Ball State Football Weekly News Conference Quotes, September 30: Game 5
Coach Neu
Opening Statement: “Obviously, it was a disappointing day there on Saturday. I said that post-game in the press conference, I just feel like guys started pressing, and guys started to try to play outside of what their job is. When you play the game with that type of mindset, or you play the game with that type of mentality, it's tough, and things start to slide, or things start to compound, and that's really what happened to us.”
Q: “About half the teams in the MAC are in the same boat as you. Is that something you look at as a positive?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “When you fall off a horse, you’ve got to get back up and get back on that thing. We're turning the page to MAC play now. Obviously, it's Western Michigan. They're playing their first MAC game. This will be our second, so we’ve got to turn all of our attention and focus to that and make sure we get ourselves where we need to be confidence-wise.”
Q: “Do you look at the fact that you guys have played a MAC game, and Western hasn’t as an advantage?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “You could say it's an advantage. Obviously, we lost a tough one on the road against Central Michigan, but we’ve got several guys in here that have been around. They understand what MAC play is like. They understand what this conference is all about. It's a great conference. There are a lot of great teams, from top to bottom.”
Q: “What was the atmosphere like in the team meeting [on Sunday]?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “Certainly, everybody's disappointed, and you would want them to be. I'd be upset if they weren't disappointed about the outcome the other day. But at the same time, there's a lot of football left to be played. We’ve played four games — we've been on the road for three of those. We're coming back home again. There's so much left to play.”
Q: “On the defensive side of the ball, what are some of the little things that stuck out to you against James Madison that need to be improved?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “It really comes down to that; it's the littlest of things that are getting us. It’s somebody being slightly out of position, or we’ve got a potential tackle for loss and we didn't get them to the ground. You take pride in being a good tackling team, but also, at the same time, when somebody's got them wrapped up, there's also another opportunity for three or four more guys to get there as well.”
Q: “You mentioned family weekend. What does it mean to you personally to have the Ball State community rally around the football team?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “My job is to make sure I deliver the best product that I can, and I want to see Ball State be successful. I want to see Ball State football be successful. We need the community here for Ball State football to have a chance to be successful. And, if we can put out a good product and get the community excited about what we're doing, and the stands can be full, that's a great atmosphere.”
Q: “Looking at Western Michigan, what is it that they do that you like?” — Cade Hampton, Star Press
A: “In the last two weeks, they've done a great job running the football. They had such an explosive game in their first home game against Bethune-Cookman; they had nearly 700 yards offense, 350 yards, if I'm not mistaken, rushing. And then last week, they really did a great job on the road at Marshall of establishing the run. So for us, it all starts, whether it's offensively or defensively, with the run. We’ve got to stop the run, and we've got to do a good job of getting the run game established.
Jackson Wiegold
Q: “Something [coach Neu] said during the press conference was he started off not only the post-game on Saturday, but the team meeting on Sunday, by just telling the guys that he loved them. How much does that carry over to the locker room when you hear the head coach of more than 100 players say that he loves you?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “It means a lot. The relationship that all the players have with Coach Neu is solid. He actually cares about you, not only as a player, but as an individual. He's the heartbeat of his team and somebody that guys can rally behind.”
Q: “What have you learned, particularly from Keionte, given the fact that he's [True Cardinal 1]?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “Keionte is a good role model. He's been like that all my time here. I’ve had the opportunity to play with him for four years, coming in a year after him. He does everything the right way. I'm getting to meetings 15 minutes before because he set that standard for the linebacker room.”
Q: “What do you see when looking at Western Michigan's offense?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “They have a fantastic O-line — probably one of the better ones we've seen this year. But, we’ve played Miami, we’ve played JMU, and those guys had good offensive linemen, so we're ready for it.”
Q: “Playing against elite, high-scoring, high-flying offenses like [Miami and JMU], how do you think that helps you going forward into MAC play?” — Cade Hampton, Star Press
A: “It's tough. It's definitely a test, but we gave them too many points. We gave them too many opportunities. They are good offenses, for sure, but we magnified what they were able to do just by not doing our job.”
Cam Pickett
Q: “How did you stay the course, and what all went into earning a starting spot this year?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “I just stayed the course. I know what I'm capable of. I didn't let any setbacks mess with my mental. A lot of guys in the building always checked up on me and made sure I was good.”
Q: “Even with Justin [Bowick] and Ty [Robinson] out, the wide receiver room has still produced from guys like you and Qian [Magwood]. Does that just speak even more to the depth that you're talking about?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “It definitely does, from top to bottom. We have guys who show out every day in practice. I feel like now it's just a matter of doing the same thing we've been doing since the spring, and just doing that on the field on Saturday.”
Q: “Do you view that this upcoming Saturday kind of starts a new opportunity for this team?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “The goal from the beginning, of course, is for us to win the MAC championship. We lost a tough game to Central Michigan, but it’s definitely a good opportunity to get back in MAC play. We fee; like we've seen it all from college football.”
Q: “What's your relationship like with [Kadin] Semonza?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “It’s pretty good. As soon as you got here, we had a pretty good bond. He trusts me. He trusts really everybody in our room and trusts me to make those big plays. I’ve just got to start doing that more consistently.”
