Chip Lindsey Press Conference - Southern Miss Game

Troy Football Head Coach Chip Lindsey
September 10, 2019

I appreciate everyone coming today. I know it's been a couple of weeks since the Campbell game, but we've had a chance to look at the film. I'm really pleased overall with the performance of our guys, especially with the lightning delay. I thought we came back after that and responded really well. I'm really pleased with the overall effort. There are a few things to clean-up going into Saturday. We really focused on the penalties during the bye week and into this week. We cannot shoot ourselves in the foot with pre-snap penalties, lining up offsides on both sides of the ball. And then we focused on the turnover on special teams. You never want turn the ball ever, but especially on special teams.

We awarded a couple of program players of the week. Offensively, we highlighted Kaylon Geiger. He had five receptions for 104 yards, and he had two big third-down catches and a big fourth-down catch. He had a big night. Carlton Martial was our defensive player of the week in addition to the Sun Belt Player of the Week award. He had 13 tackles and two for loss. It was good to see him do that in a game setting because he did that to us all fall camp. On special teams, we highlighted Jack Martin. He kicked off six times with three touchbacks and three fair-catches. I'm really excited about how he was able to perform as a freshman. He went out there and relaxed and kicked the ball like he's capable.

Again. we're focused on the penalties and trying to improve in that area. When you get into a big game like this week, the little mistakes can really prevent you from scoring and cut drives short. So, we need to do a better job there."

On Southern Miss:
I've got a ton of respect for their program. I think it's a program that is very similar to our program. They have a lot of great tradition and I have a lot of respect for [Southern Miss head coach Jay] Coach Hopson and what he does. He's a really good defensive coach, and he's always had a very strong defense. I've played him a couple of times already, so I'm familiar with what he does on defense. With him being a defensive coach, I think his team is going to play fast and be physical.

Offensively, Buster Faulkner is their coordinator now. I've known Buster for a long time, and he's always done at a great job regardless of where he's been. We have a similar background. There's a lot of familiarity between the two coaching staffs, but I think this is also a game we're excited about because it's two really good programs. This is another game where we can see where we're out and the changes we need to make. I think this game will prepare us for our conference play. We're getting to play a quality opponent at home who is similar to the type of teams we'll face in Sun Belt play.

From a preparation and mentality standpoint, our players are excited. When you choose to come to Troy, you look forward to playing in these big games. We're looking forward to it. It's a big challenge for our guys. We know that we're going to get a good effort from a good football team, and it'll be a great challenge for us.
On the USM offense:
Offensively, Jack Abraham is their quarterback. I'm familiar with him because I recruited him a bit when I was at Southern Miss. He's a very smart and very accurate passer. He's really competitive and is the sparkplug of their offense. I think their players rally around him, and I'm really impressed with how's he progressed since he arrived from junior college. I think he's playing even better than he did a year ago, and he's a proven guy on that side of the ball that we're going to have to give some different looks to. We can't let him sit back in the pocket and pick us apart, we need to get pressure upfront.

Jaylond Adams is another important player for them at wide receiver. He's from Alabama, and he shows up in the special teams as well as the offense. He's already returned a punt and kickoff for a touchdown this season. We have to make sure we know where he is because he's one of their better players, who I'm sure is excited to come home and play in front of friends and family.

Quez Watkins is another Alabama guy who makes big plays for them. He hasn't played yet this season due to injury, but it sounds like he'll be back this weekend. He's a long guy that's explosive and very athletic. They have some players in the passing game that can hurt you, so we have to make sure we're aware of the guys I mentioned.

On the USM defense:
Defensively, it's a very creative scheme. Jay does a great job of presenting different looks and taking away what you do best, which is always the sign of a good defensive coordinator. He's built on toughness and physicality and his players show that. They play with an edge.

Watching them on tape, DQ Thomas is a guy that stood out to me. He's around the ball a lot and makes a lot of tackles in space and is always in position. He's a guy that's a major factor for them. Another guy who stood out is Racheem Booth, a linebacker for them that's a great looking player. He's long and athletic and is similar to the type of players they've historically brought in. He's very physical and very active. We have to do a good of knowing where he's located in the pass and run blocking.

