South Alabama Jaguars College Football Pregame Quote, 10/31/2022

I was really pleased with the response of our team. We talked about ‘earning’ a loss against Troy, a very difficult one at that. [We did] not play to our standard and had to own that, and then go back out in our week of preparation [for Arkansas State], I thought our guys had a tremendous focus. I thought they had an energy and a passion, which showed up on game day. We’ve talked about our process and our energy, passion and discipline showing up. There were a number of factors that could have kept us off our focus with the weather being one of those, and I thought our players handled it really well. That was probably as proud as I’ve been of our team because I thought our process showed up on game day as well as our passion and our physicality.

The last drive of the game where we took off seven minutes, 15 seconds and ran the ball 11-straight plays to go in and score was an ‘identity’ drive. There’s a lot of momentum that can be carried from one game to the next and I hope we see some of that passion that we created for ourselves and some of that physicality continue to build as we work towards the end of the season.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for [Georgia Southern head coach] Clay Helton. I think that he’s not only a great coach and offensive mind, but he’s genuinely a great person. It’s really great to see what he’s done in a short amount of time with their program. It’s a program that has great tradition and history. It’s a tough place to play for anyone that’s been there before as I have. That’s a challenging environment that I feel our players will be ready to respond in and ready to carry some of the momentum from what we did this past week [at Arkansas State] into next week.

On a different note, I do want to acknowledge that [defensive back] Marvin Martin sustained an injury in practice last week that he’s been hospitalized for. He’s recovering well and in great spirits. He’s had a lot of support from his teammates, coaches and administration. [University] President [Jo] Bonner had gone over to visit him. Marvin is an awesome, special guy. When injuries leave you in the hospital, it’s always a scary situation and one that you hate to see. I love Marvin and the way that he’s been with his teammates, along with the way he’s handling this situation. Our prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family.

Also, [linebacker] Quinton Wilfawn will be out for the remainder of the season with a neck issue that is going to require surgery at a later date. Based off the number of games that he’s played [this season] he will have eligibility for the 2023 season. Both him and Keith Gallmon will be back for the 2023 season, which is great, but certainly a challenging thing for a guy when he sustains an injury in his senior season. We’re just fortunate that both of those guys will be back with us next season.

On the defense’s performance in the tough weather conditions on Saturday:

Their performance was pretty good. You think about allowing -19 yards rushing and two things go into that type of effort. One, when you allow a low number rushing, it’s because you’ve gotten either negative plays or takeaways. We had 11 TFLs [Tackles for loss] and four sacks. On top of that, we didn’t give up any explosive plays in the run game as well. Our guys played with a lot of passion, energy and effort. Our physicality certainly showed up, but we were also in the right spots over and over. That to me is what makes a great defense and we’ve been a pretty consistent defense [this season] because we do our job and we’re in the right position. When you’re in the right position, those space tackles don’t show up as often. That was certainly the case in a rainy game where you can lose leverage and footing. I think we had one catch on the outside where one of our corners lost his leverage and footing and the ball went outside on him. Outside of that, I felt our guys were in a really good position, which is something that is a genuine concern defensively when you’re playing in a wet environment.

On what makes Georgia Southern a tough place to play:

They have a tradition and a pride in their program. Their fanbase shows up and is supportive. When you have that winning tradition and you have won year after year, there’s something to be said for ‘generational wealth’. You think about the success of that program from different divisions and when they were in FCS, along with the expectation of how they are supposed to play at home. There’s something generational in that that’s carried outside of coaching eras. So, one their crowds fill the stands and two, it’s an expectation of who the are and their tradition. It’s one that we certainly hope to build here that years down the road that our fans and someone else sitting in this seat is talking about. That to me is a big piece of who they are, so they have a real rejuvenated energy under Clay Helton. He’s done a great job of captivating his team in a short amount of time. They don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle yet, as any first-year head coach is going to have, but they do a great job of utilizing the pieces that they have in the right way. They also protect the other pieces that may not be ideal for what they envision long term.

On coach Helton having the early success:

It was easy for all of us to sit there and say ‘Well their going to change from the triple-option system and their going to go in this other direction, so it will take them a long time [to transition] because they don’t have the offensive linemen they need or the receiving threat they need’. Great coaches though find great ways to best use their personnel. Clay has seen a lot of football. He doesn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle across the board, but they’re going to continue to recruit at a high level and get better both in their depth and their overall talent of their roster. They’re utilizing their personnel really well right now though. [Quarterback] Kyle Vantrease has allowed them to do that. He was a piece to the puzzle that Georgia Southern really didn’t have a year ago in terms of a quarterback that is able to disperse the ball the way he does. I know it’s a little bit of a different system, but nevertheless having a guy that knows and is able to make the decisions that he has to make is important. Kyle’s experience reminds me a little of a [former South Alabama quarterback] Jake Bentley type player that knows where to deliver the ball and knows where his reads are supposed to go. You can tell that Clay, [offensive coordinator] Bryan Ellis and their quarterback are all on the same page about what they need to get done. They’re managing their offense really well right now.