running backs involved in the passing game
It’s really effective. They do a great job, they are great athletes, so they get out of the backfield and catch the ball really well. It’s another level to our offense; we want to be multiple and that adds something to it. We trust those guys to not only run the ball between the tackles but also get out in space and make plays. I’m really happy with where that group is at as a whole.
On freshman running back Leddie Brown
He’s a freak athlete. He’s big and loves the game. He’s passionate and runs hard. He’s going to continue to get better; he’s a really good player. That group as a whole challenges each other, they practice really hard as a group in every aspect – pass blocking, getting out of the backfield and run game. It shows that practice translates, and these guys practice hard, and they’re all playing at a really high level right now.
Redshirt Sophomore Offensive Lineman Josh Sills
On playing time and the need to take a play off
I can’t say there’s ever been a play that I specifically wanted to come out just because you play through that, you push through it, that kind of thing. I look at it as you train eight months out of the year, so why would you go through all of the training and stress on your body to not play in the games on Saturday?
On pacing himself to make it through an entire game
I wouldn’t say that I save myself, because when you save yourself, it shows on film. We just have to go out there with the mindset – that’s a big thing with Coach (assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning) Mike (Joseph) and really everyone around here is your mindset. You just have to have that mindset that, no matter what, my first play is going to be as good as my last, and it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are. So, I wouldn’t say I save myself because if you save yourself earlier in a game, it shows and you get beat and that type of thing. So, you just have to play your best every play.
On handling a full game
You just have to take your breaks on the sideline as you get them, drink some water, that type of thing. You have to control your breathing.
Senior Defensive Lineman Ezekiel Rose
On his thoughts on how the team is coming together
I think we play very well together. Sometimes, when the offense is down, then the defense steps up, and when the defense is down, the offense steps up. I think it all works together in the final outcome.
On getting a chance to wear the turnover helmet
That’s always a good thing. When they brought it out to show us what it was, you know Miami has the chain and Boise State has the throne, I think, when we got the turnover hat with the light on it, I had to click the light on that bad boy and everything. I felt like I was entitled to the light. But it felt really good to wear the hat.
On how his interception played out
I actually didn’t see it; it was like instinct. We called a play and it got in a little late. I was like, ‘OK, I better hurry up and get down.’ I got in my stance and they called hut, so I did my little play. I looked up and the ball had hit (redshirt junior linebacker) David (Long Jr.), and I looked up and it was right in my face. So, I just put my hands up, and it landed right in the spot.
Redshirt Junior Cornerback Hakeem Bailey
On his first career interception against Kansas
It was a great call by Coach (associate head coach – defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony) Gibby (Gibson) and everything worked out perfect. I was just happy to get my first one in my career here.
On if his instincts took over on the play
Yeah, instincts just took over. I didn’t really think that it was my first one, it just happened, and I’m glad. That was good for me.
On how a big play can help his confidence
I was ready for my next one in the same game. But yeah, I liked it. It boosted by confidence even more.
On defending against Iowa State’s height at receiver
I just have to keep watching film and see what weaknesses they have and take advantage of that. It’s going to be a really good matchup this weekend. I look forward to it.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On how Iowa State’s offense performed last week
I thought their quarterback kept plays alive, that was the biggest thing. He ran around the pocket a little bit. I thought the run game was working well. He can obviously run the ball; he was their leading rusher. Then, they made some big throws down the field. You watch their first couple of games, and then you turn this one on, it looks like a totally different offense.
On preparing for multiple quarterbacks
Well, obviously, we have to be worried about the quarterback-run game with (Brock) Purdy. We’re going to have to do our due diligence with that. (Kyle) Kempt isn’t much of a runner – he doesn’t like to run, I should say. He will pull his own read, and they ran power with him last year a few times. But that’s not his forte. It’s really nothing different – we’ve had to do this a few times this year already. The only time we didn’t do it was at Texas Tech, and it came back to bite us after their quarterback went out. We’ll continue just to keep working, do what we do and get our guys prepared.
On coming to respect the simplicity of Iowa State’s offense
That one thing that you notice about Iowa State is that they’re very well-coached, they are very disciplined, they don’t create a lot of stupid penalties. I like coaching against these guys just because they’re really good coaches, they have good schemes. This is a lot better than some of the stuff we see in our league, actually. It’s real football, and it’s refreshing to see at times.
On the size of Iowa State’s receivers
They’ve always had them. Last year, they had two other guys that were 6-5, 6-4, 6-6. Hopefully, we can tackle them. That’s going to be the key.
