GAME WEEEEEEKKKKKK
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Not a ton of information here (per usual) outside of Ahmari Huggins Bruce not being on the roster as of right now and it being pretty apparent that Jadon Thompson is going to be the guy who gets first crack at replacing Caullin Lacy in the slot position.
Jeff Brohm:
Transcript (from U of L):
(Opening Statement)
“We’re excited to get this season started and I think everyone is ready for some football. I know our team is, they’ve practiced hard, they’ve worked hard, and they know what’s in front of us. It starts with game one here in front of our home crowd. It’ll be great to get back in L&N Stadium and play some football this Saturday and have a great day. I know this is what all of these guys have worked for, and now it’s gonna start.”
(On the overall depth of the team)
“I definitely think on defense we built a lot of depth on the defensive line. It’s our deepest position. We feel like we have numerous, capable young men to go in and compete at a high level. Our guys have a ton of experience, a ton of production in the past from these guys, whether it was here or their previous schools. We want that defensive line unit to play well and produce. The offensive line lost Lance Robinson in the first practice to a knee injury which was a hit because he was going to be the sixth or seventh guy into the game. Other than that, we kept most of the guys healthy and we have more depth than we had last year. We’re hopeful to play between seven to nine guys if we can in a game setting.”
(On the running back room)
“We like our running back room. It doesn’t quite have the experience we had last year. We had a lot of production (last year). Our running backs did a really great job. Our running game was very steady for us. It helped our offense score some points and move the chains. Maurice Turner has played a lot of football for us. He’s in great shape and has had a great fall camp. Donald Chaney, the transfer from Miami, was nicked up early in camp, but he’s healthy now. He’s got some strength and he’s played a lot of football. Throw in Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown who are two young guys that we feel confident about. Keyjuan was a little nicked up early in camp, but he’s back and healthy. Isaac has been healthy all spring and fall. He has some twitch and speed and quickness that is hard to coach that we hope to highlight as much as we can, even though he’s a true freshman. He’s done a great job and worked hard. We feel good about all four of those young men”
(On Austin Peay)
“Coach Faris is a new coach who came from UCLA. Before that he had been at Duke for a while. You don’t know for sure what you’re going to see with a new offensive coordinator, new head coach, and a new defensive coordinator. We’ve studied the history and the past of the people that are supposedly calling the offense and the defense and what they’ve done in the past. Do we know for sure if that is what they’re going to do? No, we do not. We have prepared a lot. When we go against ourselves, we go against a lot of different looks and things, so you’re hopeful that you can just adjust to what you see along the way and get an idea. But no, we do not know for sure exactly what we’ll see.”
(On Tyler Shough)
“Tyler [Shough] has had a great camp. Every day he continues to go out there and make plays. He has great command of the offense and the pocket. He knows how to deliver the ball up the field to our playmakers. We want him to play well, we want to help him play well, and we want our guys around him to play well, which will help him look even better. We’re very confident going into the game that he’s battle tested, he’s played a lot of football, he’s handled adversity, and he’ll do a great job.”
(On the defensive line)
“Ashton Gillotte has had a tremendous camp. He’s hard to block, he is a force, and we have other players around him that have done well. We also have backups that have done really well on the defensive line. I think you will see quite a few of these guys play. It’s important that you keep guys fresh and healthy, win football games and get to the next game where you have as many guys healthy as possible. You hope to get in the fourth quarter you have guys fresh as well. I definitely feel like we should be able to do that. We will have a plan to play as many as we can, no matter who we play. Ashton and our best players will get more snaps than others, but the other guys will play quite a bit.”
(On the tight ends)
“We have multiple personnel packages where we can plug in numerous tight ends during the game. Where you position them is important and there will be times where they will split out. We have some guys who are better on the ball while others are better off the ball. We want this position to be a big part of the offense. It’s important between receiving and catching the ball between the hashes, stretching the field, and blocking, that they all can do that. They do a great job for us. Between Mark Redman, Jamari Johnson, Nate Kurisky, Jaleel Skinner, and Izayah Cummings, they all have played football to a certain degree and they’ve had a great fall camp. If they know exactly what they’re doing then they’ll be able to produce and it’s our job to make sure we put them on the field.”
(On the start of the season excitement)
“I think our guys are ready to play. We’ve had a good fall camp with some ups and downs along the way which is good. We’ve had certain guys emerge some days and the next day if you don’t come ready to play then you’re not going to have a good day. We’ve stressed to our team that it’s how football works. You look at the three main games that were played last week and if you don’t come ready to play in college football then you’re not going to win. You had two upsets last weekend so it just goes to show the parody in college football. When you step on the field and you don’t play your best game, you’re going to lose. That happened to us last year where we were fortunate enough to win some close games. We showed the toughness and fortitude needed to hang there and get it done. On the flip side of that, there were games that weren’t good to us and we didn’t do the small things and we got exposed. You realize that it’s part of the game so you stress to each player and each unit that you have to play your best game every time you step on the field. No matter if you’ve won three in a row or lost three in a row, you have to have the determination to get things done. The team has to stick together no matter what the score is and play to the end. I think our guys have seen it after watching the games this weekend and experiencing it so you hope they have the preparation and toughness and realize that’s what it’s gonna take every week.”
Brian Brohm:
Chris Bell and Ramon Puryear:
