CINCINNATI – Head coach Scott Satterfield, fifth year quarterback JC French IV, senior offensive lineman Evan Tengesdahl, and fifth year outside linebackers Antwan Peek Jr. spoke with the media ahead of Saturday’s game at Iowa State.
The Bearcats and Cyclones will face off at noon at Jack Trice Stadium and the game will be televised on TNT.
Opening Statement
“To reflect on Saturday, I’m disappointed. We came up short there at the end of that game with the turnover. That turnover was the difference in the game. Our kids fought and played hard. Offense played a very solid game outside of the first couple of drives there. They had great confidence that we'd win the game in that last drive and either tie it or win it with the two points. We needed to make a few more plays. I was frustrated in that game. The offense had a couple of dropped passes on two swing routes that would have been a touchdown early in the game, and then that last one there that unfortunately went a little bit backwards. We just need to put that one to bed and move on to Iowa State. It’s another road trip, and playing a team that's very similar to us. They played a schedule similar to ours, and they put up some good points offensively and defensively. Only giving up a few, some here and there. They play hard. They play physical. The challenge is going on the road, playing at Iowa State. They have good crowd support and setup for their home games. They have some really good players, starting with Aiden [Flora]. He's an outstanding running back. Even going back to the year before, when he had a couple of punt returns for touchdowns, I know one against TCU. He really showed his speed. This kid is one of the faster running backs in the country, and he's proven that throughout this season. One of the top running backs in the country. As we sit here today. They do a lot of things offensively, formation-wise. Packing you in, spreading you out, balance. All a lot of different things. They do a great job with that. Then I think their defense is aggressive. They run and hit. They're very physical, so another great challenge for us, and one that we're looking forward to.”
On the wide receivers and dealing with injuries
“We're just going to see who's available. Elijah [Jones] will have more opportunity there. He went in the game and played the position when JV [Gibson] went out. He'll get a lot of reps this week. We can move some guys around. Larenzo [Fenner] can play outside as well. Fenner in the game played a slot with Isaiah [Johnson], but he can't play outside as well. We'll just see which guys are healthy and try to put the best lineup we can put out there, and still be hopeful that JV will be able to play. We'll know more tomorrow.”
On whether play calling depends on who is in the game
“That's one thing I was proud about our guys because Cole [Tabb] is probably the best player on offense. Then JV goes out. We were already down some guys. I was proud of our guys. They kept playing offense. We played well on offense, even despite losing some of our best players. Gi’Bran [Payne] ran hard in the second half. In the back of your mind, as you think about plays to run, particularly on that last drive, what can we do to do that? Because I really, really wanted to melt the clock as well as go down to score, and now we need to decide. You go for two or not on the road, and probably lean more toward going for two right there. That particular play there was a cue counter play, or you throw the swing, and J.C. [French] read it out to throw the swing. It's just unfortunate. Normally you have to be a little bit forward on that thing, and then you need to catch the ball. The play calling certainly was about still needing to run your offense. Whatever game plan we have for this game is to still run those plays. They were working. We did some really good things. I think it's a really good defense. I was proud of our guys that filled in and had to go out there and play, and I thought Evan [Tengesdahl] played well. Evan had a couple of false starts and miseds IDs, that's to be expected. This game was his first full game playing center. He did an outstanding job against a really good defense.”
On defending Iowa State and covering Aiden Flora
“They do a really good job of all the different formations. As a defense, you have to prepare for all those different formations. All the while knowing that 21 is their guy to find out where he's at, number one. I do think you have to be aware of where he's at, and whether he's in the corps or in the backfield. They love throwing to him as well. The other thing you have to worry about is him throwing the ball. He's already thrown a few touchdown passes this year. I mean, he’s a former quarterback. So if your receiver that you’re covering is running a route, you have to cover that route, even though he's got the ball in his hands. They do a lot of things that way. You have to know where he's at and put guys on 21 at the same time, cover those wideouts, because again, he could throw the football.”
On how Iowa State is different with a new coaching staff
“They're different this year compared to last year. The similarities are they play hard, and they're physical. They'll run and hit. That's just probably the DNA at Iowa State. The structure is different. They're more of an eight-man front, whereas in the past they were three-down. It’s similar to the defense we ran the last couple of years. They're more three-down and letting their linebackers run and make plays. This is a four-down defense, basically an eight-man front, so cover three, cover one, and two linebackers in a box. It’s more of an umbrella type of defense.”
