UAB Blazers College Football Pregame Quote, 11/08/2021

Obviously it was a big win on Saturday. We did video this morning and there are always things that we want to correct. I was proud of the lead up to the game. I look at what our practice is like. The open date was huge for us and being able to get a few guys healed up after the eight-game stretch. Going into the game we were in a really good spot. We started out good offensively and then we get behind. We were just talking about the fake punt that really turned things around for us. It was back-and-forth to get ahead before half. I was really proud of the offense in the second half. I thought we had a really good second half defensively as well, for the most part. But really proud of our offense. It was really one of the first times all year that we felt like they responded at the end of the game. It was a big touchdown by Lucious Stanley at the end and obviously Debo (DeWayne McBride) had a huge day for us. For a guy that was pretty banged up with an ankle. I’m really proud of him for his efforts. It was a great team win.

Now we go to Marshall. They are playing extremely well. It is a tough place to play as we know. We are going back to the place where we played the championship game last year. I’m sure they haven’t forgotten that. It does help that we’ve just been in that stadium not too long ago. They are playing really well on all sides of the ball. They had a big win over Florida Atlantic, which it’s really tough to win at their place. We are going to have our hands full.

On Marshall:

Their quarterback is playing really well. I thought a lot about him last year as a freshman. I think you see him mature and doing more things. He’s making more throws. They are diversified on offense. They do a lot of different things and have a lot of formations, a lot of shifts, a lot of motions. They run the ball really well. Their running back leads the nation in rushing touchdowns ‚Äì he reminds you a lot of our guy (DeWayne McBride). They have good speed and dynamic receivers all around. Their tight end played wildcat quarterback against us last year. He’ll be in the tight end position, and then he flexes out. They’ve got weapons offensively. Defensively they are playing well. It’s just a really good team.

On things that need to be cleaned up:

There are a lot of things that always need to be fixed. There were a lot of tackles that need to be cleaned up. We are always looking at penalties, we are looking at little things. It is always a work in progress for us. That is why we do the good, bad and the ugly on Monday morning. It’s the constant state of trying to get better. I wasn’t happy ‚Äì being a defensive minded coach ‚Äì we are trying to go for a shutout every week. We knew Louisiana Tech was going to score some points on us. We are always working on every side of the ball. I though special teams really answered the call last week. We had a couple special teams plays with some different kicks they gave us, but all-in-all I think special teams responded.

On the rushing attack:

For us we really want to be multiple. We want to be able to run the ball and throw the ball and be balanced. I’ve always said that you can take something away from somebody. You put enough guys in the box, you can take the running game away. You drop people and you can take the pass game away. We can be multiple, but to see our running game in the fourth quarter is something that we would like to see. For Dylan (Hopkins) there were some throws early on that were a little tight. He came back and had a good second half. You are always working; it’s always based on your opponent. Our guys know what’s at stake, their guys know what is at stake. It’s going to be a big one.