Ball State University Athletics
Q & A With Football Coach Brady Hoke
September 03, 2007 | Football
Q&A with Ball State Head Football Coach Brady Hoke on the game versus Miami (Aug. 30) and the Cardinals first road game of the season at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 8).
Opening Statement
“We lost the battle the other night but we haven't lost the war. Our goals are still there they are still in tact. We have to play better as a team. We have to play better and coach better. We need to be able to make a play at the end defensively, we've got to do those things to be a championship team. We didn't play as an intelligent team. I don't like to say we played dumb football but at times we didn't play smart football and that is a big part of the game. I think our guys were ready, I think they were excited, I think we didn't let the game come to us. The goals and the war of this marathon are still out there.” Another thing I would like to say is our students were awesome. That student body and their presence was appreciated by the coaches and the players.”
Question: There has been a lot of discussion on two possessions of the game. One of them was at the end of the second quarter, the other one was the kick instead of the two-point conversion. You have had four days to mull it over do you second guess yourself?
Answer: “I second guess myself as much as anything from the last defensive call I made. My gut was to go blitz them. You know on the fourth and five we had a good play if we were able to hold the ball just a little longer we were going to score the touchdown. With 11 minutes left to go in the game going for two, two field goals beat you. So I don't have any question on either one of those.”
Question: What was it about the fourth and five at the end of the second quarter that convinced you not to kick the field goal?
Answer: “Well, offensively we have been a very good red zone team. If you look statiscally over the years I think we were going to execute and what we called was something really right for what they played down there in that situation. It is easy to second guess yourself but I wouldn't change that and that might not make me intelligent but I wanted to let the team have a little confidence.”
Question: What about three weeks from now and you have a similar situation? Will that play any part?
Answer: “I don't think so just knowing me as a person I am going to be kind of reactive to the situation at hand.”
Question: What about positives from the game?
Answer: “I think there are a ton of positives. We rushed for a 140 yards. Holding a team to 14 points is not done in this day in age of football. Jake Hogue overcame his first game jitters. You look at B.J. Hill and his performance I thought he played an outstanding football game. Trey Lewis played very, very well he had tighter coverage and played with more confidence. Mike Dorulla defensively did a good job. So there are a lot of positives. Our true freshman did a great job and I'm excited to see what they will do.”
Question: What are your thoughts on Eastern Michigan?
Answer: “I think the strength of their team is their defense. Defensively they are going to be a salty team. They are going to be an aggressive football team. I think they went up to Pittsburgh and played pretty good defensively. They had some opportunities offensively in that game and dropped a touchdown pass. They had a turnover in the red zone. I think overall it is going to be a great challenge for us.”
