CINCINNATI – Head coach Scott Satterfield, fifth year quarterback JC French IV, junior tight end Gavin Grover, and fifth year safety Jasper Beeler spoke with the media ahead of Saturday’s game at Arizona.
The Bearcats and Wildcats will face off at 11:00 p.m. ET at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson. The game will be televised on FOX.
Opening Statement
“Good afternoon, guys. Just real quick about the game Saturday. First of all, our students are incredible. I just want to keep giving them a shout out. Just how they support our team, and they have for the first four weeks. We will be back here soon. I cannot wait to get back to see those guys again in the stands. It was a great atmosphere Saturday night. It certainly helped us. We needed to get some help, some momentum, and get the game going for us. I am proud of how we finished. We got down 10 and came back and tied it up, and then made a huge splash in the third quarter. I think that was obviously the difference there. Coming out in the second half, creating a fumble, going down and scoring, big time punt return, scoring again, and you can get grabbing control of that game. We left them off the hook a little bit with the fumble there in the red zone. I think that was a time where if you score again right there, it may be for sure over. We let them back in the game a little bit there, but great job of finishing off. Moving on to Arizona. Obviously in the Big 12, it is just game after game that you play a bunch of good football teams, good coaches, good players, and Arizona certainly has that. I think Coach [Brent] Brennan has done a great job with his program the last couple years, and starting with their quarterback [Noah] Fifita, I mean, probably the best quarterback that nobody really talks about throughout the country. He has killed it in Arizona, all-time lead passer in a lot of categories, and has most of their records. He is such a smart player. He is really good, but he is so smart in deciphering defenses, seeing what they are doing to him, and being able to make the throws, plays, and giving his guys a chance to make those plays. It is incredible. He is fun to watch, unless you have to play him. I think that is certainly something that will be a big challenge for us in stopping that. Defensively, they are very unique. What they do defensively, based on last year, they do a lot defensively. They are bringing a lot of pressure. They are playing a tight band, mixing it up on you. They make you earn everything that you are getting. Obviously a huge challenge for us offensively and defensively. I think special team-wise, they are very, very solid. They do a great job on their teams as well. Looking forward to the challenge.”
On Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita and his success on third downs
“Kansas State was really good on third down too. I think they were maybe the top third down offense. I think Arizona is in the top five. They are outstanding, and I think so much of them. Offenses that are really good on third down, a lot of that is your quarterback play. Last week, that quarterback was excellent. This week, [Noah] Fifita does a great job. When you are playing defense, normally you are going to give up something. There will be one thing that you give up because you are trying to stop all the other things. He does a great job of finding them all right. What is that one thing you are giving up right here, let me take that. When you do that, you are going to get a lot of first downs. We have to do a great job of mixing things up, particularly on third down, to give him some different pitches and different looks. Just trying to not allow him to sit there and just pick you apart. I think whether that be getting them off the spot a little bit or switching up coverages, if you just sit there, he will tear you up.”
On the run game and its complexity
“I don’t think it’s complex. We want to make it look like it is complex with all the different things that we are doing on offense. The formations, personnel groupings, and all that. In theory, it should be simple. You are going to get a lot of different looks. Teams are trying to stop the running game for us. They were putting extra guys down. Kansas State did the same thing. These guys will too. So we have to try and find angles, ways, and formations to find where we can get our guys on their guys and not have many free hitters. The free hitters obviously are the ones that can knock your backs down. Our guys did a great job of finding those little holes where the hitter is not there. That is where we pop some big runs. That is always the challenge every week that you go into. The formations we can get into in order to figure out where we can free our backs up. If we like our backs are open in the field, we can make some plays. We have been able to do that. That will be the challenge again this week. I'm sure Arizona is looking at that to figure out how to counteract that.”
On Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson and Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, and their similarities and differences
“[Noah Fifita] is very quick, very elusive. That is probably the word you use. They will run him too. They have some design cue runs for him, I think they do not want to live in that world. But they have it because you have to defend it. But he can run now. There are several times where they have covered guys, and he has taken off and gotten first downs. He is a tough challenge. I think the difference is Fifita is a true passing quarterback. I think if he had his say, he would rather sit in that pocket and throw the ball down the field all day long. He is so good at doing that. Whereas last week, he did a lot of design cue runs. They are going to use his legs to beat teams as well as the pass. I think this team here, they want him to be able to throw the football. I think he prefers to throw it as opposed to running it. But he can run. So he is a tough cover. He has been one of the all-time greats at Arizona. He has done it for a long time. That is the other thing I think. When you are playing a quarterback like this, he has seen every single thing you can throw at him. Everyone has tried everything against him, so nothing phases him. He plays with great poise, great demeanor when he is on the field. That is another thing, you are not grounding this guy.”
