Ball State Football Postgame News Conference Quotes, September 6: Game 2 at Auburn
Coach Uremovich
Opening Statement: "I just talked to the team and told them our entire defense played good football against a really good offensive team. [Auburn] has a good quarterback, they have good running backs and they have good receivers. A score sometimes doesn't show it, but I was happy with the defense. I was happy with our special teams play. I'm not happy at all with our offensive execution, and we kind of strung our defense out and had them out there all day. That's something I've got to do a better job with and get fixed, and we'll start tomorrow morning."
Q: "How does execution get cleaned up?"
A: "When we're out of game week, we've got to have better practices and execute in practice. However you do play on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, is how you've got to play on Saturday."
Q: "You talked about the defensive performance. What do you think went into that hot start for the pass rush?"
A: "I think our front seven are the strength of our team, and they played like it against a really good SEC offense today. Like I said, you can look at the score, but when you're playing, I don't have the stats in front of me, but when it felt like they were on the field the entire game. Eventually you're going to give up a score."
Q: "How much confidence do you have in the front seven going forward?"
A"Â Well, it's encouraging. Obviously, [Auburn] is one of the better offensive lines we'll play all year. For them to go out there and play well against that group is going to bode well for the rest of season."
Q: "What needs to change for [third downs] to be better?"
A: "We've got to be better on first and second downs."
Q: "How do you limit mistakes for later on in the season?"
A: "We can't fumble the ball. That's an unforced error. That was a terrible call on the roughing the passer, so I'm not going to tell [Kiael Kelly] to play any other way."
Joey Stemler
Q: "A couple of Auburn's touchdowns seemed liked [the defense's] communication was off. How do you get that cleaned up?"
A: "I was overall very happy with how we communicated. For the most part, everybody was flying around. We can clean it up and practice. Like [coach Uremovich] said, it starts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm very pleased with how we played for about 90% of the game, but we can always get better."
Q: "You have your first home game next week. What needs to be cleaned up before then?"
A: "From a communication standpoint, we're just going to get cleaned up during practice. [Coach Uremovich] said it best. The front seven played really well, and the back seven played very well. We've just got to keep getting better."
Q: "The defense had five sacks and forced fumbles. What confidence does that give you as a defensive unit moving forward to conference play."
A: "It's a huge confidence boost. The guys are getting better, and we can do it against a SEC opponent. Guys will keep improving each week. I was very happy with how everybody played. They played hard. they fought until the very end of the game, so I was very pleased."
Eric Weatherly
Q: "Eric, you totaled five receptions on the game, leading the team. What's the confidence against a tough SEC defense?"
A: "It's good. Each week we practice a lot, and it just shows in the game."
Q: "You have your first home game next week. What needs to be cleaned up before then?"
A: "Not beating ourselves."
Coach Uremovich
Opening Statement: "I just talked to the team and told them our entire defense played good football against a really good offensive team. [Auburn] has a good quarterback, they have good running backs and they have good receivers. A score sometimes doesn't show it, but I was happy with the defense. I was happy with our special teams play. I'm not happy at all with our offensive execution, and we kind of strung our defense out and had them out there all day. That's something I've got to do a better job with and get fixed, and we'll start tomorrow morning."
Q: "How does execution get cleaned up?"
A: "When we're out of game week, we've got to have better practices and execute in practice. However you do play on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, is how you've got to play on Saturday."
Q: "You talked about the defensive performance. What do you think went into that hot start for the pass rush?"
A: "I think our front seven are the strength of our team, and they played like it against a really good SEC offense today. Like I said, you can look at the score, but when you're playing, I don't have the stats in front of me, but when it felt like they were on the field the entire game. Eventually you're going to give up a score."
Q: "How much confidence do you have in the front seven going forward?"
A"Â Well, it's encouraging. Obviously, [Auburn] is one of the better offensive lines we'll play all year. For them to go out there and play well against that group is going to bode well for the rest of season."
Q: "What needs to change for [third downs] to be better?"
A: "We've got to be better on first and second downs."
Q: "How do you limit mistakes for later on in the season?"
A: "We can't fumble the ball. That's an unforced error. That was a terrible call on the roughing the passer, so I'm not going to tell [Kiael Kelly] to play any other way."
Joey Stemler
Q: "A couple of Auburn's touchdowns seemed liked [the defense's] communication was off. How do you get that cleaned up?"
A: "I was overall very happy with how we communicated. For the most part, everybody was flying around. We can clean it up and practice. Like [coach Uremovich] said, it starts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm very pleased with how we played for about 90% of the game, but we can always get better."
Q: "You have your first home game next week. What needs to be cleaned up before then?"
A: "From a communication standpoint, we're just going to get cleaned up during practice. [Coach Uremovich] said it best. The front seven played really well, and the back seven played very well. We've just got to keep getting better."
Q: "The defense had five sacks and forced fumbles. What confidence does that give you as a defensive unit moving forward to conference play."
A: "It's a huge confidence boost. The guys are getting better, and we can do it against a SEC opponent. Guys will keep improving each week. I was very happy with how everybody played. They played hard. they fought until the very end of the game, so I was very pleased."
Eric Weatherly
Q: "Eric, you totaled five receptions on the game, leading the team. What's the confidence against a tough SEC defense?"
A: "It's good. Each week we practice a lot, and it just shows in the game."
Q: "You have your first home game next week. What needs to be cleaned up before then?"
A: "Not beating ourselves."