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/ FootballNeal Brown Press Conference - Georgia Southern Game
11/9/2015 3:43:00 PM | Football
Neal Brown – Monday press conference Georgia Southern
Opening statement…
Thank y'all for being here - always good to see you after a win – not that it's not good to see you anytime, but it's a little better after a win. I think we are getting better. I know we're getting better as a football team.
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Our guys are playing with a lot more confidence. We got off to a quick start on Saturday, which I thought was crucial. I said after the game, I was worried about that. ULM had been a team that Troy traditionally had issues with and they play a different style offense and style of defense. We were coming off really two brutal weeks of travel going to Las Cruces and then over to Boone. So, to get off to a quick start on the big play – John Johnson made a tremendous catch on the first snap. Defensively, on the first series we had two tackles for loss that got us going. It was just a good team win.
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It was good to play well in front of our home fans on Military Appreciation Day. I want to thank them for coming. We had a lot of military personnel here and I want to say I appreciate them coming here.
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To kind of summarize the game, we forced six turnovers. That is something we stress on a day-to-day basis. We are playing better on defense. What I mean by that is, we are anticipating things better. Like, (LaMarcus) Farmer's two picks were preparation things – things that he saw on film and he was able to jump those balls. We scored two defensive touchdowns, which I think anytime you do that you have a chance to win. We didn't cover very well. We let them get behind us too much. They only connected on a couple, but there were three or four other times they were behind us. We missed too many tackles. That is something we cannot do this week coming up. We shut down the run game and made it one-dimensional. We put a lot of pressure on their quarterback.
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Our player of the week this week defensively, and I felt really strongly that he should have been the player of the week defensively in the conference, LaMarcus Farmer. He had two interceptions, a touchdown off an interception, had two tackles and a pass breakup. I thought he played really, really well. He is our defensive player of the week.
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Offensively, we had zero turnovers. Like I said, same thing I said with the six turnovers on defense, if we don't turn the ball over we have a shot. If you look at the games we've lost, particularly in the league, we've turned the ball over and that's been the story of the game. We played with game tempo. I'm disappointed. We didn't finish drives in the red zone. We had to settle for three field goals when we should have been able to punch it in for touchdowns. I didn't like how we played in the second half. I didn't like how we played at New Mexico State once we got the lead, and I didn't like how we played against ULM in the second half – not that we were trying to run the score up. That's not something we are ever going to be about, but I wanted us to play with more attention to detail and we didn't do that.
We are getting better at third downs. We made some big plays. Brandon Burks had a great game, had almost 100-yards receiving and 100 yards rushing, but he's had a lot of good games. Our offensive player of the week is someone that you don't get to talk about a lot and that's our left tackle, Antonio Garcia. He graded out at over 90 percent, had only one mistake in the game. He has played at a high level the last three games in a row, and that's encouraging to see. He didn't give up any pressures and did a very good job in the run game.
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On special teams, we were solid all night and had good operations. Ryan Kay has hit the ball much better the last two weeks. We had a 48.5 net average punting, which is really good. Our kickoff unit continues to perform well. Jed (Solomon) had seven touchbacks, which is really good. We had one mental lapse at the end of the game – we had a field goal blocked. We were taking great pride not having any punts or field goals blocked this year. For us to not pay attention to detail at the end of that game was disappointing. Our special teams player of the game, the same one the league recognized, and deservingly so, was Jed Solomon. He scored 15 points, should have been 18, but he scored 15 points, had seven touchbacks. He has been real consistent for us all year. I think it speaks to his maturity, bouncing back after the miss against Idaho to come back and really play strong.
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Some other awards I want to recognize after wins. Our scout team guys on offense, a guy that has done a good job and we're excited about, was Zach Branner. He's an offensive lineman from Buckhorn (High School,Huntsville, Ala.). Defensively, Demone Kemp is our scout team player of the week. He has come back and really performed well. He really just got back practicing this week – missed a bunch of time with injury. He is a guy that I feel like, when he's healthy, is going to be one of the top defensive linemen in our conference.
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Our special teams player of the week was Doug Salter, who is redshirting this year for us, who has done a great job getting our punt team ready, so I wanted to recognize him.
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Our Corey McCullers Spirit Award goes to a kid that is redshirting that we are excited about that is definitely going to play and be a big part of our program in the next two years at corner is Kamryn Melton.
