Ball State University Athletics
Ball State Football Weekly News Conference Quotes, August 31: Game 1 at Ohio State
Coach Uremovich
Opening Statement: "We are playing at Ohio State. There is not a program in the country I respect more for their sustained excellence. If the current playoff format was in place right now, they'd have been in it for the last 12 years. They have two former NFL head coaches as coordinators. They have a great coaching staff, great players and a bunch of resources to go out there and do what they've done. Coach Day's record in the best conference in college football right now is 55-5, so Saturday is going to be a great challenge for us. Our guys are excited to get on the field and play."
Q: "How is the team approaching this week, being an underdog against the No. 1 team in the country?"
A: "We approach every game the exact same. Our guys get 12 opportunities to play, and from the moment we finish our last game, or in this case, we finish training camp, it's everything we possibly have to do to prepare to win this football game. It'll be the same every Saturday. It doesn't matter who the opponent is."
Q: "What do you think are some of the unique challenges that Ohio state presents?
A: "The first challenge is they obviously have good players all over the place, so you have to pick your spots defensively. They are really good at wide receiver, they're good at quarterback and they've got outstanding tailbacks and a good o-line. We've got to decide what we're going to try to take away first. Offensively, they bring a very good defense. They're a completely different defense on third down, so we have to hopefully stay out of third-and-longs as best we can. Then there's the environment. I mean, I've never coached a game there, but I did my research this summer about how loud it is and how challenging it can be to communicate, not just offensively but even defensively, getting the calls from the safeties and the linebackers. All of that will test us."
Q: "How excited are you to finally get the season started?"
A: "I am excited to start the season. I really am. We're a much better football team. We're a deeper football team. I think we're a closer football team, which I know every is saying right now at every press conference, but we have to see how close we are the first time we face adversity. That might be the first quarter at Ohio State, it might be the second half of our second game, but adversity is going to come at some point in a college football season. How do we handle that? How do we come together as a team? We still have to show that, and I am confident we will do that, as a group and as a coaching staff."
Q: "What excites you about this year's roster?"
A: "The depth that we have. There are several positions that we will not have to change what we do offensively or defensively in the case of injury. There's going to be injuries throughout the course of the college football season. You hope they're not serious, but we have depth at multiple positions where if some guy does get hurt, or just the opportunity to play multiple people. We won't lose part of our game plan or part of what we're doing because we are deep at receiver. We do have a lot of tailbacks we like. We're way deeper in the secondary than we were last year, so that provides you an opportunity to not have to change too much if you have one or two guys who get hurt."
Q: "What was it that you saw in Keldric Luster that led you to make the decision to make him the starter."
A: "He did a great job. He had a good spring, there's no doubt about it, but he made a lot of improvements from the last spring practice to the first practice of training camp. He did it just by working with the receivers in the summer, mastering the offense. It's one thing to learn it in February and March, but to go out and run the plays and execute them is another. He came to camp much better than he left spring ball, which is how it should be."
Keldric Luster
Q: "How are you feeling about heading into the season as the starter?"
A: "We all feel pretty confident as a team. Our coaches have a great game plan for us to go out there and succeed. We just need to put all the pieces together and keep the ball rolling."
Q: "Did you get to see all the viral attention you got after being named a starter?"
A: "I did. Teammates and people from back home sent things to me, but I've really been trying to block it out a little bit. I'm just focused on getting ready for week one."
Q: "How close do you feeling with this offense in general entering week one?
A: "I feel like we are all really tight, honestly. As more things get brought into the game plan, and the more we practice it, the more the confidence level goes up. We're putting it all together in practice, and I feel really confident going into week one."
Q: "What are specific things about the Ohio State defense that the offense has been preparing for?"
A: "The personnel, really. They are the No. 1 team in the country. Everybody knows that. They have really good players, but we have good players as well. It's going to be a fun matchup."
Derek "DJ" Fields
Q: "How confident are you in the defense heading into week one?"
A: "Fall camp was amazing. We had a lot of ups. We had a couple of downs, but during the downs, you see light, and we were able to have more ups. The defense is looking amazing. We're going to be solid."
Q: "How would you describe the anticipation among the other guys?"
A: "It's crazy because everybody is so antsy and ready to finally hit someone else that's not wearing our colors, Cardinal red and white."
Q: "Does being an underdog heading into this weekend intimidate you guys at all?"
A: "We're not intimidated at all. Everybody knows [Ohio State] is a big-name school, but at the end of the day, if we go in an execute at our level, we will be in the game and have a shot."
Q: "How are you preparing for the tough matchups?"
A: "A lot of film studies, looking at those big key guys like [Jeremiah] Smith. He's a great player, probably the best receiver in the country right now. If we can steal some of his tendencies, things like when he likes to do this or that, we can steal us one and take it back to the house."
