Opening statement:
“Well first off really kind of looking forward to getting back out and practice today as we kind of continue to establish our routine, our work schedule. Our guys get an idea of our expectation of what needs to happen each day with the points of emphasis. And going into this game obviously against (coach) Ruffin and his team and (they’re) really fun to watch on film. They give you a ton of things that you concern but probably the one thing that stands out the most is they’re a team that plays the way he wants them to. Physical, fast, they fun they enjoy what they’re doing. Disciplined and it’s going to be a huge game for us against a team that obviously has played in a bunch of environments and have been very successful over the course of time.”
How fast do you want to run plays?
“We’ve got certain tempos and pace that we expect to play going into different series just to change it up. Not be the same way every series and in a couple of instances we had a couple of certain ways we expected to play a certain series and didn’t get it done. And yet again, you know that’s new for a lot of guys and something we’ve done everywhere I’ve been and just something we need to work on.”
Were you surprised about how efficient both QBs were in the opener?
“I don’t know whether surprised is really kind of the right word. It’s something we expect and I was very pleased how they distributed the ball and how they took what the defense gave them and weren’t just looking for one target to bail them out or throw it to, or whatever and that’s what we try to do in coaching that position. I was really pleased and every time we go out we should expect to do that and obviously it doesn’t happen all the time I know that. But at the same time through the preparation I was very happy with how they handled those things and we’ll see if we’re able to do that and put back-to-back games together.”
Will Marcus Maye and Alex McCalister be back this week?
“Yeah, they’re back and ready to roll. Excited to have them back and there again, there were a lot of guys who played a lot of reps as you saw that I think helped our team get better. So again, we’re developing competition at a lot of different spots. We’re hoping to be able to keep guys fresh throughout the game on both sides of the ball.”
Any update on both injured players?
“Yeah, we actually just met about that today. We’ll know a little more on Keanu. Probably a little more optimistic with him, and I’ll give you that report at the end of the day based on what we do at practice. Tez is coming along. We just want to make sure it’s right. Should know more at the end of the day.”
With OC Lincoln Riley gone to Oklahoma, is ECU still doing the same things offensively?
“It’s very similar when you break down all 13 from a year ago and match it to what they did against Towson. There’s obviously some carryover and a lot of similarity in that. The experience showed in some cases, but the carryover is very similar. Appeared to not miss much of a beat as they do. It’s interesting that some thought when guys play kind of like this, it’s all about throwing it. What these guys have done is about balance, and that’s the one thing I saw in this opening game. Their balance was really, really good from run to pass to pass to run to all that stuff.”
How much of a sense of calm do the QBs experience with a guy like Kelvin Taylor in the backfield?
“There’s no doubt. If you’re able to run the football a little bit, it sure takes off some of the pressure. As we always talk about at that position, it’s much about that person but it’s more about the other 10 around them. And what you’re able to do to create balance, which then allows you some element of surprise in what you’re doing. In our case, Kelvin I thought had a real good game, but we were also able to keep him fresh because we rotated a lot of backs in there. I thought our freshmen, the two Jordans – Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite, it’s good to see them get the reps they did. We’re going to try everything we can to keep moving at that spot and keep those guys as fresh as possible.”
“Well first off really kind of looking forward to getting back out and practice today as we kind of continue to establish our routine, our work schedule. Our guys get an idea of our expectation of what needs to happen each day with the points of emphasis. And going into this game obviously against (coach) Ruffin and his team and (they’re) really fun to watch on film. They give you a ton of things that you concern but probably the one thing that stands out the most is they’re a team that plays the way he wants them to. Physical, fast, they fun they enjoy what they’re doing. Disciplined and it’s going to be a huge game for us against a team that obviously has played in a bunch of environments and have been very successful over the course of time.”
How fast do you want to run plays?
“We’ve got certain tempos and pace that we expect to play going into different series just to change it up. Not be the same way every series and in a couple of instances we had a couple of certain ways we expected to play a certain series and didn’t get it done. And yet again, you know that’s new for a lot of guys and something we’ve done everywhere I’ve been and just something we need to work on.”
Were you surprised about how efficient both QBs were in the opener?
“I don’t know whether surprised is really kind of the right word. It’s something we expect and I was very pleased how they distributed the ball and how they took what the defense gave them and weren’t just looking for one target to bail them out or throw it to, or whatever and that’s what we try to do in coaching that position. I was really pleased and every time we go out we should expect to do that and obviously it doesn’t happen all the time I know that. But at the same time through the preparation I was very happy with how they handled those things and we’ll see if we’re able to do that and put back-to-back games together.”
Will Marcus Maye and Alex McCalister be back this week?
“Yeah, they’re back and ready to roll. Excited to have them back and there again, there were a lot of guys who played a lot of reps as you saw that I think helped our team get better. So again, we’re developing competition at a lot of different spots. We’re hoping to be able to keep guys fresh throughout the game on both sides of the ball.”
Any update on both injured players?
“Yeah, we actually just met about that today. We’ll know a little more on Keanu. Probably a little more optimistic with him, and I’ll give you that report at the end of the day based on what we do at practice. Tez is coming along. We just want to make sure it’s right. Should know more at the end of the day.”
With OC Lincoln Riley gone to Oklahoma, is ECU still doing the same things offensively?
“It’s very similar when you break down all 13 from a year ago and match it to what they did against Towson. There’s obviously some carryover and a lot of similarity in that. The experience showed in some cases, but the carryover is very similar. Appeared to not miss much of a beat as they do. It’s interesting that some thought when guys play kind of like this, it’s all about throwing it. What these guys have done is about balance, and that’s the one thing I saw in this opening game. Their balance was really, really good from run to pass to pass to run to all that stuff.”
How much of a sense of calm do the QBs experience with a guy like Kelvin Taylor in the backfield?
“There’s no doubt. If you’re able to run the football a little bit, it sure takes off some of the pressure. As we always talk about at that position, it’s much about that person but it’s more about the other 10 around them. And what you’re able to do to create balance, which then allows you some element of surprise in what you’re doing. In our case, Kelvin I thought had a real good game, but we were also able to keep him fresh because we rotated a lot of backs in there. I thought our freshmen, the two Jordans – Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite, it’s good to see them get the reps they did. We’re going to try everything we can to keep moving at that spot and keep those guys as fresh as possible.”
