Cincinnati Bearcats College Football Pregame Quote, 10/04/2022

We are not going to go over last week a whole lot, but obviously it is great to get a win on the road to open up conference play. It was really big and I think we will kind of leave it at that, it’s behind us. I know there were a lot of positives, but there were also a lot of things that we can learn from for us to get better. Playing on the road is different, so it kind of starts there and we will continue to move forward. We are excited more so about getting back home this week, obviously is great for us. It’s homecoming weekend, which is exciting, there is a little bit more energy and excitement on campus and it is where we feel most comfortable, so we expect a great atmosphere on Saturday. I expect a team that will come back in here, fighting, scratching, clawing, that’s what we would expect. They have a lot of talent, speed, I think on both sides of the football, their return game is really special at times, so we have to be really prepared.

On defensive line performance at Tulsa:

We gave up a lot of yards rushing the year before, so our whole emphasis was not to dominate the line of scrimmage, but to control the line of scrimmage. It is a little bit different, so we played a little bit different I thought and really did a good job. Those players kind of honed into what it is we asked them to do, at times it can be a little different, and I think that is where some of your adjustments that people don’t probably know and recognize come from, but those guys up front in particular did a really good job. I know people want to talk about sacks and things like that, but it came down to our ability to control the line of scrimmage, stop the run game and put ourselves in a better situations than we were in the last two years to be honest with you.

On the ability to create pressure and how it helps the backend of the defense:

It does a lot. I mean you have to find ways to apply pressure. I think we are doing a good job at that. I think there’s some things that we have to do better, but all in all whether it’s three-man, four-man, five-man, or even at times there’s six man coming we have got to find the ability even more so this year to mix it up a little bit and not be as predictable. I think with our pressures and things like that our guys have done a great job. There are a lot of adjustments that need to be made in games like last week, in particular preparing maybe for a different quarterback and then game time it goes back to the original starter and it shifts the mentality of those things. So, you have to give a lot of credit to those guys up front maturity wise understanding what it is we need to do in each game to be successful and they have done a really good job with that.

On if he thinks the defense is getting close to where they want to be:

We know what it is that we want. I think that we are kind of honing in a little bit better on it each and every week. We have to grow and this isn’t a team that, like we said in the last two years, had a lot of guys in the same positions where you could feel a little bit better about the things that you were going to do and adjust to each and every week. As we develop what us is, it’s also about how much can we grow who we are throughout the entire season. I think that has a lot to do with not just the way that you play, but also week-in, week out the things that you can adjust and adapt to.

On what he expects offensively from USF on Saturday:

I think they are a little bit back and forth. They know they’ve got talent and know they have speed at the wide receiver position and want to get the balls into those guys hands. So, I think maybe early on, they were trying to force things a little bit differently. The quarterback is not new, obviously he was a starter last year at Baylor, played 13 games and led them to the [Big 12] Championship, but he didn’t come until the fall, so I think that all-in-all they probably had a good idea the first four or five games that it was going to be a bit of development for what the offense is going to be, and so maybe they are not where they want to be, but I do believe that they have the pieces and the talent. They are little bit back and forth with the guys on running the football and throwing the football, but I know as a coach you sit there and look at it the fact that maybe they haven’t won games, but they had 400 plus yards of total offense last week throwing the ball, running the ball, and it a team like I said that anytime their backs against the wall, you are going to get their best.

On the success of the defense and leading the country in tackles for loss this season:

I think our ability a little bit this year to mix some things up has frustrated opponents. We are not maybe as static as we play some similar coverage things, but I think our ability to mix it up a little bit, giving guys two-way goes to allow them to apply pressure. Obviously, you can’t deny the fact that Ivan Pace Jr is a really good guy inside there that creates some havoc and the more havoc he creates, he also creates a lot more one-on-ones for the guys on edges and even the nose guard. So, I think where we are right now is we are still growing, but I think that those guys can play off each other. We are able to create that same mismatches, but when you are trying to create some confusion, not just for the quarterback, but also for the guys up front, it gives you a little bit better chance maybe it makes them those havoc plays. I think the combination of having those guys up front that understand it and having a guy like Ivan [Pace Jr.] that is a little bit more of a dynamic plugger than maybe we have had in the last couple years. He is created a little bit more hesitation sometimes for the guys up front, which allows our guys to kind of take advantage of, and we got to continue to do that. As you move along, people obviously do a good job at scouting you have better game plans for what you are doing, so we have to continue to grow as well, but I think that combination has allowed us to create some of those plays.

On Deshawn Pace making big plays against Tulsa:

I do think that you have to make the plays that come your way and as we saw with Myjai [Sanders] last year in the first half of the season, everything he was trying to do was almost like I want to go do this and he really didn’t put himself in the best position to make a lot of plays. People obviously did some things different. I think maybe even early on that was where Deshawn Pace was a little bit like I got to go make this play. I had this many interceptions and sometimes you start pressing, and not doing the things that you need to do and make the plays that come your way because you are trying to do some other things. So, he’s still a younger guy and being a second-year guy, I didn’t think anything of it in the first four games, maybe his stats weren’t like they were the year before, but I know that does put a little pressure on them and you can see them press, but I think he is more comfortable where he is at. Obviously, as we develop who we are, I mean when they are creating a lot of tackles for losses and some of those situations, things are getting to the second level, and when things aren’t getting to the second level sometimes those second level guys don’t have as many opportunities to make plays. So, you got to look at it as a whole and I think that’s where I think we are getting better at that and recognizing understanding that it may be a little bit different and you just got to focus on making the plays that come your way.