JSU FOOTBALL GAME NOTES (.pdf)

Opening Comments:
"It was a great atmosphere here last Saturday.  It was great to play at home in front of close to 20,000 people.  It was a beautiful day for football and there were a lot of tailgating going on all around campus.  We told everybody all last week that you can't look at the divisions – whether it is a BCS or FCS team or a Division II team.  It is the quality of the team that you are playing and our guys knew that going in that West Alabama was a quality Division II opponent.  I think they will be at the top of their conference and they have some great players.  I think 12 of their 22 defensive guys were transfers, so those are guys that signed at a higher level coming out of high school.  I think our guys played well and we had over 600 yards of offense and we had enough yardage to have 60-plus points.  We fumbled going in one time and that is something that we have not done this year and we laid the ball down three times in that game. It was very uncharacteristic of us to put the ball down on the ground.  Defensively, take out a few explosive plays that they had, a couple of those were when the young guys were in during the fourth quarter.  We had a few coverage issues late that led to a pair of touchdowns at the end.  It was fun to play in front of our crowd."
 
On Murray State:
"I think if we had a game circled on the calendar, this one is definitely the one.  We have been waiting on this game all year, but it doesn't mean that you play the game any differently.  It goes back to how we play and how we handle our business.  Our guys remember last year and it was a devastating loss for our football team.  We lose the game on a two-point conversion on the pick play and their folks are really excited about that and excited about beating us, so we have not forgotten that.  I would be shocked and disappointed if our football team is not ready to play on Saturday."
 
"We know we have a tough task at-hand and they are a good football team and they play well at home.  I have known Coach Hatcher for 16 or 17 years now, and he and I are personal friends and I have a lot of respect for the job that he does, and he does a lot with what they got.  Their quarterbacks know what they are doing with the ball and they have some good receivers.  They put you in space and make you make the plays, so our guys will have to do that.  We have a lot to prepare for defensively. This game will go down to who protects the football and has the best kicking game."
 
On the offensive production:
"We played four quarters and didn't get conservative on Saturday.  I take responsibility for the Chattanooga game, because I pulled the reins back and held us back and really didn't take any chances because our defense was playing so well.  We were a one-dimensional offense in the second half of that Chattanooga game.  I think if you become one dimensional, you are very easy to defend.  On Saturday, we were not one-dimensional because we kept throwing the ball around until the end and kept moving the ball. We missed out on two touchdowns due to a fumble and a penalty.  We feel like we are progressing offensively and sometimes offenses are slower to mature and get things rolling.  When we play with tempo, we are definitely at our best.  That is one thing we will concentrate on this week and that is to play fast."
 
On Alan Carson:
"Alan played at Oxford High School and then transferred here from Tennessee this past summer.  He had a great game Saturday and has been all season long.  He plays inside defensive lineman and he can play several different spots for us.  He is another guy that does a great job representing us and he already has his degree and got it in three years at Tennessee.  He is a great student and does an outstanding job in the classroom and carries himself very well on and off the field."
 
On Troymaine Pope:
"He probably had one of the best games he has had since becoming a Gamecock.  He had a phenomenal run the other day that was super unordinary and it wasn't just a normal run.  He did a great job with the football in his hand and played the way that we all know that he is capable of playing.  We look for many more games like that from him.  He was one of two 100-yard rushers for us in the game Saturday."
 
"He knows that we have the utmost confidence in him.  I think he is a great football player and one of the most talented guys we have on our football team. He is strong and powerful and also one of our fastest guys here.  His ceiling is very high and he has not reached his potential.  I think it is a maturity thing and he knows that and we expect a lot from him and very demanding of our players.  As a coach, you want to find the right buttons to push with certain players.  He works hard daily to get better and he has improved since we have been here.  In the classroom, he has a goal of a 3.0 and he came close to that last year.  I think he will get to that this semester and getting a degree is something that has become important to him.  I have seen so much growth in him on and off the field as a person.  I am proud of where he is at, but not satisfied at where he is at right now.  I do think he has a great career in front of him."
 
On having three quarterbacks playing:
"We try to make it as comfortable for those guys as we can.  Like our runningbacks, we have three guys there that we are playing and rotating.  We are keeping them fresh throughout the game and outside of inside defensive linemen, we are deep at the quarterback spot and probably the deepest on our team.  It is not an easy situation to manage, but the way we go about it is – everyone is confident in any one of the three guys.  We feel like all three can get the job done and I think you will see us to continue doing that because all three can play and would start for most of the people that we play.  When you have weapons, you need to use them.  It may become like last year when it was a down and distance type of thing.  I think you saw some good things in Christian LeMay and we wanted to get him some quality snaps.  He came in and did and great job and he has become more comfortable in the position.  Max (Shortell) is probably playing as good as he has ever has in his career.  He is making great decisions out there.  Eli (Jenkins) is just an unbelievable talent with his running and passing skills.  All three bring different qualities to the table and all three of them can make the throws in our offense and they have command of the offense.  If you ask all of our offensive players, they have confidence in all three players."

 
 

Troymaine Pope
Jr., Runningback
 
On the big run on Saturday:
"We ran Bulldog-LA and I saw the first guy duck his head and then all I saw were the colors and I started running from the white jerseys.  When we got in the pile, I just kept my feet moving and I was able to get out to the right and keep going. I think I broke about eight tackles." 
 
On the three quarterbacks:
"It doesn't matter who is in the game, I communicate well with all three of them.  Eli (Jenkins) knows how I play and Max (Shortell) knows what I can do and I know how he plays.  I have confidence in all three of them.
 
On the offensive tempo 
"When we get plays of five or six yards and they look gassed and tired, we are ready to go and we are not tired.  We are controlling the pace and we are executing the plays."
 
Alan Carson
R-Jr., Defensive lineman
On Troymaine Pope's big run:
"Watching from the sidelines, I thought he was down but they never blew the whistle and before you know it, he was out of the pile and it was one of the best runs I have seen personally." 
 
On getting a grasp of the defensive scheme:
"Coach Blackwell and Coach Bates put in a lot of extra work with me and it was a lot of late-night studying of the playbook and they have made the transition a little easier with the one-on-one time.  I have a pretty good grasp of the defense, but it wasn't easy."
 
On graduating in three years at Tennessee:
"I was at Tennessee and they offered summer classes and you don't have to take a full 12 hours, but since it was available to me, I decided to take full advantage of it.  I took 12 hours every summer that I was there, which put me a year ahead."