OPENING STATEMENT:

“I told our players after the game against Stony Brook that it was a good win for us, but we didn’t play well. We need to get better and improve. You always look at the tap eon Sunday’s, you just need to sit down, they had a chance to look at it and know what the improvements are. I told our coaching staff that was on us because you expect to play well, it was our first home game and we expect to play better. You have give Stony Brook credit also, they came in with a great plan, we knew what their plan was going to be and we didn’t execute in all three phases. Had another punt blocked in the kicking game where we need to improve, that’s just a matter of counting guys. Offensively, we need to get our quarterback on track. He’s really an outstanding player, we just need to play together, be consistent on offense. Defensively we can’t give up the big plays, have to tackle well and get off the field on third down. We know it’s the first road conference game for us going up to Connecticut. I have a lot of respect for Randy Edsall from playing against him in the last when I was at Louisville and he was at Connecticut the first time, so it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

IS ENOUGH TIME DEDICATED TO SPECIAL TEAMS DURING TRAINING CAMP GIVEN ISSUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY?

“We have plenty of time to focus on special teams. You just need to have a core of eight to nine guys that can be in each phase of the kicking game for you. We know how important the punt game is because it can change the whole momentum of the game. You have to protect, you have to cover, but there’s plenty of time committed to special teams. It’s more about whatever phase it is, your guys have to go in with the right mindset and just get done what needs to be done in that area.”

WHAT HAS BEEN THE ISSUE ON SPECIAL TEAMS WITH YOU GUYS?

“For the first two weeks for us, it’s just counting the guys and know where the pressure is coming from. We looked at the one on Saturday, a guy walked up and we need to know if we have enough blockers because we can’t have two guys on one and block properly.”

DOES THAT GET BETTER AS THE SEASON PROGRESSES , IS THIS A PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TIME FOR ST’S?

“It will get better. All across the country there are issues, it’s not the scheme, you need to be focused and locked in just like on offense and defense. You don’t go out and take a play off on special teams, you still have to go out and execute because it’s still a major, major phase of the game.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE QUINTON FLOWERS’ SKILLS HAVE BEEN MAXIMIZED TO THIS POINT?

“It’s all about protecting the quarterback, getting the plays for him and guys executing. You look at when we run the football we need to open up, the offensive line needs to move people off the line of scrimmage so you can establish the run game, which opens up the pass game for Quinton. Sometimes when that doesn’t happen and when you you drop back and throw it, he’s getting pressure and he can’t release the ball. So it’s just making sure we get our offense going and everybody on the right track.”

HAVE YOU REACHED THE PACE YOU WANT TO RUN THIS OFFENSE AT OR IS THAT A WORK IN PROGRESS?

“It’s always a work in progress because it just depends on the flow of the game. The flow of the game will dictate the pace that we play at.”

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT QUINTON WAS OVERTHROWING HIS RECEIVERS ON A HANDFUL OF PLAYS, DO YOU SEE THAT IT’S CLOSE TO GETTING ON TRACK?

“It’s just connecting on the throws. He may have had a few overthrows there, but it all goes back to the fundamentals. Just making the throws in practice, so you make them in the game.”

FIRST FORAY INTO AAC IN WEEK 2, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON STARTING CONFERENCE PLAY THIS EARLY?

“It doesn’t bother me because we have to play each team in our conference. Whether we play them early or late, it’s good to get into conference play because now every game counts and you need to play well.”

COLLEGE IS THE ONLY LEVEL OF FOOTBALL THAT DOESN’T HAVE A PRESEASON OF ANY KIND, DO YOU THINK COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEEDS ONE PRESEASON GAME?

“No. We start so early now, for us when we started, it was almost preseason on that zero weekend. That has nothing to do with the kicking game because you can work all three phases, offense, defense and the kicking game. The kicking game is so glaring because when something happens, it’s like wow, look at what happened with a punt or kick returned for a touchdown or a kick blocked, but we have glaring issues on offense and defense that just aren’t so glaring because we ran so many other plays in those two phases.”

MATT SCHONVISKY / SITE CREATOR