HEAD COACH HERM EDWARDS PREVIEWS EASTERN MICHIGAN (SEPT. 12, 2022)
OPENING STATEMENT:
“Eastern Michigan is interesting, they’re talented like us in a sense. They play good defense in the first quarter of games. If you think about it their opponents have scored no points and we’ve done the same. They’re kind of slow offensively getting started as they’ve only scored 7 points in two games in the first quarter while we’ve only scored six. There’s some similarities there when you kind of look at them play and how they operate. They do a nice job defensively as they’re big and physical and run to the football. They’re a well coordinated crew. Offensively the quarterback does a nice job in the RPO game. They have some talented receivers. They can run the ball. They got some big tight ends that can run and catch that are part of the passing game so they’re a well rounded football team. They seem like toward the end of the games they’ve given up some plays but have been very consistent as a defense for the most part. Offensively the quarterback has enough wiggle room where if you let him get on the edge he’ll run some. He throws a nice deep ball. They’re very experienced on defense, they’ve played together for awhile. You can tell so it’s going to be a good football game. A good good football game for us as we come off a tough loss and having to play these guys. It’s going to wake us up once we watch the tape.”
ON PENALTIES AGAINST OKLA ST. AFTER WATCHING FILM:
“You always feel like maybe one of them, two of them not so much? But I thought the guys in that environment played a lot of man-to-man coverage. Those were some pretty talented players, you’re going to get a couple of fouls, that’s just the nature of the game when you play man-to-man, you know that. They’re pushing, we’re shoving, it goes back and forth. It does, it’s just football at any level when you play tight coverage like that. So, you can live with some of those. The problem is that some of the fouls were at the wrong time— just unintentional, but at the wrong time. You can stall the drive out on offense, the ones we had defensively kept the drive alive and you can’t give a team like we just played second chances. Our offense is good, I said the defense wore out and you could just kind of tell. They played 84 plays, counting the penalties 93. Well if you played that many plays, you’re going to give up a couple of plays against a good offense and they had a good offense and to play that many snaps you’re just asking for trouble so you gotta get off the field. That’s part of it too you have to get off the field you can’t allow that many first downs. But when you give them that many plays they’re a good enough of an offense, they’re going to make some plays.”
ON HOW OFFENSE HANDLES THIRD DOWNS AND PROTECTION ISSUES:
“That’s always what gets you is third downs. You have to convert on third downs and we have to do a better job at those and our offense knows. They know it, the players know it and we gotta make sure when we get in those situations, third and four, you gotta convert those. It’s hard but you gotta do it, you have to make it happen, so you can continue to pass the ball. If we played a team like we played or any team or you play this defense, they bring pressure. You get some third and longs and they bring them five or six guys and you better block them because if you don’t they’re going to get you. So you want to stay out of it and they do a nice job sometimes of showing pressure and backing out of there. So they play the cat and mouse game with their defense, so we have to convert on third downs there’s no doubt about that. I think obviously going into a game like that you don’t want to try to drop, back and throw. You want to get it, the first half was kind of okay and then scoring in the third quarter, now you got a feel of the game. Like they didn’t want to get away from us too fast and I’ve told you guys this before but most people you say you don’t want to throw passes, but I just want to win. And if I have to throw 50 passes in a game and they say that’s what you gotta do to win, then we’ll throw 50 passes. But I just think you also gotta understand who you’re facing, like what’s the opponent like? They kind of have something to do with it too and you start going three and outs and you keep playing that offense on the field, they’re going to get you and they’re good enough to do that and 80-something plays is too much, for any defense. I think last year somebody we played (USC), I remember we played almost 100 plays, 95 plays and you can’t do that. An opportunity is an opportunity but you can’t give them 90 opportunities, you gotta get off the field and the defense you have to get off the field, a little bit of that is on you too.”
