POST GAME QUOTES (vs. Grambling State, Sept. 7, 2013)
ULM Head Coach Todd Berry
Opening statement:
“Obviously it's good to get a win. It wasn't always pretty but that's okay, I'm okay with that. As you probably recognized, we didn't keep our first groups together for very long tonight and we had a reason behind it, we wanted to see a lot of different guys work together tonight and I think we accomplished that. We got a lot of stuff on video. This is going to be great teaching stuff for us on both sides of the football, including the kicking game where we had multiple substitutions. We got an opportunity to play a lot of guys; we played a lot of guys early in the game when the outcome was still in question; that's the best time to kind of find out where they're at. From a coaches perspective it was perfect, we didn't play a perfect game but from a coaches perspective it was perfect.”
On Jyruss Edwards and his offensive performance:
“We got to work on a lot of different things tonight. We got to work on spread and read stuff, we got to work on downhill stuff and we got to look at a lot of different backs doing it. So yeah I'm very pleased with Jyruss, we could have affectively run the ball even a little bit more but again this is kind of about, winning the game but it's also about taking the opportunities to work on some things and we were able to do that.”
Kolton didn't really rush that much, was he in that 80% that you projected this week?
“I think he was a little higher than that but there wasn't any reason to run him so we kept it in check a little bit. I wanted to see him move around a little bit, I think it's important to kind of get that feel, kind of getting back in the game and he got out there a couple times, scrambled around a little bit but never really opened it up all the way. He's feeling good right now, I just talked to him and he feels good. Brayle came in, didn't have a lot of opportunities for throws but he came in and threw some nice balls and that was good to see. Overall, did play a perfect game I'm very pleased.
On how big this win was:
“I think it's another win. I think this group has got a nice confidence about them. We came up pretty healthy and got a lot of guys playing time; we were able to rest up some guys, work on some things we were wanting to try to work on so overall it was good.”
ULM Senior Quarterback Kolton Browning:
On his lower body:
“It's feeling better. Like Coach Berry said, I got in the training room all week long; I made sure that I needed to do whatever it was to make sure, in my eyes my lower body got right. I was able to get out there and run around a little bit which felt good.”
To be able to put up so much yardage and so many points, how much does that re-instill confidence?
“I mean it feels good. We know what we can do. We went out there with the mindset that every time we get the ball we want to score. We had way too many three and outs the prior week, and we had a mentality this week to go out and make sure we tried to score every single time we touch the ball. Up front we did a great job blocking, pockets were clean all night and you know everybody did their job. We moved the ball, moved the chains and made sure we put the ball in the end zone to make sure that we give our defense a rest this week rather than keep them on the field all night.”
Grambling State Head Coach Doug Williams
Opening Statement:
“We played a really good football team today. This is a team that returned 18 starters and played in the Independence Bowl last year. Coach Berry is doing a heck of a job here and has put together a great team. It's no wonder why they won so many games last year.”
On how his team performed overall:
“We have a couple guys banged up, but when we look at this football game we played as hard as we possibly could. The mistakes we made, coupled with the fact that we played a good team, really damaged us. Every time we had an opportunity, we shot ourselves in the foot with a mistake.”
On the positives he's going to take away from the game:
“One thing I really liked was Skinner ran the ball well. I liked what I saw from him and our quarterback. Williams threw the ball today as well as I've seen him since he's been here. He was relaxed and that's the way he's supposed to play. I also liked what I saw from the offensive line until one guy got hurt and another got kicked out. On the defensive side, we continue to be steady.”
On what he saw from his defense:
“We played an offense that is unconventional and has one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Browning is very smart and has great offense around him. They have great receivers, strong running backs and big offensive linemen. We got worn down a little bit on defense but we played against one of the best offenses in football.”
