Press ConferenceL USF Football Pre-Houston (10-25-22)

all right uh we just completed practice number five for Houston uh we got three good days in last week and then uh Sunday and today so off to a good start there uh obviously uh disappointing news that we got early last week about uh Gary's shoulder uh you know they did an x-ray right after the game and had good news there that he didn't have a broken collarbone or anything but whenever they did the MRI uh it did show some things that they feel like they need to go clean up in surgery so uh he'll be out for the remainder of the season and really just feel for him uh you know he really uh was was uh settling in and playing really good ball uh the last two games and uh so disappointed for him number one and then obviously you know uh for our team but you know Gary is a tough guy mentally and physically a tough guy and even though this is a setback for him I've got full confidence that he'll come back and be stronger next year for our team uh it's just uh another injury to add to the list a long list was hoping that maybe through the first six games we would kind of get that behind us but it looks like it's you know continuing to add there but at the end of the day we can't feel sorry for ourselves we can't uh you know use these as excuses or you know whatever that's not going to get anything accomplished uh the only only path is to have the next man up mindset and go back to work and uh you know going back watching the tape I thought there's some some things that Trey Marsh did a good job of he had two nice touchdown passes and then you know he had some plays obviously that he'll need to improve and he'll work on and uh clean up the turnover there but you know Trey's been here for three years and he's gotten a lot of work in practice as a backup and had a few experiences in games but I'm excited uh to be able to see him go out and play this week versus Houston and then behind Trey we really have three guys that'll be kind of working and getting ready the first will be Byron Brown byram's a true freshman that we're very high on and we believe he has a big future uh you know very smart young man I think he had over a 4.0 in high school and I believe he's making Straight A's here he's mature for his age for being a young guy he's got really good maturity to him everything's very important to him he picks up things very quickly and I think you don't ever like to be in this situation losing your starter but maybe one silver lining for us as it happened going into a bye week where we have two weeks to to really get uh Trey and Byram ready behind Byram is Gunner Smith another freshman that we signed and Gunners really improved he's been working with the scout team really all fall and doing a good job for them down there and obviously with this we've moved him up to the varsity and then also one other quarterback I wanted to mention Ryan boldick is a walk-on quarterback for us that uh came in from Cardinal Mooney and another very smart uh player and and has done a really good job for us he knows what we're doing and so those will really be the the three guys there behind Trey that uh will be given reps and getting ready for this week and for the remainder of the Season uh Houston uh again a very talented team uh very explosive on offense their quarterback like we've talked about with kind of the year of the quarterback the year of the injuries and the year of the quarterback but Clayton tune is an outstanding player and just a winner and does a lot of great things for their offense and then defensively reminds me of uh Cincinnati when you watch the video uh you know they have to be one of the top teams in the country in sax just create a lot of Havoc they've got nine and ten defensive linemen that all are disruptive and all really really good players and that's where it starts for them up front so we're gonna have to be really smart with what we uh you know game plan wise and what we ask our guys to do because a lot of regular drop back everybody's had trouble blocking those guys this year that would be another a big Challenge and a new opportunity for us and like I told our team we've got five games left and uh you know the first seven games haven't gone the way that maybe we envisioned and the way that we want it and and there's a lot of reasons for that we have a hand in some of that too we we could have coached better and we could have played better and then obviously you know you got to take into consideration some of the other stuff that's happened as well but at the end of the day you know those first seven games are part of our story for this season but it doesn't have to be the story of our season if we go and finish the right way and and how we finish these last five games starting this week against a good Houston team we're really in my opinion kind of be the the story of the season and so we have opportunity and you know as far as what I watch from the guys and from our staff nobody's happy obviously everybody's frustrated but everybody shows up everybody goes to work and does have have the right attitude and that's really the biggest thing that I'm looking for is is making sure that we've got guys that are continuing to push and striving to get better and as long as we do that I believe that we have an opportunity for Success ahead of us so that's really what we're focused on without opening up for any questions as you look at it and yeah it might change your shift moving forward can I tell you at the end of the season uh I'm not trying to be smart I'm just you know I think it's always important during your bye week regardless of success or lack of success you know you always go and do a self-scout where you take a kind of defensive look at your offense an offensive look at your defense and then uh you know share some of those things and you're looking at Tendencies you're looking at you know what did we think we would do well how did we do in that and what gave us problems and how do we correct that and uh so I guess what I would confirm is yes we took a lot of time to do that and we did find some