Bowling Green State University Athletics
Gregg Brandon Press Conference Quotes
September 13, 2005 | Football
Sept. 13, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
The Bowling Green State University football Falcons, after Saturday's win at Ball State, now prepare for a non-conference game at Boise State on Wednesday, Sept. 21 ... the game will begin at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time and be televised to the nation on ESPN2 ... all games, of course, are broadcast on the BGSU Radio Network ... on Tuesday (Sept. 13), BG head coach Gregg Brandon sat down with the media to address the state of Falcon football ...
Q: Did you practice yesterday?
Gregg Brandon: No, we lifted weights and healed up.
Q: How is the healing process coming with your injured players?
GB: They are coming along, and working through their injuries.
Q: Calvin Wiley is listed on this week's two-deep. Is that because of his play, or because of injuries or the play of someone else?
GB: No, (it isn't because of injuries). He's another good young freshman.
Q: Will the extra time before the next game help the (injured) players?
GB: Oh, absolutely. It's good that (the extra time between games) is coming now, and that we survived Ball State without three starters.
Q: You had to mix and match at the linebacker spot a little bit at Ball State.
GB: Yes, and it was nice to see Jamien (Johnson) and Teddy (Piepkow) both get a lot of snaps. They split the time, and each got 30-some snaps.
Q: Jon Jakubowski played some, as well.
GB: Yeah, `Jake' got in there, and did a nice job. He is a good backup kid that can go in there and spell us for a couple series. He did a nice job on special teams on the kickoff cover. He's got a lot of heart, and he loves to play the game. He's out there for all the right reasons; the love of the game, and he's a good kid to have in the program.
Q: What about the play of (Tim) Arnold?
GB: Yeah, Timmy got about 60 snaps. I think he's found a home there at Sam linebacker. He's athletic enough out there in space that he can make some plays. He and Terrel White were very effective against Ball State on the edge, being able to make tackles, being able to contain the running game on the perimeter, and those two guys are doing a nice job.
Q: How would you grade the overall defensive effort?
GB: Well, Antonio (Smith) gave up the two big plays, but then he got a great play at the end there, sealing the win with the interception. We've got to do a better job on the trick plays. Other than that, we were pretty good. We just gave up too many big plays, though, and you can't do that and expect to win too many games. I'd say we've still got some work to do. It wasn't where we needed to be, but it was better than the week before, no question.
Q: Will you have Nate Fry working at kicker this week?
GB: Yeah, I have been getting Nate ready since last spring. Nate will continue to get reps at PAT/field goal, and whomever does the best job in the next eight days will kick.
Q: Talking about Antonio Smith, you have said that cornerback is one of the more difficult positions to recruit. What was the process involved in getting him?
GB: I think getting him was a steal. Zach Azzanni did a great job recruiting that kid. He is from a great program, Miami Central, down in Dade County. He played against guys that are (now) lining up at Florida, Florida State, Miami, so he knows what fast guys look like. He has great instincts, ball skills - you can tell he has been well coached - and he's just a good young player.
Q: You mentioned a couple plays in the Ball State game where he might have gotten down, but he obviously responded well.
GB: Yeah, it was nice to see him come back after those two touchdowns that he gave up, by getting a pick and running it back. I mean, I was anticipating having to make a move back there if he wasn't able to hold up, but he responded and did a nice job. That's the way you have to learn on the edge out there. You've got to have a short memory.
Q: Jelani (Jordan) played a lot as a freshman, too.
GB: Jelani has been through the school of hard knocks, too. You know, that's what happens. You're going to get beat, and if you continue to let it get to you, you'll get beat again and again. You just need to learn from it, forget about it and move on.
Q: What have you seen from Jelani?
GB: Jelani was our player of the game against Ball State. He had five or six really nice, open-field tackles, where the guy could have gone for a lot of yards if Jelani didn't get him down. He did a nice job, didn't give up any plays in the passing game. He's a veteran kid who just quietly does his job back there. On the trick play, he got the guy out on the five-yard line and they didn't score. They got a field goal out of that, and that was huge.
Q: What about Boise State?
GB: They have lost two games to two pretty good football teams in Georgia and Oregon State. They are a little wounded right now. Going into their place, their first home game, is not going to be easy. They've got a veteran quarterback, (Jared) Zabransky, who is a very good player. They know how to win there, they've won a lot of games, and (head coach) Dan Hawkins does a great job there. I think they are very similar to us. You look at their two-deep, size-wise, and what they're playing with is very comparable to what we're playing with, so I think it will be a good matchup.
Q: Zabransky has kind of struggled a little bit. Have you seen anything from him that is different from last year?
GB: No, I think he's an excellent player. He runs their offense very well at a high level. They are very multiple, offensively. There is a lot of shifting, lot of motions, lot of personnel groups. They are always moving guys around, trying to get an edge, maybe to run the ball or maybe to get some guys open in the passing game, and they do a good job of that.
Q: What about Boise State's defense?
GB: Defensively, they are very active, very quick. They are what you would compare to an upper-level MAC defense. They are undersized, as far as Big Ten standards go, but they don't lack anything in terms of ability and quickness. They're well-coached, they're in the right positions, and they play hard.
Q: They have the longest home winning streak in the country. Any thoughts on that?
GB: Oh? That's just what I need to hear. Before we played Ball State, somebody told me that Bowling Green had not won a MAC road opener since 1996, and I said, `Oh, great. That's just what I need to hear before the start of the game.' I'm not going to get all caught up in (Boise's home winning streak). We've just got to go in and try to end the streak. We have a chance to try to end the streak on national TV.
Senior nose guard Mike Thaler
On Boise's three-game losing streak
"It's like a caged animal, you need to fight to the death. They've been up against quality opponents and they can't be taken lightly."
On Boise's Offense "They have a great QB in Jared Zabransky and everybody that talks about the game talks about an offensive shootout."
"We play against a great offense everyday in practice and I think we have to use that experience to our advantage."
On the confidence of the BGSU defense
"The Ball State win gave us confidence and that is huge. To go out on the field with confidence is important because it is going to compensate for our inexperience. The game was a great stepping stone on where we need to be."
On playing on blue turf
"I have seen the blue field from watching the Humanitarian Bowl. People always say they thought fields had to be green and I agreed. Maybe we'll get an orange one; it would be a great attraction for Bowling Green."
Junior quarterback Omar Jacobs
Q: Did you expect to have 10 TD's at this point in the season? "I don't set TD goals; they call the plays and I run them. I just want to win games."
On tough road games
"Every game is going to be a tough game for us. Since we are picked to win the MAC we have a bullseye on our chest. Each game we have to come in full throttle. Boise is going to come to their home field and not want to lose their home opener. We need to just build off each game and try to get a victory."
On this game being called a "Must See"
"Our defense is playing well, last week we had a great victory and the defense and Antonio Smith's interception actually won the game for us. We just hope it is going to be a great game. We want this to be a team victory."
On non-conference before the heart of the MAC season
"Every game is important but MAC games have a little bit more behind them. At Boise, we need to just play the game. It's all determined between the lines. It is going to be a great fight. There are two great offenses. Their defense will try to stop us and defenses always get overshadowed in games like this so you need to just play the game."
On strange defenses thrown at him
"Charles and Steve have great games and defenses try to hamper both at the same time. Great guys like Corey Partridge are stepping up and having big games and that is making it harder to shut our offense down. When P.J. (Pope) comes back and B.J. (Lane) continues to do a great job it's still going to be a tough task for any defense to shut our offense down."
