UTSA Roadrunners College Football Pregame Quote, 10/28/2019

On the idle week and preparation for Texas A&M:

It was very productive for us. We got a couple of days of really good football practice. We watched the Mississippi State (vs. Texas A&M game) this morning. Texas A&M did some things this week against Mississippi State that was a little more predominant then what they had done in other weeks. It was good to have one other game to put in the evaluation so we’re not surprised by style or scheme. But very creative (team). Jimbo Fisher is one of the bright minds in college football. I’ve known him since he was at Samford as a coach and certainly in his years at LSU. I have much respect and admiration for his staff and the job that those guys do. We’ll position ourselves to try to put our team in position to make plays in this game.

On the mindset of the team entering Saturday:

We don’t have anything to lose. We’re going to play, man. We’re going to go play. Let our hair down and play to the best of our ability against an opponent that is certainly worthy. A very talented, prideful football team they are. We have a little pride about ourselves. We’re going to go scrap and crawl and fight and we’ll see what happens when the 60 minutes expire. There is no pressure for us at all to go play this game. We’re looking forward to this opportunity.

On if he needs to remind the team that C-USA teams have beat SEC teams before:

They know. They know it has happened before. We tell them it could happen but it doesn’t just happen, you have to go earn a victory. They’re come out with every intention to be dominant against us. And we’ll come out with every intention to play our very best and to compete at a high level. That we’ll do and we’ll see. For our team, we’re going to go do what we do to the best of our ability and we’ll let the chips fall where they may. There is no urgency, we have to go play. But what an opportunity we have before us to go play. Let’s seize this moment. Let’s go play football at a high level against a very talented football team and let’s just see what we go. When you look up in the fourth quarter and the 60 minutes expires, you just never know. Why not us?

On how the team can use the game at Texas A&M to improve:

At every level, they all have aspirations of playing football beyond then this level. However we perceive them or not, it doesn’t matter. They have dreams, they have goals. They want to play in the National Football League, in the XFL, in Canada. Well, these are the guys you are going to play against. These are the caliber of guys that you want to play against. We think you have the stuff to play at that level. We have guys playing at that level. You’ve practiced against those guys. You competed against those guys. You’ll get a chance to see how you are, not just against that caliber of player but in that environment. We’ll see if we can rise to the occasion.

On if they need to adjust things for an 11 a.m. kickoff:

Not at all. It is kind of our schedule; what we do on a daily basis. We’ll leave even a little earlier than this. The regular team meeting time will be our team meeting time. We get up every day and 7 a.m. is what time team meeting is for. They’ll be in routine of their team meeting, breakfast and preparation for an 11 a.m. kickoff.

On playing Texas A&M & the monetary guarantee associated with a road game in College Station:

It does so much for our program in its entirety. From how we travel to our facilities, equipment, resources for our kids in the things that are so critical for them to have success. Not quite sure what it is but thankful that we are able to be compensated to go play the game that we love. We’ll go play the game, and our administration, Lisa and Dr. Eighmy, they deal with all that logistical part so I’m not quite sure about that. But any time we can be compensated for going to play and doing something that we love to do, that we were born to do, we are appreciative of it.

On the development of freshman safety Rashad Wisdom:

As we all know he has a lot on his plate. He came in, in early January in the spring, and really just embraced the grind of being a collegiate student-athlete. He adjusted to that very well. He may have even had a 4.0 GPA that first semester. A very bright young man. And a lot of them start off that way but in time, people fizzle. So, to endure, to stay the course, is something that he has been able to do. We have strategically – he was a starter and playing every special teams – now we kind of spot him on special teams to balance his reps and maximize his potential and talent. It has been good for him. He had his first pick six a couple of weeks ago. He was at the right place at the right time but had the talent to make the play when it comes his way. He has shown the ability to do that. His evolution, his development has been one that has steadily increased and advantaged him in each week of play.

On Wisdom’s position:

He is a strong safety, a weak safety at times. He supports the run at times and he is involved in the passing game. It depends on the formation, the personnel grouping that the opponent gives us. He is a hybrid, outside backer/defensive back. And what we ask him to do in style of play, he’s answered the bell and done it very well.

On the development of freshman running back Sincere McCormick:

Patience. More understanding of play design. Of getting a pre-snap read, of seeing this guy there and that guy there and anticipating what could happen before it ever happens, then having the maturity to press it into the line of scrimmage and let itself play out without prematurely making a decision to go one way or another. The fit of the defense, the fit of the defensive line, the gap integrity of it and the movement, or the lack of, will determine my entry point. I don’t just run to be running. I run a disciplined course that puts me in position to make the next cut. He has better understanding of it. What happens with those guys, they are just blessed with this God-given ability. They just make plays and they are instinctive. The really good ones, the great ones, they get to a point where that is true but they’re intellectually, they take themselves to another level. Not to just rely on what I’m going to instinctively do but to have a pre-snap idea of what you are going to do so I can counter it. So, I’m in better position to make a more acute cut, a decisive cut because I anticipated it, more than it happening and I adjusted to it.