things but I don't think it's in our advantage to kind of share overall what that is I think uh from a 10 000 foot view um you know at the end of the day what we've told our guys is the game is about execution it's not about plays right we can draw up plays and talk about how this could work and how this happens and all that at the end of the day it's uh how well you execute so as a coach you know uh are we coaching and teaching the things that our guys can execute well in practice and can carry over to the game and then for the players is am I executing and doing what I need to do with my job and then Personnel wise obviously with a change at quarterback there'll be you know some subtle changes I'm not sure that big picture wise people would see major changes but there'll be some subtle changes because you know each of those guys Gary is different than Trey and Trey's different uh you know than than Byram and some of those other guys so you know you have to kind of balance that in as well uh with what you have and then you know defensively again it's kind of a time to go back and look at what you've done well and what you need to improve on and a lot of it's not real exciting stuff to talk about it's the the basics it's tackling right it's being playing with lower pads up front it's having better leverage and understanding you know angles and all of these kind of things and so that's another thing that we spent a lot of time on a little extra time for individual fundamental work did probably 25 minutes a day Tuesday Wednesday Thursday on fundamentals or typically in the season because of the game planning and all that you're more about 10 minutes and true Indie work so part of it's kind of going back focusing on that and then you know for us you know there'll be some things I'm not sure that would be something that somebody on the outside would be able to to notice but there's definitely things within our scheme that we can do better and and put our guys in a better situation and that's kind of our part of our job as a coach you never kind of just start out and then you just go and autopilot and play the whole season out every week you've gotta you know adjust to the good and the bad that comes um this year just how beneficial is it going to be for him to have that yeah you know not just that whole week but an extra week on and off of that going in yeah I think it's helpful again like I said earlier it's never an ideal situation when you lose your starter but if it was going to happen to happen before a bye week to give you two weeks for both you know the quarterbacks tray and and even Byram because you only rep two guys every day as far as in your team periods and all that so you know for the whole fall it's been you know uh Gary and Trey and byram's been watching and then Byron would throw an indie to the white outs and all that but as far as real plays out there you know Byron hasn't gotten many Trey has but it's all been with the twos so now for Trey to get all the work with the ones and for Byram now to start getting live reps with the second team and all that for two weeks before you go play that's an advantage for them and then it's an advantage for us as coaches knowing uh that you know the guys that are going to be playing and maybe putting together a plan for those guys to be successful in using their strengths you took your idea this team thinks it's straight big but what's going to happen next or yeah yeah um I don't know I really haven't thought about that I would just say um whenever I see a new injury you know I feel bad for the young man but it just okay add it to the list you know I mean it just kind of it is what it is and you just kind of get in the mode that um you know at the end of the day you have to go back and just say all you can do as a coach and a player is control what you can control right and obviously there's emotions and disappointment we all we all have that but to to give ourselves the best chance to have success you've got to move past that as quick as you can and say I mean I could sit up there in my office and look at where we were at the beginning of the season and our depth chart and feel really good and where we are and you know kind of have the woe as me but that's going to be 15 minutes that I'm not game planning for Houston which is really what's going to give us a chance to be able to go out and have success so I think while you're in the middle of it you know you just have to process it and and move on to the next but does it feel like that absolutely it does I mean you know the frustrating part about it is it's all been different injuries and different situations uh you know like I've said before if we had you know six of one injury and eight of another injury you would really kind of look at what you're doing but it's been a lot of different things that have happened and and then you go back and watch the plays I mean Gary was going to try to get a first down and doing what he does he's a aggressive Runner and you know he just unfortunately got hit kind of at the wrong angle right there but uh does it feel like that yes is our pla our players walking around with their heads down because of that no I mean they kind of understand what we've said we got control we can control next man up this is another opportunity for the next guy to go in and like I've told the guys that's why we have 85 guys on scholarship well you only play 11 guys every play but you have 85 guys on scholarship well the reason is for injuries and things like this that happen and um you know what so really just trying to focus on you know what we can control and we don't you know we do control I'm careful and what we're doing I think the other thing probably that's tough is how you practice right when you have so many injuries you know you as a coach you can't just say well we're just going to go live for two hours and just whoever's left standing let's go play I mean you got to have some common sense too but at the same time you got to get some good good on good work so you're just really kind of picking and choosing those reps where