Rhett Lashlee talks SMU win over Houston Christian | SMU Football Press Conference

Obviously good to be two and0 and and um started a little faster thought it was good really good job all around especially by our defense we stopped the run really well in the first half in the three turnovers obviously scoring on one always helps and then um thought after that first drive the offense got going especially in that first quarter and we did a nice job of of um of kind of taking control of the game early and and then finding a way to finish what was it that you saw in bashard Smith that made you think he would be such a good good at running back and what has it been like to see what he's done in these first two games well I'm GNA tell you the truth which means I need to I don't need to lie to you but so we were familiar with him I mean going all the way back to when we first got to Miami he was at pal medal high school and he was a big time recruit at the time was going to Florida so we started recruiting him he ended up staying home and going to Miami and and at the time we recruting him to be a slot you know he he predominantly played slot in high school was really good um he ended up having to play quarterback in high school as senior year cuz their quar back got hurt but he was a slot receiver so he came in to do that in our first year we had two older guys you know at the time Mike Harley and then xaviera who's their their senior now so he wasn't going to play as a freshman but we saw how explosive in Talent he was so we got him in some games and got him some touches and Summit running back in all different ways and so you could kind of see the naturalness uh natural ability running ability he had then he's just good with the ball in his hands you know and and then of course over the last two years they they played him a lot at slot but even last year a couple times not only a kick return he he had some nice nice runs and the honest part I was going to get to is I was watching the Kansas City Chiefs play middle of the year last year and Isaiah Peko was running and I said that's brashard Smith he's 10 pounds heavier than bashard but like and at that point I'm like could brashard do it while I was looking bashard is only 10 pounds lighter than him so I'm like well yeah he can do it because he just runs with that downhill mentality for a smaller back can definitely get on the edge he can really catch the football and then stylistically the offense is he fits and so when he decided to transfer and wanted to come here and we didn't really have an e slot kind of like we did at Miami we just said man he's just too explosive of a of a talent let's see if he can play a running back and so far he can you said you didn't have a need at slot but you also returned your top three running backs this year so did you feel like you really needed him and has the injury situation kind of made him more of a cral part I don't at the time we weren't even when he the first maybe two to three weeks he was in the port we weren't going to take him we were just like we don't to your point we don't have a need and it's like well he's an All-American kick returner not a bad thing we knew him he wanted to come and and that's when it kind of formulated my head well let's see if he can play a running back he could do either or to your point we had depth at both but you never know how injuries go but we made the commitment to him and told him hey when you're coming here we're going to start you running back in Spring and see how that goes and and he's done a nice job picking it up what did you learn from your quarterbacks tonight and was that rotation uh kind of more how you drew it up I guess rotating him yeah I mean obviously the way the game went and you know they they play a lot of cover two and keep everything in front of them and then after we had a couple good drives kind of attacking that um they went to more of like a a drop eight cover three and so again they're just keeping everything in front five six man boxes kind of making you run the football um so we didn't get a lot of just I mean I think Preston through nine Kevin through 14 but um yeah we intended to We Came the game with the same approach Preston's going to start Kevin's gonna take the third and fourth series we're going to go back to Preston and then by the time I think we got back to Preston five or six drive it was 28 or or 35 to nothing and so at that point we just were going to let them both keep playing until um you know we felt we could turn over to keldrick kind of wanted to get to kri quicker um but we wanted to we didn't want to just mail it in we wanted to practice starting in the second half because that's going to happen in every game the rest of the way so we wanted to get both Preston and Kevin a drive in the second half and and so we did but overall I think they did a nice job executing offense doing what we needed to do valuing the football ball and I'll see the film and see what else kind of stands out how big was the defense getting the turnovers going in this one yeah it was huge you know we scored uh I I believe Mod's interception was next and then we so then we score and then tanks then we score then Tank scores you know and then so um it was good I mean not only to to get the ball back a lot quicker because they're getting off the field quick but the turnover short Fields even scoring um I mean man that changes a game very very quickly and it takes a lot lot the pressure off everybody you've often talked about getting your team to play at a high level regardless of the opponent and when you're up five touchdowns at halftime what did you think of the way your team maintained its urgency and intensity and focus um I thought we played fine I thought we played well in the second half you know we were able to go out our defense got to stop we were able to go score we got to stop and score and then that kind of put it over with but you know the first quarter was great it was a great start the def had a lot to do with that at the second quarter I do think we hit a low um we had a couple penalties that hurt us we let them score and then we had to punt somewhere in there so and you know I did think we started when it got to 35 nothing we started to really relax there for a minute but they pulled out of it and we just told them that half time yeah we got to be a finishing team we got to be able to start fast in the second half as well we got to be disciplined you know I think we had two penalties in the second half that weren't good but uh we improved a little bit there so you know they did a nice job of finishing and and and not kind of letting uh letting the guard down what what have you seen from Elijah Roberts so far and just how teams are playing him and you know be one tackle I think in the first two games so what are yall see well I mean I haven't seen