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6 p.m.
Football
vs. UAB
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Monday Morning with Head Football Coach Charlie Partridge
9/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 7, 2015
Opening Remarks
Today (Monday) in our world it is a Tuesday. It is a game week Tuesday for us. So, my mind frame is a little different than it normally is when I come in for this weekly gathering. So, we are deep into Miami game prep. We did some of it in the off season, like we did for all of the first three opponents. But, we got back home late on Saturday night. Me and about half the staff stayed here in the "Ox" (Oxley Center), got some things done and graded it into the night. Got a nap in and on Sunday got right away on the Miami game plan, putting that together and finalizing those thoughts. Put the Tulsa game to bed with the players yesterday and did a little bit of Miami intro. Today we had a condensed version of a Tuesday practice, keeping their bodies in mind.
Energy at Practice today, because of this week's opponent
There is a lot of excitement. You can really feel it across the board. Some of our young guys had to calm their spirit a bit today. That is youth and that is fun. I love that part of it in terms of their excitement. This is a game that we have had on our calendar. You can't help it. Knowing what the history of Miami has been and to have them in Palm Beach County and knowing what this event is going to be, our kids our coaches our staff our University are excited for this opportunity.
How big of a recruiting event is this for FAU
In my mind it is another one of those markers in the growth of the program. This being only the 15th year of FAU football's existence, to have a game like this on-campus is a big deal and you have to give credit to Howard Schnellenberger and former presidents and a lot of people who put in a lot of work to get to this point. The people who have been here throughout and people that started the program and were the Founders. We are in the Founders' Lounge ironically. There are 100 very proud Founders. We wouldn't be here without them. It is a great recruiting tool because of all the national attention but to me it is another marker in the growth of Florida Atlantic football.
On Miami
They have a very, very strong secondary. You can feel their experience. It is fun because I know a lot of these guys from the recruiting road from Artie Burns and Dallas Crawford from the west side, Tracy Howard from Miramar. These are kids that at some point or another I at least said hello to who went further down the recruiting trail. Very strong in the back end. We thought their "D" tackles, and they were rotating guys like you would expect, were very stout up front and very hard to get movement and very active on the edge at the defensive end spot. Obviously, what the Nickel did on special teams you respect his athleticism and speed.
One less day, affect game plan
It won't affect the game plan as much as it will affect the way we approach the week. I'm glad that I have the experience that I have had in the Big East because at that time we had a lot of short weeks. I was able to refer to some of the lessons that we learned at that time. We were very smart today with getting the meat and potatoes of a Tuesday. Again, I really have brainwashed myself in believing this is Tuesday. It was scaled down with the contact and we are trying to be smart that way. We gave them all the looks that they would normally get. We worked first and second downs on both sides of the ball, our coverage units both punt and kickoff and really focused on that stuff and limited the contact. It doesn't limit your game plan because you still have five work days, you just limit what you do on the field to allow their bodies to come back.
How much have you stressed on yourself and not the logo coming in.
A lot. My wife (Julie). I love her to death. Temple obviously had a great win over the weekend. She pointed out a quote to me and she has never done anything like this which is why I'm a little struck by it. She showed me the quote about how Temple focused on Temple. There is a lot to be said for that, for sure. Guys, I grew up with a University of Miami poster on my wall. They have been around a long time. But, our focus does need to be on us. To be honest, our mantra when we started this morning was learn about them, but let's focus on us. Because, if we can make some very specific improvements from Saturday we can be a very good football team.
The relentlessness of Saturday bodes well
It does. Obviously, I was aware but it was a completely different feeling when we were down 21-7. Completely different feeling. There was no panic. There was almost a true appropriate - appropriate lack of awareness. By that I mean, we always say 0-0, all those things that you hear forever. Our kids were just really focused on the next play. They came right back and within four points. The next thing you know we were up by 10. To our kids' credit, there was no panic during that game and they were in position to win. We will clean some things up and we will get there.
How do you feel about the offense? There were a lot of good things
There were. Some of the things that I thought about on the plane and as I was watching my ipad, I had a chance to think of all the weapons that that game produced and that is Jay Warren, Greg Howell ("Buddy"), Jenson Stoshak, Kalib Woods, Tyler Cameron and Quez (Jaquez Johnson). That is a lot of guys that made plays. Our "O" line showed signs of being very physical. For the first time since we have been here, four out of the five had double-digit knockdowns. That hasn't happened here. Those are good signs but to be a complete offense we have to get some things cleaned up. We will. Three hundred yards rushing excites you.
Players Mentioned
QB/TE
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RB
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QB
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