That one was tough on us. They were in a blitzing situation and that's what we want to run the option. ... If that pitch gets executed, you hope we have a chance for a big play. |
That's about as bad a start as you're going to get. You've got people in the seats, the players are really excited. To have someone return the opening kickoff kind of takes all the wind out of you. |
They had their whole package against us. They ran the ball well; they threw the ball well; they got out of third-and-longs, and that makes it fairly tough on you. |
They're physical inside. We tried trapping them inside, but that didn't work. A power game to run right at them isn't going to hold up throughout the course of the game. Plus, they're good in the secondary. They have a very good, complete defense. |
We made too many mistakes and missed too many opportunities to get some things done in the first quarter. We kept our defense on the field way too long, and that led to what happened us in the second quarter. |
We will come back and get ready to start off on Monday. And hopefully meet the challenges that are ahead for us in the Mid-American Conference. |
You can do everything right on a blitz and think you have him pinned in, but all of a sudden he makes somebody miss and he's got a first down or a big play when everything was designed right. |
You don't want to get into a scoring match with them. They put points on the board very easily. If you try and match them big play for big play it gets very difficult. |
You may slow them down, and you need to if you want to have a chance to win. You need to control the clock, and the important thing is at the end of that, put points on the board. You can't control the clock and come away without putting points on the board, or that plan falls apart too. |