Ball State Football Weekly News Conference Quotes, October 13: Game 7 vs Akron
Coach Uremovich
Opening Statement: "We've got a good challenge with the Akron. Coach Moorehead is one of the best offensive minds in the country. The quarterback is a NC State transfer that some of our guys on our staff actually coached, so they know how talented he is. The tailback is a really good player. He had around 160 yards against Central Michigan. Their offensive line does a nice job. They have a heavy RPO offense, talented on offense. They've got some receivers that can run down the field, with one of them averaging 15 yards per catch, their leading receiver. Defensively, they play a lot of fronts. They play four down, they play odd, they play bear. Their front seven does a real nice job fitting in the run. Both of their corners are over six-foot-two, so it'll be a size issue for us. They do a nice job of using their length and run into the football. The safeties are involved in the run game, kind of like ours are. They'll cover, but they also will come down and fit the run and make tackles."
Q: "What was the first thing you wanted to address with the coaches after Saturday?"
A: "Whatever's on the film is a reflection of me and our staff. That's how we approach it. We approach that anytime any one of our guys makes a mistake. It's on the coaches, not the players. It starts with us. So we're back to work for Akron right now."
Q: "What was the biggest issue you saw on Saturday."
A: "It starts with with us as a staff, and putting our guys in the best position to execute. That starts with the game plan and how we practice. It starts with how we teach, how we adjust. When you go out and don't play very well, the first thing we've got to do is look in the mirror and see what we can do better as coaches."
Q: "How have you seen the team respond after the loss Saturday?"
A: "They were good on Sunday. Every Sunday should be the same, whether we win or lose. I've seen a lot of them are in the building already today. They are ready to go for this week."
Q: "What is the main thing you want to emphasize with the team, going into the Akron game?"
A: "Akron presents a lot of problems defensively, because of all the stuff they do, so we're going to have to be sound in our blocking schemes and our protection. Offensively, they're a really heavy RPO offense. You can't have bad eyes. You can't not do your job. You can't not be focused on what you have to do, because the quarterback can pull the ball out at any time and throw it so almost every play for them is a run. We have to have really good eye discipline and be real disciplined in our fits in the run game, but our secondary has to make sure they're covering the guys they're supposed to cover."
Joey Stemler
Q: "What did the team see from the defense that you want to clean up for Akron?"
A: "Communication. That was one thing that stood out, and I take full responsibility for that. Some guys didn't get the call, or we're confused. Being the leader of the defense, I take full responsibility. I need to do better on that, making sure everybody's lined up where they need to be, and then just playing as a whole unit. We need to play physical no matter what until the whistle blows. We know we'll get it fixed. I'm very confident that we'll get everything right this week."
Q: "As a captain, how do you make sure guys are getting better at the things you want to see?"
A: "It just happens in practice, making sure guys are focused on the little details right away. If something's not right, we correct it right there so we don't have the same problem. Then we keep working on more plays throughout the week to be better prepared, instead of focusing on plays that we should be past already."
Q: "How would you like to see the team respond after last week?"
A: "Just play as one whole Ball State football team. Everybody can do better on their respective size of the ball. Defense can get stops for the offense and offense can do this and that. We need to focus on just playing a whole complete game. I don't think we've done that yet. Even though we beat Ohio, we still didn't play a complete game on defense. We started off slow the first half. If we want to win these games, these fourth quarter battles, we need to start off fast. We can't let it dwindle and lag on coach."
Q: "How have you seen the coaches respond to that loss as a first year unit?"
A: "They said there are some things that they wish they would have done differently, but we're the people playing, so whatever call they call, we're going to play. We're going to execute the best that we can. It's a two way street. They don't need to take all the blame for it, because players also mess up. If everybody's always wrong, we're all right together. Everybody has full faith in our coaches. Whatever they call, we're going to do. Everybody's on the same page. It's a whole Ball State football unit.
Q: "What's Homecoming week like for you, seeing familiar faces but also having a game on Saturday?"
A: "It's good. Obviously, playing with those guys, they're still my brothers. We'll go through a brick wall for them. It's good to see all the events and all the support that we're getting. We're very blessed and thankful for that, but once that ball is kicked and once the whistle is blown, we've got to shrink our head back into just playing football. We still have to go out there and win the game. We don't want to lose at [Scheumann Stadium]. That can't happen. It's unacceptable."
Kiael Kelly
Q: "How have you seen the offense respond to the loss so far?"
A: "I think everybody is just upset, frustrated, no matter what position it was. Everybody just wants to be better. You can feel that. It starts tomorrow. We'll bounce back."
Q: "What are things you noticed on offense that you'd like to improve for Akron?"
A: "We've just got to be more physical. I feel like at times we're getting pumped out there, and we're just taking it, no fight back. We've got to be the aggressors. We've got to fight back and fight first, not waiting to get punched in the mouth or waiting on somebody to say something."
Q: "How do you go about being captain of the offense after a game like that?"
A: "I think the biggest thing is to look in the mirror. The team goes as far as the people at the top will go. We need to look in the mirror and see what we can do better and find different ways to approach, because whatever we're doing isn't working. We need to regroup and try to get better."
Q: "What do you expect Akron's defense to bring Saturday?"
A: "They're hungry, like us. They don't get the respect that I think they should get. You can see that on the film. They play with a chip on their shoulder, and they are a great defense. We've got to play to our rules and execute to be able to win this game."
Q: "How has the staff handled the lost at Western Michigan?"
A: "They've all been very accountable, but we, the players, need to go out there and execute. No matter what the coaches call, everybody needs to go out there and do the right thing. As long as the coaches are putting us in a position to win games, we should go out there and execute."