sometime if you have more of your full roster you can be a little bit more aggressive you know on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in your practice but so as far as that part I'm trying to manage that as best as I can but as far as you know the other piece um you know we're moving forward what kind of sticks with you about the recruiting process with trademark I think he committed just after your first full recruiting week yeah he was committed I want to say could be wrong I want to say he was committed to Utah yeah early on and then uh you know whenever I got the job and I was here for maybe 10 days and then I went back to Clemson and when I wasn't game plan or at practice you know I was on the phone and recruiting and obviously quarterback's a big thing I remember that you know he he won a lot of games there at his school and came from a really good program I knew he had good arm strength I knew he was a big bodied guy sometimes you know you're looking for some guys that you know bigger guys big stats stature in the pocket and all that kind of stuff and then I met him and I thought he had a good you know personality and all that to him and it just kind of clicked and so I think that that part's really good the other thing I'd say about Trey 2 is I mean this this world we're in man it just operates so fast right this environment and college football in the portal and all these things and so you know last year in December you know Trey you know knowing that we had a starter coming back who trade competed with you know Trey decided to get in the portal to kind of see you know what he could do and uh you know after being in there for a couple weeks you know he called me back and started talking through a few things and uh and really we didn't have we had two freshmen coming in but we didn't have anybody other than our returning starter at that point coming back and so I'm glad that I agreed to let him come back right because you didn't really know all the other things that transpire that that's one thing that you know people could miss that if he would have done kind of the normal thing and just kind of moved on then you know we could have been in a situation right now where we have one fewer quarterback with experience that has played and been in that meeting room for for three years so I do appreciate that part and I I'm excited I know you know he's had some some good plays and some bad plays when he's been in there but that's all kind of part of your journey as a as a young player and it is difficult uh going into a game and not knowing you know if you're going to play or not you got to kind of prepare for that but now having two weeks to kind of get ready and know that this is going to be his game I'm excited to see him go lead our offense uh yeah I'll say just overall maturity I think he was you know just kind of young and trying to figure it out when he first got here um you know sometimes as a young player you don't know what you don't know right if you know what you don't know and you go learn it but sometimes you think you know a little bit more and then it kind of you know gets a little fuzzy for you and uh he's put in some time in the meeting room with Coach Trickett and learning the offense and just I've just seen this year and my challenge to him whenever he came back was I don't want you coming back just to come hang out you know because at that time you know he knew he was probably going to be the backup again I don't want you just to come by time if you're coming back I want you to be serious about it and come back and go to work and I feel like he has and he's done that and I've Just Seen growth in his overall maturity and knowledge of what we're doing and and confidence and what we're doing and and now you know hopefully that'll transpire over to the game field from what you had to say about Byram he seems like a real mature young man yeah talk about he said he hasn't had it yeah many meaningful reps out there on the package yeah Byram has you know sometimes there's a lot of good things with young guys too just kind of a youthful energy and uh Byron brings that uh you know Byron's like you're All American [Music] young man I won't call my kid even though he just turned 18 I think uh he's just kind of like big bright smile I think we recruited him you know he had uh big braces just kind of came in just a big smile really just kind of a very young looking young man but uh just highly intelligent uh just a really great energy about him he carries that with him and the players really like him and and uh kind of feed off of his energy and it's been fun like I said you know it's the hardest thing to do is not be the backup quarterback the hardest things to be the third quarterback because you can't go to scout team and get reps because you have to be watching everything with the varsity but you can't get reps with the varsity so you're having to stand and watch and so that's where it really matters if you're mature if you're focused on getting mental reps and getting better with every rep that goes on or if you're young and don't know you're just kind of wandering around Washington and Ballroom is very intentional and I mean honestly this being the first time getting reps as the second team guy you know with the team and again in Fall Camp he was able to go out there in some scrimmages whenever we'd go with our threes but really from Fall Camp until now you know you really just kind of you only have time very summer in the NFL to rep two guys and uh so watching him go out I mean he's you know he you can tell watching him practice this week that he's kept up with the installs and he knows our offense there's not a lot of mistakes or anything like that from motions and getting guys lined up making the the uh the calls and all that kind of stuff so we're excited about Byram I think uh you know there could be an opportunity for Byron to play at some point uh you know I think one thing that I'm looking at as well as Byram hadn't played in any games and you know he could play in up to four games depending on you know how the season goes