Troy University Athletics
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Troy Football Press Conference (Blakeney) - South Alabama Game
10/20/2014 2:48:00 PM | Football
TROY, Alabama -- Troy football head coach Larry Blakeney met with the media at his weekly press luncheon on Monday to discuss Troy's game at South Alabama on Friday and last week's contest against Appalachian State.
Opening Statement…
It is a disappointing loss to talk about in retrospect. Probably some excuses along the way, but not enough excuses to understand getting shellacked like that at home by a team that also only had one win. They got us. They got us good. Some of our excuses are that we are down a bit personnel wise. Either from grades or suspensions we have four guys on defense that have been players for us in the secondary areas of the defense. Last week, we had two of our flankers, two guys at the same position, were injured, (B.J.) Chitty and (Bryan) Holmes. Holmes tried to play with an injury and was comparatively ineffective. He is a speed guy; when you have your wheel messed up, that is a tough duty for those guys and he did try hard. Chitty and Holmes, I hope, will both be back for the trip. Our quarterback (Brandon Silvers) had a rough day. It's one of those things with a freshman quarterback that you kind of expect to happen. When he fumbled and the ball went on the ground it sort of rattled him, I think. I have been there so I know what it is like, so I can sympathize with him. He still probably needs a few more reps in practice and that kind of stuff. I thought Dontreal (Pruitt) came in and threw the ball pretty well, did a pretty good job there. He also busted a few things that we needed not to bust. We are certainly a work in progress and we're still trying to find a way to win a game.
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This is not a good week, either. When you're looking at 61 juniors and seniors on a football team. That is high numbers for experience, 33 seniors and 28 juniors. (South Alabama) has obviously done a good job building their program. They were all over winning up here last year and we were able to pull it out with a couple of great players at the end. Eric Thomas caught a ball in the end zone. The key play of that drive, though, was (Brandon) Burks catching a ball on the sidelines, taking a shot to the rib cage. He set us up to have that opportunity and he got out of bounds too. We have our hands full. We started preparations yesterday. We had to move it up because we are playing on Friday night. I don't particularly like playing on Friday night, but like everyone knows TV rules in college football. Everybody in the world has a package: Troy has a package, the conference, the region, the nation and all those other networks. So, we are playing on Friday night when high school plays ball. Then we have to turn around and play on Thursday, which is not helpful for the health of the student-athletes. Again, we are doing it for obvious reasons. You're around us enough to know that we are struggling. I am retiring, I'm not sure that has anything to do with what is going on, but if it does I sure am sorry. These guys work hard all year round. We have to compete and coach better and hopefully we can find a way to experience singing the fight song again. That is my favorite time.
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On players being hurt…
John Johnson, Teddy (Ruben), Andre Flakes. Flakes has a shoulder issue, I don't think he will have the strength to play this week. Ruben is dinged up a little bit. Johnson has a hip pointer, so he probably won't play. He might have to line down and hold though because he is the best. We are struggling with a little bit of this and that and we aren't a very confident team. We question ourselves as coaches and I'm sure the players question themselves. It is a situation you have to find a way to work through it or just get lucky to get through it.
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On last years game stoking the rivalry…
I'll tell you I'm sure they felt like they got robbed up here. They played well enough to win the game and we sort of stole it from them late. I'm just glad it didn't have another play at the end, because we played way off and the guy caught it and the clock ran out. Their quarterback (Brandon Bridge) is a dual threat guy. He can run, he can throw the ball in all the spots on the field and the deep ball. He is very effective throwing. They have quality skill guys up front on offense. They get after you on defense. They are well coached. They are going to try to have more than you in the box when the run comes and they are going to play and challenge you in the passing game.
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On getting consistency in the run defense…
We made a few errors fitting the defense, playing within the defense and missing tackles. First play of the game, by them, I don't think it is a legal play, but no one ever calls it. The guy comes off, stops, going through the fake so the quarterback grabs and peeks and then he slings him and goes. So, nobody is home. The safety, who should have been over the top or free, gets lost on the run a little bit. That is the reason they run the play, because it is a good way to get some things going, and it did. We had a bunch of missed tackles, but not nearly as much as it seems. It seemed like all of the missed tackles were right out in front of everybody; lying on the group, reaching and waving, but not tackling.