On injury updates
“Cole [Tabb] is doing much better. He participated yesterday in our walk-through, so I feel good about him. JV [Gibson] is still not out of the woods yet. He'll be day-to-day, but he's doing a lot better than he was Saturday night. It's still going to take a little bit more time for him. We'll know more about JV probably by tomorrow. Taran [Tyo] is trending in the right direction for this week. Hopefully he'll be back. He participated yesterday in the practice. Josh Hough is getting better and better. He only had two snaps in the game Saturday, but he is continuing to get better. Simeon [Coleman] is close as well. He's trending in the right direction. Probably the biggest question mark is JV at this point for our team.”
On the number of recent injuries on the team
“It is going to happen. Football is a physical sport; the younger guys have to step up. Next man up. But it is tough. Hopefully we can get those guys back this week and get back to where we were.”
On the last play against Houston last game
“It was one of those things that we have been running. We ran that play a good amount that night, and as soon as the (running) back left the backfield, the back would run out. But it is kind of one of those things that we thought we could out leverage them a little bit because they were not getting out there because we kept just running the (quarterback) run. I thought we could out leverage it and try to give them the ball.”
On JV Gibson's injury and bouncing back after he went out
“It stinks to see somebody like JV [Gibson] go down like that. I do not necessarily agree with the hit, but it was great to see our team rally around him. We all just care about him so much, and the way we responded from that scenario, just scoring a touchdown to give ourselves a chance to win the game.”
On moving back to left guard
“Yes, obviously we want our best five out there, the starting five that we had to start the season this year. But yes, obviously want Taran (Tyo) back whenever he’s back. I'm happy with it. I am good, center or left guard, and I feel pretty good about either position.”
On how easy it is to make mistakes when playing center position
“It is definitely easier to make a mistake, because obviously I have a little bit of experience with it in the game. It is pretty easy to make a mistake because you have to worry about the game plan and a lot of different ID (identification) stuff that you don’t have to worry about at the guard position. But having a lot of reps with it, I've had all four years. I have had a lot of reps, so I have a good run at it. So pretty easy to make mistakes but try not to.”
On Iowa State’s defensive line
“On film, there are a lot of play hard guys, a lot of big dudes up front. They are stout; they are a good d-line. So, there is going to be another battle like every weekend in the Big 12. They show a lot of good stuff on film. Hard players, work hard, so it is going to be good.”
On emotions after teammates got injured
“Emotions were definitely high. We just have to get the team back down and just kind of have to refocus and kind of use that as motivation. We already had motivation to go score but use it as motivation to just see those guys and have something else to play for besides winning the game.”
On controversial holding penalty by Joe Cottons negating a touchdown
“It was a bad call, but it’s not up to us. It is what it is. You just have to keep playing and move on from it. There is nothing we can do to change what the refs do. So, we have to play our ball and just listen to them. Put our hands where they tell us our hands are supposed to be. So, we adjusted throughout the game and didn’t get another holding (penalty) and move on from it.”
On Iowa State’s defense and how similar it is to Cincinnati's
“I feel like it will help. Especially just doing some good on good. Something that we are going to emphasize a lot on this week is the scout team guys just making sure that they understand their role. Everyone on the team has a role, and we got to do that to the highest standard and elite level every single day.”
On why the Houston offense was so successful last game
“It was more of us not executing at the level that we expect ourselves to execute at. They had some really good receivers. The quarterback was really good, and they were just able to pick out the tiny flaws in our defense where guys are supposed to be. We just were not there. So, we just got to be better at executing, and that is something that we have been talking about the last few weeks. It comes down to executing a high standard and that will help us win games.”
On Iowa State's offense and key things to look out for
“They are a big, unbalanced team, they like to do a lot of shifts and motions. They want to try and get our eyes in the wrong spot. So just make sure that we have good eye discipline. It is something that we are going to need for this upcoming game. But the running back is really good number 21 [Aiden Flora]. He is a really good running back. Quarterback [Jaylen Raynor] is really good. So, leverage is the name of the game. If we keep our leverage, then we will have a pretty good chance.”
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