and uh how trade does and what the game situations are he could play in up to four games without using a redshirt ear and you know we think Byram has a really big future here so it would definitely be my goal if at all possible you know not to ruin uh use one of his years for one extra game and so all that usually works itself out and usually you don't find yourself in that situation but uh Byron I definitely see Byram at some point whether it's this Saturday or one of the next four games I see him getting an opportunity to go into play because he also adds a different element than Trey in some other regards as well it the right way to describe Trey Marsh as a guy that just has all the physical skills in the world looks tremendous on the practice field but Tim taking to the next level is a matter of him knowing how to use those skills with the ball yeah I think um you know you all probably felt maybe just hearing me talk and other coaches talk you know Trey has a very strong arm probably the strongest arm since I've been here of any of the quarterbacks that we've had I mean he's got a very big arm and uh and in practice he's done a really good job you know I think just uh you know he hasn't had a ton of opportunity if you go back and kind of chart his opportunities it's been kind of like what happened against Tulane right the guy goes down in the middle of the game you go out there and and then he got some opportunities two years ago as a true freshman and just kind of got thrown in the fire so uh you know this this will be you know his biggest stretch and opportunity he's had since he's been here and usually it does translate from the practice field of the game field but you know I think our guys are I mean obviously our guys understand uh losing Gary's a big deal and don't minimize that but we're glad that we have someone with the experience and knowledge that's been around in an arm strength and all that stuff of Trey to be able to go in and help us here this week I think uh focus and over and overall um energy among those guys I don't want to say morale because nobody's happy with the record that we have but I would say overall energy if y'all were able to come out and watch practice just seeing how many guys are running around full speed and communicating and playing I think it's because a lot more of your roster is involved because of the injuries you know I've been on teams before where you know you don't have a lot of injuries in those first guys especially in the last school those first guys are playing the majority of the game it's hard for those next 30 guys below to get excited about coming out to practice and doing stuff when you know you're probably not going to get a chance to play so I definitely think that uh you know it's added to those guys because they know that they know that they got to be ready and they've seen other guys come up and and have a chance and in the long run uh sitting fun going through right now but again the silver lining in it is by the end of the year we're going to have a lot more guys that have started in games and played meaning full snaps and games for our overall roster you know we only have maybe 10 or 11 seniors total so I think for the long run this is a good experience for them but it's not not a lot of fun going through it at the time but maybe under achieving just a little bit record-wise so far I know they've had some you know tough games yeah as good as they've been in Texas Tech um you know still a lot to play for for that team you know it could be a 9-3 team if they went out just you know how much do you feel that they're going to come out the point about this assume you know bounce back yeah well I think I think there's a lot of teams in our league and all over the country right now and in the NFL right now that uh you know we're picked to have you know whatever kind of seasons and maybe to this point it hasn't happened that way and you're going to see which ones are going to be able to really finish strong and which ones can't kind of get out of that rut right and uh all I can do is go back and watch I mean you can look at a record and and do very similar to our season somebody from the outside could look at a record and you could make you know a you know whatever a judgment on the season or how the team's played but if you follow it and watch every game and watch all the plays and keep up with it it may not make you feel better but you can see some some positives in there uh when I turn on the video for Houston I see I see that team each and every week I see that team that was picked to win our league I mean and again you go back to some of those games it's a couple points and a couple plays here and there and they've been they've had a lot of those games maybe three overtime games already and they've won their share and they've lost a couple that were right there at the end too so overall you know very talented again it starts starts with their quarterback and the guys played a bunch of ball and really good player he knows their system inside and out and uh they're explosive uh they've got an incredible skill guys but defensively you know the biggest thing that jumps out is uh you know they're very disruptive up front I think even some of the the really good teams that have played them uh this this year have struggled blocking them up front and you got to be really really careful with what you're asking your offense to do as far as holding up and how long and protection and you know so I think that's kind of uh uh that they've created a lot of plays on defense uh with their front four yeah five or six years during 9th graded player on BFFs is what we've seen out of yeah yeah he's a guy that uh you know kind of a little slower getting going and maybe we didn't play him as much as we probably should have a little bit early and he got some opportunity and man he made the most of it the thing I appreciate about him is uh you know he's worked every day he shows up he puts in the work and sometimes if you you go out and you're not the starter that week or whatever it's easy to kind of get disappointed