Troy Football Press Conference - Nov. 2 - Troy University Athletics

Head Coach Chip Lindsey

Opening Statement
I was really happy for our players. We worked extremely hard and put ourselves in position to go and get a big road win in conference. I was really proud of how we played as a team and I think turned in probably our most complete performance of the season, certainly since the Middle Tennessee game. We played complimentary football and did a lot of really good things. Anytime you win a game on the road in this league it's special. Arkansas State has a great program and Blake [Anderson] does a great job.

Defensively we forced another turnover and limited the explosive plays. We tackled well in space and did a good job of contesting their pass attempts. With the wide receivers that Arkansas State has, we knew that was a big emphasis for our defense. Brandon Hall did a great job of reminding our players during the week that we needed to be in great position all the time and explaining exactly how we wanted to stop them.

Offensively we didn't turn the ball over which was a big point of emphasis after the Georgia State game. We also created explosive plays and limited the amount of negative plays. We gave up a couple of sacks that we wish we had back, but that's part of it. As a quarterback, you need to know when the play is dead and try and throw the ball away. When you can't, then you need to make sure you protect the ball which Jacob [Free] did a nice job of.

We handled their multiple looks on special teams extremely well. Arkansas State does a good job of coming up with different looks, but Brian Blackmon and his staff made sure our guys were prepared. We made all of the field goals and extra point attempts and really executed kickoffs well. We tried the pop-up kicks a bunch of times, and Jack [Martin] did a great job of
putting those in a great spot to limit their returns.

Overall, I thought it was a very complete game and our guys were excited. Anytime you win a game on the road it always makes the long trip home easier. We're looking forward to getting started on Georgia Southern today.

On Georgia Southern
Chad Lunsford and I worked together in the past, and he's a really good football coach. If you look at what he's done since he's taken over at Georgia Southern he's made them a really good football team. They're going to be really sound on special teams because that's what Chad is known for, but they're also really good offensively. It's another big challenge for us on the road this week and we need to have another good week of preparation. We need to limit our turnovers and create turnovers on defense. We need to be the most excited team to play. Hopefully we'll have a great week of practice and play a good game down in Statesboro this weekend.

On the triple-option offense
Being a triple-option team they're always hard to defend. They make you play good disciplined football every snap, and they're really good at what they do. It begins with their quarterback Shai Werts who does a good job of getting their offense going. He's played in this system now for three years and looks very comfortable making the reads that he needs to make to execute the option. Their offensive line is really good at their technique and they understand how to block the different defensive fronts that they see, which is a key for any triple-option team. We're going to have to do a good job of not letting them get downhill and reading their play-action passing game. If you're not careful, they will suck you in and throw the ball over your head. Georgia Southern is very hard to prepare for in practice so our scout team is going to have to do a great job of simulating what they do. The game is going to come down to whether or not we can play good solid football.

On the Georgia Southern defense
They're big and physical on defense and have probably the best linebacker and safety group in our league. They are very aggressive and tackle well and do a good job of mixing their looks. It's a big challenge ahead and a different style of defense than we faced last week.

On Jacob Free
Jacob was our offensive player of the week because he really executed our game plan well. When a guy hasn't played in a while it's never ideal to get thrown into action like he did. Last week he had the opportunity to prepare as the starter and I think he did a great job with his game prep. Our staff also did a good job of fitting the offense to his skill set and the opponent. And then he took his preparation and translated to the game. So, I'm really proud of Jacob and how he handled the situation.

On Gunnar Watson's injury progress
We're hopeful that Gunnar will be able to play this week. We don't really know quite yet and it's a day-to-day situation. Jacob has played well the last two weeks and we're excited that we have two capable guys at the quarterback position. Whenever we have to make that decision, we'll make the decision that is best for our team. Until we know more about Gunnar's health, Jacob has earned the right to be our starter this week. Once we know more about Gunnar we'll decide from there.

On bouncing back from the Georgia State loss
Our performance Saturday says a lot about this team. It really didn't surprise me because I have a lot of confidence in the leadership of our team. Last year, we played a lot of young, inexperienced guys, which means we now have guys that have played some snaps, especially on defense. We still have a few growing pains on the offensive line with three young guys that haven't played a lot, but I was really happy with how our team responded. After watching the film last week, we felt that we beat ourselves too much, so the focus against Arkansas State was for us to play good sound football. I was very pleased with how we did that and it says a lot about both the direction of this team and our leadership.

Troy University Athletics

Troy Football Press Conference - Nov. 2

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Jacob Free

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