Coach Neu
Opening Statement: “Obviously, it was a disappointing day there on Saturday. I said that post-game in the press conference, I just feel like guys started pressing, and guys started to try to play outside of what their job is. When you play the game with that type of mindset, or you play the game with that type of mentality, it's tough, and things start to slide, or things start to compound, and that's really what happened to us.”
Q: “About half the teams in the MAC are in the same boat as you. Is that something you look at as a positive?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “When you fall off a horse, you’ve got to get back up and get back on that thing. We're turning the page to MAC play now. Obviously, it's Western Michigan. They're playing their first MAC game. This will be our second, so we’ve got to turn all of our attention and focus to that and make sure we get ourselves where we need to be confidence-wise.”
Q: “Do you look at the fact that you guys have played a MAC game, and Western hasn’t as an advantage?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “You could say it's an advantage. Obviously, we lost a tough one on the road against Central Michigan, but we’ve got several guys in here that have been around. They understand what MAC play is like. They understand what this conference is all about. It's a great conference. There are a lot of great teams, from top to bottom.”
Q: “What was the atmosphere like in the team meeting [on Sunday]?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “Certainly, everybody's disappointed, and you would want them to be. I'd be upset if they weren't disappointed about the outcome the other day. But at the same time, there's a lot of football left to be played. We’ve played four games — we've been on the road for three of those. We're coming back home again. There's so much left to play.”
Q: “On the defensive side of the ball, what are some of the little things that stuck out to you against James Madison that need to be improved?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “It really comes down to that; it's the littlest of things that are getting us. It’s somebody being slightly out of position, or we’ve got a potential tackle for loss and we didn't get them to the ground. You take pride in being a good tackling team, but also, at the same time, when somebody's got them wrapped up, there's also another opportunity for three or four more guys to get there as well.”
Q: “You mentioned family weekend. What does it mean to you personally to have the Ball State community rally around the football team?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “My job is to make sure I deliver the best product that I can, and I want to see Ball State be successful. I want to see Ball State football be successful. We need the community here for Ball State football to have a chance to be successful. And, if we can put out a good product and get the community excited about what we're doing, and the stands can be full, that's a great atmosphere.”
Q: “Looking at Western Michigan, what is it that they do that you like?” — Cade Hampton, Star Press
A: “In the last two weeks, they've done a great job running the football. They had such an explosive game in their first home game against Bethune-Cookman; they had nearly 700 yards offense, 350 yards, if I'm not mistaken, rushing. And then last week, they really did a great job on the road at Marshall of establishing the run. So for us, it all starts, whether it's offensively or defensively, with the run. We’ve got to stop the run, and we've got to do a good job of getting the run game established.
Jackson Wiegold
Q: “Something [coach Neu] said during the press conference was he started off not only the post-game on Saturday, but the team meeting on Sunday, by just telling the guys that he loved them. How much does that carry over to the locker room when you hear the head coach of more than 100 players say that he loves you?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “It means a lot. The relationship that all the players have with Coach Neu is solid. He actually cares about you, not only as a player, but as an individual. He's the heartbeat of his team and somebody that guys can rally behind.”
Q: “What have you learned, particularly from Keionte, given the fact that he's [True Cardinal 1]?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “Keionte is a good role model. He's been like that all my time here. I’ve had the opportunity to play with him for four years, coming in a year after him. He does everything the right way. I'm getting to meetings 15 minutes before because he set that standard for the linebacker room.”
Q: “What do you see when looking at Western Michigan's offense?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “They have a fantastic O-line — probably one of the better ones we've seen this year. But, we’ve played Miami, we’ve played JMU, and those guys had good offensive linemen, so we're ready for it.”
Q: “Playing against elite, high-scoring, high-flying offenses like [Miami and JMU], how do you think that helps you going forward into MAC play?” — Cade Hampton, Star Press
A: “It's tough. It's definitely a test, but we gave them too many points. We gave them too many opportunities. They are good offenses, for sure, but we magnified what they were able to do just by not doing our job.”
Cam Pickett
Q: “How did you stay the course, and what all went into earning a starting spot this year?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “I just stayed the course. I know what I'm capable of. I didn't let any setbacks mess with my mental. A lot of guys in the building always checked up on me and made sure I was good.”
Q: “Even with Justin [Bowick] and Ty [Robinson] out, the wide receiver room has still produced from guys like you and Qian [Magwood]. Does that just speak even more to the depth that you're talking about?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “It definitely does, from top to bottom. We have guys who show out every day in practice. I feel like now it's just a matter of doing the same thing we've been doing since the spring, and just doing that on the field on Saturday.”
Q: “Do you view that this upcoming Saturday kind of starts a new opportunity for this team?” — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: “The goal from the beginning, of course, is for us to win the MAC championship. We lost a tough game to Central Michigan, but it’s definitely a good opportunity to get back in MAC play. We fee; like we've seen it all from college football.”
Q: “What's your relationship like with [Kadin] Semonza?” — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: “It’s pretty good. As soon as you got here, we had a pretty good bond. He trusts me. He trusts really everybody in our room and trusts me to make those big plays. I’ve just got to start doing that more consistently.”