Chip Lindsey Press Conference - Texas State Pregame

Troy Head Coach Chip Lindsey – Nov. 12, 2019

Opening Statement
It was an exciting Homecoming weekend here at Troy. I want to thank our fans and students. They're always there and loud. Our students hung around all the way to the end of the game, and it was nice to see our players interact with them at the end of the game. I cannot say enough about our fans all year. We'll get one more chance to play in front of them in a couple of weeks. It's always exciting to play at The Vet and it was a huge win for us being a conference game. Georgia Southern has a really good football team. Saturday, we played our most complete game of the season. When you look at all three phases, we complemented each other well which is something we hadn't done most of the year. It's always been one or two groups playing well, rather than all three. So that was exciting to see.

On the performance of the defense
I was really pleased with the effort by our defense. They played really hard and really physical. When you look back at the film, our front seven was the difference. Those guys created a lot of problems behind the line of scrimmage and did a lot of really good things. The linebackers did a great job of playing assignment football. With all of the misdirection that Georgia Southern presented, it was crucial for them to stick to their assignments. I'm really pleased with the effort and intensity on the defensive side of the ball and think it's a big step in the right direction for that group.

Marcus Webb stood out to us. We moved him outside to defensive end for the first time and he really did a nice job. KJ Robertson was another guy that I noticed was playing downhill and causing problems. And then A.J. Smiley played bandit for us for the first time. It's a position that's played mostly on the line of scrimmage and he's never played there before Saturday. I'm really pleased with those three guys individually, but the entire defense played really well. Carlton Martial was his usual self as was Will Choloh. In the secondary, we didn't turn guys loose off the play action which is something that is easy to do when you play an option team. It's very easy to get caught looking in the backfield and a guy runs by you for a big play, but we were disciplined.

On limiting Georgia Southern
If you look at the numbers, they ran the ball 49 times for only (152) yards which is pretty good when you're playing a team that averages over 300 yards rushing. We had nine sacks which tells you that we were really good on first down, forcing them into longer pass situations on third downs which they're not accustom to. Then our guys really got after it up front and put pressure on them. A lot of the sacks were guys winning one-on-one matchups which is good.

On the offense
On offense, we had a really good day with over 600 yards of offense. We had 51 snaps at halftime which was a key because when you play an option team your snaps are usually limited. That number told me that our defense was playing well, and our offense was sustaining drives. I think that was the key to the game. We knew that they were talented on defense, so we wanted to spread them out and make them defend the entire field and try and tackle us in the open field.

Outside of a few little mistakes, I thought Kaleb Barker played really well for us again. He was very efficient and I'm very pleased with his progress. DK Billingsley was fantastic, rushing for over 160 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries. As the year has gone on, he's continued to improve for us. Instead of being a role player which he thought going into the year, he's been our main option. I was really excited to see him play like that. Then Kaylon Geiger had another good game with seven catches and over 100 yards. He's continuing to produce at a high level for us. I think it was a very good game for the offense and we executed the game plan well.

On the matchup against Texas State
We have to go back on the road this week which is always tough. Their head coach Jake Spavital does a really good job offensively and you can see them continuing to improve each week. Watching them play South Alabama last week, I think they look completely different than they did earlier in the year. They got a big win at home and they'll be ready to go on Saturday. It's their senior day so I'm sure they're going to want to go out the right way. We need to have a great week of practice and continue the momentum from last week.

On the Texas State offense
Offensively they're very similar to what we try and do. It's really the same system. Everyone has their own version of the 'air raid' offense but you can see them improving. Their quarterback last week, Tyler Vitt, did a nice job for them and understands their system well. They've rotated two guys at the quarterback spot, but he came in last week and was very efficient. They do a good job on the ground and we're going to have to tackle well. They have a wide receiver with over 50 catches this season who caught 10 balls for them last week, so we're going to have to do a good job of knowing where he is.

On the Texas State defense
On defense, they give you a lot of different looks and present some challenges by the way they line up and different pressures they bring. I was very impressed with their linebacker Bryan London II. He's a really good player who reminds me of Carlton. He has 89 tackles which leads their team, and he looks like he's the guy who gets them lined up. They have some really good players in the box, which is important because their scheme puts a lot on the guys who play inside the box in the run game. They have one of the best secondaries that we've played so far, and they do a nice job of executing what they ask them to do.

On if the team follows the different scenarios
We just need to continue to approach it one day at a time and one week at a time. We've done a nice job of focusing on the task each week and letting the other stuff take care of itself. We've preached to our team to control the things we can control. That's been our focus and has helped us improve.

On if the team has more confidence after Saturday
When you're playing and coaching you deal in realities. We've lost three games by a combined 12 points and had opportunities in each game. I think our team is very confident and knows we have a good team. Georgia Southern is one of the better teams in our league and beat App State on the road, but I think our league has a lot of parity and a lot of good football teams. On any given day any team can compete against anyone. We've had some guys grow up as the season goes on. They've gotten some more experience and you're starting to see them play with more and more confidence.

On going for a fourth down early
I want our team to be aggressive, and I want to send a message that we're going to leave it all out on the field. I felt like we might have limited possessions against Georgia Southern, so it was going to be important to steal a possession or two. We faked a punt and went for it on fourth down to try and accomplished that. We look at the down and distance and thought it was short enough to convert it. We don't want to get crazy, but I think we've done that three times on our own end and been successful. We didn't convert later in the game in their territory which was disappointing, but I think our philosophy is to attack on offense as much as we can. When we get into a rhythm and getting rolling, we're a better team.

Troy University Athletics

Chip Lindsey Press Conference - Texas State Pregame

Players Mentioned

Kaleb Barker

DK Billingsley

Kaylon Geiger

Carlton Martial

KJ Robertson

A.J. Smiley

Marcus Webb

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