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/ FootballNeal Brown Press Conference - South Alabama Game
9/28/2015 2:42:00 PM | Football
Head coach Neal Brown
Opening Statement
Our bye week came at a good time, coming off a tough early schedule playing Wisconsin and North Carolina State. Our guys needed a break. What we did, we practiced three times last week. We really focused on ourselves, correcting errors we made in the first three games, focusing on the fundamentals. You don't really get a whole lot of time during game week to focus on those fundamentals because you're in game planning, but we did that last week. We practiced those three days and then our coaches got some time to get on the road and go recruiting.
Big game this week; it's rivalry week. It's a game that obviously we've had circled, I'm sure South has had circled too. Not only is it an inter-state game, but our first conference game. Our guys are excited about it and being back at home starting Sun Belt play, and then obviously playing in this rivalry game.
I think the Student Government Associations have gotten together. We have a trophy and they're both putting some importance on this game that I think they should.
South Alabama overall is 2-2. They had a real quality win going to San Diego State; a quality win for not only them but for our conference as well. They played a tough schedule, a lot of traveling. They've played at Nebraska, at San Diego State and North Carolina State last weekend. I have a lot of respect for a program that Coach Jones has built down there. Probably the biggest change for me since coming back to Troy from my previous stint is South Alabama having a program and winning, going to a bowl game last year and obviously dealing with them on the recruiting front as well.
Offensively, they have a lot of playmakers. I think at wide out they are really talented. The quarterback that transferred from UAB has made some plays. He is a running threat and a passing threat. Running back Xavier Johnson has had a couple big games, and then at wide out they have depth, probably as deep as anyone in our conference. They've had a lot a big plays; that's the thing when you watch them through their first four games, they have explosive plays. John Magee at wide out and then the two transfers (Danny) Woodsen and (Marvin) Shinn have both had some big plays as well.
Defensively, I think their best player without question is Roman Buchanan at safety. The strength of their defense is in their secondary and their front six, but their secondary is playing at a high level. Then, on special teams, their kicker (Aleem Sunanon) I think has been twice Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week. So, he's a guy that has had a lot of experience and has done a good job and he's also taken over kickoff duties as well.
On why the trophy is being name 'The Battle of the Belt'…
That's a great question. I guess because we are both in the Sun Belt Conference. I really don't know that. I think the SGA's got together and came up with that. I'm just glad they put importance on it, for both sides. We need to recognize. We lost a lot of our natural rivalries within the conference through the last shakeup; Middle Tennessee was our chief rival for the Palladium. I think it's natural to have a trophy and place importance on it. I'm excited that our student body has taken that on.
On using NC State as a barometer…
Well, I don't know. We played them first and there are so many different things going into the first games on both sides. Quite honestly, NC State is just better, I said that after our game and Coach Jones said that after their game, they're better. That's a veteran football team; I think it is a top-20 team in the country. They have Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback and they're off running 4-0, really playing as well as anyone last year. So no, not really. It's a game that you both look at the video and understand what NC State has. I think in football it's really hard to compare scores.
On where they improved most last week…
We worked a lot on special teams; the fundamental aspects. I'm proud of what we've gotten done so far but I think that's going to be a huge key when we enter conference play. The other thing is just going back and correcting mistakes. I thought that we were really competitive in that Wisconsin game. We had some opportunities to really be in the game in the fourth quarter and we didn't take advantage of those opportunities so we went back and corrected those mistakes and just focused on some things that I know are our weaknesses; things that future opponents are going to look to attack and seeing if we can fix those up.
On the status of the guys…
(Tyler) Lassiter will be back and be in the rotation for sure. Jed (Solomon) and Taylor (Polk) have both been reinstated, but have to claim their jobs, but they are both reinstated to practice. I think we will be full steam, with the exception of Jordan Chunn, everyone else should be able to play. That was really our focus during the bye week, getting healthy. Obviously, we played three really physical teams. Charleston Southern was physical, especially for our defense, going against the triple option.
On big plays…
Well, I think we have to be conscious of that, for sure. I think this is the best wide receiver corps we've played so far this year. I don't mean that to undermine anyone that we've played, but they have depth, length and they have really good speed and they have big plays against really good secondaries. If you look against NC State, they had three explosive pass plays. Against Nebraska they threw the ball for nearly 300 yards in that game. We've got to account for them. It is going to be a huge challenge for our secondary, who has basically played run-based teams. They will run the ball, they are balanced, but we have to account for their wide outs and our corners, spear and safeties are going to be huge in this game.
On how excited he is to get back out at home…
Undefeated 1-0, that's right. We have put a lot of importance as we rebuild this program. That is something we take great pride in, playing at home. We have a Blackout. We have asked our fans to wear black. We are going to have a huge crowd. It sets up nicely for a really good environment. South will bring a good group of fans, too. Our guys are excited about this game, and they're excited for a lot of different reasons, like the Blackout, our new uniforms we are breaking out for the contest, starting Sun Belt play, we've been off a week and we're hungry to get back even, too.
On the importance of winning Saturday…
This is our kickoff. We talked about three preseason games and we are 1-2 through those games, and we're not happy about it, but that's what we are. I think we've made steady improvement throughout those games. I know we made improvement last week during our bye week. This is the opening of the season for us. It's the start of Sun Belt play. We're lucky to start it with a rivalry game. So, what I want to see is our guys compete. I want to see them play with a lot of passion and energy. I want our fans to bring that same amount of passion and energy to the stadium. I want to create a really exciting, tough environment for our opponent.