Finally, Jacques Turner is a defensive lineman for them who is very disruptive. He's a guy that's big and physical and does a great job of pushing the pocket. We need to do a great job of blocking him. I think those three guys are important, but the whole unit is strong.

On the Golden Eagles special teams' unit:
In the return game, obviously it starts with Jaylond Adams. He's a huge factor, and if you don't a good job he can take it the distance. So, we need to make sure we're very strategic in how and where we kick the ball. His success so far speaks for itself. Their kicker is Andrew Stein, and he's very sound. Of his 10 kickoffs this season, eight have gone for touchbacks. And then he's 3-of-4 on field goals. He's really solid, so he'll do a great job for them. And then their punter is averaging almost 43-yards-per-punt. So, it's a strong unit.

On playing a home game against Southern Miss:
I think it's a cool matchup for our fans because of how similar we are to them. Both programs have had success for a long time and have a championship tradition. Regionally it's a good matchup for our fans because of the proximity. It makes a lot of sense, and I know it's something that the administration has looked at. For us, it's an opportunity for us to prepare like it's a conference game, let it rip and see what happens. The nice thing is that it won't affect our goal of winning the Sun Belt Conference. I told our guys on Sunday that we need to just go out and play our best and see what happens.

On facing former Troy Athletic Director and current USM AD Jeremy McClain who hired him:
Jeremy doesn't play so that's a good thing. If he was playing baseball, I'd be worried. It's something cool to think about before the game, and I'm thankful for the opportunity he gave me to come back to Troy. He's a great person, and he did a lot of great things here at Troy. At the same time, we're excited about [current AD Brent Jones] Brent and his leadership. I'm focused on our team. Once we kickoff I don't think it's a factor.

On having an extra week to prepare:
It might be an advantage. At the same time, it's still so early in the season. We've seen them for two games, and they've seen us for only one. I don't know if it's a huge advantage. I think what it allowed us to do, was to focus on the things we needed to clean up for this week. So, hopefully, we've done that. The other thing it allowed us to do, was to get a few guys healthy that may have gotten banged up. I hope we're going to make our biggest improvement from week one to week two and play our best game on Saturday.

On if the staff was surprised by Kaylon Geiger:
Not really to be honest. He's a guy who I think led all of junior college in receptions last year and who was explosive on film. When we were recruiting him, we thought he might add another dimension to our team because we graduated so much production at that position from last year. I think it was an area we had to address. We got on him a bit late in the process because we felt like we needed one more receiver, but he's been a pleasant surprise for us. I think he'll show up more and more as the season goes on in the return game too. But I thought he handled himself really well. He was excited to play two weeks ago, so hopefully, he'll continue to bring that exciting dimension to our team.

On the impact of the crowd:
I think it's huge. Anytime we can fill the stadium up it makes a huge impact on the game. Two weeks ago, we heard them, especially early on. I think that's what playing a home game at The Vet is all about. Our students were loud and did a great job. I know they were excited about being there, and I know this week will be no different. The crowd should definitely help us.

On Kaleb Barker being named Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Week:
It's exciting because Kaleb has worked extremely hard to get himself back into a position to play at a high-level. I don't think I was ever worried about him coming back at full speed because I saw how he moved in the spring. At the same time, now he's getting the opportunity to come back and play Division I football again. That's a big step for him. I'm sure he was a little nervous but excited to get back out there two weeks ago.

I thought he played well overall and did a nice job of slowing the game down. He protected the ball and made a couple of great throws. There was a back-shoulder throw to Reggie [Todd] that was on the sideline, that was one of the toughest throws to execute, so I was excited to see him do that. And then even the second play of the game he made a really good throw that was close to being a touchdown. His decision-making was pretty good, and we expect that to keep getting better.

I think you'll see him continue to get better as the season goes on, but we're really excited about how he played. He's worked extremely hard to get back to this level, dating back to high school now. I think he can be a role model for some of our kids who are in a similar spot. It takes a commitment to get yourself back. It takes a lot of hard work and time in the training room. I think it's hard sometimes for guys to handle the long recovery, but he's done a great job of that. We're really excited to see him back out there.

Troy University Athletics

Chip Lindsey Press Conference - Southern Miss Game

Players Mentioned

Kaleb Barker

Kaylon Geiger

Carlton Martial

Jack Martin

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