Scot Loeffler Monday Press Conference Transcript (Buffalo Game)

Scot Loeffler Press Conference
Oct. 3, 2022
Bowling Green, Ohio

LOEFFLER: Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. I'd like to start by giving our prayers and our best wishes to Kerm Stroh and his family. Kerm has been an unbelievable supporter of Bowling Green, a great friend, an unbelievable family. He’s truly a Bowling Green guy, and I apologize for not doing this sooner. It's been a whirlwind. I looked down at my desk and I saw a note from Kerm about three weeks ago. It hit me and I haven't said anything public, but I wanted to wish him as him and his family, we’re gonna pray for them, from our football program and just like I said, he's been an unbelievable supporter of our program and dear friend. So just like I said, I apologize for not doing this sooner, but wanted to make sure that we do this thing the right way with that family. That's an unbelievable family. That being said, any questions?

QUESTION: How would you describe the mindset of your team coming off of Saturday?
LOEFFLER: Well, if you're not locked in for this one, you don't have any red blood in your in your body. This is gonna be a heck of a game. This is the first time in a while that it's a Mid-American Conference game that's relevant for us. What I told our team is that this is Super Bowl number two. Everything's going to matter. Our preparation’s gotta be elite. I think Buffalo is better. I think we're better. I think it's going to be a heck of a football game. It's gonna be the team that's locked in and focused the most. We're finally in a position, I've been telling our players for the last four years that whenever you're in big football games and ones that matter, it generally comes down to two or three plays. I think this is one that will come down to two or three plays. I think Mo’s done a great job with their team. They've built the defensive front the way it's supposed to be built. I think they’re back end is excellent. I think Cole Snyder's playing good football right now. We recruited him. He's a good kid and he's got some wide receivers that are that are excellent. I think their offensive line is beyond good enough in this league. They've got running backs, so it's gonna be a great matchup. I think it's an even match up and it's gonna be the team that takes care of the ball the best. It's gonna be the team that makes less mistakes. The team that handles the no talent issues. It's going to come down to one or two big plays.

QUESTION: How are you seeing the guys approach this week knowing that they started 1-0 in the MAC?
LOEFFLER: We've been building the mindset of what this eight-week stretch is gonna be and we're going to take one at a time. We knew that we had to get by Akron and after watching the tape, I felt almost the same as I did after the game. We let a lot of opportunities slip by, but I truly, honestly believe last year's team and the one prior to that would have found a way to lose and we found a way to win this time. It's huge for our football team. This week, they know that they're walking into a really good opponent. I think they’ll be laser focused and I think they'll practice their tails off. I think Buffalo will do the same. I really do. I think it's gonna be a really good football game in The Doyt and I'm hoping that all the students, all the faculty, all the members of our community come to this game because it's going to be a really good football game.

QUESTION: You mentioned that in years past that you guys would have lost that game, but this team found a way to win. Is that a testament to the bond this team has?
LOEFFLER: We’re a little bit older, a little bit wiser, little bit more focused. I think we really learned our lessons when we've been down 14. I've always said a good football team always finds a way to be down 14 and find a way to win and we did that against Marshall. We've got to play really well in this game, plain and simple. There's no secrets about it. We gotta protect the ball, we gotta block really well, we gotta tackle, and find a way to make one more play than them.

QUESTION: What strides have you seen Matt McDonald make?
LOEFFLERI think we threw more touchdown passes in three or four games then we have in the last year. Matt's a good player. Matt went through a really difficult situation in regard to, we didn't have anyone to protect him. We didn't have anyone for him to throw to. He went through a learning curve that's really, really difficult, established some bad habits through trying to make a play because we lacked some playmaker ability and lacked some protection ability, now we finally have got the line much better. The running backs are running well and we've got receivers that can catch the football. I've said it from the beginning, it's nice when you can throw a slant and the slant goes for 40 yards. We finally have got some pieces of the puzzle that were missing and we're gonna need every single piece of the puzzle this week to find a way to win this game. Everyone's gotta play their best football, in my opinion.