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Opening Statement
Our bye week came at a good time, coming off a tough early schedule playing Wisconsin and North Carolina State. Our guys needed a break. What we did, we practiced three times last week. We really focused on ourselves, correcting errors we made in the first three games, focusing on the fundamentals. You don't really get a whole lot of time during game week to focus on those fundamentals because you're in game planning, but we did that last week. We practiced those three days and then our coaches got some time to get on the road and go recruiting.
Big game this week; it's rivalry week. It's a game that obviously we've had circled, I'm sure South has had circled too. Not only is it an inter-state game, but our first conference game. Our guys are excited about it and being back at home starting Sun Belt play, and then obviously playing in this rivalry game.
I think the Student Government Associations have gotten together. We have a trophy and they're both putting some importance on this game that I think they should.
South Alabama overall is 2-2. They had a real quality win going to San Diego State; a quality win for not only them but for our conference as well. They played a tough schedule, a lot of traveling. They've played at Nebraska, at San Diego State and North Carolina State last weekend. I have a lot of respect for a program that Coach Jones has built down there. Probably the biggest change for me since coming back to Troy from my previous stint is South Alabama having a program and winning, going to a bowl game last year and obviously dealing with them on the recruiting front as well.
Offensively, they have a lot of playmakers. I think at wide out they are really talented. The quarterback that transferred from UAB has made some plays. He is a running threat and a passing threat. Running back Xavier Johnson has had a couple big games, and then at wide out they have depth, probably as deep as anyone in our conference. They've had a lot a big plays; that's the thing when you watch them through their first four games, they have explosive plays. John Magee at wide out and then the two transfers (Danny) Woodsen and (Marvin) Shinn have both had some big plays as well.
Defensively, I think their best player without question is Roman Buchanan at safety. The strength of their defense is in their secondary and their front six, but their secondary is playing at a high level. Then, on special teams, their kicker (Aleem Sunanon) I think has been twice Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week. So, he's a guy that has had a lot of experience and has done a good job and he's also taken over kickoff duties as well.
On why the trophy is being name 'The Battle of the Belt'…
That's a great question. I guess because we are both in the Sun Belt Conference. I really don't know that. I think the SGA's got together and came up with that. I'm just glad they put importance on it, for both sides. We need to recognize. We lost a lot of our natural rivalries within the conference through the last shakeup; Middle Tennessee was our chief rival for the Palladium. I think it's natural to have a trophy and place importance on it. I'm excited that our student body has taken that on.
On using NC State as a barometer…
Well, I don't know. We played them first and there are so many different things going into the first games on both sides. Quite honestly, NC State is just better, I said that after our game and Coach Jones said that after their game, they're better. That's a veteran football team; I think it is a top-20 team in the country. They have Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback and they're off running 4-0, really playing as well as anyone last year. So no, not really. It's a game that you both look at the video and understand what NC State has. I think in football it's really hard to compare scores.
On where they improved most last week…
We worked a lot on special teams; the fundamental aspects. I'm proud of what we've gotten done so far but I think that's going to be a huge key when we enter conference play. The other thing is just going back and correcting mistakes. I thought that we were really competitive in that Wisconsin game. We had some opportunities to really be in the game in the fourth quarter and we didn't take advantage of those opportunities so we went back and corrected those mistakes and just focused on some things that I know are our weaknesses; things that future opponents are going to look to attack and seeing if we can fix those up.
On the status of the guys…
(Tyler) Lassiter will be back and be in the rotation for sure. Jed (Solomon) and Taylor (Polk) have both been reinstated, but have to claim their jobs, but they are both reinstated to practice. I think we will be full steam, with the exception of Jordan Chunn, everyone else should be able to play. That was really our focus during the bye week, getting healthy. Obviously, we played three really physical teams. Charleston Southern was physical, especially for our defense, going against the triple option.
On big plays…
Well, I think we have to be conscious of that, for sure. I think this is the best wide receiver corps we've played so far this year. I don't mean that to undermine anyone that we've played, but they have depth, length and they have really good speed and they have big plays against really good secondaries. If you look against NC State, they had three explosive pass plays. Against Nebraska they threw the ball for nearly 300 yards in that game. We've got to account for them. It is going to be a huge challenge for our secondary, who has basically played run-based teams. They will run the ball, they are balanced, but we have to account for their wide outs and our corners, spear and safeties are going to be huge in this game.
On how excited he is to get back out at home…
Undefeated 1-0, that's right. We have put a lot of importance as we rebuild this program. That is something we take great pride in, playing at home. We have a Blackout. We have asked our fans to wear black. We are going to have a huge crowd. It sets up nicely for a really good environment. South will bring a good group of fans, too. Our guys are excited about this game, and they're excited for a lot of different reasons, like the Blackout, our new uniforms we are breaking out for the contest, starting Sun Belt play, we've been off a week and we're hungry to get back even, too.
On the importance of winning Saturday…
This is our kickoff. We talked about three preseason games and we are 1-2 through those games, and we're not happy about it, but that's what we are. I think we've made steady improvement throughout those games. I know we made improvement last week during our bye week. This is the opening of the season for us. It's the start of Sun Belt play. We're lucky to start it with a rivalry game. So, what I want to see is our guys compete. I want to see them play with a lot of passion and energy. I want our fans to bring that same amount of passion and energy to the stadium. I want to create a really exciting, tough environment for our opponent.
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