Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders College Football Pregame Quote, 11/18/2019

This is a chance for us to honor our seniors this weekend. These guys have meant the world to me and have helped change and establish this program. I appreciate everything they’ve done and everything they’ve sacrificed. I’ve never made a big deal about senior day because they’ve got enough other stuff going on to be worried about that, and we’ll honor them after the season. This is a chance for them to be recognized in their last home game. We’re looking forward to honoring them. A lot of great men will walk out onto that field Saturday, so this is a chance to show mine and our appreciation to them. Old Dominion’s record isn’t all that hot, but we’ve got to play the game. We’ve got to have a great week of preparation because we have a good Old Dominion team coming in here. They’ve played a lot of close games ‚Äî Virginia, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and the conference games ‚Äî so they’re very similar to Rice from that standpoint. Rice went to overtime with LA Tech and had a one-score game with Baylor, so Old Dominion is very similar to them. We’ve got to have a great week of practice and play a good game.

On containing ODU’s linebackers:

They’re good players. The big thing is, you’ve got to do a good job up front in your run game scheme and in pass protection. Like any good player, they’re going to make their plays. We just have to do a good job. I think if we can be less predictable in our run/pass choices, then it always ‚Äî if they can play downhill, if anybody can play downhill, they’re going to be a better player ‚Äî so if we can be a little less predictable in down and distance situations, I think that’ll help.

On seniors Ty Lee, Khalil Brooks and Jovante Moffatt entering the program’s top five in statistical categories:

I don’t like to just talk about those three because we’ve got so many others: Tyshun [Render], Malik [Manciel], Trae Philpots, and Terelle West and other guys on the team that have a big impact on this team as well. [Desmond] Anderson. Talking about those three, they’re three really, really good players. Ty started and played a lot as a true freshman. He caught 70 balls as a freshman and 70-80 again as a sophomore and junior, so he’s caught a bunch of balls. This year he hasn’t caught numbers like that, but he’s been a very productive player for us, and Khalil the same way. He came in as a corner out of high school, then we moved him to safety, then we moved him down to linebacker. He’s been on special teams. He’s a great team player, and I’m proud of what he’s done. Jovante, I have so much respect for him. You think about it, he had both shoulders operated on last year. He was limited last year in how much he can play. He’s hurt right now, but he’s playing through it. He’s giving it everything he’s got, and I just have so much respect for him and other guys like him that are going through that. Jovante, I just respect him so much as a man and as a player, as well as Khalil and Ty and Malik and Tyshun and Trae and all those other seniors. Those guys have had outstanding careers.

On the team’s response in the second half vs. Rice:

They did not surprise me. I wasn’t shocked. I wasn’t surprised. I knew what their response would be. This team has done it all year, whether we’ve won or lost. This team responds, and they’ve got a great attitude. I just feel bad that it hasn’t been able to show up on the win-loss column for them. They’re going to play as hard as they did in the first week against Michigan, and they’re going to play as hard as they can next week. I don’t think what their response was Saturday in the second half has any bearing on how they’re going to respond this week or next week.

On the team’s fight and competition in practice:

It’s disappointing, and I feel bad for them that we can’t extend this season, but it talks about the character of the team. There are going to be setbacks. This isn’t going to be near as difficult to go through for them than once they get out of here and get into real life, there are going to be setbacks. You’ll get knocked down, but the true test of a man is when they get back up. These guys have always responded. When they get knocked down, they get back up. Things haven’t gone well this year. Nobody wants to hear about injuries and excuses. This is a fact, it’s not an excuse: We’re up to 29 people now, scholarship players that we started with August 1st that won’t play in this game. You think about that. 29 out of 84 ‚Äî we started with 84. We’ve got less than a pro team out there. Then you go with a handful of guys that you wanted to redshirt because you wanted to redshirt them. It’s been a difficult year from that standpoint, and that’s why I respect this team because they don’t use that as an excuse, and they keep coming back. They compete, they battle, and the ball hasn’t bounced our way this year. Like I told them yesterday, we’re going to finish this thing the right way and give it everything we have.

On ODU’s offense:

Rice wasn’t one of the top teams statistically either, and they had some success. They’ve got good receivers, and they started a new quarterback the last couple of weeks. They had an open week last year, so they’ll come in here fresh. We’ve got to be able to adjust to any changes they put in during the off week. They’ve got a good offensive line. The quarterback is getting better each week now that he’s got a couple games under his belt, and the receivers are talented.