On what David Montgomery brings to the Iowa State offense
Obviously, we have to tackle him. That’s the biggest thing. Two years ago, out there, we struggled tackling him. Last year, here, we did a pretty good job with it, but he’s really elusive. He’s a powerful kid. Very rarely do you ever see him go backwards when he gets hit, and he makes a lot of guys miss. (ProFootballFocus) does a thing on backs after the season, and last year, yards after contact and making people miss, he was the No. 1 running back in the country at doing that. He’s a really good player, and he doesn’t turn the ball over, either. I think last year he had one fumble, and it was in the bowl game.
On how to cover Iowa State’s size at the receiver position
We’re going to put (redshirt junior cornerback) (Josh) Norwood on (redshirt junior cornerback) Keith’s (Washington Jr.) shoulders and let them cover them that way. We’ve had good practice at it. Texas Tech was big, so what we have to do is create confusion for this quarterback and not give him any easy throws to that big target. That’s our key every week and to try to create some pressure and make quick throws so we can keep him in front of us. If you get into the jump-ball situation with them, we’re going to lose that.
On how junior JoVanni Stewart has adjusted to playing linebacker
I like him. I would say he’s probably the smallest linebacker in college football, 193 pounds, I think. But he plays like he’s 6-2, 200. He’s energetic, he flies around, he’s physical. I really like the way he’s progressed. He’s been a big piece to our success over the last few weeks. I don’t know if we’re going to keep him there next year or not, but I’d say it’s going to be hard to talk him into going back to safety. I think he likes it in there. So, we’ll see where we’re at with that.
On how to use sophomore cornerback Derrek Pitts Jr. when redshirt senior safety Toyous Avery Jr. returns to the field
If they are both healthy, then we’re going to use both of them just so we don’t run into the same situation we’ve been in where one guy is playing, and he goes down on play 40 or 50, and we have to move another guy in and start moving pieces. The good thing about Pitts (Jr.) – and we knew he’s a versatile guy that has played both – we’ll concentrate on more of him at safety right now.
On the depth of the cornerbacks
(Redshirt junior) Jordan Adams will be the next guy in now. He’s our fourth corner at this point, and he took a lot of reps last week at practice. So, we feel confident if someone needs a breather – right now, we’re going to stay with the same three that we’ve been playing the last weeks – but Jordan would be that next guy in.
On trying to confuse a freshman quarterback
Well, I’m not very smart, I don’t want to confuse myself. We’ll do what we do, and we’ll throw some different looks at him, obviously, like we do every week. We’re just so different. I guess the disadvantage we have this week is Iowa State does a lot of the same stuff we do, so there’s a lot of carryover that this kid has probably practiced against in camp. I don’t know if he’ll be phased by that, he seems like he knows what he’s looking at and knows what to do with the football. Just watching him against Oklahoma State last week, he made some plays and made them go.
On finding additional depth at linebacker
Yeah, a little bit. We played (junior) (Adam) Hensley a little bit. And we put the younger guys in at the end of the game, and they didn’t do too well. I think they got 10 snaps and gave up a touchdown that I wasn’t happy about. We have to go out and stop people. Usually, on Sunday, what I do in our defensive meeting is we’ll watch film, and I’ll pluck anywhere from 15 to 20 snaps out of it every Sunday and go over it with the whole defense – good and bad. This week, it was the twos, they got their turn. Those were the only 10 plays we watched, and it wasn’t good.
On junior linebacker Adam Hensley
It was good to see him get in. When he got into the game, it was 21-14. He held his own in there and looked good.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On freshman running back Leddie Brown
I don’t think he blinks, I think that’s one of the main things about him. Obviously, he has all of the physical tools, he has the intangibles. But the thing about him is the work ethic. He puts the work in, he has a tremendous work ethic. You talk to him after the game, he got a little rolled up, you ask him if he’s OK, and he says he’s fine. You monitor him to see what happens, and he approaches the game like a pro. He put a lot of extra time in treatment and just making sure he’s on the same page in terms of mentally and physically. I think that is just what makes him a little bit different than everybody else.
On his concern with the number of tackles for loss that Iowa State’s defense has this season
I think it changes how you call the game, too, and I think that’s what happened last week with the Kansas game. We kept getting hit for negative plays that tweaked my playcalling at times, where you’re going for more high-efficient pass plays at times when you’re behind the chains because your running game wasn’t popping the way that you wanted it to in the first half. These guys are very multiple with what they do – a little bit different than what (associate head coach – defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony) Gibby (Gibson) does. They cause confusion, and what they do is everything looks the same before every single snap. They are either playing man or dropping eight, they’ll zero pressure you, they’ll do all sorts of things. That’s why it’s a big week of being disciplined and making sure we’re going through the progressions and making sure that we’re ID’ed to the right guys because, potentially, there’s problems if we lose that lack of focus each play.
