Ball State University Athletics
Ball State Football Weekly News Conference Quotes, September 21: Game 4 at Kent State
Mike Uremovich
Opening Statement: "Coach [Mike] Carney has done a great job at Kent State. He took over last year and won five football games. Honestly, he should have been the national coach of the year, coming off of the 0-and-12 season or 0-and-11season they had before. They've got a really good football team. They play as hard as anybody in the country, offensively. Their quarterback [Dru Deshields] is super impressive. He's going through three ACL surgeries and is playing really, really good football right now. He's gotten better every week. The kick returner number eight [Da'realyst Clark] is also a really good receiver for them. He might be the best kick returner in the conference. The biggest area of improvement I'm seeing from them compared to last year is how their offensive line has played a lot better this year. They've got five guys up there, and they play really hard. Defensively, They're really, really physical. They provide a bunch of different fronts. They've played a bunch of different fronts through the first three games. The D-line is really active. They move a lot, they pressure a lot, but the most impressive guys in their defense are their safeties. They fit really well in the run game. They cover well. They're really physical. I mean, they made some tackles against Ohio State that were super impressive last week. It'll be a challenge for us, obviously, to go be a good football team. We're excited to get into [Mid-American Conference] play, and everybody's undefeated in the MAC right now, and we get a chance to go out there and play our first MAC game."
Q: "Do you look at MAC play like the start of a separate season?"
A: "Yeah, it's exciting. It's a one-game season in conference play. You want to play every game, and hopefully they mean something in October and November. We talked Sunday, and we spent some time as a team talking about, you know, we're in MAC football now. What does MAC football mean? It means it's super competitive. I mean, almost half our games last year came down to one score. It's going to be a four-quarter game. It's going to be super competitive. The teams know each other. I mean, [Kent State] has their whole staff, and both the [offensive and defensive] coordinators are back from last year, just like us. We played last year and it was a tight one, so it's exciting to get into conference play."
Q: "How confident are you that the team will be contenders in the MAC this year?"
A: "I'm excited to go play this game. You know what I mean? Who's a contender and who's not, that's determined by how you play each week, and then hopefully, like I said, you get to late October and November. Conference play is exciting, because you start to play everybody, and everybody plays each other, and you get a feel for what the league's going to be like after the first couple of weeks. I'm sure [Kent State] is excited to get to MAC play too. They've had a challenging non-conference schedule, just as we have."
Q: "How is the team going to put the tough loss to Liberty behind them?"
A: "We talked about it Sunday, and it's over. There's nothing we can do about it now. Just the same as if we had won that game, we wouldn't be focusing on that right now. It's about everything we've got to do to get ready for these guys. Like I said, our guys were excited on Sunday to get back in here. We had some challenging discussions about what we can do better as coaches, and what they can do better as players, and that should happen every Sunday. Obviously, when you have a result like that, guys are coming in and they're upset with the way we played, which is good. We should be."
Q: "What's the main thing you want to see improve?"
A: "The Penalties. That's it. That's what I put up in the team meeting. I mean, we don't do that around here, but we have done that around here for the last two weeks, and that's not how we're going to play football here. We can't have 11 penalties."
Q: "How are you preparing specifically for Dru Deshields, being a dual-threat quarterback?"
A: "The thing about [Deshields] is he's older, he's experienced, he's played a lot of football, so you have to give him different looks. The thing that is underrated with him is his legs. I mean, he ran in a draw for a touchdown late in one game. He can make plays happen with his feet, but he doesn't put his head down. He's looking to throw the ball, and then he'll take off running. We have to plaster in coverage, and what that means is when the play breaks down, which it will, and he's good at that, he scrambles around. Our secondaries have got to plaster the guys that can't come out of coverage, because he'll find that guy and throw the ball to him."
Q: "Both teams have a similar opponent already in Ohio State. How do you feel Kent State stacked up compared to Ball State?"
A: "Both of us did a bunch of different things in our games that we probably won't do Saturday because of who the matchup was and who we were playing. Obviously, we were watching it. I was just watching before I came down here, but you know you've got to look at those. You've got to look at every game and how they played that team. I don't know how much carryover there'll be from that film to our game, honestly."
