Scot Loeffler Friday Press Conference Transcript (Ohio Game)

Scot Loeffler Press Conference 
Sept. 18, 2023 
Bowling Green, Ohio 
 

LOEFFLER: After watching the Michigan tape, you learned a lot about our team. We're tough. We fight and we're starting to get better, plain and simple. I wish we would have been able to play the way we did these last two weeks in week one and I think that would have been a different result, but really impressed with our guys about improvement. We walked into Michigan Stadium and when you watch the tape, obviously we had a drop pass for touchdown. Cam missed a and we never get this at Bowling Green - we had an RPO that we had an inside nine. He gave the ball rather than pulled the ball and there was no one on the receiver from here to Ann Arbor and that would have been another score. And then when Hayden went in, we called it double Move. That probably shouldn't have called with Hayden that OJ are just flat ran by. I mean, it was unbelievable how open he was, so we had some opportunities to make that really interesting in the first half and then obviously with the strength, the size, the depth, you know losing some of our key players, we were able, we just lost the second half plain and simple. And that was a lot because of attrition in depth and all that other stuff, but really proud of our kids. We put that one to bed and now it's all on to Ohio U. I think Ohio U is an outstanding football team, came down to us and them last year and they when you watched the tape, they physically just beat our tails inside and out. And we've got a huge challenge. They've got one of the better quarterbacks, if not the best quarterback in the league. Defensively they're ruthless, they play as hard as any defense in our conference. And we got a huge challenge considering a lot of adversity that we have to handle through personnel too right now.

QUESTION: Updates on your injured players?
LOEFFLER: No, we've got a lot right now. We were scheduled to practice today. We did not. And we're going to change every single thing that we usually do during a game week up, just to try one see who can actually play, two to give ourselves a chance with the guys that are playing, so we've got a big challenge this week in terms of, there's some repercussions when you play as hard as we did against top two team. And so, I couldn't tell you right now at a lot of positions where we're at waiting to see who can heal, who can't. But the one thing I can assure you is the people that are in there, we're going to have a really good game plan for, and I can promise you that they're going to play their tails off.

QUESTION: Connor and Camden’s injuries. What were they? And are they looking to get back?
LOEFFLER: I really don't want to get into either one of them to be honest with you. We made a decision Connor, got hurt in the fourth quarter of the Eastern Illinois game. Practice limited all week made a decision on Friday morning that he was out. Cam was the starter and then we were down to Hayden and Lucian, which were simulating JJ McCarthy all week. Then the ultimate misfortune happened. You lost your second quarterback and then you're dealing with a third that had really no reps whatsoever all week long. And for what he did, considering the situation that he was in was pretty impressive.

QUESTION: Just looking at your defense, something to limit a quarterback as good as JJ McCarthy in what was the worst performance of his career. How encouraging is that? Just from the defensive standpoint, what secondary did and everything like that?
LOEFFLER: Yeah. And I said it at the end. Coach Lewis, whenever he installed the system it’s identical to Michigan’s, Coach Minter, does a great job up there. We copycat at a lot of what they do and they're problematic, I said this 1000 times. What they do up in Ann Arbor defensively, they know protection. They disguise coverages better than anyone, and we've copycatted that, and I think our guys understand it and they played really well. They really did, and I thought, considering Michigan's offensive line is, as big as strong. And I mean, they've won the best offensive line in the country the last two years. I thought our defensive line did a great job of getting off blocks considering we are playing All Americans.

QUESTION: Changing things out because of the injuries and emotionally, how is the team handling, you know, the guys being out?
LOEFFLER: We set the tone right after the game. We went into Michigan Stadium and lost a bunch of guys, and we had a bunch of guys that stepped up and played decent, like well enough. There's a lot of room for excuses right now, but there is none. I mean, there's a ton. I mean, whenever you look at how many injuries we have, not being able to make decisions with game plan until late in the week, there's a ton of excuses. But at the end of day, no one cares. And what we've got to do is we've got to come out and the guys that are on that field, I'm promising you, they're going to play their hearts out and we will have a good game plan, and this is the opener in the MAC. It’s critical as it gets, I love how they've scheduled it, it came down to us and them the last game of the year. Now they put it in week three in between or week. I don't even know what week in between Michigan and Georgia Tech it's fitting. Let's just put it that way. So, there's a lot of excuses and all that, but it doesn't matter. You go out and play. We got to go find a way to win the game, but I do know this we need as many people in the stadium as we possibly can. This thing needs to look like Marshall all over again in terms of environment, and our kids will respond and we're going to play our hearts out. I can promise you that.

QUESTION: You mentioned the repercussions. I know you have nothing to do with the schedule, but just big picture, what would be obviously the best interesting team and the best interest of the school are very different things MAC. Yes, if you did have control over the schedule, what would be your ideal non-conference schedule to best prepare your team for the challenge ahead?
LOEFFLER: You know what, that's a great question and probably the best offseason question known to man. I mean, which I really do. I think it's a great discussion piece, but right now there's just so much going on. There are so many decisions that need to be made. I would love to discuss that with you right after the season or offseason, because I think there is some strategy to that. I really do and I think some teams in the MAC have taken some good strategies with that piece. The problem with these things is these contracts are 10 years out and back in the day. If you schedule Liberty 10 years ago, 15 years ago, you're jumping up and down now you're going. Oh, my goodness gracious. Liberty is as good as they get. I mean, that's equivalent to playing Toledo, for crying out loud. I mean, they're good. And so, with all everything that's going on, let's hit that in the off season because I think that's a great question.

