Murray State University Head Football Coach Matt Griffin addressed the media today at his weekly press conference. Griffin talked about the Missouri game, positives from that game and what Tennessee State will bring to the table on Saturday.
The Racers open Ohio Valley Conference play on Saturday when they face Tennessee State at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn., at 6 p.m.
Murray State opened its 82nd season of college football on Saturday (Sept. 2) with a 47-7 loss at NCAA Division I-A Missouri.
The Racers first home game of the Matt Griffin era will be on Sept. 23 when the team faces Illinois State at 6 p.m., at Stewart Stadium.
ON THE TEAM'S MORALE: “It's pretty good, it really was. There's a lot of positive things we can take out of that game. That last 30 minutes was certainly encouraging and hopefully we do a great job of rolling that into this week.”
ON POSITIVES TAKEN FROM THE MISSOURI GAME: “We came out in the second half and competed a little better. For what ever reason, I could make a thousand excuses why we didn't, I don't know, I don't care. What I was really focused on after the game and right up through Sunday was that we highlighted and really understood how important the last 30 minutes was. They were challenged a little bit at halftime and I think they answered it. It was great to get in there and score, our defense played better in the second half, recorded a couple of sacks, a couple of turnovers certainly helped. We'll build off that because we have a great team we'll face this week.”
ON THE INJURY SITUATION: “We're okay. We came out [from the Missouri game] fairly healthy. We're questionable with an offensive lineman, Chris Mauga, and that will probably get all the way up to game time as far as a decision. The rest are just bumps and bruises.”
ON THE PLAY OF THE TWO QUARTERBACKS: “They both played well. They ran the offense the way they were supposed to. I wish we would have done a little bit better job of protecting Ryne early. We didn't do a great job there, that's certainly something that we've addressed and we'll continue the next three days. We'd better or else it's going to be a long year. Zach came in, the reps he got, he played well also. It was good to get him experience, to get him some speed of the game reps. That's something he hadn't had yet in his college career, so it was important.
ON THE LOW PENALTY TOTAL FOR MURRAY STATE: “You do want to be at zero. I think it's the way we practice, give our coaches a lot of credit there, we coach that on tape as well as on the field. Give our kids credit for being disciplined. That's an area of the football game that I take very seriously and I want our kids to. We're not good enough right now that we can give anything away. Even when we get to the point we want to get to, which is a very good football team, I don't want to give anybody an inch. If you understand that now, ingrain it in them as they're young, certainly it will come along as they get older.
ON TURNOVERS: “We had the pick [interception] in the second half, it was really a bad ball. It was a mistake, it's too bad, we wish we had it back. We got a couple, we had a shot at two more balls, as far as interceptions, that were flat out dropped. That was disappointing, one of them we might have taken back [for a touchdown], early in the contest that would have been big for us just from a confidence standpoint defensively. I think we came out even as far as turnover margin, but we want to be on the plus side of that every game though.”
DOES THAT BODE WELL THAT PENALTIES WERE LOW AND TURNOVERS WERE LOW AGAINST A VERY EXPERIENCE TEAM: “Yeah it does, I think that was an outstanding football team, I really do. It was one of the best I've coached against, as far as everything, speed, size, quickness. They have everything that you want. From our standpoint they were excellent, and for us to come out like that, that's not bad. That's certainly a positive that we had.”
DID YOU HAVE TO SCALE BACK THE OFFENSE SOME WITH THE KIND OF PRESSURE THAT MISSOURI WAS GIVING YOU: “No we didn't. We didn't want to. We knew even if it got away from us a little bit we wanted to see what we could do. That's the only way you can learn.”
WHAT WILL YOU EMPHASIZE IN PRACTICE: “Nothing changes. The way we practice won't change week to week. The way we practice, the times we practice, the drills we emphasize, those don't change very often. The things that will change is the scheme of your opponent. Ball security was a little bit better. Did we have turnovers, yes, and I'm disappointed with that. Will we get better there, sure. But if you watch us practice we emphasize that offensively in the first period of every practice. Defensively, we emphasize take aways. We're going to practice the same way. We'll practice a little bit harder I think. I think the kids will be motivated to practice harder.”
