Jacksonville State Weekly Press Conference
September 5, 2016
LSU Week

Head Coach John Grass
Opening Comments:
"It is good to be here on a Labor Day. Ijust got off the phone with Buster (Troymaine) Pope and he just got picked up by the New York Jets, so I am envisioning him getting of the plane in New York and headed to the Jets.  We are so proud of him and Chris Landrum with the San Diego Chargers, so it was a good weekend for all of that. Looking back at Thursday, it was a great venue to play in on Thursday night and we are excited about the win, but we are never really pleased with how we played, so there is a lot to work on from game one to game two. We are focusing on how we can get better and I think we have a lot of room for improvement. We have to clean up some stuff like penalties after watching the tape. The good thing is we got that put to bed on Friday and it was out of the way and started looking at LSU this week. We are excited about the season in front of us and taking it week-by-week and day-by-day. We have a great challenge this week as LSU has a great football team and very talented and well-coached, which you would expect by an SEC West team. It is all about us this week and how we can improve on what we are doing."
 
"On another note, and this has been about a 20-25 day process, we have had a lot of things happen with our football team, especially in the last eight months. We had Kam Wood have a stroke on the practice field before the national championship game and he has recovered and doing better. When you have around 120 guys, you have a lot to deal with and things happen. You have a lot that affects your football team. The one that has affected our football team in the last three weeks is Keegan Hill. We haven't mentioned it out of privacy for the family, but I just talked to his dad and he was comfortable with mentioning it and all the thoughts and prayers would be appreciated. It was a very unique situation with Keegan. I have coached a long time and I have never seen a stroke on the field like with Kam's situation and never had this kind of situation like Keegan's. He has bacteria that has an infection and is at UAB Hospital and battling that infection and he had some pressure on his brain and they really don't know what caused it. He is battling for his life right now and the family has been with him the whole time and we have tried to send someone every day. When things like that happens, it brings everything in to perspective – we are playing a game. The guys were excited to play Thursday night, but a lot of their minds were on Keegan in the hospital. We pray for healing and that he would get back with us soon."
 
On Troymaine Pope making an NFL roster:
"To see him get paid to play the game is amazing and I am happy for him and all of our guys and the local folks that know him are excited.  To see him grow in to the man that he has is today is a product of our program. He has worked really hard and grew up every year. I am proud for him because he is representing his family, the university and our program at the highest level. I am glad he is getting an opportunity because all he needed was a chance. He got a chance with the Seattle Seahawks and the Jets picked him up. He has the opportunity to play and has a chance to get some reps in the opening game. That is why I coach is because of stores like this. It is very gratifying to see a guy like that have success because he has the ability."
 
On what it means to the program to have two guys on NFL Rosters:
"It is huge. A lot of FCS programs or mid-level FBS programs can't say that. It is a big-time deal for us to have guys on NFL rosters. Our guys have as good of a shot at the next level than the ones at the Power 5 schools because they will find you."
 
On if LSU's outcome last Saturday changes the approach:
"No, we really don't look at it differently because any one of those two teams could have won that game. A first game is a first game, we didn't play very well as we would have liked and know that we can play better than that. You look at all the great match ups that we have had over the last few days on this opening weekend, you have seen some teams that played well, you had teams play sub-par and teams that played very bad.  You just don't know how first games are going to go. The biggest feat we have this week is playing better than we did on Thursday. We won the game, but we could have played better."
 
 
Eli Jenkins
R-Sr. Quarterback
On playing these kind of games against FBS teams:
"It gives us a chance to prove that we can play against anyone and play in front of more folks that would we normally not play in front of with the big crowds. It gives us a chance to show what we got and a great opportunity to play our best football."
 
Ra'Shad Green
R-Sr. Safety
On Playing in the state of Louisiana:
"It means a lot because I have not played in Louisiana since high school and it is great for my family to actually see me play football again, so it is a big deal. I know there will be a lot of my family in the stands. They have been buying tickets since May."
 
Josh Clemons
R-Sr. Running Back
On watching LSU this weekend:
"I watched it and it was a great match up and one of the top games of the weekend. I was watching it for fun and also them being our next opponent. It was good to get some extra film on them."
 
On playing LSU while at Kentucky:
"I played there in 2011 when they went to the national championship game. It is very exciting to play there and from the moment you start to warm up, the fans are on you. People are out there when the bus pulls up and they will be in to it the whole game, no matter the score. We won't have a problem getting our energy level up."