Fresh off his first win at Liberty, head coach Hugh Freeze met with the media for his weekly press conference. Here are some of the main takeaways.
ON HIS FIRST WIN AT LIBERTY
“To get our first win here against a very, very good football team in the FBS level Group of 5, MAC Champions from last year, I think is a momentum builder, it’s a step in the right direction of where we want to go and where we want to be. We have to challenge ourselves now to see if we can find the consistency in preparation and the focus we had last week. I knew our kids were locked in when I got to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. For the first time I was able to go through my normal routine at the hotel with them. This was the first weekend we were able to do all that and make sure our kids understand the plan. Then,y being on the sideline was good for me. I don’t know if it made a difference in how we played or not, but I do know that i felt more alive and more involved and better able to serve our team somewhat. Really pleased with a lot of things, but then are a lot of things that we’ve got to improve. Pleased, but not satisfied.”
ON HAMPTON
“(We’re) playing a very athletic Hampton team. They have 12 division I transfers. I’ve learned in my 6 years as head coach that it doesn’t matter about this FCS label. A team gets momentum and has athletes like they have, go ask Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech. It doesn’t matter what you consider them – typical, non typical. I know that they have receivers, running backs, and a qaurterback that at any moment can score a touchdown, and they have two defensive tackles and corners that can guard and that can be disruptive. I don’t put a label on it. To me, they are the next opponent and we better prepare just like we have or we will be very disappointed in the result I’m sure. It’s a scary team. Scary game.”
INJURY REPORT
As reported previously, Michael Bollinger is out for the season with a fractured leg.
“Frankie, I was scared like the rest of you guys, and then we get out there and I think it was a wrist injury or something, I don’t know. I said, ‘Dude, don’t lay on the field like that if your wrist is hurting. Man, you scared everybody to death.’ He’s going to be fine.”
“Brayden Monday will go through the concussion protocol. He was playing well too that game. The scariest one probably is Bejour (Wilson) is having an MRI today on his foot. We’re prayerful that its nothing serious there. That would be a huge loss. He’s really good. He’s one of the better corners I’ve ever coached at any level.”
FREEZE WANTS IMPROVEMENT IN PENALTIES
“Way too many penalties. It just drives me crazy. I’m used to having 4 or 5 penalties a game. That’s where I want to be. We had 9 penalties for 85 yards, that is way too many. Two of them were selfish penalties which really irritates me. That just drives me crazy. Two of the pass interferences, I thought our kids were in good spots, but the rest were legit calls. We’ve got to get the penalties down.”
STILL UNSURE ABOUT THE RUN GAME
“I was proud of the way we rushed the football at the end of the game. When you can do that in a 4-minute offense, it’s really good. When you initially look at the rushing offense I was like, ‘Dang, we only rushed for that.’ Then, when you watch the film, if we would have handed this one off we had a play here but we threw it for an 11 yard gain, and that’s who we are. Then, at the end, everything was automatic hand-offs, no throws, and we were able to rush it effectively. So, I’m not quite sure how I feel about our rush game. Did we improve it or not? I know there were at least 3 times where if we hand the ball off there’s a clear lane to run through. We finished it off rushing the ball when we had to. Those are some positives. We’ve got to continue to see where we are in that. I do think we can throw and catch.”
ON HIS HEALTH FOLLOWING THE GAME
“I was hurting some. I was a little concerned, but i got on the phone with Dr. Ellegala, and he said, ‘I expect that, as long as it’s not spasms.’ And it’s not that. I’m pleased with how I feel today. I feel better today than I did yesterday. I think it’s just going to continue to get better. (I) just got back from (a check-up on the) infection part, and the markers are great, everything looks good there. The 27th is a big day. They will do the last MRI, and hopefully I can get this thing out of my arm and get back to normal after that. I’m walking better, not in pain. At the end of the day, if I have sat a lot, it stiffens up, but I’m doing good. I’m thankful, really thankful and I appreciate all the prayers.”
ON JESSIE LEMONIER’S PERFORMANCE
“Jessie Lemonier was incredible, I mean incredible. The kid that he went against was all-MAC last year. He really just was disruptive and won his one-on-ones a lot.”
TRUE FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT ON DEFENSE
“I looked out there at one time and we had 7 true freshmen on the field. The entire secondary was all true freshmen. I thought they held their own and did really well defending the pass. I thought Micah Glaize was physical and he’s now healthy. He hadn’t been healthy until then. I could highlight a lot of those young kids. Kei’Trel (Clark), he’s one of the most competitive freshmen I’ve ever coached, just love that about him, that he just wants to compete.”
ON BUCKSHOT’S PERFORMANCE
“Buckshot was 23-of-30. The big thing was zero picks, really should have been 26-of-30 if his mechanics were right and on time. There were 3 balls that he should make, he makes them all the time. For some reason his footwork gets off and he’s a little late.”
