Neal Brown Press Conference - Louisiana Game

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Neal Brown Press Conference – Monday, Oct. 29, 2018

Opening Statement
A solid win in Mobile in the "Battle for the Belt. I thought our guys came out of the blocks fast and we were able to hold on to the lead.

Huge conference game for us against (Louisiana). Probably along with Georgia Southern as the hottest team in our league right now. If you go back to the second half of the Alabama game moving forward up until this week, they have played at a high level. You can see their confidence rising, they are currently in the fore front of the west division in our league. First year head coach Billy Napier has done a great job, he and his staff have come in year one and put themselves in a position to win a conference championship. They are the number one ranked offense in our conference right now. Really balanced with 230 yards passing and rushing. They have three big time running backs, all of them a little bit different in their skillset and they use them wisely. I think their quarterback (Andre) Nunez is playing at a high level, really efficient and you can see the improvement from a year ago. Multiple wide receivers have had over 100 yards receiving so I think that speaks well to their depth.

Defensively they are hard to prepare for. They mix up their front and they blitz probably more than anybody that we have played in a while. They are really big up front and they play a lot of bodies. You can see them getting better, their confidence is getting better, they had a huge game-winning defensive stop against Arkansas State last week.

Special teams, they are good at all their specialty positions. Their placekicker has been solid, punter has done a really good job both in the rugby and directional punting. Their long snapper is really good and that is something that does not get a lot of press, but he does a solid job in all phases there. They have several really skilled returners. They are aggressive on their punt block, they tipped a punt last week and that is something that we have to be prepared for.

It's November football. What I told the team yesterday is 'November separates pretenders from contenders.' We are going to find out which one we are. I think the key for us is that we have to keep making steady improvements. I think the teams that make improvements in the month of November and keep climbing and keep getting better are the teams that are able to hold up the hardware at the end of season. We have to have a great week of preparation.

Linebacker Tron Folsom's Impact…
Tron plays with a lot of confidence. He has played as many snaps as anybody we have, and he does a great job communicating. He probably knows the defense better than everybody else outside of the coaching staff. So, I think there is some comfort with our other players when he's on the field because he directs traffic.

Quarterback Sawyer Smith's Improvement…
He made a big-time improvement. I think it goes back to his preparation. I think that he prepared like a starter this past week. His first career start didn't go the way he wanted to and I thought he responded in the right way, very similar to our entire football team. There are still things he has to get better at. He played much better in the first half than he did in the second but he's a competitor. Our guys and our staff believe in him, and I really feel like the more he plays the better he is going to get.

Working on Getting to the Quarterback…
Our defense built on a few things – one is takeaways and another is creating negative plays whether it's tackles for loss or sacks. We still have to do a better job on third downs. We got a lot of hits on the quarterback, got several sacks, but we've got to do a better job of getting off the field on third downs. We were a little bit better against South, and I think we have to continue to do that. We have to win more one-on-one pass rush opportunities, but we are better. I think guys on the edge are improving. Jarvis Hayes is one that comes to my mind. I think he is getting more comfortable and he is getting better, you can see him making steady improvement. Hunter Reese had a better game versus South (Alabama) and Antonio Showers gives us another pass rush off the edge."

Is Homecoming a Distraction?...
Homecoming is kind of awkward (this year) because we have it so late, but our guys are more excited about getting home and playing. We've had a long stretch without playing in our home stadium. I hope our fans come out and support this football team. There are a lot of reasons to come back. I know a lot of alumni will come back, but I always talk to our team about Homecoming how this is your one opportunity because a lot of times this is the only time our alumni come back because they are so far away. Let's make it worth their while, let's make sure we put our best foot forward and we give them a performance to remember. We don't dwell on Homecoming a lot, we will talk about it in passing. More importantly it is about defending our home turf.

Importance of Next Four Games…
It is going to define our season and I don't think there is any denying that. Not only where we finish in the conference standings but also where we go bowling and all of those things. You have to approach it week-to-week. This week we approach a team that is dangerous. They are gaining confidence by the week. We have to figure out a way to play our best and keep getting better. That is the thing that I was proud about our guys at South Alabama is the first half offensively we played at a high level and second half defensively we played at a high level. We need to put those two together and we have to put four quarters together.

Injury Update…
Deondre Douglas is questionable; Marcus Jones is definitely out.

Lutzie 43 Foundation…
The Lutzie 43 Foundation was founded by Mike and his family after their son Phillip was killed in a single vehicle accident in June of 2014. The Lutzie 43 Foundation exists to create positive ambassadors for safe driving. The Lutzie 43 Foundation has done a ton of good work and we have done several of their initiatives in house. They have a book that teaches character and principles. I urge all of our fans to support this initiative. To get more information visit Lutzie43.org.

Troy University Athletics

Neal Brown Press Conference - Louisiana Game

Players Mentioned

Deondre Douglas

Tron Folsom

Jarvis Hayes

Marcus Jones

Hunter Reese

Antonio Showers

Sawyer Smith

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