Ball State University Athletics
Ball State Football Weekly News Conference Quotes, September 28: Game 5 vs. Toledo
Mike Uremovich
Opening Statement: “We have a big week with Toledo. Coach Jacobs, obviously, in his first year, has been very successful everywhere he's been. I've actually known him for about 20 years. He is a very good football coach and has a good staff. They had a big win over San Diego State last week and I thought they played Michigan State really tough. Obviously, they're one of the premier programs in the MAC year in and year out and he has done a really nice job of continuing the winning they've been doing. He brought in a bunch of players from Mercer with them that know the system and they are all playing at a very high level. So defensively, they are really good on all three levels. I think the strengths of their defense is their D-Line. Both defensive ends are really physical players and the safeties are really involved in the run game. And then offensively, their quarterback [John Alan Richter] is playing as good as anybody in our conference right now. He is throwing the ball all over the place. They are running it effectively, which is giving him more opportunities to throw the football because of how well they are running the football. And then on special teams, they have really good athletes all over the place. So we have to be better in all three areas this week. And we are excited to be back playing at home and it will be a big challenge on Saturday.”
Q: “How is the defense approaching John Alan Richter?”
A: “We obviously have to keep him in the pocket. He doesn't run as much as the kid we played last week [Dru Deshields], but he can run the ball. They run the ball really well, so you have to pick your spots as to when you have to play coverage and when you want to run the football. If you get everybody down in there and you give them one-on-ones all over the place, he's going to put the ball on target. They have some really explosive wide receivers. If you can get them [Toledo] to third and long, then that's your goal every week on defense to get an opportunity to try to rush the passer and do some different things with pressures. But just first and second down, because they're so efficient running the football, it makes it challenging to be able to commit enough guys to the run but also be able to play the pass.”
Q: “What went wrong against Kent State?”
A: “Well, we didn't execute on third down defensively. We got them [Kent State] to third down and then we had multiple errors at all three levels of our defense in different situations of being able to contain the quarterback. Whether it was a D-end losing contain or a spy getting beat or a spy dropping into coverage when he shouldn't have been, that quarterback [Dru Deshields] was running all over us on third down. Offensively, we're just not consistent enough right now. We are behind the sticks too much and we are facing too many third-and-longs.”
Q: “Is there more urgency in the locker room with [Mid-American Conference] play starting?”
A: “I think we are pretty urgent every week. I haven't sensed the change in our team, which is good. I know they are not happy. I know they are pissed with the way that we played on Saturday, but I don't think that whether we win or lose, we approach any week any differently.”
Q: “What have you noticed that Toledo brings to the table on offense and defense?”
A: Well, they are a super physical football team. On both sides of the ball and special teams. They run the football and they defend the run really well. So you know it's going to be a physical game for four quarters and that's everybody. There's times where you see on film against Michigan State and Temple, where the receivers are trying to dig out the safety and the corner is filling in the B gap and making tackles. They're physical across the board. That's the thing that stands out the most to me.”
Q: “How do you plan on rebounding with a home matchup against Toledo.”
A: “I say this every week and even when we play well, but the Cardinals can't beat the Cardinals. We had another penalty that killed the drive offensively. In a close game, early in the game, we get the ball across midfield and we get a personal foul that makes it 2nd and 23 and you're not going to convert that. So the first thing we have to do, and it's what I talked about the team on Sunday in the meeting, is we, regardless of who we're playing, we have to be assignment sound. We cannot have pre-snap and post-snap penalties.”
Q: “Do you think you have a chance to get some of the guys back from injury this week?”
A: “We'll find out. We're pretty beat up right now, but everybody in America is. We're heading into almost the midpoint of the season and we have a lot of guys out right now. But that's why you recruit. That's why you practice. That's why you coach everybody because the next guy has to step up and there are injuries. We have injuries in the secondary and we have them at linebacker. The D-line's pretty healthy right now. Offensive line, we haven't been healthy yet this year. Obviously, TJ [Horton] was banged up last week and at quarterback, and we've had receivers in and out of the lineup. But that's college football. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you. You have to show up and play.
