.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcon Football Quotes
September 05, 2006 | Football
Sept. 5, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University football team will face the University at Buffalo Saturday afternoon (Sept. 9), with kickoff scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Perry Stadium. Head coach Gregg Brandon and several Falcon players met with members of the media at Tuesday's (Sept. 5) weekly gathering ...
BGSU COACH Gregg Brandon
(Does Buffalo have momentum right now?)
"Absolutely. I mean, they have won a game and we haven't."
(How good is Buffalo's defense?) "Who knows? I don't know. I think they have some quality players on defense. I think number 2 (Ramon Guzman) and number 20 (Kareem Byrom) are good players. They have some quick defensive down people; it's like anyone else in Division I: you have to block them. If you don't block them, we are going to have problems."
(On being worried about the amount of tackles the backfield had in the Wisconsin game)
"No, only when the corners are involved, the safeties in our scheme are linebackers anyway. It's not uncommon to see safeties leading their team in tackles."
"There were a lot of things we were doing with their closed tight end formation where they did not have a split receiver where Kenny (Lewis) was rolled up in the support, and if they went that way he would be (in effect) a linebacker."
(What other areas did you see that need improvement?)
"Defensively, we still need to tackle better. It was hard to get our arms around those backs. It was hard for one guy to bring them down, and that was encouraging (that we were able to contain them). I didn't see enough of that last year (in the game at Wisconsin) that I did Saturday night."
"When one guy missed a tackle, there were four or five guys getting there. I think their longest run was 14 or 15 yards. We didn't give up the explosion play on defense, which to me is very encouraging."
"We only gave up 21 points on defense, in my mind -- we forced the short field twice and they scored. They didn't have to go very far. We had the blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown and then they had the ball inside the 10 (after a long punt return)."
"We had a goal line stand which I thought was tremendous, but overall we needed to tackle better. Our secondary gave up some throws that we have to fight though because we are so young."
(On being in better shape than last year)
"We were a much more physically prepared team this time around because of the nature of our spring and fall camps. We had the attitude of becoming a much more physical football team and not relying so much on the passing of our quarterback -- we fell into that trap last year."
"Because of relying on our quarterback (last year), it made our defense tentative, and I didn't see that tentative defense Saturday night."
(On being upset with penalties)
"We jumped offsides and had a delay of game with a snap out. We had a 'hut-hut-HUT!' call where we tried to get them to jump offsides, and then we jump offsides. Those types of things just gnaw at you. When you know when you execute those things it's great, because now you are looking at first and five instead of first and 15. We're still going to do that stuff; I am not going to give up on that stuff. We are going to demand that kids concentrate and get that stuff done."
(On Anthony Turner starting against Buffalo)
"We had limited passes last week and we are going to open the field up this week. (We will look for) more down-the-field throws with Anthony and let him cut loose a little bit, and I think that will help the running game."
(Will Freddie Barnes start against Buffalo?) "Potentially. We kind of have a new position for him, called the P. It's a a personnel group that we have had in the past. We may run some of that, or he can play running back, or be put in the slot and be a receiver. It's like what we evolved into with P.J. Pope a few years ago. He was a great running back for us but it turned out that he was a great receiver too. And, we were able to put him into the slot and he could work from there. Freddie is that type of kid, but the whole thing is that he can't get lost. He still has to play quarterback, because he still is our backup quarterback,. That creates kind of a dilemma as far as reps in practice."
"Freddie spent all preseason taking reps at quarterback, because we knew he would start the Wisconsin game. So, what you are going to see Saturday is (Freddie on) three days of practice (for the new role)."
(On filling the position of Terrel White)
"We moved (John) Haneline inside and then Loren (Hargrove) played the will. Haneline is going to move back to will, and he and Loren are going to play will and Terrel is going to play mike, so that just gives us more depth and quality of depth."
"Cody Basler did a nice job at mike, too; he was big on the goal-line stand. He did a good job in the kicking game as well; he will back up Terrell, too."
"I thought (Erique) Dozier had a nice game and thought he may have had the best game of our defenders."
(On the new rules for the 2006 season)
"On the fumble call, I challenged it and took a timeout. But they came over and told me they were going to review it anyway, and I said, 'The heck you were; they were getting ready to snap the ball.' If I hadn't have called a timeout, they would have snapped it. Then later on when we were fourth and five and took a timeout, they came over and said I still had two timeouts left (since BG did not lose a timeout after the earlier play was reviewed and overturned)."
(Does the game seem shorter to you?)
"No, there aren't as many plays, but we weren't trying to run a lot of plays. We weren't trying to go fast."