ON HAVING TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAYS INCREASE AND A RUN-PASS BALANCE:
“That’s always what gets you is third downs. You have to convert on third downs and we have to do a better job at those and our offense knows. They know it, the players know it and we gotta make sure when we get in those situations, third and four, you gotta convert those. It’s hard but you gotta do it you have to make it happen, so you can continue to pass the ball. If we played a team like we played or any team or you play this defense, they bring pressure. You get some third and longs and they bring them five or six guys and you better block them because if you don’t they’re going to get you. So you want to stay out of it and they do a nice job sometimes of showing pressure and backing out of there. So they play the cat and mouse game with their defense, so we have to convert on third downs there’s no doubt about that. I think obviously going into a game like that you don’t want to try to drop, back and throw. You want to get it, the first half was kind of okay and then scoring in the third quarter, now you got a feel of the game. Like they didn’t want to get away from us too fast and I’ve told you guys this before but most people you say you don’t want to throw passes, but I just want to win. And if I have to throw 50 passes in a game and they say that’s what you gotta do to win, then we’ll throw 50 passes. But I just think you also gotta understand who you’re facing, like what’s the opponent like? They kind of have something to do with it too and you start going three and outs and you keep playing that offense on the field, they’re going to get you and they’re good enough to do that and 80-something plays is too much, for any defense. I think last year somebody we played (USC), I remember we played almost 100 plays, 95 plays and you can’t do that. An opportunity is an opportunity but you can’t give them 90 opportunities, you gotta get off the field and the defense you have to get off the field, a little bit of that is on you too.”
ON WHAT HE LIKED FROM DEFENSE AND IMPROVEMENTS FROM GAME ONE:
“I thought for the most part when you’re playing a challenging offense like that to be able to withstand it in the first quarter and a half of the on slot of what it looks like and playing a quarterback that’s very mobile that can make some plays with his legs and extend us some plays and then we’ve got some talented receivers. To play in a game like that and to keep it where it was early on it gave us a chance. We had to withstand the first ten minutes of all of that and I thought offensively we were okay, we didn’t turn the ball over, we moved it and got on the board I wish that we’d scored a touchdown but it wasn’t the result. But the more we played it the more you get a feel of the game, right? And the players get a feel of the people they’re playing against and that was important for us. In the third quarter of that game, I challenged them at halftime that we get some points on the board and if we do we get a shot. That’s why most coaches defer because it feels like when you’re on the road our strength going into that game, I felt was our defense. I said let’s them put them out there and let’s put them out there right now and let’s figure this thing out, so they did get a feel of the game and then they did a nice job. We did a nice Job in the first quarter, we really did.”
ON WIDE RECEIVER GIOVANNI SANDERS’ COLLEGIATE JOURNEY:
“Yeah walk-on obviously, earned a scholarship. We’ve been fortunate to give out six of those since I've been here, maybe more but I've lost count. But he’s a guy that just wanted an opportunity and that’s what life is about is giving him an opportunity and he took advantage of it. I was telling him a story of how you know I put you on scholarship, the first game you went out and got knocked out, he couldn’t even play on the kickoff or something like that. I always tease him about that but he’s really done a nice job and he’s got some moxie to him, game not too big for him and he made that one catch going in there leaving his feet and you can trust him. The quarterback is starting to trust him, the quarterback is starting to trust him, he’s in the slot, a nifty guy. He can read coverage, he works his way open. He’s a really good football player. He’s earned a scholarship, there’s no doubt about it and now all of a sudden the ball is coming to him right. Quarterbacks know who to give the ball too in the certain situations.”
ON WHAT CHANGED FOR OFFENSE IN SECOND HALF AGAINST OKLA ST.:
“I think for one, I always say football is the information center on the sidelines. Where you gather information, give it to the players. Then get into halftime as in college football it’s a little longer than pro football. In pro football you get in and then right away you come back out. But you can make some adjustments, you can talk about what we need to do and I think where the game is. That’s a big discussion I had with the team is that this is critical now and there’s a reason we did what we did, we deferred and the third quarter is going to be big for us to get a drive and move the ball but we have got to go and score a touchdown and they did a nice job of that. Made a big play or two and got into the end zone and i thought that was good to see right when you challenge them that way. We’ve been pretty good out of halftime so far right. Even last week, we were slow and kinda got going but it’s always good when you can put some points on the board with your first possession in the third quarter. It uplifts you football team.”
ON CONVERSATIONS WITH PLAYERS TO FOCUS ON THIS GAME BEFORE PAC-12 PLAY STARTS:
“Well the team is off today obviously but when you put the tape on, and there’s some cutup’s I'll show them on offense and defense that this is what we’re playing. They play hard, they’re coming in here to win, make no mistake. As I’ve said they have a nice offense, do a nice job on defense, rallying to the ball, tackling, physical up front, big O-Line. They’re a good football team. That’s the last thing we can do is worry, we need to worry about getting another win. We just lost a game and you don’t want to start doing that. We gotta get going. We’ll make them understand and they gotta go and play. One thing I can’t do is play, I can give them all the information but I can’t play for them. All I can do is get them to the game and then from there we gotta go.”