Q: “What have you learned about Keldric Luster from his time here?”
A: “We felt like we knew a lot about him coming in recruiting wise because of Mayo's [Mayomi Olootu] relationship with him from back in high school. I've been most impressed with what a leader he is and how competitive he is. I know it killed him Saturday not to play, but he was on the bench helping Tyler [Mizzell] and helping the offense. He was in the huddle with the offense. The dude loves to compete, and that's what you want out of a quarterback.”
Q: “What kind of leadership style does he bring to the team?”
A: “He's not super vocal. He's more of a grab a guy and kind of talk to him, but he's not afraid to get after the guys when he feels like they need it, which had to happen on Saturday a couple times. But the best thing a leader can do is what he does. He leads by example. He's early in here. He's late to leave. He watches more film than anybody. He knows the game plan every week. He leads by example, which is what you have to be able to do first before you start trying to bring other people with you.”
Q: “How has Luster changed since he arrived to Muncie?”
A: “He smiles a lot more. I think when he got here, he was competing. And not that he wasn't having fun and all that, but he's adjusting and he's learning. I did mention it to him the other day. I've seen you smile a lot more since we got into the season and you're playing and you are the quarterback.”
Q: “What area have you seen Luster make a notable improvement in and what do you want to see him continue to improve on this season?”
A: “I think the thing he has improved the most is just the master of the offense. You learn it in February and March and you go into spring ball and do it. And I said this before. He made a ton of improvement over the summer, which is challenging. And the only way you can do that is on your own with the receivers and tight ends throwing routes and stuff on your own. Because in the summer, the kids are alone a lot of the time. We are not with them. But you can tell that he worked all summer to come into camp and really have a better knowledge of the offense and where the ball is supposed to go. And you've seen when he's played, he has played really well. He's put the ball where it needs to be. He's made the right decisions in his progressions. I've been really happy with the way he's played this year.”
Q: “On receiver Corey Thompson’s removal from the depth chart.”
A: “Violation of team rules.”
Tyler Mizzell
Q: “How are you approaching this week with your starting debut under your belt?”
A: “It was really cool. You go out there and you throw your first Division One football pass in front of your family. You got a bunch of buddies texting you and congratulating you. So it's a pretty cool experience. Obviously, you want to go out there and win a football game, but that's not what happened. But at the end of the day, it's still a pretty cool experience.”
Q: “Why do you feel the offense was kind of unable to get anything going until the second half?”
A: “In the first half, we had three drives and couldn't really get anything going. When you have three drives in a half, that means you're obviously not doing something right. So we regrouped at halftime, came back out and we executed a little bit better. We had some explosive plays, and you'll see the correlation to those two scoring drives was explosive plays. When you can go out there and create explosive plays, you are going to put some points on the board. So I would say we gotta as an offense find ways to create more explosive plays and that comes with scoring more points.”
Q: “How are you approaching this week knowing that you might be called upon to start again?”
A: “Yeah, weeks one through five, I prepare the exact same way. As the backup quarterback at the start of the season, you're asked to prepare like the starter even though you might not get the opportunity to play. And that's kind of been my approach. Preparing like I'm the starter. My mindset is I'm going to play every week because you really never know, that's football. So this week, there's nothing different. I'm going to go out there, I'm going to watch my hours of film, and I'm going to execute my plays and perfect our game plan. That's all I can do.”
Q: “Are you guys approaching this game as a must-win to keep the season alive?”
A: “Yeah, absolutely. Every game is approached as a must-win, but again, this is MAC football. I would say the MAC is an extremely competitive conference, and any team can beat any team any week in the MAC. So I think it comes down to our execution and perfecting our plan and guys buying in. We've had a tough start to the year, but again, it's the MAC and any given week, anybody can win. So like I said, if we can go out there and execute our plan to the best of our ability, I think we'll put ourselves in a good situation.”
Mikeah Webster
Q: “How does it feel to get back out there and get live reps in?”
