Bowling Green State University Athletics
Football Holds Weekly Media Luncheon
September 10, 2002 | Football
Sept. 10, 2002
Urban Meyer's Opening Statement
"Seems like it's been about a month and a half since we played. The coaches are tired of practicing, the players are tired of practicing, and to be honest with you, each day of practice it comes down to now keeping guys healthy but still retaining that element of toughness and being physical like we like to be, especially up front. You know we're not very deep so you just have to be very smart in practice and that's what a lot of time is being spent on right now to be honest with you, we just don't have the depth to just go out and smash each other the way you normally would on a Tuesday, so we'll be full pads today. We realize what's ahead of us, I think we're fortunate to play Missouri in Coach Pinkel's first two years, I'm not real excited about playing Missouri in about three or four years when Brad Smith's a junior or senior and he's been in that program. As far as our coaching staff goes, I think for us we have to play darn near a perfect game to be in this thing cause I think they're that good. Ball State did a very good job hanging in there the first half, and Missouri struggled a bit, did some things they normally don't do, and then the second half they played the way they did the first game, and completely dominated Ball State. This will be the best team we've played since I've been here and we've got to do the things we've done in games we won before or we won't have a chance."
How does their quarterback change their whole offense?
"This kid can do all those things and any time you face a quarterback that gives you that scramble, that kind of potential, that's a serious concern."
Does his abilities makes everybody else better?
"Sure, there's no such thing as doubling the receivers now cause the minute you double the receivers that's one less guy you're putting as pressure on the quarterback. I think he's the prototype guy people are looking for. You have a guy who's strictly a pocket passer, there's a variety of things you can do for that. You can take away their best receiver very easily, the things you can't handle is if he's gonna run the ball, he's gonna scramble when you do get pressure, then you have to pull the defensive lineman out and spy, and now that's one less guy rushing the quarterback, so there's just a multitude of problems an athletic quarterback gives you."
Coach, you have experience like that with Josh last year. When they are playing well, how much does that pick up the team, how much confidence does that give the team.
"Well, its exciting. You're exactly right. Linemen tend to block harder when they have a quarterback that can make things happen. And you can see that happening throughout the course of the game last week. Basically, all of the yards that they had in the first half are a product of Brad Smith."
You talked last week about the twos-getting game ready. Have you seen anything in the last couple of weeks?
"Not enough to be encouraged. You know I see some signs of some good players. You know I think our freshman quarterback is going to be something. You know, Omar Jacobs, we've worked him hard in these last two weeks, just because he's our third quarterback right now and it takes forever to develop him. I throw his name out because he's a very talented guy. I think P.J. Pope is getting better. You know I see some young guys on defense. Jelani Jordan, he's really improving. You know I see Matt Lenniger who got hurt-got knocked out last week. But he should be fine this week. He's really improving. Jamal Bryant is really improving. There are some positives, I hate to dwell on the negatives. The thing we need to do is get our offensive line going."
You talked last week about how Missouri has done a 180 as far as the whole umbrella over the program. That doesn't surprise you though from what you saw of the film of Pinkel's Toledo team.
"No, I have never studied a team more (Pinkel's Toledo squad). I look at chemistry of a team and the way they play. I think there are a lot of ways to evaluate a team. When coaches or fans say your team plays hard, they play with passion, they take care of the ball, they play with discipline...I kind of like that. That kind of makes you feel your staff is really busting their tail. And those are the things you see at Missouri. I'm not a bettin' person, but in three-four years I would say they'll be right up at the top of the Big 12 Conference.
Do you see this with Missouri coming here and Marshall at Virginia Tech as opportunities for the MAC on a national scene to elevate its standing in the eyes of others?
It's only an opportunity if you take advantage of it. For them to come in here and beat the hell out of us it's not going to do much for the Mid-American Conference. They are coming here, that's just stage one. Stage two is you better show up and play your hearts out because you have to first of all stay close and compete. But second of all that's our job as a member of the MAC.
Alex Glantzis, Defensive Tackle
Missouri coming to Doyt Perry Stadium...
"I think it is great that they are coming to our stadium, They are a 'Big 12 footbball team' coming to our place, hopefully it will draw a lot of people."
Differences in Missouri from last season...
I think that they are a better football team this year. They have a more athletic quarterback and still have excellent skill players."
Thoughts on bye-week leading up to Missouri...
Whenever you can watch more film, that's awesome. You can study their movements, and we really tried to pick up on anything they give away. It gives us a another week of practice. We practice what they run, it gives us a good idea of what they run and what we should expect when they come.
Chris Haneline, Linebacker
Coach Pinkel made some great strides in a year with his team, and the players are playing extremely confident. They look very impressive on film, so it is going to be a challenge for us. They have a new quarterback in there who is a leader of the offense and he is a tremendous athlete. He is extremely fast, he throws the ball really well and makes good reads on the field. The running back is back from last year, who is a big guy and runs the ball real well. The offensive line has some new faces, but they look very physical and they make good blocks and they sustain the blocks. And of-course they have the All-Big 12 player, Justin Gage. He is a complete player...he is on special teams, catching passes, making plays, blocking for his teammates, he is a great player."
Thoughts on bye-week leading up to Missouri...
"It has been a good week. We've had some hard practices and it has been nice to have this week to watch them on film, and really study them to find some tendencies. I think it will be beneficial to have this week, to heal injuries after the first week."
Jon Mazur, Offensive Line
"They play hard, they have a great defensive line and the linebackers are fast and strong guys. We need to be out their for 60 minutes. There's going to be a lot of hard hits and a lot of people flying around with a great crowd. Hopefully we will be successful."
Josh Harris, Quarterback
"Saturday night will be a big night. We are looking forward to playing a game and getting it out of the way. It seems like we haven't played game in a while and we are all looking forward to it. Getting out there and playing again, hopefully in front of a packed crowd, I am expecting a good crowd to come out and support us, and to put on a good show. A week off is good and bad, It's bad because once you get done with two-a-days you just want to get into playing all the time and you feel like you get rewarded more for your hard work when you get to play games. But it has been good because alot of people have been getting good reps that wouldn't always get reps. It has its benefits and everything will work itself out. But now it is game week again and we are looking forward to it."
Differences in Missouri from last season...
They just look like a better team this year. Defensively they are causing a lot of turnovers and offensivly they are scoring a lot of points. They just look like a better team overall and we are looking forward to playing them."
