Montgomery Sees Growth As Young Team Earns First Win
10/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 18, 2006
Shane Montgomery
Press Conference
October 17, 2006
On the Win at Buffalo
"Obviously last Sunday was a big win for our program. We had to overcome a lot of distractions and adversity with the game being postponed, and it's probably the first time in NCAA history that a team has played on back-to-back Sundays. I'm pleased with how we played in a tough game. Buffalo is always a tough place to play."
"We knew going in that Buffalo had played very competitively against some good teams. We started slow, but I thought we played really well in the second quarter. The wind was a factor, but we were able to sustain two long drives into the wind and take the lead. At the end of the half, we had a fumble on a screen play that they were able to recover and take in. It was a big play and let them back into the game."
"The defense forcing those turnovers was huge. Our offense was sputtering early in the second half, but those turnovers gave us five straight series on short fields. Being able to score 24 points off those turnovers gave the offense its confidence back. That was really the difference in the game."
"We had a let down at the end, where they got a turnover, a long touchdown pass and then recovered an onside kick. It was not the way we wanted to finish the game, and that's something we need to continue working on."
"We didn't rack up a lot of yards offensively, but we didn't need to. We only had three drives in the first half, and we scored on two of those drives with long possessions. In the second half, we scored off turnovers in their territory and didn't need to drive the ball."
"At one point, three of our four starting defensive linemen were out of the game with injuries, but they all came back. Ryne Robinson didn't play in the second half as a precaution. With all the distractions, adversity and issues we were dealing with, I thought we responded well. We need to to continue doing that the rest of the way."
On Akron
"Akron is statistically very comparable to us. They had last week off and will have had 14 days to prepare for us. We're turning around on a short week after playing on Sunday. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. We just need to be ready to play a good football game on Saturday."
Injury Updates
"Charlie Norden did not make the trip, and he'll actually be out the rest of the year. He's going to have surgery on Thursday. I feel for Charlie, because he missed three games and played sparingly when he could go."
"Ryne should be back this week. We kept him out as a precaution, but the tests all came back negative. We should have him Saturday."
On Getting the First Win
"This is a young team. Even though the program has had a lot of success in recent years, most of these guys had not experienced the feeling of winning as starters or regular contributors. We needed to come off the field with a win, and hopefully, now that we've got that first win, we can carry that into the rest of the season."
"The mood has been great with this team all year. We've practiced better and better each week, and by watching the spirit and how this team has worked every week, you'd have no idea we started 0-6. That's a credit to the fact that we've got so many young guys and seniors who are happy to be out there playing."
"We control our attitude and what we do each week. We need help in the league race but we can't control that. We want to look back at the second half of this season and know that we were the best team in the MAC over the last six games. All we can do right now is focus on ourselves and continue to get better with each week."
"If you look at this team, we've only got 11 seniors, of which four-to-six are every down players. We've got a number of juniors playing, but we have a lot of freshmen and sophomores. We're beginning to see those guys step up. We've felt good about our recruiting the last couple of years, and we're starting to see those guys make an impact. We're seven games into the season now, and our freshmen aren't freshmen anymore."
On the Offensive Line
"Our offensive line was a concern going into the year, because we knew we didn't have much depth. We only had two returning starters to begin with, and when you lose your most experienced lineman to injury and have another starter banged up, it forces you to throw guys out there who aren't ready. Right now we're just trying to put the best five linemen on the field. If it reaches a point where we have to move guys around, we will."
"Dave DiFranco has played the last 3-4 weeks at left tackle, after moving between the tackle spots earlier in the year, and he has settled in nicely. Steve Sutter, who came here as a defensive end and just moved to the offensive line in the spring, has taken most of our snaps this season at right tackle. He's undersized for the position, but he's very athletic. It's been tough, but it's given some of our less-experienced guys a chance to gain a lot of experience."
On the MAC
"If you look at the teams who are traditionally at the top of the MAC, the majority of them aren't doing as well this year. Toledo and Akron have struggled, and we just picked up our first win. There are a lot of good young coaches in the league who are really innovative on both sides of the ball."
"The last three or four years, this has been a very offensive league, but we're seeing this year that the teams who are dominating defensively, like Kent State, are doing well. I think our defense has played well considering how young we are, and has given us a chance to win football games. I think that's where the league is going."
On the Running Backs
"Brandon will continue to be week-to-week. He's had a high ankle sprain, which is tough to come back from. At time against Kent State and Cincinnati, he looked healthy, but he got banged up again at Northern Illinois. Andre Bratton and Austin Sykes have been getting more carries, which we had hoped to do earlier in the season. It's good to have them ready with Brandon not at 100 percent."
"Andre [Bratton] will continue to improve. He's similar to Brandon Murphy but he's a little bigger. He's the type of player who could be an every down back for us. Austin gives us a bigger back who is good in short yardage and gives us a bigger body in pass protection. How much they play is based on how much Brandon can do."
On Mike Kokal
"After watching the tape, I really felt Mike had one of his more consistent games at Buffalo. He ran the offense well, took what the defense gave him and was able to make some plays with his legs. He's been consistent in not forcing the ball, and as he continues to grow in experience and confidence, I think you'll see him taking more shots downfield and making more big plays."
