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Football
vs. Memphis
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Monday Morning with Charlie Partridge
11/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 17, 2014
Opening Remarks
Not a whole lot of notes as we get started coming out the bye week, not having a game to review. We had a good bye week. We had the majority of our coaches out recruiting at some point. We are allotted 42 evaluations in the fall. We used the majority them during our first bye week. We had a handful that we saved for the play-offs and had a number of guys, myself included, out at play-off games. On Friday, we had one coach go out of state to take a look at a prospect in the deep-South, so we were productive that way. (We) had three practices in the middle of the week - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - split half and half, essentially between development and keeping our guys in tune with progressive game planning with MTSU. A little bit about MTSU. They are a good football team, granted they are 5-5 and had a tough loss to FIU this past week. They had a 21-3 advantage, most of you probably know this, five turnovers was the story of their game against FIU. They are 4-1 at home so we are going against a team that will be confident in that venue. A couple things about their players, on defense they have a will linebacker, #38, (T.T. Barber) that is a junior and an impressive player. He is fast, instinctive and he is physical. He will be someone we have to account for. #20 (Kevin Byard), their safety, is also one of their leading tacklers, also a junior is a guy that shows up time and time again. Their "D" ends are very active, which is pretty traditional. I've seen a lot over the years. Their "D" ends are usually a force and that hasn't changed. They are bringing a guy, #40 (Leighton Gasque) who looks like a pass rush specialist and he is leading the team right now. He has got the talent to do that. We are getting word that #17 (Alexandro Antoine) may be hurt and out. That remains to be seen as we approach that game but all indications are that he won't play. On offense, one of the things that impresses me the most is that they have 13 players in just the games that we have broken down, which is about half the season, that have made gains of 15 or more. So they spread the ball around. They get the ball to quite a few guys and they make plays when they get the opportunity. Guys that were impressive from that standpoint - that made multiple big plays were two running backs #25 (Reggie Whatley) the starter and #1 (Shane Tucker) his back-up but he plays a lot. They play probably about equal reps and they are impressive. #86 (Devin Clarke) is a senior and is playing like a senior should be. I think their "O" line is the strength of their football team. They are physical and they work to finish blocks. They play with the kind of attitude that you want an offensive line to play with - taking the personality of their head coach a little bit who I have been impressed with in meetings I have had with him. I think he does a nice job with his football team. We have a big challenge as we work to get a victory here as we finish out these last two games and head to Middle Tennessee.
How do you feel about your commitments or the recruiting process?
I think it has been really good. This class you have to dance with the rules right now [limited in what he can say by NCAA rules]. This class has great communication lines with each other. The feeling that we have gotten both times, the first bye week and this last bye week, is that the high school coaches know what we are building. The high school coaches respect the direction that we are headed. Their response to us is extremely positive. This time of year, we are not allowed to talk to recruits in person. Obviously, we talk to them on the phone weekly or, if they call us, more than weekly. But, their response in terms of the future of this program is extremely positive and the recruiting class is an indicator of that.
Injury Update
Both of them (Greg Howell and Tony Moore) are questionable for this Saturday, but it is day-to-day and both are progressing along a little bit each day...Lucky (Whitehead) was a full participant in yesterday's practice. He is in good shape...(Joe Gold) still day-to-day. (He) has not participated in practice yet. We are hopeful that he will be back, but that is another day-to-day...Damian Parms is probable for the game.
Did you sense a letdown after losing the last game and Bowl Game options eliminated?
I did, they picked it up during the week. It was a good time to have a bye week after what was a heart-breaking loss. The good thing is - and we have talked a lot about it with the team - these last two games are about progress, building a program and moving forward in the future and also honoring our seniors who have been through a lot. To the credit of the seniors -- and this means a lot to me - I have had several come into my office and say `Coach it is not about me. It's not about us. It is about this program moving forward'. I said that is awesome, but we are still going to do everything we can to win for you too. That to me says a lot about the direction and what we are trying to build in the locker room.
What do you want to see in these last two games?
I really want to see what we have kinda seen throughout the year in terms of what our goals have been and what we have tried to achieve, which is get better. We are going to have some guys playing at potentially different spots. So, it will give them a chance to show their growth and progress as a football player and to get better as a football team. Some young guys are going to be put into the game. There won't be any new redshirts taken off or anything like that but, yeah the potential with the injury factor some of the young guys will continue to play and their learning curve is steep. We will see drastic progress with those guys as we continue to work our way through the end of our season.
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