Coach Uremovich
Opening Statement: "We are playing at Ohio State. There is not a program in the country I respect more for their sustained excellence. If the current playoff format was in place right now, they'd have been in it for the last 12 years. They have two former NFL head coaches as coordinators. They have a great coaching staff, great players and a bunch of resources to go out there and do what they've done. Coach Day's record in the best conference in college football right now is 55-5, so Saturday is going to be a great challenge for us. Our guys are excited to get on the field and play."
Q: "How is the team approaching this week, being an underdog against the No. 1 team in the country?"
A: "We approach every game the exact same. Our guys get 12 opportunities to play, and from the moment we finish our last game, or in this case, we finish training camp, it's everything we possibly have to do to prepare to win this football game. It'll be the same every Saturday. It doesn't matter who the opponent is."
Q: "What do you think are some of the unique challenges that Ohio state presents?
A: "The first challenge is they obviously have good players all over the place, so you have to pick your spots defensively. They are really good at wide receiver, they're good at quarterback and they've got outstanding tailbacks and a good o-line. We've got to decide what we're going to try to take away first. Offensively, they bring a very good defense. They're a completely different defense on third down, so we have to hopefully stay out of third-and-longs as best we can. Then there's the environment. I mean, I've never coached a game there, but I did my research this summer about how loud it is and how challenging it can be to communicate, not just offensively but even defensively, getting the calls from the safeties and the linebackers. All of that will test us."
Q: "How excited are you to finally get the season started?"
A: "I am excited to start the season. I really am. We're a much better football team. We're a deeper football team. I think we're a closer football team, which I know every is saying right now at every press conference, but we have to see how close we are the first time we face adversity. That might be the first quarter at Ohio State, it might be the second half of our second game, but adversity is going to come at some point in a college football season. How do we handle that? How do we come together as a team? We still have to show that, and I am confident we will do that, as a group and as a coaching staff."
Q: "What excites you about this year's roster?"
A: "The depth that we have. There are several positions that we will not have to change what we do offensively or defensively in the case of injury. There's going to be injuries throughout the course of the college football season. You hope they're not serious, but we have depth at multiple positions where if some guy does get hurt, or just the opportunity to play multiple people. We won't lose part of our game plan or part of what we're doing because we are deep at receiver. We do have a lot of tailbacks we like. We're way deeper in the secondary than we were last year, so that provides you an opportunity to not have to change too much if you have one or two guys who get hurt."
Q: "What was it that you saw in Keldric Luster that led you to make the decision to make him the starter."
A: "He did a great job. He had a good spring, there's no doubt about it, but he made a lot of improvements from the last spring practice to the first practice of training camp. He did it just by working with the receivers in the summer, mastering the offense. It's one thing to learn it in February and March, but to go out and run the plays and execute them is another. He came to camp much better than he left spring ball, which is how it should be."
Keldric Luster
Q: "How are you feeling about heading into the season as the starter?"
A: "We all feel pretty confident as a team. Our coaches have a great game plan for us to go out there and succeed. We just need to put all the pieces together and keep the ball rolling."
Q: "Did you get to see all the viral attention you got after being named a starter?"
A: "I did. Teammates and people from back home sent things to me, but I've really been trying to block it out a little bit. I'm just focused on getting ready for week one."
Q: "How close do you feeling with this offense in general entering week one?
A: "I feel like we are all really tight, honestly. As more things get brought into the game plan, and the more we practice it, the more the confidence level goes up. We're putting it all together in practice, and I feel really confident going into week one."
Q: "What are specific things about the Ohio State defense that the offense has been preparing for?"
A: "The personnel, really. They are the No. 1 team in the country. Everybody knows that. They have really good players, but we have good players as well. It's going to be a fun matchup."
Derek "DJ" Fields
Q: "How confident are you in the defense heading into week one?"
A: "Fall camp was amazing. We had a lot of ups. We had a couple of downs, but during the downs, you see light, and we were able to have more ups. The defense is looking amazing. We're going to be solid."
Q: "How would you describe the anticipation among the other guys?"
A: "It's crazy because everybody is so antsy and ready to finally hit someone else that's not wearing our colors, Cardinal red and white."
Q: "Does being an underdog heading into this weekend intimidate you guys at all?"
A: "We're not intimidated at all. Everybody knows [Ohio State] is a big-name school, but at the end of the day, if we go in an execute at our level, we will be in the game and have a shot."
Q: "How are you preparing for the tough matchups?"
A: "A lot of film studies, looking at those big key guys like [Jeremiah] Smith. He's a great player, probably the best receiver in the country right now. If we can steal some of his tendencies, things like when he likes to do this or that, we can steal us one and take it back to the house."