QUESTION: As you mentioned, postgame, your kids love these opportunities Ohio State, Michigan as possible as you leave this game. So dinged up. I mean is it worth it to play a game like that in the week before your biggest MAC game of the year?
LOEFFLER: Great offseason question. The only one that I've been familiar with is. We beat Ohio State when I was at Virginia Tech, and it cost us three games. Then Ohio State comes down to Virginia Tech. We go up, I want to say 10 points, we're driving to go up 17 and they ran an interior dog. They broke Michael Brewer's collarbone, and I folded up. My call sheet and I went we just went from an 11-win team which would have sent Coach Beamer at least champs on our side. I don't know if we were going to beat Clemson. Clemson was loaded. They had those four first rounders up front, but it's significantly changed our season when the quarterback got hurt. We went from 11-12 ACC Championship team to all of a sudden, we were fighting to get to a bowl game, so I don't know football's football. There's a lot, but you know, those are great, great offseason love to talk. That would be fun.

QUESTION: Football's violent, any game is physical. But when you guys aren't playing the number two team in the country and just such a physical monster of the team, are they hits different in the game, like that version of that game?
LOEFFLER: I think the Mid-American Conference does a great job with physicality. I do. I think the only difference is the number. We'll have five unbelievable hits in a game while there's 20 that are taking place, I think it's the number our kids are physical. Toledo, Miami (OH), Ohio. They're all physical kids. It's just the number that you're taking throughout the day.

QUESTION: You mentioned how tough your team is, I think a lot of people notice that on Saturday. How does that feel, as a coach to hear that.
LOEFFLER: I mean, now you got to be tough in the wind, you know, tough, and execute. I mean it's great, but toughness is a huge part of it. And we're going to have to dig down. I'm just telling you this week might be the most challenging week that we've ever had since I've been coaching here, and we could even go through the dog years. You've got to find a way to go compete against the MAC East champions. Were good enough to beat him. There's no doubt about it. But we've got to get our stuff together, get healthy, figure out who's playing and play our hearts out and see what happens.

QUESTION: What does the rest of the week look like for you guys practice wise and evaluated for Ohio?
LOEFFLER: Yeah, we're going to take it really day to day. And as you well know, I love practicing and I love having at least a physical one real physical practice and one three quarter physical practice during the week. I do not know where we are at with it. We made a decision last night that there was no way we could practice today and so we're taking it day to day, and we were going to have to adapt and adjust, I mean it is what it is. We're going to and we're going to put to good plan together. We're going to get the next man up and find a way to compete against a really, really good program. I'm I think they do it right, I said it. Last year I thought they were the best team in the MAC. I don't know if they had the most talent, but they were the best team in the MAC last year and I know they didn't win it. Like when they play, they played together. They don't make mistakes. They don't beat themselves, we've got a huge challenge. We've been looking forward to this game because we know how good they are, and we need to go play our best football and find a way to get a win.

QUESTION: What are the biggest threats that Ohio poses this Saturday?
LOEFFLER: They're physical too now. I mean, that's what's when you watch that defensive front seven for them, they are physical. I mean they when you run a gap scheme, a zone scheme there downhill they want to kill you. I mean they play physical. So, this team that we're playing against is really, physical, aggressive defense. And then whenever you flip over the film on offense, the offensive lines physical too. So, the reason this stretch is tough is that you know, Michigan was a physical team. Ohio U is a physical team. Georgia Tech, I'm sure is going to be a physical team. Miami, I know is a physical team Buffalo physical team. That's why it's an awesome stretch. You're going to find how tough you really are, so, but it starts this week, and we need to find a way.

QUESTION: In 2007, it was a big controversy, with Kent State rested their starters at Ohio State. And would your guys kill you if you suggested that?
LOEFFLER: I would never do that, that's not the right thing to do. I don't care what football game you're playing. I don't care if it's Ohio State. I don't care if it's a game you're supposed to win. You're only guaranteed 12 shots and he worked 365 days a year and no, I would never, ever do that to a player, never. Only the way that we would not play a player like Connor, for example, he had no chance. He was ruled out by the doctors. The doctors run everything and that's why we rolled them out.

QUESTION: There's been a lot of talk recently about just kind of switching gears a little bit, grass versus field turf debate. Do you have a preference between grass and field turf and just kind of your thoughts on that?
LOEFFLER: I really haven't thought about it to be honest with you. I know as a player we had the old turf, so grass for sure when you went back in the day. I don't know enough of it. That's way out of my way out of my scale of thinking. You know, that's probably awesome where I could do a little research in the offseason, but I have no comment. Just because I'm not educated enough to say one way or the other.

LOEFFLER: Alright, let's get everyone at the Doyt. This is going be a big one. We're going to need you. It's going to be a beautiful day and we need this stadium rocking and rolling. We need the student section going and I can promise you we will find a way to play our tails off and we'll have a good plan. Come hell or high water. I don't know what the plan is yet. We're going to have a plan.

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