On Arizona’s defense
“They had some good players last year. In the returning corner, they had this year a really good player, number eight. I think he is an excellent player. He was on that team last year, so he is back. But you mentioned they had three guys that were incredible last year. We threw a couple picks last year against them, and I think they led the country in interceptions last year. I think it was 22. This year it looks like more pressure. It looks like more linebackers coming down and walking up on that line of scrimmage, bringing more pressure. I think they have some newer guys in the back end. Trying to figure out who is the best player, if they can put them in the game in the back end. But it looks like they are a little bit more aggressive. When you are doing that, you are going to stop them more. When you are more aggressive like that, and maybe giving up a few more in the passing yards this year compared to what they did last year. They were very comfortable in playing coverage last year with the guys they had back there because of the talent they had. I think every year that is a sign of good coaching because you look at what you have talent-wise and then figure out what the best thing we can do with these guys is. So it is a little bit different, but same structure, same aggressiveness type standard.”
On handling the late start and time zone change
““We will stay up late Thursday, a little bit on Friday, and stay up late on Saturday. It is just trying to get acclimated for those three hours, those two nights and three days that we have. I spent some time on the West Coast so I know how to adjust. When the lights come on and they are playing football it will be fun.”
On running back Cole Tabb’s go-ahead touchdown vs. Kansas State
“His vision is just unbelievable, and he just works so hard each week. He's finally getting the recognition he deserves, so it's really cool to see him perform.”
On how comfortable he is making checks and if that is a new skill
“I’m very comfortable with it. We've already done it in games. I had to do it a lot at Georgia Southern, so it's kind of something that I just built over my career. I think in this offense, it's really nice to be able to check things in certain looks and have that trust from the coaches. They've got to feel comfortable with it.”
On leaving a day earlier than usual to head to Arizona
“It's something new to leave before, but I think we're all excited. We're all just trying to fit in our routines to help us play best on Saturday. Last year, when I went out to Fresno and USC, we did stay that week, so I kind of have a little bit of comfortability with staying somewhere and preparing for the next few days.”
On how much he will lean on his offensive line against a team like Arizona
“A good amount, honestly. I know they're going to run for it right away. Coach [Nic] Cardwell always gets it right. They do a lot to trick quarterbacks.”
On if he looks at where a team is ranked in the run or passing game
“It's in one of our pregame packets that we get at the start of the week with just how well they have done and how they have done in the past seasons. I think it's best to just have a look at that to kind of get your mind going, just thinking when you're watching film and all that.”
On seeing his role increase
“It is cool, my first two years I played more of an auxiliary role with Joe Royer and Francis Sherman to help them out. But it is cool to see my role grow, and to see that trust from the offense and the offensive coordinators. I'm glad they can have that trust in me to make plays when it counts, especially at the end of the game.”
On the complexity of the zone run block scheme
“I picked up fairly quickly, but it’s definitely a lot. I had a lot of extra meetings, about three or four a week with one of our old GAs, and it really helped me. There is a lot that goes into play, there’s so many rules that we have for who we’re taking and what combinations we have. So definitely some complexity to it, but also didn’t want to let us play free, physical and aggressive."
On blocking from the wide receivers and tight ends down the field
“It is super motivating, seeing those guys out their blocking. I know they want to go catch footballs. They all want to catch 5 to 10 passes a game, but seeing them going downfield when they aren't always getting the targets is super cool for me because they are putting themselves on the line for this team. They don’t want to get dinged up, or hurt their shoulders, but they are willing to throw their bodies in there”
On fellow tight end Lyviel Waters’ development as a former walk-on
“With walk-ons you never know what is going to happen to them and in their careers. He has worked his butt off in the weight room and on the field. He has a good grasp of the offense now, since he’s been a part of it more. He is doing a great job, and I'm really proud of him. It is a pleasure to work with everyday. He is a smart football player, he plays his butt off and it’s paying off as you saw that first touchdown. It was awesome to see”
On the closeness of this year’s team compared to past seasons
“I think this team is more connected than any other team. We preach about the team mentality, it started with Coach Satterfield, and falls down to the rest of the team. We are a special group, we are all connected, we love each other. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for these guys. Everybody is willing to sacrifice for each other, not worried about their individual outcomes. The whole team is worrying about getting our wins, and that helps everybody at the end of the day.”
On the adjustments to the defense
“I think just as the weeks go on, you kind of get more of a feel for the game and just the scheme of things, how we kind of want to do things, how we want to play coverages, and things like that. As you said, I think last week was probably my best week from a fielding standpoint in the defense. Just excited to keep on board.”
On playing for a coach that wants his players to be aggressive
“It's amazing. I love just being able to go out there and do the things that we do to play with the violence, and to have the trust that he's going to want us to be aggressive and take his chances in certain situations, and just hearing from true honesty.”
On whether he can sense other teams getting tired entering the fourth quarter
“I think a little bit. I mean, I think we are just taking a possession at a time. At the end of the day, we come off the field, and we just keep going, just keep playing, just keep being who we are. The game will take care of itself.”
On the team's physicality in the second half against Kansas State
“I think that's just been kind of the takeaway from the last two games. In both games we went into halftime, saying that's not the brand of football that we want to be playing, and we need to come out and be better. The biggest focus was on being faster, being more violent, and playing with better effort, and we went out there and did that.”
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