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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
FAU vs. Southern Illinois Quotes
9/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2016
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Florida Atlantic Quotes
Head Coach Charlie Partridge
"We're excited to be 1-0; very excited to accomplish our second mission. Our first mission being summer camp, our second mission being the Southern Illinois game, and we accomplished that. There's a lot of things coming out of the game that I'm very excited about, starting with our offense. Our offense showed a lot of signs of explosion. You look at a couple of those runs by Buddy. Obviously, Pico (Tavaris Harrison), catching the ball after a tip, an explosive play there. Woods, an explosive play there in the fourth quarter that certainly helped us to be in a position to win the game, so I'm excited about that. Defensively, there were signs of some really good things that came out in the third quarter. We did some good things, but we'll continue to get better. They were hurting us with some short passes out on the edge and we'll get that stuff cleaned up. I feel good about that. Special teams-wise, they blocked a field goal, had a couple big punts, some field position things. Bottom line is we won the game. We're out on the prowl. The Owls are 1-0, and we start our next mission tomorrow. So, we gave our kids the advice to take care of each other tonight and be smart, and I'm proud. I'm proud that we're 1-0. That's what matters at the end of the day."
"We really didn't have to get after them after halftime. We reminded them to do the things we witnessed and do so well at all football camp. We tackle better, defeat blocks, trigger when short passes are thrown, make what we call an 'apex player,' so they can be a clear read for the safety. There were very simple things that we were training to do and did well. There was some anxiety. We're still missing some things in our youth, certainly not enthusiasm or effort. We're not going to have those mistakes. So, you're seeing a lot of those guys grow up. There's a lot of first-year starters and second-year players that will continue to get better through the season."
"It was fun at that point (after Jason Driskel's fourth down touchdown). This is where I say there are some signs of really good things; the response by our players, their attitudes, their belief in each other, belief in the coaches, and vice versa. One of the battles we have right now is continuing to believe, but we're winning the battle, by believing that we're going to find a way to be victorious by the time that the zeros hit the scoreboard time clock. At the end of the day, that's what matters. So, that helped a lot in regards to that. When I made the decision on first down, I said 'if we get to this yard line or inside of it, I'm going on fourth,' and I'll make sure the defense on large part knows we're going to score. Also I believe in them, and that they wanted to score."
Gregory Howell, Jr.
"We know what we have to do, we know our assignment, we know our job, we go out there and do what we have to do, we were very successful. We went out there and we kept playing fast. There was no mercy, and we just kept going. We kept hitting them, and going forward to creating our rhythm."
On his successful early start…
"Practice. Reps over and over again. We do it day in and day out. When you trust in something, you have a great outcome. It's me just trusting my read and trusting my guys. They opened it up for me and I made my read. (It's all about) trusting the program, trusting the stuff that we're taught day in and day out, and just doing your job.
On Jason Driskel's performance…
"He was taking over. He was being a captain, a quarterback, taking charge of what was going on, doing his job and even when something big goes right, he's making the extra effort to get more yards and first downs."
On difference between Driskel this season and last season…
"He has learned more. He knew what he had to do and did it like a man. You can tell that he knows what he's doing. He knows what the sign is, he knows what everyone else's sign is."
"We had to win every football moment and came out and took it play by play.We took (SIU) off the field and our offense had good drives, and that's how we came up with a 'W.'"
On winning the season opener…
"It means a lot to the seniors, this program, this team, and to Boca, because we're going to bring it all year, and I'm excited to what this year holds."
On SIU's offense…
"We have the best no-huddle team in the country, and we practice that way. We have tempo offense with Coach Trickett. He put us in the best place for any tempo offense. So, we're prepared for any no-huddle like that."
Southern Illinois Quotes
Head Coach Nick Hill
On the fourth quarter and being down
"I would never question their ability to stay in the game and keep competing. I mean character is all over that locker room. That's just who they are. They are going to keep competing. That is what our program is about. Any time with an offense that we run, or that they run, down two scores with that much time you have to go down and score one and see where it's at. You know go down and score or get an onside kick. There have been a lot of games decided like that. We tried to give ourselves a chance to get an onside kick but we weren't able to do it."
