Utah State Aggies College Football Pregame Quote, 10/28/2019

On the BYU game:

Obviously, it’s a big game. Our guys are excited; players and coaches on both sides are going to be excited, and fans are going to be excited. It’s a good rivalry game. BYU has beat some really good teams this year, which we all know if you look and see what they’ve done. In their last game against Boise State, it was a huge victory for BYU. We’re looking forward to the game. The key for us right now, especially early on in the week, speaking specifically as of today, the Aggies have some things to do to worry about the Aggies. Obviously, we have to start and prep for BYU, but the most important thing you can do in any game is to make sure you do all you can do to take care of yourself first. We’ll start with that and we’ll move ourselves forward. We’re excited about the opportunity to get out and compete again, and prepare like crazy and be ready to go on Saturday night. Two good football teams are going to tee off and face each other, and we’ll see exactly what takes place.

On what he would like to see his team do better:

The thing this team needs to do better at is offensively, we need to execute. As a whole, we need to execute. We need to look at each other and understand there are 10 guys on that football field that need to produce to allow the 11th guy to be successful. In this case, I’m speaking, obviously, about the quarterback, to be successful. It’s not taking place as a whole, and that includes everybody that’s out there, and every coach. I’ll do all I can to help them, but offensively, that’s number one. We have to have an offense that gives us an opportunity to win games against good defenses. We’ve found a way to win some of those games in conference, obviously, as we’re 3-1. We’ve done some good things, and we’ve found a way to win those games. But, we need to have more offense.

Defensively, we need to be stout in the trenches like we have been all season, except last week. We were not last week, and we got out-physicalled on both sides of the line of scrimmage, hands down. That is not where we want to live. There are no excuses. We’ve done a good job in the other games, even early in the LSU game. I don’t think we got pushed around and just dominated in that game up front. So, we have to be prepared to play against a stout, physical offensive line and defensive line, and do a good job up front. We also need to get off the field on critical third downs, whether it’s a short-medium or long-yard situation, and play solid, good team defense. If we can do that, then we have an opportunity to compete on that side of the ball the way we should. Special teams needs to change the game in our favor. That’s going to be the same in these next five games. We’re going to play some meaningful games in these next five weeks that we’re walking ourselves into right now. A lot of teams are playing meaningful games right now.

On the struggles of the defensive line against Air Force:

It is a completely different animal with Air Force. I’m going to look at myself square in the face and say, ‘How can I help them to get better?’ We’ll do that as we move forward. We need to make sure that we study and structurally look at this thing and find how to slow those guys down. That is a trend when an Air Force team is very good. It’s not just Utah State. It’s a lot of different schools in our conference that have had a heck of a time trying to slow Air Force down, let alone stop them. It’s going to take an effort as we go forward. When Air Force has really good players and they play with the scheme that they’re playing with, it’s very difficult to deal with. I don’t sit back and think we just got completely beat up. Competing-wise, we battled our tails off. Physically, they won the line of scrimmage. They won the line of scrimmage through scheme, which is the coaches’ responsibilities, and they won the line of scrimmage through some situations where the physicality takes place and they don’t allow you to be as physical within the box. We all need to do better and devise a better plan so they don’t score 38 points, 31 points, 42 points, or control the time of possession for 36 minutes, 43 minutes, 46 minutes. That’s not the trend year-after-year-after-year to be able to compete and play in a position with Air Force, unless you just have a dominating offense. It’s nice to have that, but you can’t rely on that year-in and year-out to give you a chance to hang in there and score with those guys. There are three phases to beat Air Force. When they’re good, you have to play well on special teams, offense and defense. In this last game, special teams opportunities were limited because of the wind, and the weather at times. Both teams executed and did what they had to do on special teams when given the opportunity, but it didn’t really change the game.

On similarities between Utah and BYU’s offense:

It depends on the year of Utah’s offense. It depended on what they wanted to do and where they wanted to be. I’m sure (BYU passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick) is in the middle of that thing. He’s a really good coach. They have good coaches throughout that staff. They’ll be a smash-mouth team that wants to grind you and pound you, which is the M.O. of BYU. They have the fly sweep scenario to it. They’ll break themselves out to be a spread team. There is a lot to prepare for, which is a good sign. It makes it a little more difficult for a defense to prepare for. As an offensive coordinator and as a head coach, that’s a good sign when you have a lot for somebody to prepare for, and BYU does. That usually puts you in a position to have success on offense or make it harder on defense to prepare. A-Rod’s influence is definitely there. I’m sure they work as a team each week to do what’s best. They’ll scheme up for what they think is best for that week, and then they’re going to go with it. That’s been true throughout the season.

On preparing to face an offense without knowing who the starting quarterback will be:

It doesn’t really change it that much, honestly. The quarterbacks are there. The quarterbacks have won. They’ll be in a position to play games and win games. So, the offense isn’t going to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to drastically change because this guy’s playing or that guy’s playing. Whoever they put out there is a quarterback that’s been able to successfully move the offense.

