Bowling Green State University Athletics
Gregg Brandon Press Conference
September 02, 2003 | Football
Sept. 2, 2003
Any changes this week?
Coach Brandon: "Jovon Burkes will start at middle linebacker. If he's healthy he will go. Rick Mauer is out. He broke his ankle. He had a great game and it is unfortunate what happened. He had 15 plays and somewhere along there he broke his ankle. He's a fifth-year senior, and the kid got hurt last year. His ankle has bothered him long before we got here."
Other than those two are you healthy?
Brandon: "Yeah, we have battle scars from the game."
Who is Nick Brandon rooting for on Saturday? (Nick, Coach Brandon's son, attends school at Purdue)
Brandon: "He better be rooting for Bowling Green, that's all I gotta say. He is doing an internship in Tennessee but he will be at the game."
Last week, you talked about similarities between Eastern Kentucky and Purdue, do you still see that?
Brandon: "Not as much as we thought. Purdue runs a lot of spread, empty backfield, and we didn't see any of that from Eastern Kentucky."
In your planning for the game, they lost the leading rusher from last year. Does that make a difference not having anything real current?
Brandon: "Yeah, I think it...they are going to have some wrinkles, within their scheme, we are going to try to prepare as best we can without getting too complex. The most improving on their team is between game 1 and game 2 and they don't have game 1 under their belt yet. Hopefully that will be an advantage for us."
Where do you hope to see your teams biggest improvement?
Brandon: "Tackling overall, special teams, we have got to do a better job covering kicks. A lot of that was placing the ball. We have got to get the ball where we want to place it."
Is that the biggest area that is getting more attention than normal?
Brandon: "It is a work in progress. Each coach is responsible for the unit. You don't want to give up a big play. We have three more games to get the right people in there but I don't want to go into Purdue with the wrong guys.
You did not show everything that Bowling Green can do against the Colonels, there will be more in the game plan this week?
Brandon: "There are going to be some checks and adjustments."
"I am going to play Omar, I don't know as much or how much, we'll just see how the game goes. He will play at Purdue and he will play at Ohio State. Hopefully we can get him in there when the game is on the line."
Josh played great last week, is this is a big game for him this week?
Brandon: "Josh rises to the level of competition, he is a gamer. He is going to have to play that way for us to have a chance."
Is there one area we should look at and say, boy if Bowling Green can do this?
Brandon: "The key is to keep their offense off the field. We have a quick strike offense. We can't give up any big plays. Couple times Eastern Kentucky had guys run right by our secondary.
How about Scott Mruczkowski
Brandon: "Scottie is a Big Ten caliber player, he is huge for us."
Is there any one particular skill that stands out for him?
Brandon: "He is a very gifted player. He is talented, strong, and he uses his hands well. He is smart, and can recognize a blitz, and communicate it."
Do you worry about getting people up for Purdue. How do you place, focusing on conference games and yet going out into a big showcase game like Purdue?
Brandon: "I think the game itself it gets you up. If a kid can't get up for this game he has no heart. So there is not much I have to tell them. No motivational skill that goes into that game. They are going to be jacked up and our championship caliber players will rise. Our starters on both sides of the ball will play. You can't be intimidated. They have got to be focused."