this film yet from a defensive standpoint so I don't know what all did or didn't happen as much tonight um you know I mean it's kind of sometimes those deals where you got like a lock down corner and you're like well man he doesn't have any interceptions was yeah cuz nobody throws at him you know and it it could be sometimes that way like hey the guy had a big year last year they're going to slide their protection to him they're going to put the back that way they're going to run away from him those things but um I don't know if that's the case yet um I thought last week look their plan was to run the ball run the ball run the ball um shrink the clock they did until the last drive it was never really a a game where you could really get after the passer um tonight we we did get after the passer uh a couple times which was good so I I'm not worried about it um you know like I said he is going to get his when the time's right and if not he's opening up for other guys kind of off of that how big is it for Jafari and and turbo to show that they can do it if they're going to double and lead them in one-on ones it's big we feel like we got a lot of depth there on the D line and we're going to need them all and uh you know the uh the competition level's about to really uh raise its level on us so it was good for those guys to uh to kind of get that good feeling going tonight what was the first week like in Weber and then what was the game atmosphere like for you guys yeah it's it's like you move into your house two weeks before you're supposed to you know and so you're excited and it's awesome and it was it's been great we've been operating out of here since Monday um the kids have loved it but there's still a lot going on you know so you're kind of sharing the space and there's no issues with that we've we loved every minute of this this facility is incredible it's we knew it was a game Cher uh we knew it was going to be uh everything we thought it would be more for our players it's just it's exceeded all expectations um and then the crowd I mean I think it was a really good crowd for for first home game um you know for this setting and uh we're excited about the games to come we got three straight home games against three big time opponents and um at least from what I'm told they're all pretty close to being sold out so um we're going to be excited I thought our students were awesome I mean the students were there when we came out to start the game and we appreciate that like I get it man if I was in college I'd want to hang out on the boulevard a long time too awesome for them to be there when the team ran out they were loud they were a awesome and uh we're really appreciative of that and how important was it to have a dominant showing like this and just get last week out and just you know come out and open open up the new stadium situation look you're looking around the country there was not as many games last week you're looking tonight and I don't I've only seen a few scores but there's it's hard to win in college football right especially early in the season people are trying to figure out who they are and um so you know a lot got made it last week I think I think Nevada is going to have a good football team this year um you know it's it's only normal that a lot more gets made of our poor play Early not our great finish um you know if we' have come out tonight and and been real sluggish and and not taking care of business then then yeah I think there might have been cause for concern we really weren't alarmed internally and it was good for our guys to confirm that with with how they came out just very businesslike and started fast and and took control of the game early Derek McFall had some nice runs tonight how important is it for him to get these reps so early in his collegiate career it's awesome I mean you know when you have a game like this that you get the opportunity to play especially with the new rule that freshman can play four games and still red shirt um it's awesome for all those guys a lot of guys got to play their first college snap tonight um which was really cool U but then guys you you specifically asked about Derek McFall I mean look the running back room can get thin and small in a hurry um and so there's there's no question there's a chance we're going to need him this year and so every rep and every snap he gets his valuable experience he's gotten the I've now played college football first snaps out of his out of his system and so uh now he can start to really improve now seeing Kevin playing two games and get kind of a good chunk of playing time tonight what steps forward have you seen him take from those last few games last season he looks pretty confident that yeah I think the biggest thing he's definitely confident which you should be right um the more and more you play I think the biggest thing he's valuing the football you know and that's he's U he's an electric player who can make plays and and is aggressive which we want him to be I mean you don't ever want to take a quarterback or a playmaker and and take away their natural abilities to make plays at the same time we got to Value the football and um I think in two game so far he's shown his willingness when it's there to take it when it's not to take off and run throw it away even you know whatever that may be Live to play another down and so I think that scenar has really improved and then for the for injuries um I always like to see Cham Le get in there and then Jaylen n yeah Jaylen uh wasn't 100% um could have gone but we just chose to to hold him we dressed him but we chose to hold him if we could and we were able to um it was good to get shamble in there uh we got him in there pretty early I mean there's nothing wrong with Justin um but I think around 28 or 35 we got him in there and um you know I haven't seen everything from him but I know coach Justice felt like he was moving good enough and so um you know on one hand we could have not played him but he was healthy enough to play so let's get him out there get some some rust off and whatnot cuz you know we're going to need him in the weeks to come so that was a good and the kind of the new look offensive line I mean what did you see from them at least you know just initial Impressions you know and I don't think we had a sack tonight I don't see it on here but you know I think we've done a nice job on pass Pro I mean you know when you run for for 369 yards it really doesn't matter I mean that's hard to do um so I thought I thought it was really good for their first outing together we feel really good that that's the five if they stay healthy that that's the five with shamble rotating a tackle with Nate and Ben rotating in at guard um we think that five can get better and better um and so I feel I feel good that that's that's where we'll stay you know as long as we're able to