Upcoming Event: Football versus Friday Night Showcase on April 17, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Football
vs. Friday Night Showcase
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Monday Morning with Head Football Coach Charlie Partridge
10/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 19, 2015
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Opening Remarks
I do want to get on record that I want to thank the fans that came to see us on Saturday. I appreciate them being there. Last comments about the Marshall game…really comes down to there is some good to take from it. We have reduced the penalties. We have eliminated the turnovers with the exception of pass when we went for it on fourth and 12. I talked about that after the game. We too individually, all of us, executed at a higher percentage to beat a team like Marshall, a team that has established themselves as a power in the conference. When we get to that point, then we are going to be a really good football team. You can see improvement. I have referred to some of it.
UTEP in general, they are a physical team that plays hard. They believe in their staff. You can see that evidence. They have had some tough losses from an injury. They lost their all-conference running back, Aaron Jones, who’s really good. I know that hurt them. They have had the same starting five “O” linemen the whole time. It is a hard fundamental group. Obviously, if you know about their “O” line coach (Spencer Leftwich). He was with the (Pittsburgh) Steelers when I was at Pitt. I knew him a little bit when I was at Wisconsin. I worked to recruit his son who played for North Hill. So, I respect their head coach and they take on his personality.
Their offense, like I talked about, they lost Aaron Jones. Their tight ends are a consistent group. They have caught a lot of passes. At times, they have three or four on the field. Looks like their quarterback (Mark) Leftwich is going to be back versus us. They will still use (Kavika) Johnson as a wildcat quarterback. So, we have some things to plan for there. Their defense (Alvin) Jones, outside linebacker, I believe he is a redshirt sophomore, is fun to watch. He is active. He has a number of sacks. He is active just playing linebacker. Roy Robertson-Harris, D end, has a ton of ability. He is 6-7 and 250. He can get a pressure on the quarterback and they have good size in the secondary. So that is our challenges from them.
On our quarterback, it is day-to-day decision. (Jaquez) Quez (Johnson), (Jason) Driskel and (Daniel) Parr will all get reps in practice. It will be day-to-day and Quez’s health will play into it.
At this point, not just quarterback, do you think about line-up changes or do you just tweak?
It is really just continue to fight to execute at a higher level. You may tweak a thing here or there. Focus on a play that you have had success a little more. We made a tweak when Trey Rod (Rodriguez) came in. There are some plays that fit what he does. We will continue to do some things like that. But no, all of our focus is on UTEP, period.
Some of the positives in the Marshall game?
Some of the three and outs that our defense got. The way our offense was able to move the ball. We know we have to get touchdowns not field goals which is something we are fighting to do so, we will keep working when we are down in the red zone, especially against a team like Marshall, you have to fight for touchdowns. We have to be better there, players and coaches alike. I like the way we are moving the ball from the 20 to the 20, at times. I like some of the three and out stops that we are getting at times. Azeez (Al-Shaair) continues to get better and better so again the growth of the freshmen. Just about any time you hit pause at the end of the play on defense you count up a lot of freshmen around the ball and they are continuing to get better. Their execution is improving from week to week.
When you look at the red zone, especially inside the 10, there always seemed to be a play that (Jaquez) Quez would run it. Even when he is on the field this year you haven’t had that because of his injury. How much is that effecting your performance down there?
I think it is legit. Having threat where not only do they have to account for him but they really have to account for him. By that I mean when you have a quarterback who will run it versus a quarterback who is as much of a threat as a running back, you have to account for it differently. Without getting too technical you have to have a guy (defensively) who is half on a guy and who can get out and get the quarterback if (he is the ball carrier). You can’t do that with (Jaquez) Quez. So there is no doubt that it allows them to play defense differently, without that threat that Quez is with the ball in his hands. So it is a challenge
So it affects the way you approach that area of the field?
You are not running it as the designed quarterback run. That is really the biggest difference. The pass plays are the same. The hand-offs to the running backs are the same, that doesn’t change. It is the designed quarterback runs that really gets separated out of your package.
Is it because Driskel lacks physicality?
Driskel can run. (Jaquez) Quez is equal to a true running back and that is uncommon that you have a quarterback with that kind of ability. So, you start to design plays with that in mind. Driskel can run the ball. He can run zone read and pull it out. He did it against Miami. The first time he pulled the ball he ran for 10 or 11 yards and picked up a first down. But, when you start getting in there and the safeties can be down seven yards because the field is obviously shorter and they are protecting the goal line and not staying deep shoulder you now have nine guys that are closer and you need to have a guy that can run through a tackle or break a tackle. Driskel can run but I don’t know that we want to count on him to do those kind of things.
Is it because Quez has been doing it for three years that the guys have an unfamiliarity down there?
I don’t think it is an unfamiliarity. I think it goes back to some of issues that we have had when we haven’t executed at 100%. That has to come to me first. I have to find a way where we make the throw and the catch. Where we protect the blitzer off the edge. You think about the play, right before the field goal attempt right before the second quarter where Jenson (Stoshak) was out open. We had an issue with the protection and so there was a guy coming unblocked off the edge and we had to hurry the throw. It is less about the comfort of the plays in the red zone and more about the executing things. That same protection we run out in the middle of the field.
You said last week that you admire the simplicity of Marshall and that they were really good at what they do. Is that something you can take into this red zone situation?
I would say we would take that if I thought we were complex right now. And, I would say yeah that is something we need to take a look at. But, I don’t see us as complex or overly simple. I do think we are in the right place. I think we have to get better at what we are doing.
Success with no-huddle (fast tempo)?