On if he anticipates Iowa State defending like Kansas did
I think a lot of teams are starting to do that. They did do a couple things that are different; they came out with what they had not shown in terms of how they ran their stacked front with the Mike (linebacker) that was about seven yards behind. It was kind of like three levels, a diamond, 3-2-1 in the box, which Iowa State runs that. So, we’re getting good reps at it is the way I look at it. The way I talked to the offense, teams are going to keep things multiple. They’re going try to change it up on them, and they’re going to try to keep you on your toes and off-balanced. We have to be able to react and identify what we’re trying to do and make sure that we go attack it. We met as a complete unit and watched the entire game, and I thought there was a lot of good dialog, and I think we’re continuing to get on the same page.
On if redshirt junior offensive lineman Joe Brown will be available this week
He should be, as far as I know.
On how redshirt junior offensive lineman Joe Brown can affect the offensive line
It just adds more depth, and you can start practicing these guys more in certain positions. When you get into Joe being out, now you have to take (redshirt sophomore) Jacob Buccigrossi and have him play some guard and get center reps where you are stealing reps at center for him. Now, you’re starting to gain more depth, and we can work more bodies and let them get good at their craft for that week. We’ve always been opposed to having these guys work multiple positions throughout the course of a week, but that’s what we were forced to do the past couple of weeks.
On how redshirt senior quarterback Will Grier approaches different defenses
It’s very similar. (Iowa State is) a three-down team, so there are going to be things that trigger what we’re looking for. They are different than what you do against a four-down team, but there’s a realm of what you can do out of a three-down front and there are things that everybody is looking for. As coaches, we find the things and identify what can possibly hurt us and make sure that they are aware that is we get this certain look, then this is what we need to do.
On the number of options the receivers have supplied to the offense
It’s releasing for me, but I really think it’s really good for (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier). You see Will having the comfort to be able to distribute the ball like he is right now. I don’t know how many guys are touching the ball per game, but it’s a good amount. That’s what you want to get to, where when you’re looking at us from a scouting report, there’s a lot of people across the board getting touches. That’s going to help us in the long run where we aren’t just showing tendencies and leaning on one receiver the entire time. I am pleased with where (redshirt sophomore receiver) T.J. (Simmons) is.
On where junior receiver Marcus Simms is at in his overall progression
Marcus keeps getting better every day. The main thing with me and him right now is making sure he’s running as fast as he can and keeping him fresh. This is the time where we’re starting to hit a wall a little bit, everybody does halfway through the season. I think the bye week is coming at a good time. You keep him fresh, because I think he has the speed that scares a lot of defenses, and that’s what we need to continue to play with is have that threat where he can take it over the top at any time.
On if the depth at receiver is helping keep everyone fresh
I think (assistant coach – wide receivers) Coach (Tyron) Carrier does a really good job at monitoring that. We ran into some issues with (sophomore wide receiver) Tevin (Bush) not finishing the game, and you saw (senior receiver) Dom (Maiden) come in at the slot position, and he didn’t blink. He executed the plays cleanly, which is tough because he had never repped it. Coach Carrier does a good job in teaching them the whole scheme and making sure these guys have an understanding of what they are trying to do. He has a good feel for looking at them and understanding when and what time we need to give them a breather. And it’s hard to do, especially when you’re running 80 plays, especially when it’s 80 degrees. The climate changes a lot with us right now, because I think we’re going to practice in 80-degree weather here and it’s going to be 40 degrees when you kick off against Iowa State. So, Carrier just has a good feel of where they are at, and he handles all of the substitutions and does a good job.
On using a variety of different players during games
It goes back to the depth issues. I thought that’s where we hit a wall last year. When you got into this point of the season, we didn’t have very good backups at that time that we trusted or (redshirt senior quarterback) Will (Grier) trusted. We ended up running those guys ragged in a way where they weren’t as explosive as they needed to be. When you have a lot of different backs that you’re confident in and a lot of different receivers, that’s naturally going to play out over the course of the season, because you have (redshirt freshman running back) (Alec) Sinkfield coming back. It’s a long season, and in the attrition of it, you need all of these guys to play. That’s why I like having a lot of different options, because as a play caller, you don’t change what your thought process is because you have confidence in whoever you are putting out there. Last year, I only had certain plays that I could run at certain times because these were the guys that practiced it and these were the guys that could do it. That’s always a good thing to have multiple players.