Q: "What will it take for this team to get their first road victory?"
A: "We've just got to go play well. It's no different than playing at home. Every game in the history of Ball State football that's been on the road has nothing to do with this one, and every game after this will have nothing to do with this one. We've got to go play well this week. That's it."
Q: "What challenges does Kent State bring offensively?"
A: "Offensively, it starts with their quarterback [Dru Deshields]. I mean, he makes that team go. From the decisions he makes, he doesn't really put the ball in harm's way that much and he can extend plays. Like I said, they're talented at receiver. They've got a couple that are really good, but they've got one guy that's a difference maker. They're going to try to get him the ball. Their tailbacks are talented, too. The biggest thing we've got to do is stop the run and make it a must-pass situation. Even though [Deshields] is a good passer, we're going to have more success on third-and-long than we are on third-and-two, but it all starts and ends with him. We've got to limit his opportunity to make big plays when he runs around, and he's got to complete passes, and we've got to tackle it. We've got to get them down where they catch it."
Q: "How can the offense make sure this week to not play behind the sticks?"
A: "We can't get the penalties. We can't get holding penalties, and we can't jump off sides. We can't have self-inflicted wounds and make it third-and-forever. We had a bunch of those on Saturday. I don't care what offense you are in the country, if it's third-and-eight plus all day, you're going to have a hard time."
Stu Smith
Q: "What do you think the defense needs to improve after Liberty?"
A: "The biggest thing the defense needs to improve upon is just taking their improvements from the game, learning about what our mistakes were, flushing it, and just moving on. Now it's time for MAC play. Our goal is still ahead of us, which is winning MAC a championship. It's time to bond together as a team and be closer than ever. Everybody needs do to their 1-11, play fast, play physical, communicate with each other, and get back to having fun out there."
Q : "How are you preparing for a quarterback that can beat you in the air and on the ground?"
A: "[Dru Deshields] is a good player. He's a tough quarterback. He can throw it, he can run it, and he has a quick game. He can throw the ball deep, like last year I think Coach [Uremovich] said he had over 2000 yards (2,030 passing yards). He's definitely a good player, a tough opponent, but at the end of the day, if we just go execute what we do as a defense, then we're gonna be just fine."
Q: "This is your first MAC season. What have you heard from the other guys about entering conference play?"
A: "What I know about the MAC is every game is, like coach [Uremovich] said, a lot of MAC games last year were one-score games. This is going to be a four-quarter game, a four-quarter dogfight. That's what we know. [Kent State] is going to be an evenly-matched, tough opponent. We're playing like a championship is on the line Saturday. We've got to go one-and-zero."
Q: "What do you feel the confidence level is within this group?"
A: "I'm extremely confident, as we are every game.This team believes in each other and we believe in what we can do, because we know that we have all the pieces and what it takes. It's time to just learn from the first three games, make our improvements and just put it all together on Saturday."
TJ Horton
Q: "How do you guys get things started on the right foot, going into MAC Play?"
A: "We've just got to watch the film and understand the game plan. I know this team is going to go and play hard. We're just trying to start off MAC play with a win."
Q: "How'd it feel to to get some good opportunities and have some explosive plays at Liberty?"
A: "I can't it without my [offensive] line and my receivers blocking. Without them, I'm nothing, so thanks to them."
Q: "What does the offense need to do to get back on track after a tough loss?"
A: "Really, we just need to have each other's backs. When something goes bad, we can't get down on ourselves. When something goes bad, we need to just move on to the next play, score on the next drive, and the next drive after that."
Q: "What are the improvements you've made from last year to this year to propel your good start this season?"
A: "Really, my mental. I'm becoming a smarter player. I'm just improving on my football IQ, and that's making me a way better player. Another thing is film, too. Film helps a lot with the game and stuff like that, and it helps slow the game down for me."
Q: "What do you remember seeing from Kent State last year that you're expecting to see this time?"