and just kind of drift off and he's one of those guys that has been preparing for his opportunity and then when his opportunity came he's made the most of it and then as a coach when you see that then you reward that right and um so I'm really pleased with with how he's played and uh and I think that's you know one of the things as we're looking for improvement areas that we've made some improvement this this year I definitely think uh our our sacks and tfls have greatly increased from where they were a year ago and that group has worked extremely hard obviously we're trying to do some things up front to give them some chances but they got to be the ones to go out and make those plays and uh and Jason's been a big part of that and I'm expecting him to have a great finish to the season these last five games it's almost like a right in the middle of your games with your open date I know you can't make the first time the games disappear but is this kind of almost like a Turn the Page like a second opening game kind of a thing here you've got yeah I like any time that uh anytime that you haven't turned the corner yet you can find some separation you know you want to use that as kind of a Turn the Page kind of moment and we've talked about that I talked about it after six games kind of used the middle of the Season we've played six we got six to go but really the open week you know you have a chance really to kind of you know there's you can gain a little perspective you can gain a little bit of knowledge of what's going on and what you need to do and uh really everybody kind of take a deep dive inside on how they need to we all need to improve individually coaches and players and then how do we bring that back collectively to get to where we want to go and also keep perspective on you know the reality of what's happened where we are while we're here and what we're going to have to do to get there and kind of block out the the maybe the noise and all that that happens whenever you're having a difficult year and really just kind of see you know hey we have an opportunity and the only people that can change it are the people in our team room and in our locker room and the only way we're going to be able to do it is we all take pride in improving you know a couple of these plays here and there is really the difference of where we need to go and then all of a sudden you get that wind and there's energy and momentum and excitement that come from that too and uh so yeah I mean there's no doubt our guys know we got five games to go we've only got maybe 32 days left in the season that's all we're guaranteed and uh so we don't we're not going to count the days we need to make each day count right and uh so that's kind of the mentality that our guys have right now Year bye week Jeff allow a couple guys to heal up until yeah yeah I do believe so we have more guys uh of the guys that were banged up more of them are back practicing uh it was able to kind of do two things number one some of the guys that were playing which we have a lot of we had a lot of guys that were playing not quite 100 it gave us a chance to kind of pick and choose how much they did during that bye week so we could take advantage of that and uh get them to being closer to 100 percent and then the guys that haven't been able to get in now they were able to practice and do some things so we have more guys practicing and still you know what still don't know we still have a few more days to go but I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get a few of those guys back this week all right thank you appreciate it all right USF player in a game since 2017 in his five Stakes on the season interface question for Jason what do you think Jason the key has been to your improved play and your bigger numbers um I feel like it could be a couple things um first I can start by saying the um the defense that coach Shoup is running is more catered to the Personnel that I feel we had on the team and um last year and the year before that I wasn't able to kind of utilize my skills to the best of my ability but coach defense puts me in really good position to make plays and and do what I've been doing and um I think that another reason would be just continue to work um I've had half a sack in three years and you know it was a point there was kind of you know difficult to kind of get into that mindset that you had to keep going and you know it's going to happen for you and and all that but then you turn around and you keep working and then you get you know five and three and you know you get your opportunity and you just made the most of it and that's what I you know went out there to do so were you at the point where it was a little bit discouraging and you were wondering um I wouldn't say it was discouraging I would say it was just um I had to kind of talk to myself more and kind of just keep that motivation and that mindset that you know if you keep working it's gonna it's gonna happen you know if you just just put your head down and grind and grind every day it's gonna happen for you and I took advantage of my moment you want an interesting Direction out of high school there's not a lot of players have taken instead of maybe like a Juco or something like that you went to a private school in Auburndale right yes sir what you know what was that decision making and going to a prep school as close to a very College out of high school um so coming out of out of high school my senior year you know I was I would say I was underrated I was undersized I was like maybe 195 200 pounds coming out of high school and um I only really had like you know division two division three offers but I felt like as a player I was I was more than that you know what I'm saying so I went to uh this combine called the Orange Bowl showcase and uh from there Advanced Prep Academy came and um you know talk to me and kind of talk to me there and then I guess they got my name actually they got my name I hadn't talked to them yet so I had in my mind I was going to a division three division two school maybe and then they called me and they tell