AUDIO + QUOTES: Dave Doeren's Weekly Press Conference

Opening Tidbits...

I'm really proud of the response our players had to the adversity we had early in the game. We got behind and just kept playing.  I thought we made very good adjustments both offense and defensive strategies. 

We took care of the football, which was our first goal improve to improve on from the following week. We finished with a plus-two turnover margin and forced two takeaways in the fourth quarter. 

Second straight game where we finished the first half with a touchdown in the two-minute drive, so two-minute offense at end of the half was excellent.  Two weeks in a row, being able to do that in the Marshall game and open the third quarter with a long drive for a score, it was a 14-point swing in the game.

It was good to see Reggie run through some contact. I think he and Nyheim are a good tandem that way.

We can't give up the explosive plays we did... it wasn't all deep balls, we didn't tackle well in space. I know those guys will work on that.

I did feel like we improved in our kicking game. We can't kick the ball down the middle and land it on the 10-yard line.  That's something we worked on all week, kicking away from 24. He returned two for touchdowns a week before, and that kick was supposed to go on the left side of the field, and it didn't. It affected our coverage.

We need to put the ball where it needs to go, leverage the ball, and tackle it.

I thought Bradley Chubb really played a great football game.  I thought Jerod Fernandez played a really good football game.

I was really proud of Tim Glass... he was solid. I thought he had a great week of preparation and it really showed up in the game.

This week will be a unique challenge for our defense. Their triple option... their coach came from Air Force... a lot of triple option, belly option... defensively a lot of rules this week that we have to be sound.

It's kind of hard to answer that without practicing yet.  He practiced one day last week, we put him through individual and stopped him. 

Tomorrow will be a good test to see. I don't know if I can answer that until Thursday. It will be great if he can play this week on third down, maybe some passing situations, and let him get his feet wet, hit some people, cover some people live.

He hasn't gone through an entire week yet and the big thing is we want him to be ready and confident and we won't rush the process. We need to see where Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday puts him.

More on Ryan Finley's play...

He missed two throws early and after that, he got into a rhythm.  He understands he's up there studying right now... what coach Drink expects from him on those plays. I think he does a good job at getting the ball to the right people at the right time.  He throws a catchable ball.

He's got to continue to manage the game and not try to do too much.  I don't think he has to do too much, just manage the game and so far so good.

Would you prefer Wright to sit out this week and be 100%?

Dexter? He probably won't be back this week.

James Valdez?

He probably won't play this week either.

Any update on him?

Not yet. We're waiting to hear back.

More on the run game...

I always get concerned. You guys know I pride myself on being balanced. I don't care so much about a zero, one, or two-yard run. It's the ones that end up negative that I don't like.  I just don't want Drink to be in a situation where he's calling plays on second-and-12.  We can't put ourselves in those positions as an offense and there were way too many of them on Saturday.

Some were due to the run game, some were due to a couple passes we had that were laterals that didn't get out.

We have to clean that up because when we're on schedule we're fairly successful offensively. .. we just can't be behind the chains, and a lot of that is fixable.

Again, you're dealing with an offensive line that for two weeks is rotating guys in and out and it's not where it needs to be yet.  Getting Will back and putting T back at guard will help some of that.  Garrett is still playing in his third college game coming up at center, so there are some things he can do better. We need Tony and Tyler to be solid and they made some mistakes in the game you wouldn't expect them to make at times.

We just have to clean it up, and I know they will.

You have some kids from Florida. Any families affected?

Yes, I was talking to the guys yesterday about it and Shawn Boone... the ceiling of his house fell in yesterday. 

So there are several players that are affected by it. Some of them, their parents actually came up here.  They know we're here for them and if they had issues, come see us.  Shawn reached out to us and said everyone was safe, but obviously, it's scary.

Have all of them been able to communicate with their families?

Yes. I appreciate you asking.

Bradley Chubb and Ryan Finley talked about staying calm and focused in the postgame. Is that something the coaches have mentioned?

We talk all week about focus on one play at a time, and not looking at the scoreboard until all the seconds are gone.  Focus was the word that we really spent our time talking about last week.

I think Bradley had a moment of leadership on the sideline... encouraging Tim Glass with his first start, when Johnathan was struggling, really encouraging him.

All those guys really rallied around each other.

Where is Bryce Banks in his development?

He's been rotating with the twos and threes throughout camp.  Last year he played some nickel for us, Bryce Banks did.  We moved him back to corner going into the season because we were concerned there. We didn't know what we had with Johnathan coming over, and he's been thrust into that starting role quicker than expected. We knew what Mike and Nick were going to be what they are, and we were trying to figure out the rest of them.

Bryce plays with really good fundamentals and has good length. This is an opportunity this week to be in the two-deep and show what he can do in practice.

Chris Ingram is another guy who will be put out there too.  He's been really impressive for a freshman and some of the things he's done on special teams have stood out.

Nick Lacy can play corner, safety, or nickel. He knows it all... we've also trained Brock Miller and Germaine Pratt so we feel like we have good options at that position if something were to happen where Boone had to move back to safety.

What about at free safety with Stephen Morrison?

Just on special teams.  He was actually in the two-deep last week as well because Dexter wasn't practicing so he got some work back there.

Steph Louis had a big impact this week.

He knew what his errors were.  He fumbled twice in the South Carolina game, and one was while he was on the ground so they didn't call a fumble. Our goal for an offensive player is to hand the ball to the official. We want to be able to show that you didn't fumble a football no matter what happens.

Steph worked hard last week on ball security. I thought the offensive staff did a good job of changing up drills... I thought they did a nice job of making it fresher, more competitive.

Steph is a proud young man. It hurt him that he hurt the team with a fumble. He did a nice job making up for it. He had a great run on that screen where he ran through contact.  Steph knew he'd have to do a great job and he did. He just has to build on it. 

In your years of coaching, where does the Jaylen Samuels catch rank?

I didn't get to see it live, I was blocked, my view was... watching the replay of it, it was a pretty special play.

Of all the plays I've seen, that was a very impressive football play by him. It doesn't surprise you with all the things that kid has done.  He has an incredible skillset.

How has Joe Sculthorpe graded after two games?

He's playing hard. He's making a lot of rookie mistakes at times, and all these reps will be valuable for his growth. 

I see him as our sixth man right now with Will back.  He can pop in at center or guard in a heartbeat. He's a guy we'd trust to go in there, play hard, and compete.

I'm proud of him for what he's done and both of those games will help him in the long run.