A: "[Kent State] is a hard-nosed team, so I expect them to play hard. We've just got to come out flying."
Mike Uremovich
Opening Statement: "Coach [Mike] Carney has done a great job at Kent State. He took over last year and won five football games. Honestly, he should have been the national coach of the year, coming off of the 0-and-12 season or 0-and-11season they had before. They've got a really good football team. They play as hard as anybody in the country, offensively. Their quarterback [Dru Deshields] is super impressive. He's going through three ACL surgeries and is playing really, really good football right now. He's gotten better every week. The kick returner number eight [Da'realyst Clark] is also a really good receiver for them. He might be the best kick returner in the conference. The biggest area of improvement I'm seeing from them compared to last year is how their offensive line has played a lot better this year. They've got five guys up there, and they play really hard. Defensively, They're really, really physical. They provide a bunch of different fronts. They've played a bunch of different fronts through the first three games. The D-line is really active. They move a lot, they pressure a lot, but the most impressive guys in their defense are their safeties. They fit really well in the run game. They cover well. They're really physical. I mean, they made some tackles against Ohio State that were super impressive last week. It'll be a challenge for us, obviously, to go be a good football team. We're excited to get into [Mid-American Conference] play, and everybody's undefeated in the MAC right now, and we get a chance to go out there and play our first MAC game."
Q: "Do you look at MAC play like the start of a separate season?"
A: "Yeah, it's exciting. It's a one-game season in conference play. You want to play every game, and hopefully they mean something in October and November. We talked Sunday, and we spent some time as a team talking about, you know, we're in MAC football now. What does MAC football mean? It means it's super competitive. I mean, almost half our games last year came down to one score. It's going to be a four-quarter game. It's going to be super competitive. The teams know each other. I mean, [Kent State] has their whole staff, and both the [offensive and defensive] coordinators are back from last year, just like us. We played last year and it was a tight one, so it's exciting to get into conference play."
Q: "How confident are you that the team will be contenders in the MAC this year?"
A: "I'm excited to go play this game. You know what I mean? Who's a contender and who's not, that's determined by how you play each week, and then hopefully, like I said, you get to late October and November. Conference play is exciting, because you start to play everybody, and everybody plays each other, and you get a feel for what the league's going to be like after the first couple of weeks. I'm sure [Kent State] is excited to get to MAC play too. They've had a challenging non-conference schedule, just as we have."
Q: "How is the team going to put the tough loss to Liberty behind them?"
A: "We talked about it Sunday, and it's over. There's nothing we can do about it now. Just the same as if we had won that game, we wouldn't be focusing on that right now. It's about everything we've got to do to get ready for these guys. Like I said, our guys were excited on Sunday to get back in here. We had some challenging discussions about what we can do better as coaches, and what they can do better as players, and that should happen every Sunday. Obviously, when you have a result like that, guys are coming in and they're upset with the way we played, which is good. We should be."
Q: "What's the main thing you want to see improve?"
A: "The Penalties. That's it. That's what I put up in the team meeting. I mean, we don't do that around here, but we have done that around here for the last two weeks, and that's not how we're going to play football here. We can't have 11 penalties."
Q: "How are you preparing specifically for Dru Deshields, being a dual-threat quarterback?"
A: "The thing about [Deshields] is he's older, he's experienced, he's played a lot of football, so you have to give him different looks. The thing that is underrated with him is his legs. I mean, he ran in a draw for a touchdown late in one game. He can make plays happen with his feet, but he doesn't put his head down. He's looking to throw the ball, and then he'll take off running. We have to plaster in coverage, and what that means is when the play breaks down, which it will, and he's good at that, he scrambles around. Our secondaries have got to plaster the guys that can't come out of coverage, because he'll find that guy and throw the ball to him."
Q: "Both teams have a similar opponent already in Ohio State. How do you feel Kent State stacked up compared to Ball State?"
A: "Both of us did a bunch of different things in our games that we probably won't do Saturday because of who the matchup was and who we were playing. Obviously, we were watching it. I was just watching before I came down here, but you know you've got to look at those. You've got to look at every game and how they played that team. I don't know how much carryover there'll be from that film to our game, honestly."
