Frank Beamer
Opening statement
First thing I want to do is thank our great fans for hanging around on a bad day and appreciate them so much. One statement here. Suspended Cody Journell this morning for today’s game for violation of team rules. And that is the only comment I’m going to make about that whole deal. That’s that.
I’m really proud of our football team. There haven’t been many teams that have come in our stadium that we’ve played lately that pitch and catch the way that team does. Their receivers caught everything they could. Their quarterback I thought was fantastic. Made some great plays for them. They’ve got a bright future in my opinion here this season. I think they were really good. Good tough running backs. And defensively they’re tough. So I give them a lot of credit.
But I give our players a lot of credit. We just kind of battled and kept working. I really believe we became a better football team today. There’s a lot of things to work for, but I tell you, when kids hang in there together and find a way to get it done that builds your football team. That builds chemistry. That builds trust. That builds togetherness. And those are some big, big things when you’re trying to develop a football team and playing as many young guys as we’re playing. So, I give Marshall a lot of credit and we’re lucky to get this win. The kids hung in there and got it for us.
On when exactly he decided to suspend Journell…
That’s it. That’s all I’m going to say.
On Ethan Keyserling
He’s been around a long time and he’s a good kicker. He was put in a tough situation today with the weather and some critical kicks. But he’s a good kicker.
On Willie Byrn’s 4th quarter TD
They tipped it, didn’t they? I couldn’t see. We had a good play. I thought the thing was going to be wide open. But we got a bounce there. We got a couple of interceptions, balls bouncing up, that we didn’t get too. So, sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don’t.
On Trey Edmunds and the running game
I think he’s ok. He went back in there. I think we took another step offensively. We’re trying to do what’s best for our personnel. We’ve got some speed and if we get them into open spaces some. Couldn’t have a better leader than Logan. Not only tough, but smart and competitive. We follow that guy.
On whether there is anything different on the block units
No, we came after them quite a bit. Got us a short corner there and Kyle Fuller got in on the kick and almost got another one. And I tell you, I thought we had a great return going. That’s part of it too. Those guys having stayed in there and block you a little bit. I thought we had a great return and they called a block in the back. Did y’all see that on the board? Did you see it? Did y’all see the block? They said it was 22 and we didn’t have a 22 in the ball game. So I couldn’t figure it out. But I thought that part of it, then we blocked the field goal, it’s good to get back to doing some things we’ve done for a long time that win ball games. Blocking that field goal, and if that punt return stood we’d have great field position and we got a touchdown off a blocked kick. So, it’s coming together. It’s slow. We’re getting prettier all the time. I mean, the offense, you can see that taking steps. Defensively, had our moments. And kicking we had our moments. I believe it’s coming together.
On settling in on defense
They’re good, and they put so much pressure on you with their wide receivers, and their quarterback is really good about where to get that ball to, and he gets it there quick, and then all of a sudden you’re trying to make sure they don’t pop one wide on you and all of a sudden they’re handing the ball off. They did a good job, and we missed assignments a couple of times, and all of a sudden a four yard gain turned into a 12 yard gain. I thought we came back and adjusted well and kind of got where we wanted there at the end.
On playing for the field goal in overtime
You wanted to get the ball as close to the goal line as you could and you really wanted to score, because you’re putting a new kicker into a tough, tough situation. And the weather didn’t help either. It was just a lot of stuff there. We were going to keep going as long as we could get some positive yards, but then when it got down to third down we wanted to get the ball to the middle of the field.
On 3rd down woes
Both of us played in it (rain), but I think we dropped some balls on third down that could have gotten us going. The thing about those is once you get one you kind of get momentum to get another, so I think there were a couple of those. I give them credit. I think they schemed us up good. They’ve got some good players, some guys who can flat play. I think a little bit of it was us and a little bit of it was them and I think we’ll learn from it and we’re going to get better.
On the impact of the rain in the second half
We were concerned about running a little bit of the option, when you’re pitching the ball around with a wet ball and so forth. I thought it really started raining hard when we were getting ready to kick that winning field goal, and I was like, ‘This is not right.’ Maybe I was imagining that, but I thought that’s when it really started raining hard. It was raining for both sides. That’s part of it. We can’t let elements control us. We need to control how we play.