A: “It feels awesome. Just to be able to be back with the team. You find out a lot about yourself whenever you are injured. Teammates, God and family have all been there for me. It’s great to be out there and be a part of the team.”
Q: “What current injury issues are you still dealing with?”
A: “I'm just recovering from the same injury. Nothing new. I'll probably be back tomorrow, so we're just doing routine checkups and everything.”
Q: “What is it like to be able to impact the linebacker room as a young guy?”
A: “I think it's pretty cool. Being younger, but still being a leader on the team and to just be able to go out there. Even though I'm younger, I can still have an impact and just be able to go out there with older guys who have more experience than me and learn from them, and also help the younger guys as well. It's a really cool experience to go out there.”
Q: “How can the defense kind of rebound from a couple of tough weeks on the road these last two weeks?”
A: “It's nothing with our effort, it is our execution. It's just simple mistakes we are making. A few were on me this week, so I gotta time things up and get better. But we have to work on execution, executing the plays that are called, and just get the ball down.”
Q: “How do you guys intend on rebounding from last week, given that this one is at home and you guys are going up against an opponent like Toledo in the MAC?”
A: “Obviously Toledo's a great team, great matchup. We're looking to go out there and give it our all. It’s kind of the same thing I just said, just execution. Our effort is great. Our effort is there. We have great players on the defense, offense, special teams. We're just going to go out there and execute the play that you're calling.”
Q: “What challenges does [John Alan] Richter present and how is the defense planning to give him trouble?”
A: “He's a great QB. We're gonna get a good game plan for him. With our D-line, linebackers, and DBs. So we just have to watch some more film on them. See what his weaknesses are, what his strengths are and just go at it from there.”
Q: “Is there more urgency in the locker room coming into this week?”
A: “For sure. Obviously they [Toledo] are a great opponent. We got to bounce back from the losses that we've had. We're all kind of ticked off from them, but we're ready to go and we're ready to prove ourselves. So really, it starts tomorrow. At practices, we have to be ready. You win the game on Saturdays from Tuesday through Friday. So we got to be ready tomorrow. Bounce back and just get going with our game plan. Get going with the week.”
Mike Uremovich
Opening Statement: “We have a big week with Toledo. Coach Jacobs, obviously, in his first year, has been very successful everywhere he's been. I've actually known him for about 20 years. He is a very good football coach and has a good staff. They had a big win over San Diego State last week and I thought they played Michigan State really tough. Obviously, they're one of the premier programs in the MAC year in and year out and he has done a really nice job of continuing the winning they've been doing. He brought in a bunch of players from Mercer with them that know the system and they are all playing at a very high level. So defensively, they are really good on all three levels. I think the strengths of their defense is their D-Line. Both defensive ends are really physical players and the safeties are really involved in the run game. And then offensively, their quarterback [John Alan Richter] is playing as good as anybody in our conference right now. He is throwing the ball all over the place. They are running it effectively, which is giving him more opportunities to throw the football because of how well they are running the football. And then on special teams, they have really good athletes all over the place. So we have to be better in all three areas this week. And we are excited to be back playing at home and it will be a big challenge on Saturday.”
Q: “How is the defense approaching John Alan Richter?”
A: “We obviously have to keep him in the pocket. He doesn't run as much as the kid we played last week [Dru Deshields], but he can run the ball. They run the ball really well, so you have to pick your spots as to when you have to play coverage and when you want to run the football. If you get everybody down in there and you give them one-on-ones all over the place, he's going to put the ball on target. They have some really explosive wide receivers. If you can get them [Toledo] to third and long, then that's your goal every week on defense to get an opportunity to try to rush the passer and do some different things with pressures. But just first and second down, because they're so efficient running the football, it makes it challenging to be able to commit enough guys to the run but also be able to play the pass.”
Q: “What went wrong against Kent State?”
A: “Well, we didn't execute on third down defensively. We got them [Kent State] to third down and then we had multiple errors at all three levels of our defense in different situations of being able to contain the quarterback. Whether it was a D-end losing contain or a spy getting beat or a spy dropping into coverage when he shouldn't have been, that quarterback [Dru Deshields] was running all over us on third down. Offensively, we're just not consistent enough right now. We are behind the sticks too much and we are facing too many third-and-longs.”