We knew it was something that we had success with against them, last year and in the course of the game this last Saturday and the year before I got here. That tempo was a challenge for those guys. Again, it proved to be the case. Credit our guys. They executed the tempo stuff really well. Our guys enjoy the tempo stuff. Even with the Oregons and teams that do it all the time there is a couple of things that stop your tempo from continuing, an incomplete pass down the field because you are exchanging some body or you have to get a guy back from 20 or 30 yards or a penalty. Those are the two things that can stop your tempo from being effective. It is something that we use probably 20% of games and we used it a little more this past week because we thought we could have success.
Could you see yourself using it more?
I think it depends on the opponent. It depends on what personnel we have available to us. Again, if Quez is available and healthy, there will be a couple of different tempo plays. One thing about tempo too is that when you are running tempo you don’t have your whole playbook in there. You don’t necessarily have your drop back pass combination. It is a scaled down version because one signal tells them everything. We do have a big percentage of our offense in that we can run at our fastest speed but, not everything. But, how much we do depends on who is back at quarterback.
What bring (Daniel) Parr into the discussion this week? Is it improvement?
He has really been in the discussion all along. I think I have said it every week that Parr is someone that we are continuing to evaluate. Driskel did some nice things. There is really five plays that he would tell you the same thing. We want him to perform better. That is the life with a freshman. He will continue to get better. Parr as we all know is a really good talent and is going to be a really good player here. So, it is nothing new. It has been the last couple of weeks.
What would it take to play?
I couldn’t. There is no one thing that would happen where ok Coach is about to put Parr in. It’s how the week goes and how Quez’s health is. It is how the week goes for Parr and Driskel. It is the entire week leading up to the game and then the game.
I’m assuming that if everything went well you would prefer to redshirt him (Parr)?
The thing I love about Daniel (Parr) is that he is not worried about the redshirt. He wants to do whatever it takes to help the team win. We have had that conversation a couple of times. So, with that being said we are going to do everything we can to win each game each week. If that means Parr comes in then Parr comes in.
Do you have a time when you need to make a decision whether or not Quez can go?
During the course of the week, you would like to know that he is close at full strength by Wednesday or Thursday. That is ideally, so that he can get the timing of all the run plays that he has been doing. ‘You say coach he has been doing it for years. It is like riding a bike.’ It is really not. The best of the best, the NFL guys, they need reps to keep their timing and their execution at a high level. So, that is where you hope by Wednesday or Thursday if we are going to start and play Quez fulltime…that we see him at close to full speed so that we have that whole arsenal of plays in our call sheet.
Are you doing what you did last week, hold him back on Tuesday?
To be honest with you, I’m hoping he can go. It all depends on how he comes in. He felt better last night than he has in a while. He is working hard today to get his rehab. Quez wants to play. We want him to play. We will see where he is at tomorrow. If he feels really good we will let him go. I hope he does.
What kind of treatment is he doing?
He is coming in three times a day and doing rehab strengthening stuff. Typical ice and stem type of things and beyond that it is out of my expertise.
Brace?
He does. He spats. He wears an ankle brace and everything he can to support it. At the end of the day regardless of the bracing, all the cuts and the things you are asking him to do and that he is capable of is based on how he feels and where he is at.
We didn’t see much of “Buddy” (Greg Howell). Part of that, I’m sure is that you wanted to get Trey (Rodriguez) the ball was there something more to it?
Part of it (on Rodriguez). Not at all (more to it). Part of it was that we only had 65 plays. Which, I can’t believe we are in the day and age when we say only 65 plays. We talked about that. More people are going to touch the ball when we get more plays. There was nothing “Buddy” did wrong. Nothing from that standpoint. Trey was doing well. Jay (Warren) had done some things. We are not down on “Buddy” at all. It is a good thing when you feel like you have three or four quality backs that can all produce for you. You are going to ask me about somebody next week. ‘Why didn’t so and so touch it’. That is ok it is part of it. That is a good thing for the future.
You were looking for more ways to get Trey involved last week. Did you see enough to continue it?
Yeah, you look at that first drive. He really did some nice things to get us down in position to score. All be it a field goal. To put us in position to put points on the board. You know, “Buddy” and Jay have shown us that at times too. So, we would love to get to a point where all three of those guys are clicking at the same time. That would be fun to see, it really would.
It thought it was interesting to see that you went to Trey on the touchdowns which is the smallest of the three backs we are talking about. Do you see him as an inside runner?
He can be. You have seen it and I have talked about it a little bit. It is hard to get a solid hit on Trey because he is so quick. He gets a guy out of position and he also had power. When he gets a guy out of position he is not the biggest back we have, certainly, but when he gets a guy off balance the power that he does have can be displayed and he can get that extra one or two yards. It is different than other style backs where they are going to come right at you and bring all their strength and size. He is going to get you off balance and bring his power. There is a difference between quickness and power brings in the quickness component. He has got that. I see all three of them, really, as inside runners.
What did you think of the offensive line?
There was some things they did well. There were times when Jason Driskel had a great pocket to step up into. There is times when you saw movement. I would like to see more consistently us get movement on our runs. That is the biggest thing I’m looking for this week is getting more resetting the line of scrimmage. That is what I would like to see those guys improve upon from this week to next.
Seemed like you were getting that early in the season. Are teams adjusting?
I don’t know that we are getting less than what we have in the past. I think we have hit some big runs and we have covered some guys up. We just need to get it more each week. I haven’t seen the decline in it. I want to see a more rapid increase in the movement from our “O” line.
Inside the Owls Burrow 2025-26 Spring Show #7
Wednesday, April 08
Jayden Sweeney Mic'd Up
Tuesday, April 07
Dominique Henry Mic'd Up
Saturday, April 04
Practice #8
Thursday, April 02