POST-GAME QUOTES (vs. Western Kentucky, Oct. 3, 2013)
ULM Head Coach Todd Berry
Opening Statement:
"I'm obviously disappointed. We need to make some more plays and we're not making enough plays right now on either side of the football. Last week, I was tremendously frustrated because I didn't think we had any energy or any enthusiasm for the game. I can deal with the mistakes an awful lot better than I can a lack of emotion or a lack of care level. I did see that tonight in the frustration of the loss. At least tonight we went out and we competed and so I was pleased with that.
On the Third Quarter:
"We tried to hit a couple of play-actions and we found ourselves in 2nd-and-10 two series in a row. It's a little difficult to see how much you're going to put on Brayle at this point, too. Offensively, we couldn't get anything going and defensively, we couldn't stop them at that time, either. Offensively, we have to make some plays. We had some protection issues, obviously, especially in the third and fourth quarters. We need to get those resolved. Defensively, we had a lot of mental errors. On a play-action fake, a guy leaves his responsibility to go and stop the running back and they completed way too many passes for way too many yards."
"I'm excited about Brayle. I've said this multiple times because I get to see him in practice every day. He's a tremendous competitor. He's very cerebral. I thought he handled tonightand the pressures of tonight very well. He had the two minute drive and the interception where he just threw one up, and obviously he can't do that, but he's at a point where he's just trying to make a play. We weren't blocking on that play very well, either to pick up the pressure. I was pleased. I thought he moved around in the pocket well and he found open receivers. As he continues to get more snaps and his arm continues to improve, we're going to have a very good quarterback.
Mid-Season Evaluation:
"We just talked about it. This is the true measure of a man. This is where your character really shows. We've got some issues right now. We've got to get our confidence back. We have very little confidence right now. The Baylor game kind of broke us along those lines, I think, but we got some energy back. As long as we're getting back, then they will continue to get better. We're having too many mistakes, unfortunately, many of them coming from young players, and that's frustrating right now. We need to focus. Right now, there's a little bit of pressure on everyone to make the play. You need to make the plays that come to you and not go to the play. I think that's part of the problem on defense right now as I alluded to earlier where the defensive back loses his guy because he's trying to pursue the run, and that's not his job. We need to do our job. I just looked them in the eye and they looked me back. There's still fight in there. They'll move on and so we will move on to the next opportunity."
"I'm very frustrated with the punt return--tremendously frustrated. There have been five turnovers from that group alone. The only job that group has is to get the ball back to the offense. From this point on, I doubt we'll have a returner back or anything because if that's what is going to happen every time--I'm really upset about that. The calls are being made and we're not getting away from the football. We spent seven minutes of running down the field this last week and running away from the ball. The fact we can't get that done right now is ridiculous."
On his first career start:
"Yards don't matter if you don't get the win. We have to come out better in the second half than we did. We had a few three-and-outs there and we can't have that."
On second half struggles:
"It's nothing we did differently. All the credit goes to Western Kentucky. They played well on defense. They flew to the ball. They were physical. We can't win like that if we go three-and-out like that. We just need to play better."
WKU Head Coach Bobby Petrino
Opening Statement:
"It was a great win for us. I'm really proud of our team. We sort of screwed it up before the half; we tried to go for the touchdown and didn't get it, but our guys showed a lot of poise and it really showed up in the third and fourth quarters. The defense settled down and got stops in the second half. Offensively, we put some really good drives together. Our young receivers stepped up and made some plays for us. It was good to see."
On the adjustments made in the second half:
"Defensively we showed some different looks. We did a much better job of playing fast and got after their quarterback a little bit. Offensively, we kept doing the same things we had been doing. We felt that we were executing in the first half, we just dropped a couple balls and gave up a couple plays. It's tough to play against this team because they have about nine guys within six yards of the line of scrimmage so we couldn't just sit there and run it. We knew we'd have to take some shots down field and we made some big plays which was really good."
On whether the offense is where it needs to be:
"No, we're not even close to where we need to be. We need to be where we expect to score every time we take the field. We're not there yet but we're getting better."
On the big plays:
"It was really good to see. The first one to Willie (McNeal) was a really nice route and a great throw. Then we had some good plays where we broke tackles after the catch. It was fun to see the guys make plays out there."
On whether the team has hit its stride at this point of the season:
"We have a lot of work to do. We can really get better and be more consistent, but I think we are coming together. Our guys care about each other and our practices are getting better. We are more intense and more into it. We've been competing hard for four quarters and it's been nice to see us get second half wins in the last two games."
On how long the team will enjoy this win:
"We're going to give them a couple days off and bring them back in on Sunday. We deserve a break. Todd Stewart told me that this is our sixth game in 34 days so it's time to get a little rest and rejuvenated. We'll come back, get our game plan and get going on Sunday."
