TicketsMarshall vs. Cincinnati
Nippert Stadium
Sept. 30, 2017
Postgame Quotes
Cincinnati Head Coach Luke Fickell:
Opening statement:
"It was a tough night. Not a whole lot of things went right for us. I think we have been one of those teams that sits there and waits for something to go right. But we have to go out there and generate some things and make things go right. At some point in time we have be able to feed off some positive momentum and some positive energy, and we just haven't had that opportunity just yet. I don't know why. I don't know exactly, but we need to find a way to do something different and do some things to try to create some of that early. But the reality is in five games – yes, they're fighters, yes, we continue to fight through things, yes, you can see the attitudes of the guys that didn't quit, whether they were older guys or younger guys that finished that game. But we need to find a way to play off some positive things and play off some emotions and energy instead of feeding off being down and the negative energy. We talk about scratching and clawing and fighting, but it's a process. It's hard to see at times. This is one where we're going to have to go back and study hard. This is when we really have to study and try to figure out where are the situations, what are the things that are showing up on Tuesday and Wednesday in practice and aren't showing up on Saturday. As coaches we really have to dig deep in to those things and be able to show those examples to guys. Not just the game; show Tuesday and Wednesday clip of a practice, something that maybe didn't go well, how we handle it on Saturday. We just have to continue to find ways to show these guys that it is a process and the process begins every day when we start practice.
On the slow start offensively:
"That was our focus this week, to say, hey this is a game where we need to slow things down and make sure that we are not giving more possessions than we can handle. This week we didn't. This week we said, 'Let's go. Let's get off on the right foot and don't hold back, really be in an aggressive style.' But it didn't happen. Unfortunately, right now we have continued to feed off some of the things that don't go well. But at some point in time we have to feed off the positive and things that are going well."
On how much of the slow start can be attributed to talent, technique, new staff:
"We aren't going to make excuses. We believe in the guys we got. We believe in what we're doing. We believe in how we're doing it together. But there are some things like finding ways to get guys that may be able to make some plays, give them some opportunities, give them a chance. Whether that's talent or just putting guys in right positions and right situations. We're still getting to know guys. We're five games in to finding out and understanding what our guys will and can do when the lights go on. We practice with them for eight months, we grind them through weight rooms and things like that, but it's different. When those lights pop on, we really find out what our guys can and can't do and how they rise and fall. And how the emotions of the game affect them."
On turning the ball back over after Marshall's fumble near the start of the game:
"Again, being new, being a team that needs to find and generate some momentum, we are looking for it in any way possible. Whether that's on special teams or we need to just find ways to generate something new. That was one of those big ones. You get a turnover right there and then, unfortunately, turn it right back over. What kind of swings do those things – it's emotional. Football is an emotional game. Like I said, we need to find a way to feed off some positive emotions."
On the difference with Hayden Moore's performance tonight compared to last week?:
"(Marshall) played different. They challenged. They are going to be up on guys and make you earn everything you're going to get. Again, we're going to go back and take a long look at it. Our ability to not be able to run the ball again early put us in a tougher situation. We need to manufacture, we need to find some ways early on, if we can generate some of that momentum with the running game. We need to find the guy, we need to create something – it gets tough on offense. The guys try to manufacture everything. We need to get them into some situation where the guys that have the ability to make some plays, make them."
On how to avoid giving up big plays/penalties:
"Continue to do what we do. We try to tell them that we are going to play our best ball at the end of the year. How we are going to play our best ball at the end of the year? By being consistent. By continuing to work on our fundamentals and our execution is going to get better. Seeing us play well for short spurts then all of sudden something happens. I can take the ones where a guy gets the ball thrown up over the top of him and makes a play. That's the game. It's the one where guys turn loose, the concentration, the execution. We have to do better. I'm going put it on myself, too. We are going to have to practice and manufacture some things that maybe we haven't worked on."
On what was bothersome with Marshall's offense:
"I thought for the most part we did a good job on the perimeter, on the edges. It was more the tight ends for us and turning guys loose. Maybe even from the get-go bailing off a little bit and giving up some hitches to the field, maybe in hindsight that we shouldn't have done. Kind of like I'm kicking myself for pooching the kickoff. I thought it was a good changeup for us, it was something we really hadn't done and it might have created some momentum by putting the ball in somebody else's hands. All of those things you kind of have to look back at. We have to have faith and confidence in our guys and the things we do."
On scoring 21 points in the second half:
"Again, we are a fighting crew, we know that. We are going to pride ourselves on that. But we'd like to be able to fight in those situations like two weeks ago, fight in those situations to win. We don't want to just be scrapping and clawing out there trying to make it close. That's not who we are, that's not what we want. But, if it does come to that situation, we are going to challenge ourselves and we are going to measure ourselves. We are going to pop on that third and fourth quarter and that last kickoff and find out who really wants to play. Who's got a burning desire and a passion to take this program and take this season and the things we are doing in the right direction."
