Head coach Skip Holtz
“We’ve had a couple good work days getting ready for a conference game. We are excited about having the opportunity to get back into conference play. We have been out of conference for the last week and having the opportunity to come back home and play a conference game with the RED OUT and all the excitement and energy, we are just really excited to come home.”
“We’ve had a good two days of practice, yesterday and today. We’ve had a lot of energy out here at practice. The players understand what is on the line and we are excited about having the opportunity to play.”
On the scout team quarterback and if they accurately mimic FIU’s quarterback:
“J’mar Smith has been [our scout team quarterback]. When you talk about a run-pass option quarterback, he’s not as experienced as theirs but has some of the similar skill sets. We’ve had the opportunity to go against athletic quarterbacks all spring and all fall camp. It is not like this is going to be something new for us as a defense. It is something we have seen a lot of and I think they will be ready for the dual threat that he poses and some of the things that he does running the ball and pulling it. I think they do a good job with their offense but I think J’mar has done a nice job of simulating it and giving our defense a good look this week.”
On FIU’s tight ends:
“One of the things they do with their tight ends is they utilize them in a lot of different ways. They will flex them out as wide receivers, they’ll put them in at the home base tight end position, they’ll put them in the backfield as fullback-type guys, they become cutters, they cut off the ends, they promote the running game, then they’ll run the bootlegs, the nakeds and slip them out. They do a lot of things with their tight ends and that is why they have been so active, because they do so many things with them. Their offense, in a large extent, is built around the running game and the play-action pass with the tight ends.”
On team’s reaction to last two losses:
“You have to play the next one. Whether you won two or you lost two, it has absolutely zero bearing on this game. It is all about the mindset that we take in getting ready for this game and the preparation that we make. We can’t let what happened yesterday affect us positively or negatively. We can’t take it after a win, let it go to our heads and start thinking that we’ve arrived and after a loss we can’t throw in the towel and say the sky is falling and everything is broke. Those three games don’t have anything to do with the result of this one. This is going to be about our focus, our determination and how we come out here and play.”
On if the growth of the two programs are similar to each other since meeting last in 2013:
“I thought it was a great game, I liked it. We went out there and played with more energy than we had all year. I thought IK Enemkpali and some of those guys - I remember their leadership on that day. But I think both teams have gotten better, both teams have improved from two years ago. Ron Turner is a really good football coach and you can see his fingerprints all over this program. He’s done a really nice job of building this program. Steve Shankweiler had the opportunity to recruit some players into his system and you can really start to see it pay dividends for him.”
On familiarity of coaching staffs making this more of a mental game:
“No, it will still be a physical game on the field. Just because we have a little bit of familiarity with each other, we’re still not going to have the impact on the game that the players on the field will. I’ve said it all the time that coaches probably get far too much praise when we win because the players still have to go out there and execute. That’s what this game is going to be all about. It is not going to be schemes and who has the pen, it is going to be who has the fundamental soundness, who protects the ball, who follows the plan and who goes out and does the best job of executing their game plan.”
“We’ve had a couple good work days getting ready for a conference game. We are excited about having the opportunity to get back into conference play. We have been out of conference for the last week and having the opportunity to come back home and play a conference game with the RED OUT and all the excitement and energy, we are just really excited to come home.”
“We’ve had a good two days of practice, yesterday and today. We’ve had a lot of energy out here at practice. The players understand what is on the line and we are excited about having the opportunity to play.”
On the scout team quarterback and if they accurately mimic FIU’s quarterback:
“J’mar Smith has been [our scout team quarterback]. When you talk about a run-pass option quarterback, he’s not as experienced as theirs but has some of the similar skill sets. We’ve had the opportunity to go against athletic quarterbacks all spring and all fall camp. It is not like this is going to be something new for us as a defense. It is something we have seen a lot of and I think they will be ready for the dual threat that he poses and some of the things that he does running the ball and pulling it. I think they do a good job with their offense but I think J’mar has done a nice job of simulating it and giving our defense a good look this week.”
On FIU’s tight ends:
“One of the things they do with their tight ends is they utilize them in a lot of different ways. They will flex them out as wide receivers, they’ll put them in at the home base tight end position, they’ll put them in the backfield as fullback-type guys, they become cutters, they cut off the ends, they promote the running game, then they’ll run the bootlegs, the nakeds and slip them out. They do a lot of things with their tight ends and that is why they have been so active, because they do so many things with them. Their offense, in a large extent, is built around the running game and the play-action pass with the tight ends.”
On team’s reaction to last two losses:
“You have to play the next one. Whether you won two or you lost two, it has absolutely zero bearing on this game. It is all about the mindset that we take in getting ready for this game and the preparation that we make. We can’t let what happened yesterday affect us positively or negatively. We can’t take it after a win, let it go to our heads and start thinking that we’ve arrived and after a loss we can’t throw in the towel and say the sky is falling and everything is broke. Those three games don’t have anything to do with the result of this one. This is going to be about our focus, our determination and how we come out here and play.”
On if the growth of the two programs are similar to each other since meeting last in 2013:
“I thought it was a great game, I liked it. We went out there and played with more energy than we had all year. I thought IK Enemkpali and some of those guys - I remember their leadership on that day. But I think both teams have gotten better, both teams have improved from two years ago. Ron Turner is a really good football coach and you can see his fingerprints all over this program. He’s done a really nice job of building this program. Steve Shankweiler had the opportunity to recruit some players into his system and you can really start to see it pay dividends for him.”
On familiarity of coaching staffs making this more of a mental game:
“No, it will still be a physical game on the field. Just because we have a little bit of familiarity with each other, we’re still not going to have the impact on the game that the players on the field will. I’ve said it all the time that coaches probably get far too much praise when we win because the players still have to go out there and execute. That’s what this game is going to be all about. It is not going to be schemes and who has the pen, it is going to be who has the fundamental soundness, who protects the ball, who follows the plan and who goes out and does the best job of executing their game plan.”