Redshirt Senior Quarterback Will Grier
On finding comfort in spreading the ball around
Very comfortable; I think it’s a good thing. I’m very comfortable with all of our guys. I think we have a lot of weapons, and it’s good to be able to spread the ball around. All of these guys can make plays, and it’s my job to make the right reads and get us in good plays and get the ball in their hands. Like I said, I think we’re doing a lot of things well, and we’re close to playing complete games and really ironing all of this stuff out. We’re right there, we just need to make a few more adjustments and continue to get better. But we do do some good things, and I’m really happy with where the offensive line is at, I’m happy with our skill positions and what they do when they get the ball.
On how much deeper the receiver group is outside of the starters
They’ve developed a lot, especially from last year to this year. I have all the trust in the world in our two-deep. (Senior) Dom (Maiden) had a great game. He came in and blocked really well, had a catch that was really important. He will continue to play a role in this offense. (Sophomore) Tevin (Bush) does a really nice job, he’s great in space. All of these guys know the plays and know where to be, and they’ll continue to get more playing time and be a part of this offense, which is great.
On getting running backs involved in the passing game
It’s really effective. They do a great job, they are great athletes, so they get out of the backfield and catch the ball really well. It’s another level to our offense; we want to be multiple and that adds something to it. We trust those guys to not only run the ball between the tackles but also get out in space and make plays. I’m really happy with where that group is at as a whole.
On freshman running back Leddie Brown
He’s a freak athlete. He’s big and loves the game. He’s passionate and runs hard. He’s going to continue to get better; he’s a really good player. That group as a whole challenges each other, they practice really hard as a group in every aspect – pass blocking, getting out of the backfield and run game. It shows that practice translates, and these guys practice hard, and they’re all playing at a really high level right now.
Redshirt Sophomore Offensive Lineman Josh Sills
On playing time and the need to take a play off
I can’t say there’s ever been a play that I specifically wanted to come out just because you play through that, you push through it, that kind of thing. I look at it as you train eight months out of the year, so why would you go through all of the training and stress on your body to not play in the games on Saturday?
On pacing himself to make it through an entire game
I wouldn’t say that I save myself, because when you save yourself, it shows on film. We just have to go out there with the mindset – that’s a big thing with Coach (assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning) Mike (Joseph) and really everyone around here is your mindset. You just have to have that mindset that, no matter what, my first play is going to be as good as my last, and it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are. So, I wouldn’t say I save myself because if you save yourself earlier in a game, it shows and you get beat and that type of thing. So, you just have to play your best every play.
On handling a full game
You just have to take your breaks on the sideline as you get them, drink some water, that type of thing. You have to control your breathing.
Senior Defensive Lineman Ezekiel Rose
On his thoughts on how the team is coming together
I think we play very well together. Sometimes, when the offense is down, then the defense steps up, and when the defense is down, the offense steps up. I think it all works together in the final outcome.
On getting a chance to wear the turnover helmet
That’s always a good thing. When they brought it out to show us what it was, you know Miami has the chain and Boise State has the throne, I think, when we got the turnover hat with the light on it, I had to click the light on that bad boy and everything. I felt like I was entitled to the light. But it felt really good to wear the hat.
On how his interception played out
I actually didn’t see it; it was like instinct. We called a play and it got in a little late. I was like, ‘OK, I better hurry up and get down.’ I got in my stance and they called hut, so I did my little play. I looked up and the ball had hit (redshirt junior linebacker) David (Long Jr.), and I looked up and it was right in my face. So, I just put my hands up, and it landed right in the spot.
Redshirt Junior Cornerback Hakeem Bailey
On his first career interception against Kansas
It was a great call by Coach (associate head coach – defensive coordinator/linebackers) (Tony) Gibby (Gibson) and everything worked out perfect. I was just happy to get my first one in my career here.
On if his instincts took over on the play
Yeah, instincts just took over. I didn’t really think that it was my first one, it just happened, and I’m glad. That was good for me.
On how a big play can help his confidence
I was ready for my next one in the same game. But yeah, I liked it. It boosted by confidence even more.
On defending against Iowa State’s height at receiver
I just have to keep watching film and see what weaknesses they have and take advantage of that. It’s going to be a really good matchup this weekend. I look forward to it.
