Coach Charles Kelly
Opening Statement:
"We changed it up this morning, so we had had a morning practice. So there's a little bit different doing the press conference after practice. But I told guys this morning, nothing like Saturday morning football. We've been doing that since we were all young. But it was, it was good. They got after it this morning, and we had a good day. Appreciate y'all being here.

Q: How did you use the week off?
A: We've made a lot of improvements in a lot of ways, but there are a lot of things that we've got to get better at. Defensively, we went back and we looked at our explosive plays that we've given up. Why they happened. When they happened, what can we do to help prevent that. Offensively, it was more about execution. Doing the things that we've got to do to be a more complete offense. I mean, our philosophy on offense is this, we understand you got to run the ball to win, but we got to be able to throw the ball to score, to create more explosive plays and things like that. And, you know, it's not just one group or one person or one position group. It's things that you got to work on and build on. We did those things. And I think overall as a team, what we want to focus on is being more consistent and finishing. When you look at us by quarter the points that we have, points that we've given up, we've started off games fast, didn't play as good in the second quarter, came back out after halftime, played pretty good, and then in the fourth quarter, not play as well. And we've got to be more consistent. So we worked on finishing. Everything that we do, whether it's a drill, whether it's practice, doesn't matter what our emphasis is in is to finish, and those are the things that we've got to do. I love the way they compete. I love the way they practice. I told them today. I was like, All right, this was a Tuesday practice for everybody else in the world, it's Saturday. For us, it's Tuesday, and the Tuesday practice, that's the first tough, hard practice that we have. All we did is just finish the first quarter. So tomorrow's the second quarter, and then we'll go on there, and then we'll work till we get to the game on Wednesday.

Q: Share some thoughts on Middle Tennessee. You got to watch them play your previous opponent last week.
A: Well, first of all, it was a really good football game. I thought (Coach) Derrick (Mason) had those guys ready to play. He always has. We've gone against each other in the past. I've known him for a long time. They do a good job of running the football. They got some guys on the perimeter that can be a challenge to cover defensively. They're going to give you multiple looks. Derrick is a longtime defensive coordinator, very, very smart, very good coach, and he's going to try to take away what you do best, and we're going to have to counter on that. But I thought it was two good teams playing. I'm not going to back off what I said. I think Delaware has got a really good football team. And Middle went up there and played at home, and it was a one possession game at the end of the game. But that's how our conference is. I mean, that's what you do when you get in conference play. The one thing we're not going to be is surprised that they play well. We expect them to play well, and we're going to have to play well, and that's what we're preparing to do.

Q: Cam Cook still leads the country in rushing by pretty good margin, considering the teams by now must know he's going to get the ball. What is it that you guys do, and what is it about him that still piles up a bunch of yards.
A: He is a super competitor. His teammates will tell you that. I'm gonna say it again. It's what he does when he doesn't have the ball that's more impressive to the rest of the team. But when he does, I think what you have to do when you're committed to running the football, you have to find ways to run the football. Find formations where it's more advantageous for us to run. It may be motions. It may be our passing game loosening up, but you can't give up on it. You got to sit there and find ways to do that. And I think our coaches have done a good job of that, finding ways where we can be successful running and you can't get impatient doing that. I talk to our coaches and our players all the time. Can't get impatient. You got to keep your patience in a game. You have to do it on offense. You have to do it on defense. You got to stick and look for what you know is going to be the best and play through that, what has to happen to get more explosive plays in the passing game? I don't think it's just one position. I don't think it's all on the quarterback. I don't think it's all on the receivers, and I don't think it's all on the offensive line. We've had pretty good protection at times, we've got to do a better job. Let me talk about each position. I think offensive line, we're doing a pretty good job in protection, but every now and then we've got some guys open and, you know, we'll, not cut a guy loose, but not blocking the way we're supposed to. I think at receiver, we've got to do a better job of separating consistently. We and then when we do separate, and then when the protection holds up, we've got to do a better job of decision making. At quarterback, getting the ball out right now, and we've had guys open, and then we've had good protection and we didn't have guys open. So it's a little bit of everything. It's not, it's not just one thing. That's one thing that we really worked on in the bye week, is doing those things. And every position group has to do those things together. I also think when we've had some of our more explosive pass plays, it's getting the ball to these backs. Now, if they're going to cover our guys downfield or play a certain coverage, take that check down. You know, we hit one today in practice. I mean, it was, it was a four yard throw, and it turned into a 40 yard gain. On the stat sheet, that's 40 yards passing that feel like throwing it down the field. 40 yards, but we do have to get the ball downfield more.