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Big challenge this week, we've got Georgia Southern. Also a great opportunity, we've got Senior Day and like I said with all the basketball in here today, I can't believe it's November. But it's here and it's Senior Day and we'll have 21 guys that will walk out there in Veteran's Stadium. We're not going to put a huge emphasis on it, but I do want to recognize their contributions, not only this year but to our program as a whole. I talked to the seniors and said you always remember your last game, not as much Senior Day, but you'll remember you last game.
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Georgia Southern is 6-2; they've only lost one Sun Belt game in two years. So they've been dominant in league games. They'll be well rested, they haven't played since October 29, and this is going to be third game in conference we've played that the opponent will have extra days rest. Coming into our game, it will be the fourth overall opponent we've played this year that will have extra rest. The schedule makers didn't do us any favors on that deal.
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Offensively if you talk about them and I think that's where people like to start when you're talking about them. They are an option-oriented team, but they're not a Georgia Tech style option, they're a gun-based option team. They're averaging 36.5 points per game. They're a top 25 scoring offense. They've got the number one rushing offense in the country at 385 yards. They spread you out and use a lot of motions, a lot of different formations, unbalanced formations and they try to get you into one on one tackling situations. They've got some guys that can make you miss.
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Their quarterback Kevin Ellison can really run. He does a very capable job of throwing it as well, but he can run and he makes you miss and the running back Matt Breida. The quarterback Ellison has 7.5 yards per carry and the running back has 9.5 yards per carry. So you wonder why they run a lot, if our guys run like that we'd be running it every time.
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Defensively, they're near the top in scoring defense, I think they're around top 35 in the country. They're a veteran unit, that's what jumps out to me. Nine of their 11 starters are either juniors or seniors; they've played a lot of football. They're big and strong in the middle. They have two 310+ defensive tackles that are difficult to move. The best linebacker that I see on film is (Trayvon) Williams. He's 6-foot-3, 245-pounds, so they're really big in the middle. Secondary, is I think their most improved unit from a year ago. (Antonio) Glover has six interceptions, that's a lot of interceptions. I want to say the national record is around eight or nine. So they're playing at a high level there.
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Everybody wants to talk about them on offense, the thing that jumps out to me when I watch them and then when I look at them on paper is special teams. When I tell you about their numbers you'll feel the same way. They're sound in all phases, they've blocked three field goals and they've blocked three punts. They're first nationally in both of those. They're ranked number one in the nation in kickoff coverage. They're 21st in kickoff return, third in punt, 10th in punt return. They're pretty salty on special teams and I think that's a sign of a really well coached team is guys that do a good job on their special teams.
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Willie Fritz is their head coach, he's won at every level, so we've got a big challenge this week, and we're getting better. I think right now that Appalachian State and Arkansas State and Georgia Southern are playing at the top of our league. I'm interested and excited to see how close we are.Â
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On Georgia Southern's option…
They line up in a lot of 11 personnel. They're base set is a three receiver set with a tight end they align off the ball. They'll also get into a two true running backs, two tail backs and three wide receivers. They'll mix it up, but those are their two primary sets and they're in the gun. It's a lot of zone based option, where they're zone blocking and they do a little power blocking in there as well.
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On the turnover battle…
I think if you're going to look at the two factors. They're going to be turnover margin and explosive plays. We've got to limit their explosive plays and we've got to get some big plays. Offensively, they're a team that it's been difficult to get those against, so we've got to figure out schematically how to do that. But turnovers, that's been the story of our year, when we've held on to the ball offensively, even if we haven't created any, when we've held on to the ball offensively, we've had a chance to win games.
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On being healthy up front…
I don't know if we're beat up more than anybody else this time of year, now Georgia Southern may not because their coming off 17 days rest, but most people this time of year are beat up. But we'll practice smart and we'll be at nearly full strength. Seth Calloway is questionable; everybody else will be ready to go.
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On being back at home…
It was great. The military appreciation day is always special on this campus, just because we have so many students that are either currently enlisted or have been enlisted in the military. Obviously with a lot of our upper administration having military backgrounds, it's always special. I thought our students did a nice job of coming out, on what was forecasted to be a bad weather day; it ended up not being bad. This week's going to be big, I spent time with some of the Greek students last night, encouraging them, showing our appreciation for them for supporting us and I think its important that we come out for this last home game, not only for our seniors, but it's a huge game. We're really putting an emphasis on finishing this year strong and hopefully our home fans will come out and support us, not only on campus, but in the community as well and in Dothan and Montgomery.