#71 Offensive Tackle Korey Cunningham
On the early struggles on offense:
"That's something we stressed heading into this week is trying not to come out flat as an offense. We started out with those three-and-outs. That's something we can't do as an offense. We got to start out with energy. We could have definitely moved the ball on them better than we did. That's something we've got to work on. We're going to get there. I can guarantee you that."
On the team's attitude after the loss:
"It's something we got to learn from that's for sure. I 'm ready to go back to work right now once again like I was after the Michigan game, like I was after Navy, like I was after Austin Peay. I'm just ready to get back to work. I'm going to sit down, talk to the team and tell them we've got to start coming out with some energy, start with some juices. It's got to start with offense. It's got to start with the offensive line. I put that on myself. I could do a better job getting the offensive line ready to go. Next week we will definitely be ready. We will definitely come out ready to go."
On not being able to take advantage of Marshall's fumble on their first drive of the game:
"That's something we can't do. The defense definitely got us in scoring position right off the bat. We got to execute. That's something we've been preaching. We've got to start backing the defense up. They got us the ball right there, in perfect position. I mean beautiful field position. We just got to execute off that. If every single person does their job then everything works out great. If one person makes a mistake on offense it can mess up the whole system."
On the running game struggles:
"We have to get our run game up and going. I've seen what our run game can do. We got to get Mike Boone doing his thing. We got to get Mike Boone back to being Mike Boone. We got (Gerrid) Doaks back there. He is like a baby bull. He's going do his thing. Again, that's on us on the offensive line. We got to start getting it going as an offensive line. Once we do that, watch out."
Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday:
On Kaare Vedvik's performance on special teams:
"Special teams is his world and he did a great job. We had great field position which helped us recover the ball on special teams. Kaare also helped us out a lot by punting the ball like he did."
On playing on the road:
"Every time you win one on the road, it's huge. We did what we wanted to do and it's great having nonconference wins added to our record."
On how the offensive line's performance:
"We had three freshmen play today and I didn't know how that was going to go but they held their own. Will Ulmer and Tarik Adams performed really well tonight even though they are young. They played extremely hard and they are really tough guys."
On if he feels their defense improved:
"I don't think there's any question. This is two wins now. We got banged up the second half but in the end we pulled through."
Nippert Stadium
Sept. 30, 2017
Postgame Quotes
Cincinnati Head Coach Luke Fickell:
Opening statement:
"It was a tough night. Not a whole lot of things went right for us. I think we have been one of those teams that sits there and waits for something to go right. But we have to go out there and generate some things and make things go right. At some point in time we have be able to feed off some positive momentum and some positive energy, and we just haven't had that opportunity just yet. I don't know why. I don't know exactly, but we need to find a way to do something different and do some things to try to create some of that early. But the reality is in five games – yes, they're fighters, yes, we continue to fight through things, yes, you can see the attitudes of the guys that didn't quit, whether they were older guys or younger guys that finished that game. But we need to find a way to play off some positive things and play off some emotions and energy instead of feeding off being down and the negative energy. We talk about scratching and clawing and fighting, but it's a process. It's hard to see at times. This is one where we're going to have to go back and study hard. This is when we really have to study and try to figure out where are the situations, what are the things that are showing up on Tuesday and Wednesday in practice and aren't showing up on Saturday. As coaches we really have to dig deep in to those things and be able to show those examples to guys. Not just the game; show Tuesday and Wednesday clip of a practice, something that maybe didn't go well, how we handle it on Saturday. We just have to continue to find ways to show these guys that it is a process and the process begins every day when we start practice.
On the slow start offensively:
"That was our focus this week, to say, hey this is a game where we need to slow things down and make sure that we are not giving more possessions than we can handle. This week we didn't. This week we said, 'Let's go. Let's get off on the right foot and don't hold back, really be in an aggressive style.' But it didn't happen. Unfortunately, right now we have continued to feed off some of the things that don't go well. But at some point in time we have to feed off the positive and things that are going well."
On how much of the slow start can be attributed to talent, technique, new staff:
"We aren't going to make excuses. We believe in the guys we got. We believe in what we're doing. We believe in how we're doing it together. But there are some things like finding ways to get guys that may be able to make some plays, give them some opportunities, give them a chance. Whether that's talent or just putting guys in right positions and right situations. We're still getting to know guys. We're five games in to finding out and understanding what our guys will and can do when the lights go on. We practice with them for eight months, we grind them through weight rooms and things like that, but it's different. When those lights pop on, we really find out what our guys can and can't do and how they rise and fall. And how the emotions of the game affect them."