Coach Uremovich
Opening Statement: "We've got a good challenge with the Akron. Coach Moorehead is one of the best offensive minds in the country. The quarterback is a NC State transfer that some of our guys on our staff actually coached, so they know how talented he is. The tailback is a really good player. He had around 160 yards against Central Michigan. Their offensive line does a nice job. They have a heavy RPO offense, talented on offense. They've got some receivers that can run down the field, with one of them averaging 15 yards per catch, their leading receiver. Defensively, they play a lot of fronts. They play four down, they play odd, they play bear. Their front seven does a real nice job fitting in the run. Both of their corners are over six-foot-two, so it'll be a size issue for us. They do a nice job of using their length and run into the football. The safeties are involved in the run game, kind of like ours are. They'll cover, but they also will come down and fit the run and make tackles."
Q: "What was the first thing you wanted to address with the coaches after Saturday?"
A: "Whatever's on the film is a reflection of me and our staff. That's how we approach it. We approach that anytime any one of our guys makes a mistake. It's on the coaches, not the players. It starts with us. So we're back to work for Akron right now."
Q: "What was the biggest issue you saw on Saturday."
A: "It starts with with us as a staff, and putting our guys in the best position to execute. That starts with the game plan and how we practice. It starts with how we teach, how we adjust. When you go out and don't play very well, the first thing we've got to do is look in the mirror and see what we can do better as coaches."
Q: "How have you seen the team respond after the loss Saturday?"
A: "They were good on Sunday. Every Sunday should be the same, whether we win or lose. I've seen a lot of them are in the building already today. They are ready to go for this week."
Q: "What is the main thing you want to emphasize with the team, going into the Akron game?"
A: "Akron presents a lot of problems defensively, because of all the stuff they do, so we're going to have to be sound in our blocking schemes and our protection. Offensively, they're a really heavy RPO offense. You can't have bad eyes. You can't not do your job. You can't not be focused on what you have to do, because the quarterback can pull the ball out at any time and throw it so almost every play for them is a run. We have to have really good eye discipline and be real disciplined in our fits in the run game, but our secondary has to make sure they're covering the guys they're supposed to cover."
Joey Stemler
Q: "What did the team see from the defense that you want to clean up for Akron?"
A: "Communication. That was one thing that stood out, and I take full responsibility for that. Some guys didn't get the call, or we're confused. Being the leader of the defense, I take full responsibility. I need to do better on that, making sure everybody's lined up where they need to be, and then just playing as a whole unit. We need to play physical no matter what until the whistle blows. We know we'll get it fixed. I'm very confident that we'll get everything right this week."
Q: "As a captain, how do you make sure guys are getting better at the things you want to see?"
A: "It just happens in practice, making sure guys are focused on the little details right away. If something's not right, we correct it right there so we don't have the same problem. Then we keep working on more plays throughout the week to be better prepared, instead of focusing on plays that we should be past already."
Q: "How would you like to see the team respond after last week?"
A: "Just play as one whole Ball State football team. Everybody can do better on their respective size of the ball. Defense can get stops for the offense and offense can do this and that. We need to focus on just playing a whole complete game. I don't think we've done that yet. Even though we beat Ohio, we still didn't play a complete game on defense. We started off slow the first half. If we want to win these games, these fourth quarter battles, we need to start off fast. We can't let it dwindle and lag on coach."
Q: "How have you seen the coaches respond to that loss as a first year unit?"
A: "They said there are some things that they wish they would have done differently, but we're the people playing, so whatever call they call, we're going to play. We're going to execute the best that we can. It's a two way street. They don't need to take all the blame for it, because players also mess up. If everybody's always wrong, we're all right together. Everybody has full faith in our coaches. Whatever they call, we're going to do. Everybody's on the same page. It's a whole Ball State football unit.
Q: "What's Homecoming week like for you, seeing familiar faces but also having a game on Saturday?"
A: "It's good. Obviously, playing with those guys, they're still my brothers. We'll go through a brick wall for them. It's good to see all the events and all the support that we're getting. We're very blessed and thankful for that, but once that ball is kicked and once the whistle is blown, we've got to shrink our head back into just playing football. We still have to go out there and win the game. We don't want to lose at [Scheumann Stadium]. That can't happen. It's unacceptable."
Kiael Kelly
Q: "How have you seen the offense respond to the loss so far?"
A: "I think everybody is just upset, frustrated, no matter what position it was. Everybody just wants to be better. You can feel that. It starts tomorrow. We'll bounce back."
Q: "What are things you noticed on offense that you'd like to improve for Akron?"
A: "We've just got to be more physical. I feel like at times we're getting pumped out there, and we're just taking it, no fight back. We've got to be the aggressors. We've got to fight back and fight first, not waiting to get punched in the mouth or waiting on somebody to say something."
Q: "How do you go about being captain of the offense after a game like that?"
A: "I think the biggest thing is to look in the mirror. The team goes as far as the people at the top will go. We need to look in the mirror and see what we can do better and find different ways to approach, because whatever we're doing isn't working. We need to regroup and try to get better."
Q: "What do you expect Akron's defense to bring Saturday?"
A: "They're hungry, like us. They don't get the respect that I think they should get. You can see that on the film. They play with a chip on their shoulder, and they are a great defense. We've got to play to our rules and execute to be able to win this game."
Q: "How has the staff handled the lost at Western Michigan?"
A: "They've all been very accountable, but we, the players, need to go out there and execute. No matter what the coaches call, everybody needs to go out there and do the right thing. As long as the coaches are putting us in a position to win games, we should go out there and execute."