On how wild this game was
To go through a game like that and see your players just lay it out there and not everything went their way. We just kept playing. I can’t stress enough. That’s a great team. The way they executed, I was really impressed by them. We’re on our way to being a good team. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer.
On the quick turnaround for Georgia Tech
We’re going to in about 30 minutes start grading our film for Marshall, and get that done and then we’ve got a day tomorrow of planning and then Monday becomes Tuesday for us. It is what it is. We’ve got it all planned out. We know exactly what time we’re doing what and the whole deal. It runs together, but it is what it is.
On whether Journell’s suspension is only for one game
Yes.
On the touchdown pass to Byrn
First of all, I’d like to thank God for everything he’s given me. But finally one went my way. I’ve always had the tipped balls go the other way. But I’m thankful. Obviously we really needed it. Good concentration by Willie.
On whether he’s going to church on Sunday
Treatment’s during church. Or else I would.
On getting the news that Cody Journell wasn’t playing
It just makes us focus in a little bit more. We’ve got to go play. We’ve got to do our job, make sure we don’t put anyone in a tough situation, even though we did today. I thought Ethan did a good job for the most part today. And he’s young, it’s his first time. But the more he does it, the better he’ll be. Like coach Beamer said, just thankful to get this win.
On whether he feels lucky
Considering our past history, it usually doesn’t bounce our way. Usually the flags are against us. Usually the bounces are against us. But when you keep fighting, you keep bringing the effort every single time…luck doesn’t just appear for no reason. Like I said, just thankful to be there and have that chance.
Differences between the struggles and the last drive
I just missed on the one. They brought edge pressure, so I had to pull up and throw it quick. I tried to lead him, let him run underneath it, because I know if I would have hit him, that’s a touchdown. I put it about three inches too far out in front of him. But the next play, I think it was Stanford you were talking about that made a great catch, turned up the field. Just proud of him. He’s one of those guys that if we can keep him confident, keep him going, he’s going to be a very special receiver.
On how the weather affected play calling
I think we called pretty much all of our stuff. I think we would have liked to have thrown the ball. We thought we had an advantage in the throw game. Obviously we were able to run the ball as well. The line did a great job there. It’s just hard to grip the ball and throw it. It seemed like Cato didn’t have a problem at all, but I did. But like I said, we were just fortunate.
On 2nd half adjustments
I can’t remember the adjustments exactly, but we did change our defense up a little bit. They were having some success on plays and once we made adjustments, it calmed down after that.
On Derrick Hopkins’ fumble return
I seen Hop going doing the field, I was excited. I was hoping he could put the game away, but it didn’t go that way.
On the excitement of the victory
I was excited we came out with a win. I was tired, it being the third overtime. I wasn’t expecting that.
On Marshall’s tempo
It was a little tough, because they don’t huddle and you don’t get a chance to get our breath as quickly. They average about 90 plays. So that’s something new that was tough going against.
On Marshall’s passing attack
The main thing was the way they stretch you down the field vertically and also horizontally. And things like out cuts and things like that. So they had us on our toes. They made some good plays today, but our defense was able to make a couple good plays to allow us to win.
On the blocked punt
It felt real good, but we felt like we had a chance at blocking it. It was similar to how ECU was. I was closing in, but they just gave me a short edge and I was focused this week on really blocking a punt, because it wasn’t as easy as it looks. But I got a good block and we were able to go on with a score. We came in wanting to change the game, and I feel like we did that.
On having a short week to prepare for Georgia Tech
It definitely makes it a little bit tougher, but we’re ready for it. And we’ll start getting prepared and we’ll be ready to go.
On getting the running game back on track
This week we had a great game plan and the main thing was we just attacked the line of scrimmage instead of letting the d-line attack us. We had some movement up front, which opens up holes for Trey and our other running backs. It felt great to finally get it back on board.
On watching the Derrick Hopkins fumble return
That would have made my week.
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Possibly the worst ref’ed game i have watched in recent memory. For both sides. Those refs looked like they had never been on a field before. Pitiful some of the calls they made both for and against us.