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Football
vs. Memphis
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Monday Morning with Charlie Partridge
11/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 3, 2014
Opening Remarks
After reviewing the UAB tape, some of my thoughts: It was tough going early versus their man coverage schemes. They really packed the box by playing some man free and some different fronts. When you are in that position, it ultimately comes down to is that we didn't win enough one-on-ones early in the game. One-on-ones up front in terms of blocking, one-on-ones on the outside, when they are throwing out to the edges, that's what you have in the middle with the safety, which can break on balls. I'm extremely proud of the fourth quarter explosion. We started winning more one-on-ones. It wasn't a dramatic scheme change. There were a couple of routes that we ran a little different and a couple of different choices in the run game but nothing major other than that schematically. We started winning one-on-ones. You have to give the coaches and the kids a lot of credit to help them get to that point. That allowed the tempo to get better. That allowed us to get them on their heels, which created more one-on-one victories at the end of the day. I'm happy with that and we need to continue to build on that.
Defensively, the big plays, the 80 yard touchdown pass we had a zone blitz on which we didn't execute 100 percent. That is on us. It is one that we have run in the past but we didn't execute it. It gave the quarterback more time that he should've (had). When you are bringing five and you are playing a zone dog coverage, that most teams in the country play, there are holes and we didn't cover them up well enough, so that is what happened on that big play. On the counter, where they ran for about a 30-yard touchdown, one of our "D" linemen got displaced and our backer didn't go over the top, so they hit that. Special teams wise. Obviously, you had the blocked punt which Coach (Chris) Hurd and our team executed flawlessly. I thought that we had a chance to get that. Kamrin Solomon, it was pretty. He put his hands right at the level you should. He went right to the right spot. It is a sign of a young player making an impact on our football team. The muffed punt return by Lucky (Whitehead), he just misjudged it. There were wind challenges. He got ahead of the ball. Went to back up, which is something you don't want to do as a returner. At that point, if you have misjudged it and gotten ahead of it, really you should just let it go over your head and eat the field position and move on. Blocked field goal, lost the one-on-one. The left guard got moved there and again it is on us to get his technique right as coaches. Those are some of the things we have to clean up. The slow starts - certainly were a topic after the game. You guys (reporters) brought it up. I will credit UAB. Offensively, they showed some formations that had never been on film throughout the course of the year. (It) took us a little time to adjust to that. That was some of the challenges in the first drive. We need to, again as we continue to build the program allow our kids to get to a point where they can apply the rules of the defense and be able to align to anything. It was a crazy formation, unbalanced where they only had one guard and then student body all on the other side and had a toss play over there where they chunked some yards away at us. As we get better and apply the rules of defense we can adjust before we get to the sideline and that will help stop that drive. Offensively, I thought we missed a couple of opportunities to move the chains in the run game in terms of choices on the zone read. Potentially, could have gotten five or six yards, which again allows us to get to our tempo, which leads to more one-on-one wins. Like I said, we need to win the one-on-ones early. On another note from Saturday night and I can't get into specifics, we had maybe arguably this season, the best group of prospects we have had ranging from the 2015 to the 2018 class here with families and assistant coaches. I have had a lot of response from kids, even after the way the game ended about how much they enjoyed the atmosphere and how promising that is moving forward from that perspective.
Injury Update
Greg Howell is day-to-day. I would list him questionable for Saturday. It is strictly a hamstring injury. Sometimes those things - it is really individualized. You guys know that. It is just how his body responds…we will take a look at him every single day. (Brandin) Bryant, (Reggie) Brown, and (Michael) Harrop, those three, as you know, are out for the season. Their rehab is going well and (they) are on track for projected dates to be ready for next season.
North Texas
A little bit about them. Their defense, an extremely active defensive line, their defensive end, # 42 (Chad Polk) got some midseason all-conference and I can see why. He is very active and is their sack leader. Another guy, in my opinion, who doesn't get the recognition he deserves. They have a defensive tackle #95 Alex Lincoln. He is fun for me to watch, tremendous technician, great motor, disruptive. Their "D" line is an impressive group to watch. We have our hands full with them. Their DBs are very involved in the run game. Their next leading tacklers after their Will backer are both DBs. It fits into what their scheme is and they do a nice job of mixing base defense and bringing pressure. Offensively, #9 Carlos Harris, he is legitimate. Every coach watches film a different way. One of the things I do on Sunday night, when I really start getting into it, is I take every single offensive play and then I sort it from biggest gain to smallest. So that I'm seeing their big plays in that order and #9 is all over that tape. It is short passes that he creates big gains. It is deep passes where he goes up and high points the ball. There is reverses out of various formations. He is a very, very dynamic player and we need to know where he is every single play to give us a chance to have success. Two running backs 2 (Reggie Pegram) and 22 (Antoinne Jimmerson), they are good backs. They are going to run through arm tackles. They are powerful so we are going to have challenges there. We have a two headed quarterback situation here where they have rotated both in. I don't see a huge difference athletically from one to the other. That is not anything other than a compliment. They can do things with their feet. I'm just trying to get a handle on whether they are trying to chance pace or they feel good about both of them. We are trying to figure out who their full time starter is. I don't know. Both are challenging players at times and we need to respect them. Special teams wise - they have blocked two punts on the year. They have a kickoff return for a touchdown and they have a punt return for a touchdown. So, we have to be on top of our game from a special teams standpoint. Their blocked punts schematically were very impressive. They did some nice late shifts and got into some unorthodox (alignments) that put you in some challenging positions. We have to be on our game to deny them from being able to block a punt. On a personal note, Coach McCarney is someone I revere. I can't say enough about how much he means to me. His energy, his passion, what he demanded out of me at a young age shaped what I have become as well as John Skladany, I was a GA for him. There are some personal feelings in this game. I don't know what I will feel when I walk across the field to shake Dan McCarney's hand at the 50. It is going to be different. I think the world of the man and he has been a mentor to me for a long, long time.
On the Developmental Team
On the building blocks of what we are trying to get done, program wise. I felt the energy last night, in our Sunday night scrimmage, the performance was the best it had been. There are freshmen like Andrew Soroh starting to make checks that he couldn't even what they were a month ago. The young Stoshak brother (Jake) is starting to come into his own. Nick Internicola, who is sitting out because of the transfer, is doing some nice things. Kellie Parfitt, who has transferred from Central Florida and is going through his redshirt year as an "O" lineman, is someone that shows a lot of promise. I'm excited about that part of our program. It is going well. Two examples of the nutrition and development emphasis: Nick Internicola since he walked in the door has gone from 238 pounds to 254. Ray Ellis, who is now quasi developmental maintenance, went from 256 pounds to 280. Those are just two examples of things that are going well for the future of the program.
Players Mentioned
RB
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DL
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WR
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DB
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