Below is the transcript to the Bobby Wilder weekly press conference.
Good afternoon to all our 12th Monarchs out there in Monarch Nation! We are coming off a disappointing home loss to Western Kentucky that puts our overall record at 3-5 and 1-3 in Conference USA. I want to say thank you from myself and the rest of the team to the fans for the record 46th consecutive sellout; we greatly appreciate all our loyal fans. Hang in there and be patient because you will be rewarded. We are getting better as a football team.
In this game, we knew going in that we were huge underdogs. We knew we needed to change our approach and slow down the no-huddle offense to try to shorten the game. Through three quarters, we had run 62 plays to their 41 and we had 31 minutes of possession time compared to their 14. I don’t generally believe in time of possession, but the goal was to shorten the game, and to do that we needed to hold on to the football.
The problem was we couldn’t stop them. Their first seven drives ended in a score. We scored on three of our seven possessions through three quarters and were down 41-17, but I was really proud of the way our players competed the entire 60 minutes of the game.
On special teams I felt like we played well enough to win the game. We recovered an onside kick to start the second half that led to a score, we pinned them on the one yardline with a punt, forced a punt from their endzone which led to a score, had a kickoff where we forced them out of bounds at their own 12 and had a 68-yard kickoff return of our own. We have a lot of young players stepping up and making plays on special teams, and that is very encouraging.
On defense we struggled overall. We really had a hard time maintaining gaps in the run game. Everything they did with their experienced sixth-year quarterback was a run-pass option, so when we would put eight in the box they would pass, and when we would put two deep he would check to a run play. We just made too many mistakes in coverage. Going in we really tried to just not allow any big, explosive plays, and we just failed to do that.
Offensively I felt like we played a solid football game. We controlled the ball and pace but just didn’t finish enough drives. We had a really good mix of run and pass; we ran the ball 37 times and threw it 34 times. That’s the kind of balance you want, so you are not so predictable and can open up the play-action pass. We just didn’t finish enough drives to win the football game.
This week’s opponent is UTSA, and their head coach Larry Coker is one of my favorite guys in the business. I am just so impressed with who he is as a person and the fact that he’s won a national championship as a coach at Miami. He handled that situation with such class and dignity, and I think he’s done an outstanding job starting this program up in San Antonio. I think they’re the best 1-7 team in the country, as their strength of schedule was ranked 44th in the country and first in C-USA. Their first four games were absolutely brutal against Arizona, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Colorado State, who are all traditionally very good football programs.
Their last home game was three weeks ago against Louisiana Tech which they lost 34-31, and LA Tech is tied for first in the West right now. I expect them to be a good football team, and I showed the players their schedule and they can expect to see it on film that they are much better than their record indicates.
Offensively they are averaging 21 points per game and have turned the ball over 16 times which has really hurt them. Their quarterback, Dalton Sturm, is a sophomore and had his best game by far last week against North Texas. He accounted for 310 yards of offense in that game, and you always know a young, new quarterback is probably going to improve each game.
Defensively they have been giving up 34 points a game, but is misleading because they gave up 69 points to Oklahoma State. They have been giving up 25 points per game within the conference. Their defensive end, Jason Neill, is a really good player, and I think he is having a First-Team All-Conference kind of year. They’re allowing 428 yards with 170 on the ground and 258 in the pass. As I mentioned, a lot of these stats are misleading because of those first four games. We are prepared to be the underdogs again on the road, and we know we need to win this game to keep our postseason hopes alive. We are looking forward to another great week of practice, and hopefully we will get a win at the Alamo Dome on Saturday.
Q: Did you see some progress in the offense on Saturday?
A: I did. I felt like our kids were inspired to play. I am concerned with the injuries on the offensive line. Connor Mewbourne played with a cast on his hand and still played a great game not allowing any sacks. Tyler Fisher’s knee is really bothering him; he only played 14 snaps. I think he is only going to be available on a limited basis for the rest of the season. I feel like the offensive line blocked well and that allowed us to have some success on offense. I think Shuler played as good a game as he’s played all year. He was much more relaxed this game. He threw the deep balls really well. Ray continues to run the ball really well. It is comforting when you have the leading rusher in Conference USA in your backfield, and this was the best game he’s had from a yards-after-contact standpoint. He pushed the pile a lot and was carrying guys at times. He protected the ball really well even when they were ripping at it.
Q: What was the mood yesterday in the meeting?
A: The mood was clearly the most festive it has ever been in a team meeting. We had a Halloween costume contest yesterday. I felt like that was something we needed because it is important to remind these guys that school and football are important, but we need to remember to have some fun sometimes, too. Team-building activities like those are critical, especially after some of the games we’ve had this year. But then we got talking about the next 27 days, and we know we have to win at least three of the four games to stay bowl-eligible. I want them to feel that pressure a little bit and feel like their backs are against the wall so they will approach this game like it’s the most important game in program history.
Q: The schedule is still tough for the next four, but not as tough as it has been. Is that encouraging?
A: When the season started we knew we had to win 50 percent of our games to be bowl-eligible, but now the math says we need to win 75 percent. We’ve experienced this multiple times before where we knew we had to win a particular game to keep the season alive. They’ve heard it from me before. So when it comes down to it, we know we have to win at least three out of the next four.
Q: Have you made a decision on the starting quarterback yet?
A: We would like to get into practice tomorrow and see how David Washington is. We want to put him in some different situations to see how well he’s moving. I can’t reiterate enough that we all need to feel comfortable as a coaching staff that he can protect himself. He needs to be able to move when Jason Neill starts chasing him. If we feel confident through Tuesday and Wednesday that he can do that then he will be the starting quarterback. I don’t feel like at this point that we have a quarterback controversy because neither guy has established himself as a guy who has a lot of wins and is deserving of the spot. They are both fighting and competing for the spot and both want to be the starting quarterback. I feel like we can win with either one. When David is healthy, he gives us an extra dimension that Shuler doesn’t right now with his ability to run for positive yardage. I think we can win this game with either guy if they’re playing well.