Scot Loeffler Monday Press Conference Transcript (NIU Game)

Scot Loeffler Press Conference
Oct. 11, 2021
Bowling Green, Ohio

LOEFFLER: Good afternoon guys, thanks for coming in. The film evaluation from Saturday was, at times, extremely difficult to watch. At times, we felt like we did some much better things. We're an inconsistent football team, that when we get put in the moment and in critical situations, at times we execute, at times we don't. And that is a complete carryover from where we need to get in terms of our practice habits. We're much better, which gives us a chance and it makes us look like a semblance of a football team at times. But we're still not elite and, the big emphasis that we've been talking to our guys is, those critical moments that we have in practice, the seriousness the intensity, the focus, the concentration, has to be completely game-like. And when we get mature with age, we're going to see more of that occur, which then gives you a chance to be successful in a critical situation, when you really look at it. On Saturday, it was critical situations on defense that we didn't execute. There was obviously, the first half of critical opportunities to execute to put the game completely away. It should have been 31-0 at halftime, but we didn't do it. We need to continue to keep working at it, working out the process. We're going to get there just like I said. If we can make the strides and the steps that we made one more time, good things are going to happen to this team. That's where we're at right now. So like I said after the game, couldn't wait to get to practice today to just keep working on issues.

Q: You mentioned, attention to detail and practice and how that translates on Saturdays. What’s the mindset from practice today?
Mondays never mean anything. It's always that Tuesday, Wednesday when the physicality is real, it's really football. We were basically in an up-tempo walk thru today. It was good though, in terms of at least the intensity was good and the focus was good, but it's whenever the pads come on that those assessments are really being made.

Q: We've talked before about these guys having to learn to win. They showed that with Murray State and Minnesota. So now, is it more about learning to be consistent?
Yeah, that’s winning. It's being consistent time in and time out. We can point to so many pictures in the games that we've won, or could have won, on both sides of the ball, that the quarterback for the opposing team might have overthrown the guy and we did make a fundamental mistake and get away with it. We're trying to eliminate all that and that's what championship teams do. If someone's going to beat us, they're going to beat us because they’re better. If you assess the games that we've lost, we've been at times playing against two teams at once, BG and the opponent. So that's what we're working on doing, it's consistency, you're exactly right, Kristi, it’s complete consistency.

Q: When you look at NIU, what do they bring to the table, that you’ll really hone in on Tuesday and Wednesday?
They’re a good football team. They're athletic. They can score points on offense. Defensively, I think they're super athletic upfront. I like the back end, they are not afraid to play man coverage. Playing over there is a challenge, having to go six-and-a-half hours out there is not an easy place to play. We have to have our complete A-game. The goal is, if this team is going to beat us they’re going to beat us. We're trying to eliminate the self-implosion and inflicting the wounds we’ve been having.

Q: I've noticed, there's some guys that tend to stand out every week, Tyrone being one of them, Darren is another. How do you make other guys step up to the plate so there's other stars that shine?
If you asked [Tyrone] Broden and Darren Anders how their life was a year-and-a-half ago, totally different. We were on those guys constantly. Obviously, being a part of the program for two years and understanding what it takes to play at this level, they’ve learned. Are they elite yet? No, but they’re really close, and it’s showing. At times it's a little bit of that age factor.

Q: Coach, after the game you mentioned that your team is habits away from being a really good football team. Is there anything specific that you can pinpoint maybe from the game on Saturday or even just throughout the season that can kind of elaborate further on that?
Ball security. I mean all week long that’s all we talked about was the ball, the ball, the ball. It wasn't just JP [Jaison Patterson], it was numerous guys that were carrying the ball poorly. And it wasn't just one time that it was addressed. It was several times. Unfortunately, it took a bad mistake to get it corrected. Kind of like when your parent tells you something and you kind of listen. But that's what happened. The cool thing today, this is a small thing but it’s growth, there wasn't one person on our football team that was carrying the ball poorly today. But it took a bad example to get it corrected. I made that example to our team today. That’s where we’re at. This ideology and this thought that practice is exactly like the game is foreign to a lot of them. We made strides to get better with it, but those elite teams that win day in and day out, they’re unbelievable all the time. They have consistent habits all the time. That football field out there, on game day or the practice field should look the same and ours doesn’t yet. It's getting closer, but it’s still not that the whole world's going to end on a Tuesday practice when the ball’s on the three and they’re going through their mind. They don't have that intensity yet and they don't understand that practicing that moment right there is going to make a difference between, at times, winning and losing.

Q: You're officially halfway through your schedule this year. Based on your own expectations for the team before you entered the season to now, where do you feel this team is at in terms of just growth and development?
Exactly what we said at the beginning. We said we're going to be up and down at times because of our youth. We do still have some holes. We’re going to be much better. You're going to see the good, you're going to see the bad, you’re going to see the ugly. We’re going to be an up-and-down team. I told several people at the beginning of the year we’re going to win games we’re not supposed to and we're going to lose some games that we’re not supposed to. It’s been evident we need to finish the ideology of how to have great habits all the time. That’s through every single thing you do on a daily basis. We’re closer, but close doesn’t mean anything in this game.

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