Q: "What will it take for this team to get their first road victory?"
A: "We've just got to go play well. It's no different than playing at home. Every game in the history of Ball State football that's been on the road has nothing to do with this one, and every game after this will have nothing to do with this one. We've got to go play well this week. That's it."
Q: "What challenges does Kent State bring offensively?"
A: "Offensively, it starts with their quarterback [Dru Deshields]. I mean, he makes that team go. From the decisions he makes, he doesn't really put the ball in harm's way that much and he can extend plays. Like I said, they're talented at receiver. They've got a couple that are really good, but they've got one guy that's a difference maker. They're going to try to get him the ball. Their tailbacks are talented, too. The biggest thing we've got to do is stop the run and make it a must-pass situation. Even though [Deshields] is a good passer, we're going to have more success on third-and-long than we are on third-and-two, but it all starts and ends with him. We've got to limit his opportunity to make big plays when he runs around, and he's got to complete passes, and we've got to tackle it. We've got to get them down where they catch it."
Q: "How can the offense make sure this week to not play behind the sticks?"
A: "We can't get the penalties. We can't get holding penalties, and we can't jump off sides. We can't have self-inflicted wounds and make it third-and-forever. We had a bunch of those on Saturday. I don't care what offense you are in the country, if it's third-and-eight plus all day, you're going to have a hard time."
Stu Smith
Q: "What do you think the defense needs to improve after Liberty?"
A: "The biggest thing the defense needs to improve upon is just taking their improvements from the game, learning about what our mistakes were, flushing it, and just moving on. Now it's time for MAC play. Our goal is still ahead of us, which is winning MAC a championship. It's time to bond together as a team and be closer than ever. Everybody needs do to their 1-11, play fast, play physical, communicate with each other, and get back to having fun out there."
Q : "How are you preparing for a quarterback that can beat you in the air and on the ground?"
A: "[Dru Deshields] is a good player. He's a tough quarterback. He can throw it, he can run it, and he has a quick game. He can throw the ball deep, like last year I think Coach [Uremovich] said he had over 2000 yards (2,030 passing yards). He's definitely a good player, a tough opponent, but at the end of the day, if we just go execute what we do as a defense, then we're gonna be just fine."
Q: "This is your first MAC season. What have you heard from the other guys about entering conference play?"
A: "What I know about the MAC is every game is, like coach [Uremovich] said, a lot of MAC games last year were one-score games. This is going to be a four-quarter game, a four-quarter dogfight. That's what we know. [Kent State] is going to be an evenly-matched, tough opponent. We're playing like a championship is on the line Saturday. We've got to go one-and-zero."
Q: "What do you feel the confidence level is within this group?"
A: "I'm extremely confident, as we are every game.This team believes in each other and we believe in what we can do, because we know that we have all the pieces and what it takes. It's time to just learn from the first three games, make our improvements and just put it all together on Saturday."
TJ Horton
Q: "How do you guys get things started on the right foot, going into MAC Play?"
A: "We've just got to watch the film and understand the game plan. I know this team is going to go and play hard. We're just trying to start off MAC play with a win."
Q: "How'd it feel to to get some good opportunities and have some explosive plays at Liberty?"
A: "I can't it without my [offensive] line and my receivers blocking. Without them, I'm nothing, so thanks to them."
Q: "What does the offense need to do to get back on track after a tough loss?"
A: "Really, we just need to have each other's backs. When something goes bad, we can't get down on ourselves. When something goes bad, we need to just move on to the next play, score on the next drive, and the next drive after that."
Q: "What are the improvements you've made from last year to this year to propel your good start this season?"
A: "Really, my mental. I'm becoming a smarter player. I'm just improving on my football IQ, and that's making me a way better player. Another thing is film, too. Film helps a lot with the game and stuff like that, and it helps slow the game down for me."
Q: "What do you remember seeing from Kent State last year that you're expecting to see this time?"
A: "[Kent State] is a hard-nosed team, so I expect them to play hard. We've just got to come out flying."