QUESTION: Do you think the team learned something from the Akron game they can apply to this week?
LOEFFLER: I've said this to our staff, and I think it's difficult in today's world, regardless what I say, what our coaches say, there's a cell phone right next to you. They’re reading what everyone else is saying and all that other stuff. Just like Coach Saban says, there's some poison out there. Regardless of what we say and how we want our attention to detail to be for any opponent, I think that when you're playing someone that's not as good as a Buffalo team, a Marshall team. I think your kids read it. It's just not Bowling Green, my goodness gracious, look at Kent State and Georgia. Look at Missouri and Georgia. For me to sit here and say that I thought the Missouri would take Georgia down to the final quarter, no way. I think their kids probably believe that too. It’s human nature right now because of the technology, it’s human nature because of the phone. we're really trying to preach to our kids, just like any coaching staff is trying to preach right now, to stay away from that, listen to what's being said in this building, be locked into what we're doing in this building, and stay away from the noise, if it's bad or it's good. To answer your question, I don't think our attention to detail was as good as we wished last week. I don't think the intent was bad. I just think that we’re fighting, at times, an uphill battle because of social media and everything else. I don't think that'll be a problem this week, though.

QUESTION: What is it going to take for this defense to get off the field on 3rd down?
LOEFFLER: They gotta get off the field on 3rd down. We’re doing some such good things on defense. We're sacking the quarterback. The run yardage isn't bad right now whatsoever, and it's those 3^rd and 18s, 3^rd and 17s, and 3^rd and 15s that statistically, that's a 16% chance of occurring. We gotta get that down to it is only 16%. The 3rd and long defense, we're working hard, we'll get it fixed. Eric's a smart guy and they'll clean that up. We're working on cleaning it up and I think they've got a good plan for what we need to do on 3rd down and 11-plus. I know that they're making some really good adjustments on the defensive side of the ball. They're smart guys, they see the problem and we get that shored up, you really feel better, pretty good about how we're playing defensive football. They're working on it. They'll clean it up. They're great coaches, they'll teach it and we'll clean it up.

QUESTION: Can you talk about the strides made in the running game?
LOEFFLER: We knew walking into the season that our running back crew really had to step up. After losing Stewart and then Jamal, we were down to a limited amount of backs and I thought they did great fighting through it. I thought Jamal Johnson coming back really put a spark on our run game. I give my credit to Jaison Patterson, TK (Ta’ron Keith), to PaSean Wimberly. All those guys are highly accountable guys and have really held everything together while we're trying to get healthy and get everyone back.

QUESTION: What did you see from Jakari Robinson?
LOEFFLER: With him in there, we’re a different team. From a leadership end, from a confidence end, we don't have to put Jalen in a position that he doesn't need to be in. I thought Cade, whenever he was in there, did a really good job. I really do. But Jakari’s just older, he's played a heck of a lot more football than any of our offensive lineman. He's the leader. He's strong as an ox. When he gets on someone, it's really hard for them to get off block. We're very, very happy that he's back and we think our offensive line, slowly but surely, week-to-week improve. We got a challenge this week, I think this defense front is outstanding. I think they've done a really good job recruiting D-lineman. They traditionally always have at Buffalo, and they got some big strong dudes up front and we're gonna have to play our best.

QUESTION: How important it is to have complimentary football?
LOEFFLER: This week it's gotta be all three phases clicking at once. At times, our defense clicked. At times, our offense clicked. At times, our special teams clicked. At times, our special teams didn't click. At times, our offense didn't click. At times, our defense didn't click. That's why that game came down to three points rather than plus-14. We gotta learn from that. Going back to the question about details and everything matters, this is one that will come down to two or three plays and you gotta be on point. You never know when those two or three players are gonna occur. It could happen on the first play of the game. It could happen on the last series. You just never know when they're gonna show up. You gotta be locked in and be able to answer the bell whenever those two or three plays come along.

QUESTION: What special challenges does Buffalo oppose to you?
LOEFFLER: They're good. Just like I said, I think they're similar to us in terms of, they've improved immensely. I think we've improved immensely. I thought last year we were about the same. This is going to be a really good football game. It really is. If we protect the ball and they protect the ball, this is gonna be a fun one to watch for everyone, in my opinion. We gotta make sure that we go out, protect the football, and find a way to get two or three more plays than they do, because it's gonna be one of those games, in my opinion. I think it's gonna be a great football game. That's fun. We wanted to eventually get to the point where we’re playing these type of games, which is kind of fun, rather than ‘My gosh, can we hang in there?’ MAC football's crazy. You never know. Anything can happen. Look what happened with Northern Illinois and Ball State. You just never know, so we gotta worry about our mindset, our attitude, how we approach the game, our focus, our intensity, and then let it rip and what happens, happens. Be confident through our preparation.

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