(On the punting game)
"On the blocked punt, we had a guy out to block the guy who blocked it and we didn't execute. That guy came so fast and blew right by the right back and it was too late. We struggled to block No. 2 (Jonathan Casillas) all day on offense. On the first punt, he lined up the same way and he almost got it. I remember telling the coaches; I said 'Hey, there is number two, and he is coming off the edge, and when we punt it again what are we going to do?"
"When I was coaching at Northwestern, we were playing Illinois. They had Simeon Rice and Kevin Hardy, and those are offense-changing players. If you don't have a scheme for those guys they will wreak havoc all day in your backfield. You don't see a lot of those guys in the MAC."
"Well, that's what we needed to do for that guy and we didn't do it, and he overpowered us and blocked the punt. And then I think Alonso (Rojas) was rattled after that, because he took a shot on that and landed hard. We can't have that happen to our freshman punter. That's my deal; I have to fix that and manage that, knowing where their people who can wreak havoc are, whether it's offense, defense or kicking. That's on me."
Freddie Barnes
"I am going to have a mixture of assignments. I am going to play quarterback, receiver, running back and its all going to be at different times. We have a couple different packages."
"Once I warmed up (for the Wisconsin game), I wasn't nervous at all. Coach always talks about it being like a mirage, it definitely was. I didn't hear the crowd or anything."
"Our approach is the same as its always been: continue to work hard in the classroom, weight room, in film and study and everything."
"I am real excited to play my first game in the Doyt. I hope the fans come out and support us like they did against Wisconsin in Cleveland. I am just real excited to play another game."
"I feel like every thing the coaches asked me to do, I did to the best of my abilities. I am interested and waiting for the next test."
Anthony Turner
"It feels good to be back at home, being back at the Doyt is the real deal. Hopefully we get the same support we got from our students that we got in Cleveland, be ready for a good game."
"It was tough to not be out there with my teammates, but it was definitely a learning experience."
"I expected Freddie (Barnes) to play the way he did because that's the kind of player he is, he's a playmaker."
"(The Buffalo game) is a MAC game, it's important to us and we have to win it."
"It's definitely exciting, it's a thrill and I get chills going down my spine right just thinking about it. I can't wait, we just have to prepare for Buffalo like we did against Wisconsin and look to come out victorious."
"I told him (Barnes) he played well and I didn't expect to see anything else from Freddie but to make plays. That's the kind of player he is and I told him that."
"Coach Brandon seems to have a lot of faith in me and that is a confidence-builder."
"After the game, Freddie said we are going to tear it up when we are together. I am 100% sure we will tear it up; just get the ball to Freddie because he is a playmaker."
Derrick Markray
"Freddie -- that kid came to play, I was totally amazed. Reminded me of watching Josh Harris back in the day. To have A.T. and Freddie back there, it's like two lethal weapons."
"I don't think there is such thing as having too many weapons. It just helps us out even more."
"We don't underestimate any team, because any team can come and play at any given time. That's the great thing about football, you can't ever know or predict what's going to happen. We are going to treat Buffalo like they are the Badgers. We can't let up at all."
"There's nothing like playing in the Doyt. Great experiences here in the Doyt. Playing in Cleveland was great, but it's nothing like playing in the Doyt. It's going to be crazy, it's going to be exciting. Really feeling the love from all your fans right here in town."
"They are coming off an overtime win, coming off a high and feeling great. They are going to come in here and try to continue that (winning) streak. We need to prepare solid enough and make sure we take care of our business at home."
Kenny Lewis
"We have definitely improved on defense. I know we have a lot more improving to do, but our defense has improved. We are faster this year."
(On his interception vs. Wisconsin)
"Coach always tells us to run to the ball, because if you don't run to the ball then you aren't giving yourself a chance to make a play."
"I, and a lot of our defense just leans on Coach Lovett. We have a lot of confidence in Coach Lovett. We know he has coached a lot of big-time people at a lot of programs. That's my confidence level right there, Coach Lovett. He is a great coach and what he says I am going to do. I feel like he wouldn't lead us in the wrong way."
Devon Parks
(On Saturday's game)
"Great chance to get back on campus and have our friends and family in the stadium. It will be even a greater atmosphere than Cleveland because it is at home."
(On the preparation for Buffalo)
"They have a brand new coach and I am sure he will have his team ready for us. Even though we pulled out a victory, they were ready for us last season."
"I would not say there is more excitement than the Wisconsin game, but the team will be more comfortable because it is a home game."
(On starting the MAC season)
"You have a feeling that this is an important game, and the road to a championship starts here."
Erique Dozier
(On Buffalo preparations)
"Seeing as this is only my second start on the defense, I am not treating this game any differently."
(On Big Ten vs. MAC opponents)
"The personnel they carry is obviously different at a Big Ten program, but at no point is the pressure any different, because we are in our conference season."
