Marshall Thundering Herd College Football Pregame Quote, 09/02/2019

Captains for this week will be Omari Cobb and Chris Jackson on defense. On offense, it will be Alex Mollette, who came back from injury and graded out the highest of the offensive linemen, and Brenden Knox. Any time you go on the road and play in the environment like the one Boise has, you have to take your leadership, and these guys will be a big part of that, and your toughness. We have to do that in order to accomplish what we want to on Friday night. It’s obvious that Boise is an excellent team. It has eight starters back on offense with a freshman quarterback. I had a chance to watch a little bit of the Florida State game and I thought he did a tremendous job with poise and toughness. He threw for over 400 yards against FSU and led them back to victory. They (Boise) are an excellent team, as we all know. They won 11 games a year ago, so it will be an excellent challenge for us but it’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to. When you’re in this business as a coach or a player, these are the kinds of games you want to go play. I talk to our guys all the time ‚Ķ because you play this great game, you get opportunities that a lot people don’t get and this is one of them. We have to do a great job with your preparation this week.

On Boise State’s offense:

I think it starts up front, offensively. Their entire offensive line is back and that left tackle is a first-round pick. They have really good players. You’d think after having a four-year starter (at quarterback) that there would be a dropoff because that kid is now in the NFL. But this kid (Hank Bachmeier) doesn’t look like a freshman out there. He took some shots in the Florida State game, but stood right in there and delivered the ball. They also lost a great tailback but when you turn that tape on, kind’ve like the quarterback, they have two guys there and a third who plays really well. The receivers are talented. They are a typical Boise State team. They have good players.

On Boise coming back to win in a hostile environment at FSU:

They’re down 18 points and were able to come back. It just shows the kind of leadership and toughness that they have on that team that they were never out of it. They kept playing and didn’t look at the scoreboard. At the end of the day, they found a way to win it and that’s what good teams do.

On Boise State’s running game:

He’s (Robert Mahone) another big physical back ‚Ķ about 220 pounds. The freshman is about 198, but the other two are about 215, 220. Again, it starts up front. They do an excellent job of getting hats on guys and getting to the second level. They run with great pad level, like our guys. It’s going to be a challenge for our defense but one that I know Brad (Lambert) and our defensive staff and players are excited about.

On turnovers:

You can’t lose the turnover battle in a game like this and expect to win. You have to take care of the ball. We had a couple Saturday. The one with Alex (Thomson) shouldn’t have happened. That ball should’ve been in the stands somewhere. That has to get corrected. You can’t turn the ball over against this team and expect to win the game.

On Friday’s game:

In that Florida State game, Boise didn’t go fast but it ran 116 plays because Florida State went fast and had three-and-outs. When you do that, you put your defense in a bad situation. That’s what happened in that game during the second half. We have to be a complete team. We have to take care of the ball offensively and score when we get in the red zone, which we did on Saturday. Defensively, we have to get off the field on third down and have to play great special teams which are a big part of field position. When we punt the ball, we have to force them to go 90-plus yards and we have to cover kicks on kickoffs and create some big plays in the return game. We have to be the best team on the field in all three phases. We have to play together as a team or we have no chance.

On the substitutions vs. VMI:

It kind’ve went as planned, to be honest. We expected to win that game and I didn’t want to have guys playing 70, 80, 90 plays because of the quick turnaround we have. That’s what happened because we were able to play our second and third-team guys during the second half. Even in the first half, we were able to get (Corey) Gammage in there. I thought he stepped up and Talik Keaton made some big plays. We had the opportunity to see some young players play. I thought Micah Abraham held up well and (Brandon) Drayton will be back this week. He practiced last night and will practice today so it will be good to get him back. It’s good to see those guys get their feet wet.

On how the loss of Jaquan Yulee (out for the season due to injury) will affect the linebacker position:

We’re going to have to move (Omari) Cobb inside. The two starting inside guys will be Cobb and (Tavante) Beckett. Then we’ll have to play some nickel and we’ve been playing nickel. J’Coryan Anderson played well when he was in there Saturday. He was a guy who was here in the spring. They (Anderson and Eli Neal) have to grow up quick. Tyler Brown has to continue to play, as well as (Domenick Murphy). When someone goes down, the next guy has to step up to find a way to make plays.

On Friday’s game and what a win would mean for Marshall’s program:

To have the opportunity to play on national television against a team of that caliber is tremendous. We sit around the hotel every Friday watching everyone else play. This time, they’ll watch us play against an excellent team. Any time you can go on the road and get a marquee win, it’s huge for your program. For us, this is one of three. The next three games, we have three of the top Group of Five schools out there.

On Marshall’s schedule the next three weeks (at Boise State, vs. Ohio, vs. Cincinnati):

Those three teams won a total of 33 games last year and all won their bowl games. That tells you what kind’ve challenge we’re up against. That’s a good thing and we’ll embrace that. Right now, it’s Boise so you take it one at a time. The good thing is we have two of those three at home. Right now, our focus is that blue turf and getting the opportunity to play an excellent team. At the end of the day, we’ll find out where we stack up with the Group of Five because we play three of the best, that’s for sure.

On Bachmeier:

The kid just made plays. He threw for over 400 yards and had one interception in a hostile environment on the road against Florida State. That tells you that he is an excellent player.

On Friday’s game:

You just have to find a way. There is going to be adversity, especially any time you go on the road. You have to find a way to overcome that. It’s going to be a physical, tough football game. You don’t look at the scoreboard. You keep playing every snap as hard as you can play.