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Opening statement…
Thank y'all for being here - always good to see you after a win – not that it's not good to see you anytime, but it's a little better after a win. I think we are getting better. I know we're getting better as a football team.
Â
Our guys are playing with a lot more confidence. We got off to a quick start on Saturday, which I thought was crucial. I said after the game, I was worried about that. ULM had been a team that Troy traditionally had issues with and they play a different style offense and style of defense. We were coming off really two brutal weeks of travel going to Las Cruces and then over to Boone. So, to get off to a quick start on the big play – John Johnson made a tremendous catch on the first snap. Defensively, on the first series we had two tackles for loss that got us going. It was just a good team win.
Â
It was good to play well in front of our home fans on Military Appreciation Day. I want to thank them for coming. We had a lot of military personnel here and I want to say I appreciate them coming here.
Â
To kind of summarize the game, we forced six turnovers. That is something we stress on a day-to-day basis. We are playing better on defense. What I mean by that is, we are anticipating things better. Like, (LaMarcus) Farmer's two picks were preparation things – things that he saw on film and he was able to jump those balls. We scored two defensive touchdowns, which I think anytime you do that you have a chance to win. We didn't cover very well. We let them get behind us too much. They only connected on a couple, but there were three or four other times they were behind us. We missed too many tackles. That is something we cannot do this week coming up. We shut down the run game and made it one-dimensional. We put a lot of pressure on their quarterback.
Â
Our player of the week this week defensively, and I felt really strongly that he should have been the player of the week defensively in the conference, LaMarcus Farmer. He had two interceptions, a touchdown off an interception, had two tackles and a pass breakup. I thought he played really, really well. He is our defensive player of the week.
Â
Offensively, we had zero turnovers. Like I said, same thing I said with the six turnovers on defense, if we don't turn the ball over we have a shot. If you look at the games we've lost, particularly in the league, we've turned the ball over and that's been the story of the game. We played with game tempo. I'm disappointed. We didn't finish drives in the red zone. We had to settle for three field goals when we should have been able to punch it in for touchdowns. I didn't like how we played in the second half. I didn't like how we played at New Mexico State once we got the lead, and I didn't like how we played against ULM in the second half – not that we were trying to run the score up. That's not something we are ever going to be about, but I wanted us to play with more attention to detail and we didn't do that.
We are getting better at third downs. We made some big plays. Brandon Burks had a great game, had almost 100-yards receiving and 100 yards rushing, but he's had a lot of good games. Our offensive player of the week is someone that you don't get to talk about a lot and that's our left tackle, Antonio Garcia. He graded out at over 90 percent, had only one mistake in the game. He has played at a high level the last three games in a row, and that's encouraging to see. He didn't give up any pressures and did a very good job in the run game.
Â
On special teams, we were solid all night and had good operations. Ryan Kay has hit the ball much better the last two weeks. We had a 48.5 net average punting, which is really good. Our kickoff unit continues to perform well. Jed (Solomon) had seven touchbacks, which is really good. We had one mental lapse at the end of the game – we had a field goal blocked. We were taking great pride not having any punts or field goals blocked this year. For us to not pay attention to detail at the end of that game was disappointing. Our special teams player of the game, the same one the league recognized, and deservingly so, was Jed Solomon. He scored 15 points, should have been 18, but he scored 15 points, had seven touchbacks. He has been real consistent for us all year. I think it speaks to his maturity, bouncing back after the miss against Idaho to come back and really play strong.
Â
Some other awards I want to recognize after wins. Our scout team guys on offense, a guy that has done a good job and we're excited about, was Zach Branner. He's an offensive lineman from Buckhorn (High School,Huntsville, Ala.). Defensively, Demone Kemp is our scout team player of the week. He has come back and really performed well. He really just got back practicing this week – missed a bunch of time with injury. He is a guy that I feel like, when he's healthy, is going to be one of the top defensive linemen in our conference.
Â
Our special teams player of the week was Doug Salter, who is redshirting this year for us, who has done a great job getting our punt team ready, so I wanted to recognize him.
Â
Our Corey McCullers Spirit Award goes to a kid that is redshirting that we are excited about that is definitely going to play and be a big part of our program in the next two years at corner is Kamryn Melton.
Â
Big challenge this week, we've got Georgia Southern. Also a great opportunity, we've got Senior Day and like I said with all the basketball in here today, I can't believe it's November. But it's here and it's Senior Day and we'll have 21 guys that will walk out there in Veteran's Stadium. We're not going to put a huge emphasis on it, but I do want to recognize their contributions, not only this year but to our program as a whole. I talked to the seniors and said you always remember your last game, not as much Senior Day, but you'll remember you last game.