Takeaways from the third quarter
"Really it was those second downs. I have to go back and look at the film. We felt good coming out at half time with what we were going to do. We were successful on getting first downs on both drives. Being second and 10 and those second down calls putting us in those third and long calls, we just weren't able to convert. You always want to try and stay away from as many third and longs as you can. Just like them, once you get going you pick it up and get that first first down and we just weren't able to do that."
On defense
"They did a nice job, and they did what they had to do in the third quarter. I'm proud of our defense's effort. That's a lot of plays. I don't know how many plays they ran or how many plays we ran, but I mean in this heat in South Florida, I don't care how many scholarship players you got out there or what your depth is. There are a lot of good conditioned athletes that by the end you're fuel is running low. I was proud of their effort. Our D-line kept getting push. I thought Driskel made a lot of plays with his feet where we couldn't tackle him. We have to tackle better. I mean Driskel is a big strong kid, but if we could have got him down a couple times. He extended their drives by us playing good coverage but him being able to pick up plays with his feet."
On Josh Straughan
"You always have to go back and watch the film, but sitting back over there I was really happy with Josh. Just trusting him and asking him to execute what we are trying to do. I haven't seen the stat sheet, but we put a lot on him. He executed our offense. He made some plays when things weren't there. He was smart with the football. Anytime you can snap it that many times and not turn the ball over and play a clean game you're doing a good job. You're going to miss some throws. I thought he made a nice play there. We weren't able to execute it to Jimmy late. That would have been a different story. I am sure he is going to have a few he would like to get back when we watch film. There always is, but I was proud of Josh and his effort.
On his first game as head coach and the potential of the team moving forward
Obviously we got on the plane to win the game, so we don't feel good about playing close. It was a game I feel we could win. There is a locker room full of guys who expected to win too. It wasn't like "hey let's play the Division I team and let's play it close", but not this one and not those guys in the locker room. We have the ability to be good. It's a long season, and we play in a great conference. We have to take it one week at a time. We have to have a great week of practice leading up to SEMO this week. That's the next team on our schedule. We have to prepare. We play at home, and we look forward to the next challenge."
On Driskel
"A lot of times I don't even know if we overran it. Sometimes he had guys on his feet and he was just breaking tackles. Sometimes it was bad pursuit, but a lot of times we had him wrapped up and he ended up getting those extra two or three yards. I know Jason from back to his high school days. I have known him for a long time. He is a big, strong kid just like his brother. He did a really nice job. I thought he played a pretty good game too.
#12 Josh Straughan, Quarterback
On offense
"I think as on offense we didn't execute as well in the second half as we did in the first. We left our defense on the field for too long. That caused some problems."
On getting comfortable
"After the first completion I was good. I was ready to go after the first completion."
On his legs
"They have a good defensive line. They played well. They played hard. I got away a couple times, but I wish it could have been a few times more."
Takeaways
"We just have to be better. I know they are an FBS team, but everyone in that locker room, all the way to the last drive, felt like we were the better team. Honestly we felt like we had a chance to win the game. Hats off to FAU. They played a good game, especially in the second half. We're confident. Going to watch some film and get ready for SEMO next week. I think we just have to get into the film and build off what we did. We need to fix some mistakes and clean up some stuff. There is always a lot of stuff you have to clean up after the first game. Go there, take care of that and get ready for next week."
#5 Chase Allen, MIKE
On defense
"We just have to improve on tackling as a defense including myself. We are in the right position we just have to be able to bring the guy down."
On anything the defense could have done differently in the second half
"No, we kind of schemed a couple plays and a couple calls but for the most part it is just executing our defense and things would have went better."
On FAU's big plays in the first half
"That hurt us. We stop those plays and it could be a different ball game. If we make a few tackles on third down. They don't get a couple VRs or first downs. Those drives stop. It all comes together."
On taking on Buddy Howell and play in the second half
"Yeah, we made that change or made that fix from the first half. They tried to get the tempo going in the second half, and we just had to react that. We got off gaud a couple times and they were able to make some plays.
Takeaways
"I think our team has a ton of potential. We've been eager to get out here and play another team besides ourselves for a long time. This is the first time we have all been together on the sideline at a game, so I feel like we have a ton of potential as team. I feel like our best improvement should be from this week to SEMO."
Players Mentioned
QB
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RB
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