IS THIS ANOTHER START TO THE SEASON: “It's a new season. We've told the kids from the start, we've got 12 one game seasons. We played the beast, the animal as we call it, preseason. We played Missouri. Now the only game on our schedule is Tennessee State, that's what we have to stay focused on. I don't talk to my kids about I-A, I-AA. I don't talk to them about this stadium or that stadium. Those things are out of our control. We have to take care of ourselves this week. We have to make sure we clean up some assignment issues, some technique issues, and then just get better.”
WERE YOU PLEASED WITH DERRICK PARROTT'S PERFORMANCE: Extremely. Derrick's a winner. He has a missed tackle that I know he's more upset about than I am, and that's Derrick. Overall that kid is a competitor. He plays hard, he plays for 60 minutes and I'm sure that will continue.”
ON TENNESSEE STATE: “They're fast. Offensively, they've got a new quarterback, a transfer from South Carolina [Antonio Heffner], who's very good. He's an outstanding athlete with a strong arm. They've picked up a receiver from North Carolina [Mike Mason], who is an outstanding receiver. By year end I'm sure he'll be in the upper echelon of the OVC kids. The tailback [Javarris Williams] is very good. Defensively the [Almonte] Duncan kid inside, the defensive lineman, is a very good player. They're safety [Nikkieda] Rutland is an extremely aggressive and physical kid. This is they're second year together as a staff and as a team, so they'll be better than they were a year ago. Certainly, they'll always be fast and they have that speed again this year.”
ON BEING AN EARLY TEST FOR BOTH TEAMS: “Yeah it is. It's another game for us, another opportunity to go play college football. We've got to be thankful for that opportunity and go play hard. They're a great opponent. They're very athletic, they're very fast, they're extremely skilled. They're offensive line is much bigger than they were last year and that's going to pose us some problems. We've got to play very well.”
ON TENNESSEE STATE'S RUNNING BACK JAVARRIS WILLIAMS: “He's extremely talented. Looks like he's got a little bit bigger from last year. He's got great speed, great vision. He's a patient back, he waits for a crease to open. I think that's his greatest strength. We've got to be better, we didn't do a good job of holding our gap integrity. We can't do that this week, because if we do he's going to beat you. With our style of defense, we don't have a true third level defender. We're a two level, after that those corners better come up and make a tackle.”
ON THE PLAY OF THE MURRAY STATE FRESHMEN: “I was nervous as heck about those guys, no more than coach Nagy, our defensive coordinator. Those kids fought, they really did, especially up front. I was pleased with that. I expect those guys to get better from week one to week two. They're not freshmen anymore. The minute they entered camp they weren't freshmen.”
ON THE PLAY OF THE MURRAY STATE OFFENSIVE LINE AGAINST MISSOURI: “I don't think we played well, there's no doubt about that. We came out and got punched and we didn't punch back. That's a real sore spot for me. That's a group that I take a lot of pride in. That's a group that I like to coach the most. That's a group that sets the personality of your football team. If they're soft, then your team is soft. So that's going to have to change. That will change.”
ON THE PLAY OF MURRAY STATE LINEBACKER NATHAN WILLIAMS: “Nate's gotten better. He's become a little bit more of a student of the game. He watches more tape. I think the kid's passion for the game is every bit as mine and any coach on this staff. I think a lot of Nate's work ethic. He's a very good football player and he's just going to get better. I think that comes from his increase in film time.”
ON TACKLING IN THE MISSOURI GAME: “We tackled. When we got to the point of attack we tackled. I think we had two missed tackles total, which is very good. The tough thing is on those two tackles there was 67 yards after the catch.”
ON TENNESSEE STATE QUARTERBACK ANTONIO HEFFNER: “He's a great athlete. I know coach Webster feels they struggled at that position last year and I think that's why he went out and got the Heffner kid. He certainly made the team better with this kid. He's a good athlete, has a strong arm, he was recruited to South Carolina as a quarterback and got moved to wide receiver. You have to contain him because he'll start running around and make plays."
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