ON HOW MUCH TIME THEY SPEND WATCHING FILM:
“I think every situation is a little different, this one was looking at the game and not the physical part, not the talent part but just the mental thing. Being focused. You can’t lose your focus in football. All it takes is one play. You say ‘well it happens’ but when that happens, not only do you let yourself down, you leave everyone in this room down. That’s the thing about football teams, you trust. There’s 11 guys that have to do their job correctly. When one guy messed up, sometimes its can be like ‘well its not a big deal’ but most of the time it is a big deal and we can’t allow that to happen so that’s what we talked about after the game. The game was played and you watch yourself on tape, look how much of that was us. Some of that was us and nothing to do with the opponent and we can fix that. You can fix the Us part right, you can do that, it’s a hard game and you have to stay mentally focused all the time. That’s what football is and you never know what is about to happen. You run it in your mind, ‘It’s not a big play’ but it could be, it could be so that’s the uniqueness of the game.”
ON HOW TEAM HANDLED CROWD IN STILLWATER:
“I thought they were pretty calm. They have they have a good fan base behind us and they were making a lot of noise. And they were good. I mean, that's what you anticipated. I enjoy that. I don't hear it because I got the headphones on for the most part. But you could just feel it. And our players did a good job of just focusing in on what was taking place and playing. I thought our coaches did a good job of coaching them on the sidelines because you're getting help from the fan base. They're telling you what you need to do this, you need to do that. You're in your huddle, with your players so that's kind of unique too, but I thought it was a college experience that you don't forget, and you get it. That's just college football.”
ON KYLE SOELLE’S PERFORMANCE ON DEFENSE AND LEADERSHIP:
“Well, I think you just said it: his leadership. And he's playing with his brother. So I know they're very competitive. But he had an outstanding game there's no doubt about that. When you make that many plays, make that many tackles and credited him with an interception and tackle for loss … it's just fun to watch him. From when I first arrived here to now, the person he's become, the leader he's become … he's willing to go out there and he'll say things when I don't have to. I can just tell him to some of the other leaders that you need to handle this, (and he says) ‘we got it coach,’ and that always feel good when you have players like that in the locker room and then when they play good, you just wish we could’ve won because he probably would have gotten an award or something. If you win a game like that he's probably the Pac-12 Player of the Week and that's a shame, but for him, probably the most important thing for him is that, yeah, I did all that but we didn’t win. We went down there to try to win a football game .”
ON HOW INJURED PLAYERS RETURNED AND PLAYED AFTER INJURY:
“He (Jordan Clark) played well. I want to say he played almost 30 snaps. He did a nice job of rotating there with DJ (Taylor) and we needed it. They opened it up with some of these nickel guys that I had going in there. Sometimes they’d have to go in dime, but for not playing in and going out there and playing that many snaps … that's always hard to get in football condition. He did a nice job, but that's what you anticipate. He’s a smart player. As far as the injury front, I think for the most part we're okay. We got a couple guys back, knock-on-wood that nothing happens between today and tomorrow. I didn't talk to Gerry (Garcia) yet. I don't want to say anything because I did that a week ago and ended up telling you guys some not correct information. But right now we look okay.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR DONNIE HENDERSON
ON AMOUNT OF DEFENSIVE PLAYS LEADING TO OPPORTUNITIES ON OFFENSE FOR OKLA ST.:
“Let’s see we had 48 at halftime, so you almost double it and it was a little more of a total like 93 when you count everything. It got to us a little bit. We had the 98 yard drive which was 14 plays. Couple of things happened in that situation. Had two penalties, missed two interceptions when it’s all said and done. We could’ve gotten off the field that way. I think once the plays get going, the momentum starts to catch up with you, the fatigue sets it, no doubt about it.”
ON PENALTIES AGAINST OKLA ST.:
“Well, when you look at some of those plays they really hurt us, I said it to the guys and I said those situations really happened at second and nine, third and ten. Those particular penalties helped them continue drives and we didn’t get of the field in those situations. After looking at it and observing it, it’s something you can’t have. You have got to get off the field when it’s time to get off the field and those are longer yardage situations so we gotta talk about that. No doubt about it. I didn’t expect us to have penalties in those situations, absolutely not. But the ones that were called you look at what they were called. I think we roughed the quarterback, I think we held a couple of times. There was two roughing's, that’s exactly right. I mean you that that’s composure, you know, get tired fatigue sets in and really it was earlier in the game when those situations started happening so and stuff for that second half a little bit, I told the defense in my opinion we played 50 minutes of pretty good football. The last 10 minutes we gave up 14 points and two touchdowns that you look at the guys and say ‘wow’ what happened. We came off a man one time and the other one snuck out the back. We were in a zone and then in that situation you would have hoped didn’t occur but when it was all said and done.” I look at it as it was 50 minutes of really good football, you know it really was. I don’t know how you guys saw it but it was 50 minutes of good football. The last 10 minutes it just got out of hand.”
