Opening…
We certainly have a critical game this week with North Carolina, down there. A very athletic team, extremely athletic. Can score. Great punt returner. I think a real challenge for us, got to have a great week of preparation and get ready to play.
On if there is extra emphasis because of being 0-1 in ACC play…
Yeah. I think there has to be. I think any time you play on your side, or even in the conference, particularly on your side, we have a loss already, it makes it even more important.
On RB plan after losing Shai McKenzie for the year…
I think Trey will get in there and get more carries. J.C., Joel Caleb did a nice job when he got in there the other day. We will see where practice goes. I think Sam Rogers is a guy, that… he does everything. He has one of the best set of hands on the team. He blocks for those tailbacks. He ran it one time the other day for about six yards, I think it was. He’s just a football player. He’s just all football player. So I think we’ll see him in the mix too.
On shifting the offensive line…
We’re just trying to figure out, as we go along here, who is absolutely the very best. What’s the very best group we can have. I’ve got hope for (Wade) Hansen. He’s an athletic guy that I think can help us. We got him in there a little bit. Wyatt Teller is a guy that we would really like to see come along because he looks the part. He plays the part a lot of the time, we just have to make it all the time. Trying to get our best five out there.
On David Wang…
I think Wang had a good day. I think he can play either (guard or center). He and Farris give us some flexibility in there a little bit. But again, we’re going to continue to work to see who is the best five.
On North Carolina giving up a lot of yards…
I think number one, we understand how good East Carolina is. That’s number one. Number two, I think some breakdowns. They have some breakdowns that cause long plays. It’s been mostly long plays that have the stats like that. But again, you look at them and I think they are very capable.
On evaluating young talent…
I think all that goes [line this] where do you want to be about four games down the road? We’ve had non-conference games and just one conference game, so again you try to gear it up for your conference schedule, which right now we’re right in the thick of it. In the end, just like the offensive line, you want to get your most capable people on the field. If you don’t give them an opportunity, you may not know. I think in college football you have to use your non-conference games to evaluate and figure out who is your best. You want to try to win, but now it’s in to the serious part of our schedule.
On limiting the big plays on defense…
One of the basic rules of our defense is just don’t give up the long play. You give them a long play, that’s a lot of snaps they didn’t take, and the more snaps they take, the better the percentages are with our defense that something good is going to happen. We’re out there, a lot of it has been one-on-one. Riley the other day had poor technique, misjudged the receiver, but it was just a straight takeoff route. I think better technique as far as playing the ball and then we put pressure when we play one-on-one, we put pressure in that regard. We’ve been able to handle it for the most part in the past, and I think we can with this team. It’s just continue to get better technique wise.
On Trey Edmunds…
I actually talked with him a few minutes ago. He feels good. When he rounded the corner the other day, I thought at the time ‘that kind of looks like the old guy.’ I think he feels ready for it, and we need it right now.
On whether Edmunds setback was the leg injury or mental factor associated with it…
I think, as far as Trey, he’s an all out guy. All out effort. I think he had a tough, tough injury and it takes a long, long time to get back. I think that was totally it…he’s trying and I never doubted that. The mental part of it, I never doubted that.
On Michael Brewer’s decision making…
I think, myself, Michael is a smart guy. Every play he has, he learns a little bit more. He’s a guy that hasn’t been in a lot of games. I trust him very much that he’ll learn from what took place. I don’t think we’ll see that part of it again.
On Brandon Facyson and the decision about whether to use a medical redshirt…
We’ll see again where it is at the end of this week, end of next week and do what’s best for him. I think I might have said this, but he’s got a future after Virginia Tech and for sure we want to do what’s in his best interest.
On if they are at the point where if Facyson plays again he loses medical redshirt eligibility….
Oh yeah, yeah. No question. I mean he’d have to come along and be feeling really great about where he is.
On urgency in locker room with ACC game coming up…
I think they know. They understand what’s at stake. We don’t meet (Monday). We met with them (Sunday). I think it’s perfectly clear that it’s a conference game and if you want to be in the battle for this division, it’s a critical game. That’s the deal.
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