Q: “Is there more urgency in the locker room with [Mid-American Conference] play starting?”
A: “I think we are pretty urgent every week. I haven't sensed the change in our team, which is good. I know they are not happy. I know they are pissed with the way that we played on Saturday, but I don't think that whether we win or lose, we approach any week any differently.”
Q: “What have you noticed that Toledo brings to the table on offense and defense?”
A: Well, they are a super physical football team. On both sides of the ball and special teams. They run the football and they defend the run really well. So you know it's going to be a physical game for four quarters and that's everybody. There's times where you see on film against Michigan State and Temple, where the receivers are trying to dig out the safety and the corner is filling in the B gap and making tackles. They're physical across the board. That's the thing that stands out the most to me.”
Q: “How do you plan on rebounding with a home matchup against Toledo.”
A: “I say this every week and even when we play well, but the Cardinals can't beat the Cardinals. We had another penalty that killed the drive offensively. In a close game, early in the game, we get the ball across midfield and we get a personal foul that makes it 2nd and 23 and you're not going to convert that. So the first thing we have to do, and it's what I talked about the team on Sunday in the meeting, is we, regardless of who we're playing, we have to be assignment sound. We cannot have pre-snap and post-snap penalties.”
Q: “Do you think you have a chance to get some of the guys back from injury this week?”
A: “We'll find out. We're pretty beat up right now, but everybody in America is. We're heading into almost the midpoint of the season and we have a lot of guys out right now. But that's why you recruit. That's why you practice. That's why you coach everybody because the next guy has to step up and there are injuries. We have injuries in the secondary and we have them at linebacker. The D-line's pretty healthy right now. Offensive line, we haven't been healthy yet this year. Obviously, TJ [Horton] was banged up last week and at quarterback, and we've had receivers in and out of the lineup. But that's college football. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you. You have to show up and play.
Q: “What have you learned about Keldric Luster from his time here?”
A: “We felt like we knew a lot about him coming in recruiting wise because of Mayo's [Mayomi Olootu] relationship with him from back in high school. I've been most impressed with what a leader he is and how competitive he is. I know it killed him Saturday not to play, but he was on the bench helping Tyler [Mizzell] and helping the offense. He was in the huddle with the offense. The dude loves to compete, and that's what you want out of a quarterback.”
Q: “What kind of leadership style does he bring to the team?”
A: “He's not super vocal. He's more of a grab a guy and kind of talk to him, but he's not afraid to get after the guys when he feels like they need it, which had to happen on Saturday a couple times. But the best thing a leader can do is what he does. He leads by example. He's early in here. He's late to leave. He watches more film than anybody. He knows the game plan every week. He leads by example, which is what you have to be able to do first before you start trying to bring other people with you.”
Q: “How has Luster changed since he arrived to Muncie?”
A: “He smiles a lot more. I think when he got here, he was competing. And not that he wasn't having fun and all that, but he's adjusting and he's learning. I did mention it to him the other day. I've seen you smile a lot more since we got into the season and you're playing and you are the quarterback.”
Q: “What area have you seen Luster make a notable improvement in and what do you want to see him continue to improve on this season?”
A: “I think the thing he has improved the most is just the master of the offense. You learn it in February and March and you go into spring ball and do it. And I said this before. He made a ton of improvement over the summer, which is challenging. And the only way you can do that is on your own with the receivers and tight ends throwing routes and stuff on your own. Because in the summer, the kids are alone a lot of the time. We are not with them. But you can tell that he worked all summer to come into camp and really have a better knowledge of the offense and where the ball is supposed to go. And you've seen when he's played, he has played really well. He's put the ball where it needs to be. He's made the right decisions in his progressions. I've been really happy with the way he's played this year.”
Q: “On receiver Corey Thompson’s removal from the depth chart.”
A: “Violation of team rules.”
