Bowling Green State University Athletics
Urban Meyer Press Conference Quotes
September 05, 2002 | Football
Sept. 5, 2002
On the student body:
"Probably the number one positive to me last week was that the student body came out in record numbers supported their team and that's an indication to what our guys do around campus. Being a port of the student body is a big goal to us. Since December 4th 2000, we have had our team focus on becoming part of the student body. Let the student body take ownership, and I think what they did was outstanding, that was the highlight to me. Another highlight was the energy our kids had when they came out of the tunnel. I had a lot of people comment, boy they played hard. With the two blocked punts, you see energy, enthusiasm, guys jumping all over the place. That's what college football is and that's what we're all about.
We've got a long way to go and we've addressed that yesterday, we'll address it again today, tomorrow, and the next day up until Friday. Our depth needs more experience. The two's are really gonna get a lot of reps. You can't go through our schedule, we're playing 12 games now and the teams we play week in and week out without developing some depth. You figure it was 204 yards to 70, 41-0 at halftime, and we ended up getting outgained and didn't score another point I thought our ones really tried, I think on defense we looked fast, on offense we did things, we didn't have the great numbers, eventually you like to have some numbers where you can have 400, 500 yards, and we had 300 some, but 240 in the first half. We took care of the ball, we only had three penalties, which is three too many. Our goal is to hit six or seven goals on special teams and we hit 10, so it was a complete domination on special teams.
On Missouri
I think this will be the best football team we play. They are extremely well coached. I studied Toledo so hard when I first got here and everything that he (Gary Pinkel) stands for you can see that in their football team with a disciplined, tough, rough group that played well in all phases. The only tape we have is the TV copy and it's hard to really break it down, but everything that everyone saw after watching two or three times, that's exactly what it is, that's a good football team, that handily beat Illinois and Illinois is the defending Big 10 champs, a top 20 team, so we got our hands full. This will be the best team we play this year."
"They are a completely different team. All of the sudden you flip on this tape-it's a completely different team. It's a different quarterback, everything looks faster. The defensive players, it's not the same crew now. They are playing fast. Illinois is a team that likes to take pride in being a tough, rough group, and they were completely out-toughed by Missouri, so it's a different team. It's a team that has his name on it already and I knew it was going to happen, so I am kind of glad that we got to play them in his first two years."
Was the three man-line something that you had worked on and contemplated using before the injuries had hit on the defensive line?
"There are a couple of reason why we did it, one, it is hard to prepare for. We play seven or eight no huddle teams that will spread you out. It does take advantage of some guys who can run, and it gets them on the field. We also looked at the fact that we graduated three players to the NFL on the defensive line, so who is going to come in and play. We had enough trouble just finding three let alone four. Actually our three guys played very well, the three down guys, Rick Mauer would be the fourth so we are getting a little bit of depth. Jamal Bryant is coming along and so is Matt Leininger."
Will two weeks of preparation help you?
We are a young team and I think it will really help and it gives us time to just prepare and get everyone right. Last years team all I wanted was to keep on playing, and playing, and playing. This years team, there are some guys who have no idea what they are doing and it looked like that on tape, so we just need that time and we are going to use every available second.
How big are the little things ... players not dropping passes, etc.?
"That's the difference between winning and losing, the difference between a bad player and a good player ... that's everything. I'm noticing the longer you're in coaching, the more you have to drill it into guys heads. One of my pet peeves is when player says 'My bad.' No (kidding), it's your bad. Our older players don't say that. The younger players, it's that young-guy mentality, like 'everything's gonna be OK, because I've got three more years.' Urgency is an issue. The younger guys don't have that urgency, but the older guys do. And, as soon as we can beat it into their brains, that it is a major mistake, the better. Yeah, I know we were leading, 41-0, but you didn't make a play. Again, it's the difference between winning or losing."
Did any of the younger players, the backups, stand out to you?
"Well, you see a young corner give up a touchdown pass, but you see him run down on the kickoff and smack a guy, and he's only 155 pounds. I like guys like that. We saw a tailback that came in, carried the ball and caught a pass as a true freshman, who showed a little magic after he catches the ball. There were a lot of positives."
"You see Matt Leininger running all over the field. Matt Leininger is from Liberty Center, and we weren't even planning on him playing this year, but that's a positive."
"Coaches dwell on the negatives, but there are a lot of positives out there. You need to build on the positives, but you also need to turn the negatives into positives, so they can't hurt the team. Off the top of my head those are the two guys - Jelani Jordan and P.J. Pope - that showed up when we expected them to show up."
Were the blocked punts a result of Keon's athleticism, or was it something you saw on film?
"The common mistake a lot of people make is trying to find 10 guys that can block punts. Blocking punts is a lot like throwing a curl route - you can either do it or you can't. A lot of guys will never be able to do it, so we only try to find three or four guys who can do it. Keon is our best. We saw a weakness in their protection, and we exposed it, and we exposed it with the right guy. One of (the blocks) was a great effort. One of them was right there and he blocked the punt. A lot of people could have done it. The second, he laid out and made a great play. Keon Newson is one of our better players. He's a guy that - special teams, defense, he's just into it and he studies it. He wants to become a great player and he's doing everything he can."
