Ball State Football Weekly News Conference, Sept. 23: Game 4

Ball State Football Weekly News Conference Quotes, September 23: Game 4

Coach Neu
Opening Statement
A: "Obviously, tough loss there. I tried to communicate with the guys after the game that in MAC football, you've gotta be ready to play 60 minutes. Our guys fought. The effort and all that stuff was great, but at the end of the day, they took a two minute drive down the field and scored there at the end — and you've got to give them credit. For me, just going back and looking at the tape and focusing on some of the things that were positive, I really want to start out with special teams because that probably doesn't get talked about enough. Really proud overall of how our special teams units played in that game."

Q: "Does a MAC loss feel different than a non-conference loss?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "The MAC is so competitive from top to bottom. They changed the dynamic this year. There's no more East and West, and so every MAC game that we're in, we feel very confident on our end of it. Anybody in this conference, you feel like on any given week, can beat anybody. It always comes down to these games where it's one possession at the end, and can you go execute when it matters the most? Any loss hurts, but certainly in MAC play — but it's only one game."

Q: "Are you kind of preparing for James Madison as if they were a Power 4 school?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "No question. They had a huge win against North Carolina there, 70-50. You go back, you start to watch a tape. They forced five turnovers on their end of it. It was one of those nights where turnovers come in bunches, and it did for them that night, so we've got to do a great job on our end starting with like you preach every week — we've gotta win the turnover margin."

Q: "What do you think the defense needs to clean up those little things going forward?" — Elijah Poe, Ball State Daily News
A: "It's really all about the little things. One slight out of position, and it's really magnified — obviously, the missed tackles. When we're in those positions, we've got to be a great tackling team. We've got to have a lot of people to the ball. Never assume that your teammate's got them down."

Q: " You talked about how well the special teams played, but [Carson Holmer] had two great kicks. What went into that?" — Cade Hampton, Star Press
A: "This was Carson's first real opportunity in the game, where he was perfect on field goals, perfect on extra points, and did a great job on kickoff — he had three of them for touchbacks in the game. He's a great story because he went through some highs and lows and had some setbacks early on in his career here due to injury. For him, just to keep working hard, keep being positive, keep believing that 'when my time comes, I'm going to be ready.' He was ready, and so everybody on our team rallied around him."

Q: "Carson Steele has walked into a really big opportunity with the [Kansas City] Chiefs. What's it like to see him get that chance?" — Cade Hampton, Star Press
A: "I think it's awesome that he still appreciates where he came from. I still have communication with him on a regular basis through text messages. It's awesome for Ball State, and I think it's a credit to the hard work that he's put in. For him to acknowledge that Ball State was a big part of this past is awesome because he's always welcome here."

Thailand Baldwin
Q: "What's the bus ride home like after a loss like that [against Central Michigan]?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "We're just wondering how did we let a game like that slip? It was tough, but this bus ride was different for us. I grabbed our iPad and went over every play that we played with the call sheet with every person that played a snap on that first bus. So, it was a different car ride for us."

Q: "I couldn't have my football brain on at all times. It seems like you have that on at all times. How do you activate that?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "It's already activated. I told the coaches on the bus ride, 'the thing I hate about football is we can't play every day like basketball.' With football, we've gotta wait a whole 'nother week. I'm mad that I have to wait a whole 'nother week to play on Saturday again."

Q: "In that two-minute drill at the end, what do you feel like went wrong?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "If I can be honest, everything. It was too easy. That was four plays, 75 yards. That's a video game drive. That cannot happen. I feel like we didn't do our job."

Q: "What needs to be done to correct those mistakes?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "You gotta trust what you see. You gotta compete. That's just really what it is. We're not trusting each other. You gotta trust each other."

Tanner Koziol
Q: "Is your instinct in that [two-minute drill situation] to score by any means necessary?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "Absolutely, and that just comes from growing up watching football and watching Cam Newton. Those are the plays that run through your head while you play on the field. It's kind of like you see it, and you do it."

Q: "How do you feel like [Kadin Semonza] has developed his game over the last year?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "He is just nothing but confident, and honestly, he's done most of the work. He has just surprised me more and more every time he's out there. Every single route you run, you're a viable option to him because he gets through his progressions, he's very smart, he moves around the pocket, and he creates extra space. Playing with him is the most fun I've ever had playing football because the game is so much more alive."

Q: "Does a MAC loss feel different than a non-conference loss?" — Kyle Smedley, Ball State Daily News
A: "Yeah absolutely, every loss stings, but especially when you're within MAC play. That's what the conference brings. It's a dog fight to the end all the time."

Q: "You just said that this offense is so new. Are you surprised by week three that you guys are doing as well as you have?" — Zach Carter, Ball State Daily News
A: "I am not. Coach Elliot has instilled that we are an offense that can dominate this conference, and we understand that, and we saw it on Saturday. We're ready to go like we want to score every single drive from here on out. There's no reason not to. We deserve to put seven points up on the board after every time we get the ball from our defense."