Â
Georgia Southern is 6-2; they've only lost one Sun Belt game in two years. So they've been dominant in league games. They'll be well rested, they haven't played since October 29, and this is going to be third game in conference we've played that the opponent will have extra days rest. Coming into our game, it will be the fourth overall opponent we've played this year that will have extra rest. The schedule makers didn't do us any favors on that deal.
Â
Offensively if you talk about them and I think that's where people like to start when you're talking about them. They are an option-oriented team, but they're not a Georgia Tech style option, they're a gun-based option team. They're averaging 36.5 points per game. They're a top 25 scoring offense. They've got the number one rushing offense in the country at 385 yards. They spread you out and use a lot of motions, a lot of different formations, unbalanced formations and they try to get you into one on one tackling situations. They've got some guys that can make you miss.
Â
Their quarterback Kevin Ellison can really run. He does a very capable job of throwing it as well, but he can run and he makes you miss and the running back Matt Breida. The quarterback Ellison has 7.5 yards per carry and the running back has 9.5 yards per carry. So you wonder why they run a lot, if our guys run like that we'd be running it every time.
Â
Defensively, they're near the top in scoring defense, I think they're around top 35 in the country. They're a veteran unit, that's what jumps out to me. Nine of their 11 starters are either juniors or seniors; they've played a lot of football. They're big and strong in the middle. They have two 310+ defensive tackles that are difficult to move. The best linebacker that I see on film is (Trayvon) Williams. He's 6-foot-3, 245-pounds, so they're really big in the middle. Secondary, is I think their most improved unit from a year ago. (Antonio) Glover has six interceptions, that's a lot of interceptions. I want to say the national record is around eight or nine. So they're playing at a high level there.
Â
Everybody wants to talk about them on offense, the thing that jumps out to me when I watch them and then when I look at them on paper is special teams. When I tell you about their numbers you'll feel the same way. They're sound in all phases, they've blocked three field goals and they've blocked three punts. They're first nationally in both of those. They're ranked number one in the nation in kickoff coverage. They're 21st in kickoff return, third in punt, 10th in punt return. They're pretty salty on special teams and I think that's a sign of a really well coached team is guys that do a good job on their special teams.
Â
Willie Fritz is their head coach, he's won at every level, so we've got a big challenge this week, and we're getting better. I think right now that Appalachian State and Arkansas State and Georgia Southern are playing at the top of our league. I'm interested and excited to see how close we are.Â
Â
On Georgia Southern's option…
They line up in a lot of 11 personnel. They're base set is a three receiver set with a tight end they align off the ball. They'll also get into a two true running backs, two tail backs and three wide receivers. They'll mix it up, but those are their two primary sets and they're in the gun. It's a lot of zone based option, where they're zone blocking and they do a little power blocking in there as well.
Â
On the turnover battle…
I think if you're going to look at the two factors. They're going to be turnover margin and explosive plays. We've got to limit their explosive plays and we've got to get some big plays. Offensively, they're a team that it's been difficult to get those against, so we've got to figure out schematically how to do that. But turnovers, that's been the story of our year, when we've held on to the ball offensively, even if we haven't created any, when we've held on to the ball offensively, we've had a chance to win games.
Â
On being healthy up front…
I don't know if we're beat up more than anybody else this time of year, now Georgia Southern may not because their coming off 17 days rest, but most people this time of year are beat up. But we'll practice smart and we'll be at nearly full strength. Seth Calloway is questionable; everybody else will be ready to go.
Â
On being back at home…
It was great. The military appreciation day is always special on this campus, just because we have so many students that are either currently enlisted or have been enlisted in the military. Obviously with a lot of our upper administration having military backgrounds, it's always special. I thought our students did a nice job of coming out, on what was forecasted to be a bad weather day; it ended up not being bad. This week's going to be big, I spent time with some of the Greek students last night, encouraging them, showing our appreciation for them for supporting us and I think its important that we come out for this last home game, not only for our seniors, but it's a huge game. We're really putting an emphasis on finishing this year strong and hopefully our home fans will come out and support us, not only on campus, but in the community as well and in Dothan and Montgomery.
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Goose Crowder - T-Day
Saturday, April 18
Donnie Smith - T-Day
Saturday, April 18
Gerad Parker - T-Day
Saturday, April 18
Gerad Parker - April 16
Thursday, April 16