Tyler Mizzell
Q: “How are you approaching this week with your starting debut under your belt?”
A: “It was really cool. You go out there and you throw your first Division One football pass in front of your family. You got a bunch of buddies texting you and congratulating you. So it's a pretty cool experience. Obviously, you want to go out there and win a football game, but that's not what happened. But at the end of the day, it's still a pretty cool experience.”
Q: “Why do you feel the offense was kind of unable to get anything going until the second half?”
A: “In the first half, we had three drives and couldn't really get anything going. When you have three drives in a half, that means you're obviously not doing something right. So we regrouped at halftime, came back out and we executed a little bit better. We had some explosive plays, and you'll see the correlation to those two scoring drives was explosive plays. When you can go out there and create explosive plays, you are going to put some points on the board. So I would say we gotta as an offense find ways to create more explosive plays and that comes with scoring more points.”
Q: “How are you approaching this week knowing that you might be called upon to start again?”
A: “Yeah, weeks one through five, I prepare the exact same way. As the backup quarterback at the start of the season, you're asked to prepare like the starter even though you might not get the opportunity to play. And that's kind of been my approach. Preparing like I'm the starter. My mindset is I'm going to play every week because you really never know, that's football. So this week, there's nothing different. I'm going to go out there, I'm going to watch my hours of film, and I'm going to execute my plays and perfect our game plan. That's all I can do.”
Q: “Are you guys approaching this game as a must-win to keep the season alive?”
A: “Yeah, absolutely. Every game is approached as a must-win, but again, this is MAC football. I would say the MAC is an extremely competitive conference, and any team can beat any team any week in the MAC. So I think it comes down to our execution and perfecting our plan and guys buying in. We've had a tough start to the year, but again, it's the MAC and any given week, anybody can win. So like I said, if we can go out there and execute our plan to the best of our ability, I think we'll put ourselves in a good situation.”
Mikeah Webster
Q: “How does it feel to get back out there and get live reps in?”
A: “It feels awesome. Just to be able to be back with the team. You find out a lot about yourself whenever you are injured. Teammates, God and family have all been there for me. It’s great to be out there and be a part of the team.”
Q: “What current injury issues are you still dealing with?”
A: “I'm just recovering from the same injury. Nothing new. I'll probably be back tomorrow, so we're just doing routine checkups and everything.”
Q: “What is it like to be able to impact the linebacker room as a young guy?”
A: “I think it's pretty cool. Being younger, but still being a leader on the team and to just be able to go out there. Even though I'm younger, I can still have an impact and just be able to go out there with older guys who have more experience than me and learn from them, and also help the younger guys as well. It's a really cool experience to go out there.”
Q: “How can the defense kind of rebound from a couple of tough weeks on the road these last two weeks?”
A: “It's nothing with our effort, it is our execution. It's just simple mistakes we are making. A few were on me this week, so I gotta time things up and get better. But we have to work on execution, executing the plays that are called, and just get the ball down.”
Q: “How do you guys intend on rebounding from last week, given that this one is at home and you guys are going up against an opponent like Toledo in the MAC?”
A: “Obviously Toledo's a great team, great matchup. We're looking to go out there and give it our all. It’s kind of the same thing I just said, just execution. Our effort is great. Our effort is there. We have great players on the defense, offense, special teams. We're just going to go out there and execute the play that you're calling.”
Q: “What challenges does [John Alan] Richter present and how is the defense planning to give him trouble?”
A: “He's a great QB. We're gonna get a good game plan for him. With our D-line, linebackers, and DBs. So we just have to watch some more film on them. See what his weaknesses are, what his strengths are and just go at it from there.”
Q: “Is there more urgency in the locker room coming into this week?”
A: “For sure. Obviously they [Toledo] are a great opponent. We got to bounce back from the losses that we've had. We're all kind of ticked off from them, but we're ready to go and we're ready to prove ourselves. So really, it starts tomorrow. At practices, we have to be ready. You win the game on Saturdays from Tuesday through Friday. So we got to be ready tomorrow. Bounce back and just get going with our game plan. Get going with the week.”