Florida Atlantic Owls College Football Pregame Quote, 09/13/2021

On the offense still starting slow:

We just have to keep working to get better each and every week. By no means are we perfect and by no means (have) we played our best and that’s our goal each and every week. Striving to play our best, so we have to keep working in practice and doing the necessary things we need to do in order to be consistent and play the way we did in the second half. Again not everybody starts fast, you’d like to, you’d like to start fast and finish fast but we didn’t. Good thing about it is, our guys found a way to correct some things, make some adjustments and figure it out and were able to score points like we need to. So, keep working to get better, by no means are we where we need to be as an offense or a team, and I guess that’s the beauty of having another opportunity this week to try to be the best.

On LaJohntay Wester’s breakout performance:

LaJohntay, we saw a lot of that in him when he first came in as a freshman. I think what we’re seeing now is just a kid that got some experience last year and he’s more confident in what he’s doing and (has) a better understanding of what he’s doing and he went out and made the plays that needed to be made for us. We have a lot of confidence in him and it was great for him to go out and have that game. I challenged him in the hotel Saturday to go out and play well and sure enough he did for our football team. So that was good to see, and again, there’s other guys on this team that can step up and make plays. Each game here, you’re not sure which guy it’s gonna be, but good tosee guys step up and make plays. Very happy for LaJohntay and we need him to continue to do those things for us.

On halftime adjustments/what he told the team:

I just challenged our offense to catch up to our defense. Our defense has been carrying our team since I’ve been here and I challenged them all week and challenged them at halftime. I was really impressed with our guys before the half, to go down there two minutes before the half and get some points. I think that really started everything for ouroffense. To be able to do that right before the half was big for us. Those guys just went out and coaches made the necessary adjustments and our guys went out and executed in the second half. It wasn’t a rah-rah speech or anything, it was just execution and our guys went out there and did that. There was plays to be made and they made them.

On cornerback Korel Smith:

I’m very, veryimpressed with Korel. It’s not unexpected. That’s who he is. It’s like having a coach out there on the field. Getting him and (Ahman) Ross sharing time there, it’s great to see the production that he made with the time that he was playing in the game. He’s such a coach on the field he’s always out there helping guys. I’m standing next to him on the sidelines hearing him yell out to one of his teammates about a certain coverage he’s supposed to check to. You know this is right before a play he’s screaming. It was pretty cool to hear one of your players on the sidelines, he’s into it and trying to help his teammates out. I said, ‚Äònow you feel how Coach feel sometimes when we tell you guys something and you don’t listen.’ But I’m really happy with Korel he had an outstanding game, not just yesterday, but against Florida and we expect that to continue to happen with him and again because of his knowledge and understanding of the game. This kid is gonna always be around the ball and make plays and he loves playing.

On wide receiver Je’Quan Burton:

He just kept working. He earned that playing time and made the plays. That play we sawin the game, he’s done that in practice, he’s made multiple plays in practice that got all of us excited about his potential and things that he could do for us. You know he’s very explosive, very fast, he’s one of those guys that can take the top off the defense and we saw that on Saturday. You know we gotta continue to find ways to use him as well.

On playing Fordham and approaching teams from a conference he has had no experience coaching against:

Just like any other game. You know it doesn’t matter what conference they’re in or where they come from. We still have to play by the football rules and do the things we supposed to do in order to win the ballgame. But we prepare like any other game, and there’s a standard way that we want to play and the waywe want to practice and that’s not ever going to change. That’s going to be the challenge each and every week to play up to that standard, no matter who we’re playing against. So nothing has changed. We have to go out and have a great week of practice andgo out and execute in the game like we know we’re capable of doing. And that’s the challenge of our football team to see if we can consistently do that week in and week out.

On being undefeatedat FAU Stadium in Taggart coaching era:

I wouldn’t say there’s any pressure. That’s a goal of ours as a football team is to win at home, win all of our games at home. That’s a season goal, that’s going to be there every single year. You know it’s just really exciting that our guys take pride in winning and taking care of our home field. It’s important to us, and it was great on Saturday, because that was the second time I’ve been in there with fans, but the first time I’ve been in there with fans on our side like that.And that was great, after last year and not having everyone in there and being able to come out and build and see that experience. This past Saturday was awesome and I think having our students there and excited and our fans like that, again, it just helps our football team and protecting our home field. It’s great for our players. We want to make sure it’s great for our fans and our students and we all take pride in taking care of our home.