me that uh you know if you go to if you come here you'll have an opportunity to get more looks and um you won't you won't be losing your eligibility so that was a big a big thing for me I could go do this see it you know see where I may see where I am and not not lose a year as opposed to going to Juco so that's why I went to prep school um and yeah the rest is history how big was that you know essentially three year availability oh it's huge because um I played I didn't start playing high school ball so my my junior year of high school so you know I played my junior year then transferred to Miami Palmetto and then you know uh did what I had to do there but um it was huge because I feel like I needed I needed to uh you know it was almost like my third year of high school football if you will and it put me in a great great Direction he didn't play High School prep school we had the sack first three years how do we rewarding this season oh extremely extremely you know when coach soup's defense came in I was hopeful I was very excited because um you know it was a four four down line front and then um it was it was almost like uh coach Charles defense in in a way because it put me in a position where I'm you know dropping back and coverage I get to rush that you know rushed past and all that I get to be very versatile and free in my own assignments so um it's very rewarding I would say very rewarding um I'm just gonna you know I remain remain humble and keep going see how far I can take this thing um well I can get after the quarterback one and uh I would say I bring um you know good energy to the team I would say uh I can obviously I can improve as a leader but I would say right now I'm in a good position to where guys you know they they see me play and they see that you know they see me working in practice and they motivated them to be better and you know that's all I want to do is just motivate the younger guys and motivate the guys on the team to just you know be the best they can be as well so what you were mentioning earlier about your individual being patient that's going to come you see that for your team as well like I know your your defensive and overall team performance aren't what you wanted but in terms of moving forward the rest of the season is that the attitude yes yes sir yes sir I would say so um guys really buy into the mindset of you know just continuing to work you know don't just put your head down and keep working you know and it's if you if you do that you know there's only really that option or quitting and you know we're not gonna guys on this team are gonna quit one thing about guys on the scene they're gonna they're going to do everything they can every day every day they can and I I appreciate that I come in that and I think yeah that's the mindset going into the next five games you guys have already I'm pretty sure you guys have already surpassed your side your side's not already surpassed tfl is getting pretty darn close to it you know just talk about the Improvement in in the room overall and just kind of let you guys be able to put together has it been because of the scheme or is it just because it or is it individual Improvement across right I would say a big combination of both um you know we had older guys come in like jetoria Hansford you know Rashad Cheney and they got them they got those guys came in and they were very you know vocal and they they were very um they stepped into the leadership role you know their grad transfers and stuff like that so adding them and then you know even coach Bowers has become you know a better Coach over these years he's improved as a coach and I think that's another reason that we've improved as players and um another reason would be that the guys that we have in our room are like you know we've got gotten a lot closer in the chemistry is building over the time that we've been here and um I would say it's a combination of all that the scheme the guys buying in guys working and um it's it's shown results so far obviously you weigh now how much how bigger have you got any of that question would be I imagine you're going up against a lot of guys that are bigger than you so is it is it speeding athleticism you got to rely on that to succeed uh everything um I when I came in I was 220 pounds maybe soaking wet and right now I'm 245 between 245 250 pounds and um yeah I've grown grown a lot from the time that I've been here and um Part B was what I'm sorry just you know I imagine a lot of these offensive lineman you're trying to get past your much Victor well um it depends in some in some instances you know I do use my strength to utilize my strength to some you know set the edge and stop to run like stuff like that but um I can also get out there and and go you know speed around the corner that's been my biggest thing that's how I got you know that was a big thing when I got recruited was uh you know getting to the quarterback and getting around but I've I've learned and progressed and worked to stop the run as well so yes sir thank you appreciate it appreciate it all right now in Russia about 500 yards and four touchdowns on the season obviously last year two uh 100 yard kickoff returns Houston record take um you've had a lot of success on the edge so far this year obviously with with you know the the outside runs but one area that I was really surprised to see that you succeed it in is a lot of those centered to left guard runs between the in between the taxes I think you're averaging like seven and a half yards of carry what do you think equates to that uh the the whole line up front uh I got to give all thanks to them uh they got better uh pass protection uh run blocking uh just all around they're a better group we took some uh big injuries so we lost a few of our starting old alignment and the the younger guys that are behind them they stepped up to the plate uh all I can really say is all that up up especially up the middle uh all that is your old line because you know little guys running backs General they're not really breaking a lot of Defense alignments tackles so uh that just means