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Opening Statement…
It is a disappointing loss to talk about in retrospect. Probably some excuses along the way, but not enough excuses to understand getting shellacked like that at home by a team that also only had one win. They got us. They got us good. Some of our excuses are that we are down a bit personnel wise. Either from grades or suspensions we have four guys on defense that have been players for us in the secondary areas of the defense. Last week, we had two of our flankers, two guys at the same position, were injured, (B.J.) Chitty and (Bryan) Holmes. Holmes tried to play with an injury and was comparatively ineffective. He is a speed guy; when you have your wheel messed up, that is a tough duty for those guys and he did try hard. Chitty and Holmes, I hope, will both be back for the trip. Our quarterback (Brandon Silvers) had a rough day. It's one of those things with a freshman quarterback that you kind of expect to happen. When he fumbled and the ball went on the ground it sort of rattled him, I think. I have been there so I know what it is like, so I can sympathize with him. He still probably needs a few more reps in practice and that kind of stuff. I thought Dontreal (Pruitt) came in and threw the ball pretty well, did a pretty good job there. He also busted a few things that we needed not to bust. We are certainly a work in progress and we're still trying to find a way to win a game.
Â
This is not a good week, either. When you're looking at 61 juniors and seniors on a football team. That is high numbers for experience, 33 seniors and 28 juniors. (South Alabama) has obviously done a good job building their program. They were all over winning up here last year and we were able to pull it out with a couple of great players at the end. Eric Thomas caught a ball in the end zone. The key play of that drive, though, was (Brandon) Burks catching a ball on the sidelines, taking a shot to the rib cage. He set us up to have that opportunity and he got out of bounds too. We have our hands full. We started preparations yesterday. We had to move it up because we are playing on Friday night. I don't particularly like playing on Friday night, but like everyone knows TV rules in college football. Everybody in the world has a package: Troy has a package, the conference, the region, the nation and all those other networks. So, we are playing on Friday night when high school plays ball. Then we have to turn around and play on Thursday, which is not helpful for the health of the student-athletes. Again, we are doing it for obvious reasons. You're around us enough to know that we are struggling. I am retiring, I'm not sure that has anything to do with what is going on, but if it does I sure am sorry. These guys work hard all year round. We have to compete and coach better and hopefully we can find a way to experience singing the fight song again. That is my favorite time.
Â
On players being hurt…
John Johnson, Teddy (Ruben), Andre Flakes. Flakes has a shoulder issue, I don't think he will have the strength to play this week. Ruben is dinged up a little bit. Johnson has a hip pointer, so he probably won't play. He might have to line down and hold though because he is the best. We are struggling with a little bit of this and that and we aren't a very confident team. We question ourselves as coaches and I'm sure the players question themselves. It is a situation you have to find a way to work through it or just get lucky to get through it.
Â
On last years game stoking the rivalry…
I'll tell you I'm sure they felt like they got robbed up here. They played well enough to win the game and we sort of stole it from them late. I'm just glad it didn't have another play at the end, because we played way off and the guy caught it and the clock ran out. Their quarterback (Brandon Bridge) is a dual threat guy. He can run, he can throw the ball in all the spots on the field and the deep ball. He is very effective throwing. They have quality skill guys up front on offense. They get after you on defense. They are well coached. They are going to try to have more than you in the box when the run comes and they are going to play and challenge you in the passing game.
Â
On getting consistency in the run defense…
We made a few errors fitting the defense, playing within the defense and missing tackles. First play of the game, by them, I don't think it is a legal play, but no one ever calls it. The guy comes off, stops, going through the fake so the quarterback grabs and peeks and then he slings him and goes. So, nobody is home. The safety, who should have been over the top or free, gets lost on the run a little bit. That is the reason they run the play, because it is a good way to get some things going, and it did. We had a bunch of missed tackles, but not nearly as much as it seems. It seemed like all of the missed tackles were right out in front of everybody; lying on the group, reaching and waving, but not tackling.
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