ON OVERALL GROWTH ON DEFENSE SINCE THE FIRST GAME:
“I’m still going with the 50 minutes, that’s how I look at it 50 minutes we were right there playing pretty good football. Let’s look at the first week, the competition was a little different, let’s put it that way. The competition this week wore, if you don’t play 60 minutes of football there it is. No matter what you say, you got to play a whole game and get through that game and play hard the whole time so 50 minutes is what is stuck in my mind.I know i’m repeating myself but 50 minutes of pretty good football and in the last 10 we just fell apart.
ON WHAT HE WANTS TO SEE THE DEFENSE DO AGAINST EASTERN MICHIGAN:
“I would like to get everybody back healthy, number one, and see how that plays out. The other thing is I would really like to see us do is complete the game. When it’s all said and done you gotta finish. Good and great defenses as I told the guys yesterday is great defenses finish games. They don’t give up penalties, they play hard throughout the down, so that's what I'm gonna look for this week is as I told them it’s every play you have to be able to win every play. You can’t lose a play and think you’d be a great defense, it doesn’t happen. So to answer your question I’m looking forward to playing defense, 60 minutes, so having 90 plays is 90 plays, if it’s 60 plays, whatever the number of plays is we gotta play and finish them. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
ON HOW THE CORNERBACKS PLAYED AGAINST OKLA ST.:
“When you go back and look at how we played in the secondary, our corners did play decent. I’m not gonna say great, like you said TD (Timarcus Davis) was a little rusty you could tell that you know matter of fact he got tangled up a couple of times and that’s where some of the holdings came out. (Terrence) Ro was surprising I thought he played decent, he gave a holding pin too. Then on the other side, Keon (Markham) played decent, when I look at our defense, I don’t think anybody played great. I think people grade it out in between that 88, 90, 92 percent, there were some guys a little bit lower than that but overall I don’t think we played great defense. So then the safeties they didn’t have an effect like the corners, the ball was going outside a lot, the speed outs and the screens and things like that. The biggest thing I take away though besides the 50 minutes is the quarterback, I sat in there and told you guys what we needed to do, one of the things was to eliminate the vertical passing game, stop the quarterback from extending plays and stop the run. Well think about it we didn’t do many of those things that help you win the game and I was honest about it to the guys, I mean hey this is when you start making goals and you’re trying to win games you put your hat on somethings and those are the three things that I came up with and we didn’t do them.”
ON LINEBACKER KYLE SOELLE’S LEADERSHIP:
“He's a captain, man. He's our guy. He leads by example. He leads by communication. He leads by what he does in this building every day. You can't say much too much about him. He is the guy.”
ON IF THE FLAGS AGAINST OKLA ST. WERE WARRANTED:
“You’re gonna ask the old secondary coach that, huh? You’ve got to play by the rules and that’s all I’ll say. There were some that were questionable, no doubt, but there were some that weren’t hard to call either. When you ??get your hands on a guy, you gotta get your hands up. There was a couple of them that you say, ‘wow,’ that’s your question, a little bit, but you gotta play by the rules. I’m not gonna get in there with officials. They don’t see a lot, but whatever they see , hey see so who knows what they see.”
ON HOW TO PREPARE AGAINST EASTERN MICHIGAN AND WHAT STICKS OUT FOR OFFENSE:
“Well, I gotta ask the guy that’s in charge. I gotta bring the group together and get the morale up number one. I gotta be positive and they got to have some success this week in practice and try to keep it simple. There's some things we implement just to make sure you change. In this game you’ve got to evolve and change a little bit so wear out a couple of wrinkles just to keep their minds going. But overall, we just need to play a good football game. Play good football and we’ll be okay. And that doesn't matter if we're playing this week or next week whenever we play, we still got to play good football. 60 minutes of running around hitting people, tackling, catching the ball and trying not to have penalties … We’re still looking at them (Eastern Michigan) I was just getting ready to script some things for second down right now. We haven’t even got to third down right now, just first and second downs. We just went through that so we’re trying to get that planned.”