On turning the ball back over after Marshall's fumble near the start of the game:
"Again, being new, being a team that needs to find and generate some momentum, we are looking for it in any way possible. Whether that's on special teams or we need to just find ways to generate something new. That was one of those big ones. You get a turnover right there and then, unfortunately, turn it right back over. What kind of swings do those things – it's emotional. Football is an emotional game. Like I said, we need to find a way to feed off some positive emotions."
On the difference with Hayden Moore's performance tonight compared to last week?:
"(Marshall) played different. They challenged. They are going to be up on guys and make you earn everything you're going to get. Again, we're going to go back and take a long look at it. Our ability to not be able to run the ball again early put us in a tougher situation. We need to manufacture, we need to find some ways early on, if we can generate some of that momentum with the running game. We need to find the guy, we need to create something – it gets tough on offense. The guys try to manufacture everything. We need to get them into some situation where the guys that have the ability to make some plays, make them."
On how to avoid giving up big plays/penalties:
"Continue to do what we do. We try to tell them that we are going to play our best ball at the end of the year. How we are going to play our best ball at the end of the year? By being consistent. By continuing to work on our fundamentals and our execution is going to get better. Seeing us play well for short spurts then all of sudden something happens. I can take the ones where a guy gets the ball thrown up over the top of him and makes a play. That's the game. It's the one where guys turn loose, the concentration, the execution. We have to do better. I'm going put it on myself, too. We are going to have to practice and manufacture some things that maybe we haven't worked on."
On what was bothersome with Marshall's offense:
"I thought for the most part we did a good job on the perimeter, on the edges. It was more the tight ends for us and turning guys loose. Maybe even from the get-go bailing off a little bit and giving up some hitches to the field, maybe in hindsight that we shouldn't have done. Kind of like I'm kicking myself for pooching the kickoff. I thought it was a good changeup for us, it was something we really hadn't done and it might have created some momentum by putting the ball in somebody else's hands. All of those things you kind of have to look back at. We have to have faith and confidence in our guys and the things we do."
On scoring 21 points in the second half:
"Again, we are a fighting crew, we know that. We are going to pride ourselves on that. But we'd like to be able to fight in those situations like two weeks ago, fight in those situations to win. We don't want to just be scrapping and clawing out there trying to make it close. That's not who we are, that's not what we want. But, if it does come to that situation, we are going to challenge ourselves and we are going to measure ourselves. We are going to pop on that third and fourth quarter and that last kickoff and find out who really wants to play. Who's got a burning desire and a passion to take this program and take this season and the things we are doing in the right direction."
#71 Offensive Tackle Korey Cunningham
On the early struggles on offense:
"That's something we stressed heading into this week is trying not to come out flat as an offense. We started out with those three-and-outs. That's something we can't do as an offense. We got to start out with energy. We could have definitely moved the ball on them better than we did. That's something we've got to work on. We're going to get there. I can guarantee you that."
On the team's attitude after the loss:
"It's something we got to learn from that's for sure. I 'm ready to go back to work right now once again like I was after the Michigan game, like I was after Navy, like I was after Austin Peay. I'm just ready to get back to work. I'm going to sit down, talk to the team and tell them we've got to start coming out with some energy, start with some juices. It's got to start with offense. It's got to start with the offensive line. I put that on myself. I could do a better job getting the offensive line ready to go. Next week we will definitely be ready. We will definitely come out ready to go."
On not being able to take advantage of Marshall's fumble on their first drive of the game:
"That's something we can't do. The defense definitely got us in scoring position right off the bat. We got to execute. That's something we've been preaching. We've got to start backing the defense up. They got us the ball right there, in perfect position. I mean beautiful field position. We just got to execute off that. If every single person does their job then everything works out great. If one person makes a mistake on offense it can mess up the whole system."
On the running game struggles:
"We have to get our run game up and going. I've seen what our run game can do. We got to get Mike Boone doing his thing. We got to get Mike Boone back to being Mike Boone. We got (Gerrid) Doaks back there. He is like a baby bull. He's going do his thing. Again, that's on us on the offensive line. We got to start getting it going as an offensive line. Once we do that, watch out."
Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday:
On Kaare Vedvik's performance on special teams:
"Special teams is his world and he did a great job. We had great field position which helped us recover the ball on special teams. Kaare also helped us out a lot by punting the ball like he did."
On playing on the road:
"Every time you win one on the road, it's huge. We did what we wanted to do and it's great having nonconference wins added to our record."
On how the offensive line's performance:
"We had three freshmen play today and I didn't know how that was going to go but they held their own. Will Ulmer and Tarik Adams performed really well tonight even though they are young. They played extremely hard and they are really tough guys."
On if he feels their defense improved:
"I don't think there's any question. This is two wins now. We got banged up the second half but in the end we pulled through."