Q: You guys are 9-1 over the three years of Weekday CUSA. Why are you guys so successful?
A: I think players enjoy structure. They understand what we work on on a Tuesday, they know what we're going to work on on a Wednesday. They know what we work on on Thursday. They know what we do on a walk through on our Friday. When it's consistent for them, I think guys perform better, but I will say this, and whether it's us or whether it's anybody else, the teams that are most successful, no matter what night you play, it all comes down to execution. The people that execute the best, they're the ones that win the game. So when we execute, we give ourselves a chance to win. When we don't, you know, we won't have that luxury.

Q: Could you talk about the two players who came in today?
A: They're two of the few players that's had a lot of experience that played here before, but both of them are on our leadership council. Both of them are great young men. They're really good football players. They understand how to work. They're both very multiple football players too. I mean, (Pettway) can do anything. I could move him over to defense. He could play safety. He can catch the ball. He can return punts. He returns kickoffs, and he's unselfish. Does whatever. Jawaun is the same way. Jawaun is very athletic. I said, if you about 20 pounds lighter, I'd be playing you at linebacker. I ain't so sure he can't line up back there and play we've put him in the backfield last week, he can carry the ball, and not because we just wanted to do it, just to make something for him. We felt like he could help our team. If you saw him run the ball in high school, you know he was good at it, but he's very tough. He brings a mentality. Both of these guys bring a mentality to our program. And listen, if you want to be tough, you got to live tough. They both live it. (Pettway) had a had an injury this summer where most guys would miss the whole season. He said, I'll be back, Coach. I'll be good. And he's quick, as he and he probably played on it, I don't know, two or three games, four games, probably before anybody else would, but he loves his teammates, and he wants to contribute. And you know, to me, these two guys kind of when, when you see the personality of our team, they take on the personality they're leaders. And I think these two guys are good examples of that. 


Michael Pettway
Q: This will be game number 56 for you on Wednesday. You've gotten to play in three different conferences. What's it been like being in Conference USA now and going into game number 56?
A: That's crazy. I mean, it's really been enjoyable. I just been trying to, especially with it being my last year, trying to take it day by day, just enjoy it. Enjoy every game that I really can honestly.

Q: Could you talk about the the injury and how, what you've done to come back from that, and why come back as early as you did?
A: I broke my knee cap, think, mid-June. And, they told me, like you get surgery, you could be back week four, week five. And really, I mean, I kind of just thought about our slogan, embrace the grind. And it took a little bit, especially after surgery, being down, like, dang, it's my last year. Thought it was going to be my best year. But my teammates, they really helped me just being around them, just seeing them, have the love for the game. It really just kind of just helped me and motivate me to just want to work harder, just to come back and just try to enjoy as much as I can with them. But I mean, it was just a little bit of adversity, and I try not to let things, you know, dictate my future, dictate the person that I'm going to be. So I just had to just take it day by day, especially with the help of Coach (Eric) Davis. He really just kept my mind just kind of focused on, you know, focus on getting better every day, just even if it's just 1% small little bit. So it's what I tried to do.

Jawaun Campbell
Q: You played a lot last year. You feel like the old man up here?
A: A little bit, but hey, I'm glad we got some new guys in here that came and got better and helped us on the line.

Q: How much running back did you play in high school?
A: Well, I played it my junior year, my senior year. Heck, my high school was small, so we needed some help on offense. So I did it. I played both sides.