that your old line is doing their job up front all I got to do is see it and hit it so I could really say all that is the improvement from the old lineman up front and then opening up holes to get up to the linebackers and to the third level you're surprised if Houston gives you an opportunity to return it uh I went I wouldn't be surprised I mean uh we haven't had as much success as we've been wanting to uh this year and kickoff return as a unit but uh we did do a little bit of damage to him last year so I mean they could go either way uh but if they do kick it to us so we're just going to try to execute do our job and hopefully we can get some big returns or some touchdowns out of it I saw you guys at the have been switching uh quite a lot as the as the the place could go on so you'll get the ball is that just more to kind of get the ball on your hands as opposed to somebody else's uh yeah I mean sometimes uh coach the Prada try to scheme it up to where uh I can get the ball sometimes and kickoff return uh like certain games they try to kick it away from me but uh you know sometimes they just try to get it to where I can get the ball in my hands and get the other guy that is to get out in front and block for me and other times we we let the other guys get their uh chances back there uh but sometimes we do switch if they're not if they're trying to kick it away from me but I just do what the coaches ask and we try to get our job done when we do it is that what's your uh what was your feeling with the thing that Gary was out for the season and then also your and your teammates confidence and contravis as he gets his opportunity you know yeah I mean we're all hurt that uh GB didn't get to finish the season with us uh he was last game he was having the best game of the season so far uh he he's done great for us all year long and we're just thankful to have him for the for the games that we did have them uh sucks that we lost them to a season and an injury uh we hope that he recovers quickly and he can be back with us uh hopefully spring or next fall uh but we got a lot of confidence in contrave us too uh he's been sitting there behind GB all year and learning uh GB also did a great job of being a great teacher as well and showing him certain ways to play the quarterback position in certain reads he needs to make he's like he's been training for this this whole time so it's not like he's just been back there not doing anything so we got a lot of confidence and could Travis and we think that he'll do a great job back there when you look at him um yeah the physical skills and the skills that he could bring when he's on his game yeah he's a great player I mean he got a beautiful arm he just he can throw it the whole field if he has to he got a big arm a great accuracy and he can read he can read defenses as well so he got all the attributes you need as a quarterback uh for him it's just all going to be about getting comfortable back there again and getting the Reps which he has been getting in practice he hasn't got as many game reps but you know once he starts getting more and more snaps knowing that he's coming into a game knowing that he's going to be the guy back there uh I think that'll help him a lot as well too his confidence-wise and just being preparing himself knowing that he's going to be the guy back there for the games I mean I wouldn't say that because he always carries himself as if he will be playing because you never know what's going to happen and uh he's done a great job of that all season long uh so I can't really say nothing's really changed about him but you could tell that now he that he knows he's going to be the guy out there he's a little more locked in during practices uh coach Trickett is kind of coaching him a little harder now because he knows that that's going to be the guy so uh I wouldn't say nothing really changed about him because he always carried himself in a professional way when we're out there on the practice field so uh yeah nothing really changed too much about the way the open day fell it's almost like the splitting season in half I know you can't you know make the first seven games disappear you've had some time is this like almost starting over or a second opening game you've got coming up and you can take these last five games is a new start yeah I mean you can't really say starting over but uh we all we can do is just try to finish strong uh we still got a chance if we go win out we can go to a bowl game and that's our main focus that was one of our goals at the beginning of the season was to make a bowl game so we just got to treat this like it's our last shot every game we got to treat like it's our last shot and go out there and play with a chip on our shoulder uh we got a lot of guys that are out are big time players that are out and they're doing a great job of keeping us uh energized and ready to go even though they're not allowed to be out there with us they're still with us and it doesn't feel like they're not with us but we're just gonna keep on keeping our head down and keep working and I just hope that we can finish out these last five games strong and make a bowl game potentially I just got to keep doing what's asking me uh I gotta keep watching film on the defenses uh keep my big guys up front uh into it into the game and give them something to want to work towards like whenever they see whenever they see their running back running down the field getting big yardage it helps them keep on wanting to go because they know that they're doing something to contribute to what's going on and they're the biggest part of our offense no doubt about it so uh the running backs are only going to go as far as the o-line allows them to and we just want to basically our way of giving our o-line thanks is just getting getting them yards and sticking up in there if we have to Breaking some tackles if we got to and basically just seeing it so not just for me but for the rest of my running back group uh we just got to keep on doing what we're taught and keep on keeping our big boys energizing something to uh look forward to