North Texas Mean Green College Football Pregame Quote, 09/29/2020

On the week off:

Just tried to get some different guys some different reps. Some of those young guys who are having to step into some roles and maybe some different roles, just trying to give them as many reps as possible leading into this game then getting them prepared. Obviously it wasn’t like we had an off week, we had preparation for Houston then kind of got hit there late. You have a day there in between where you can start maybe on Southern Miss a little quicker, but you maybe have a day. Other than that I feel pretty good about our health leading into the game and we’re just having a good week of preparation.

On if Houston cancellation served a missed opportunity for live game reps:

Anytime you miss a game you’re missing an opportunity, not only an opportunity to get a week better, but an opportunity to go out and compete. You’re missing the chance to play this game we’re fortunate to play. That’s what we’re looking to do, it’s a crazy year, but we’re blessed with opportunities we have and we just have to keep moving forward and try to be as safe as possible. Making sure our student-athletes’ welfare comes first and foremost and do the things necessary for us to get to game day.

On Southern Miss:

They have a very athletic team and it starts offensively – they have a really good quarterback and they have a lot of skill [guys] with some speed. Their running backs are solid, they can be explosive offensively and you’ve seen that in the last three games. I think they were up double digits against La Tech, then started really fast this past week against Tulane. You can see the explosiveness they have and so we have to be on our game. Defensively the same thing – they’re giving a lot of looks up front and on the back end they mix things up really well. Their scheme hasn’t changed, they’ve done what they’ve done over the past few years, they’re good at what they do and they understand the system. Their coaches do a great job of coaching, it’s one of those games where it’s always an explosive game and you’ve got to have your mind and mentality right to go into a game like this and win.

On where he stands with his quarterback situation going into this week:

Same place I did before. Once we trot the first guy out there if he gets hot then we’ll stick with him. That’s how it works.

On defensive improvements since SMU loss:

I thought today was their best practice, mentality was right. Again it all starts up front, you’ve got to attack the line of scrimmage. We have to make sure up front we’re getting the penetration we need so our linebackers can go and hit. From there it goes to everybody, we have to pursue with the right angles, we have to tackle and we have to get guys on the ground. I truly believe it’s more of a mentality than it is anything else. That’s something we’re continuing to talk about and work through.

On resetting going into C-USA play:

That’s what it’s all about, it’s all about conference play. When it’s said and done people are going to remember the games you win and lose throughout conference. They’re all big [and] I think we have a challenging schedule ahead as every team in Conference USA does. I think there’s parity in Conference USA every week, if you’re not ready to go out there and compete you’re going to get beat, period. There’s a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches and we’re looking forward to the challenges we’ll face this fall.