On BYU changing its attack based on the opponent:

The personnel stays relatively the same, but they do have different personnel groupings as they go through. The Boise State game is a perfect example. They scored on huge plays. They scored on the fourth down with a great play and the tight end was wide open and he scores. They scored on speed option. They scored on the little reverse throwback to the quarterback. That’s 21 huge points of the 28 in the game that they were able to get. So, they did a great job of scheming to get big plays in critical situations. It was, obviously, enough to win the football game. But, their identity is still the same. They want to be physical with you. They want to grind it out on both sides of the line of scrimmage. That’s where we have to answer the bell. At the end of the day, we have to be able to answer the bell with our offensive line and be able to continue to grow up at that spot and use our personnel to our advantage on offense to create plays. We have not been able to do that with any type of effectiveness for weeks.

On the offense’s struggles:

As far as the offense goes, it’s the same thing I tell the coaches and the same thing I communicate with the guys: there is no crutch and there is nowhere to run. We are who we are. It’s our job as coaches to work hard to get it where we need to be to allow the guys to have the opportunity to compete and be successful. That is on the coaches. Then there’s the job of each individual and then there’s the job of each position group as players to take responsibility. I keep harping on it, and I’m not going to stop harping on it either because it all tends to go right back to number 10 (junior quarterback Jordan Love). That is the biggest cop-out of any cop-out that anybody can ever have. It’s catch the ball, block, strain to keep him protected for one more second so the route opens up. Then, make a play wide receiver so you can run your route right. Break another tackle running back. Do a better job in protection running back. Take responsibility as a coach to say, ‘Hey, we need to get them better.’ I’m not saying that’s not taking place, but that’s the way a competitor reacts when you get yourself backed into a corner, and that’s where we’re at on offense, is backed into a corner. You better fight your way out of it and battle like crazy as a group to get yourself where you need to be. If you’re backed into a corner and you start pointing fingers, then shame on you. Absolutely, 100 percent shame on you. You don’t belong anywhere near this football program.

On reigniting the rivalry between Utah State and BYU when he was at USU the first time:

It was a big thing, and it should’ve been, to work to create a rivalry again. The two in-state schools were, at that point, still on the schedule. It was important to get it to be a rivalry again. In my opinion, if it’s one-sided and it’s lopsided and it never goes back and forth, it’s not a rivalry. Now, it’s definitely a rivalry. The guys see it and smell it. The fans do the same. The coaches do the same. That’s a great part of college football to be able to get to that point. The foundation in that recruiting plan is Ron McBride and LaVell Edwards. That’s where it all started from. If you look at it, anybody that has consistent success, and I’m talking consistent success year-after-year-after-year just consistently being a really good team, is to follow that plan in the state of Utah ‚Äì whether it’s Dixie State, whether it’s Southern Utah, whether it’s Weber State, Utah State, BYU or the University of Utah. Utah’s a little different now, and being in the Pac-12 has changed that a little bit, but that’s still Kyle (Whittingham’s) core. It gives you the best opportunity not just to stay within the rivalry and compete within the rivalry, but it gives you the best chance to be successful in Utah. It gets a little heated up in recruiting when you get to those points where the rivalries are more contested, it gives you more of a chance to win some of those recruiting battles.

On defeating BYU and Utah during his first tenure at Utah State:

Those were awesome, absolutely fantastic memories. The players did a great job of executing. It was just fun to be a coach on the sideline and see that take place. Those were big memories. I’m sure those guys still have a special spot for it, just like we all do.

On working with the offense more:

My emphasis is pushing to make sure I do more head coaching things at times. I’ve always done that in my career. Sometimes, I’m with a position, sometimes, I go where I’m needed. It’s really important for me to be in different position rooms and just show a presence. Not that I have the answers, and not that I’m walking into the running back room saying, ‘Here’s what’s going to make you good.’ But, I am watching more of the defense, offense and special teams as we move through the latter part of the season.

On BYU’s defense:

Defensively, they’re what you’d expect: a physical, strong, experienced, mature group of guys who handle what they’re told to do very well. They work 11-strong as far as working within their zone structures, their zone drops and their run fits. They’re very disciplined in those spots. It’s similar to what you see out of an Air Force-disciplined defense. There’s just not a lot of mistakes, which is what you’d expect and you like to see if you’re a defensive coordinator. I’m sure that’s what Ilaisa (Tuiaki) likes to see. It’s part of their brand. They play hard and they have good players. He mixes it up well. He’ll throw blitzes in there. He’ll drop eight in coverage, which if you’re going to beat BYU, and we’ve talked about it many times, you have to beat it when they drop eight, and they’re going to drop eight. My bet is if we play 70 snaps in the game, they’re going to drop eight 20 times probably. You’re going to have to beat it. If you can’t beat it, then you’ll have a problem. If we play 30-some-odd snaps in the game, then they’ll do it 10 times like we played last week. Hopefully, that doesn’t take place.

On BYU struggling with the run defense:

There are pieces to that. It’s the game, it’s the structure. Some teams have been able to throw the ball around on it. When you can successfully throw the ball, it opens up the run game. They’ve played some good offensive lines that have allowed them to be able to get some creases in there. I don’t watch the tape and say, ‘Oh my goodness. These guys can’t stop the run.’ I don’t see that. They pick their spots. A lot of times on those longer-yard situations, teams may be checking to the run to get the first down on the drop-eight stuff. But, they’re tackling you for six yards. It will be a great challenge for us to be able to run the football. It’s something we want to be able to do and something, quite frankly, we need to get better at as we move through it. We have to identify ourselves in who we are, what do we do best and how are we going to attack that regardless of the opponent, regardless of the rivalry game and regardless of what’s there? It’s Aggies first. If we can do that, we’ll have a great opportunity to have some success.