Meet the Press: Bethune-Cookman Game
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Head coach Al Golden and selected student-athletes and assistant coaches met the press today to discuss the first two games and the home opener against Bethune-Cookman this weekend.
Opening Statement…
“Obviously we’re disappointed on our performance last week. We’re appreciative of the way the guys came out to practice today. Obviously we’re excited about being home finally. I can’t tell you how excited we are. To think we’re opening up at home finally, in week three, it feels like forever since we started training camp. It’s exciting to come home, I know the kids are excited about it, and they practiced like it today. Hopefully we’ll continue our preparation and be ready for Bethune-Cookman.
“Obviously Bethune has kind of taken on the personality of their coach. They’re very aggressive, very tough. They came in here and gave us all we could handle a year ago and we expect much of the same. I think it was 14-7 at the half a year ago and 24-14 after three [quarters]. They outgained us and beat us in time of possession. They run the ball very well. They have a trio of guys who rush the ball, two running backs and a quarterback, that do a great job and are over 265 yards a game on the ground. They’re over 33 points a game. It’s going to be a challenge. They’re very aggressive on defense and a very experienced group. It’s going to be a challenge for us, and I know our guys are preparing hard and they’re excited about coming home.”
On Allen Hurns’ injury…
“Allen’s not going to make it for this week. That’s all I can tell you. I don’t know. He’s being evaluated today. I don’t know anything else. I don’t see any way he’s going to make it this week, but if he does I’ll let you guys know.”
On the potential oversight of FCS programs…
“If we don’t have their attention after last week…the reality of it is, I think they understand that. We can talk about Sacramento State going into Colorado and winning, but the reality of it is we had our own experience with this team a year ago. They were very aggressive, they’re well-coached, and they did a great job against us a year ago. They gave us all we could handle. They’ll have our attention.”
On the shrinking talent gap between FCS and FBS…
“That’s probably true. Especially in this situation, they have 13 or 14 kids that were at so-called BCS schools. And there’s another element here: probably 70% of their team is from Florida and a good portion of them from down here. There’s a connection, and there’s no question they’re coming in with something to prove.”
On “starting slow” and potential solutions…
“We just have to execute. We need a stop on defense – we didn’t get a stop in both games. We were able to balance out and make some plays against Boston College, but once we couldn’t balance out – the fumble on fourth down, then we don’t get in on 1st and Goal the second time – it got out of whack. I told you the kind of effort we were going to need to win out in Manhattan. We didn’t start fast, that was a big part of what we needed to do. We didn’t execute as well on offense, we didn’t get the takeaways, and it kind of snowballed and spiraled out of control. We need to start fast – there’s no question.”
On Clive Walford…
“He’s playing better. I’m excited about Clive right now. He had a touchdown and the long play, I think those were the only two in the game, but the reality is he’s doing everything better: he’s blocking better, he’s practicing better. Knock on wood, he’ll just continue to improve. Right now, surprisingly, the tight ends as opposed to the offensive line who has more experience, are one of the position groups that played really well Saturday. They graded out well, finished, and made some plays.”
On the defensive rotation going forward…
“Once we can get settled in a little bit, I think that’s going to take care of itself – in terms of who is going to get those reps and who has distinguished themselves. The number is going to be less, certainly with Ramon Buchanan and Vaughn [Telemaque] down. I don’t think we’re going to get anybody quite ready there in those two spots, but some guys will step up. Deon [Bush] is going to get his first opportunity, AJ Highsmith is going to get his first opportuntiy. We haven’t really had Eddie [Johnson] and Denzel [Perryman] play well on the same day yet. Or [Anthony] Chickillo and Shayyon [Green] play well on the same day yet. We need everybody executing and everybody focusing on the details this week, getting better fundamentally and doing their job on the same play.”
On why Earl Moore has stood out…
“Toughness. He’s tough. Earl didn’t get pushed around, Earl knocked it back and made some plays. Earl Moore has earned more reps.”
On Ramon Buchanan’s second season-ending injury…
“I just addressed it with the team yesterday. I’m so grateful for Buchanan and the way he approached his injury, and leadership, and being unselfish – I just feel really bad for him. I really do. We’re going to try to have his surgery this week. It’s too early to start talking about what his future is and what he wants to do, but we’re all grateful for Buchanan and what he has meant to us. It may not be over, we don’t know. We’ll see what it brings.”
On balancing blitzing and secondary coverage…
“I don’t think there’s any question we need to get to the quarterback more. We need to bring more pressure, put more pressure on the quarterback. I think everything starts with a four-man rush. I think it’s really important we improve our four-man rush before we start allocating five or six. We can certainly bring more guys to bring pressure, but we’re really not fixing the problem. The teams that are good are creating pressure with a four-man rush and then they are able to bring five or six. I don’t think anybody can debate we have to be more active on the quarterback, put more pressure on the quarterback in the pocket.”
On the lack of veteran pass-rushers…
“I don’t think there’s any question. We need Eddie Johnson to step up as a pass-rusher. Kelvin Cain needs to step up as a pass-rusher. Gabe Terry we’ve been counting on, and he’s never done it. I think that’s a good point and there’s no question about it – collectively, we need to improve and as individuals those guys need to improve.”
On the play of Tracy Howard…
“That’s a hard position to play. We talk about the freshman, but this is really [sophomore] Thomas Finnie’s first real opportunity to play out there too. He’s playing a lot of football. [Antonio] Crawford earned more reps in the game – he’ll play more this week.
“I think Tracy is a competitor. He prepares. I thought the throw and catch they made over him the other day – I don’t know how you could defend it any better. Klein made a great throw and the kid made a great catch right on the sidelines. That’s a tough one. I think he learned a lot. I think it’s hard – we all want to be there today, but we’re investing a lot in guys who are going to be around for a long time. I feel like that every day. I feel like what Deon [Bush] did in the game, he grew up. Maybe Tracy will see it a little better this week. Eddie Johnson saw it really well in that game. You hope that that’s what they gained, that’s the value they gained from that game – because there really is no other value from that, other than that experience from being in that environment and that competition.”
