Due to the short week Jeff Scott moved his weekly presser up to Monday. I was unable to attend but I am transcribing most of what he said and will post it in this thread.
Opening statement…
I think that the goal every year is to get better week by week. And I feel like we're doing that whenever I look at our team. I see a continued improvement, really, in all three phases. And so we're really proud of that, especially during a difficult first start of the season.
East Carolina is definitely going to be a huge challenge, very talented East Carolina team, you really go back and study it. They had a three point loss at home to South Carolina. You know, they had a four point loss to Central Florida, when Central Florida scored on the last drive of the game. And then, you know, this past Saturday had an overtime loss to a 6-1 Houston team. So, they're really about three plays away from being 6-1 themselves.
We did not play very well, last year against East Carolina here at home, I really felt like they dominated the majority of the game there. So, it is definitely going to be a good challenge for us here on Thursday. You know, offensively, I think they're very talented. Their quarterback, number 12, I think is one of the best quarterbacks in our league. And I mean, he is just one of those guys that has the “it factor.” And he finds ways to, to make plays when plays maybe aren't there. I gained a lot of respect from him last year and watching what he's doing on film this year is definitely pretty special.
They have two very talented running backs that are having a really good years. Defensively they’re a physical group. They love to bring pressure. They blitz about 80 percent of the time. And so it's definitely going to be a really big week for offensive line, running backs and tight ends and being able to pass protect, because their linebackers and safeties are coming pretty much every snap.
Their defense held a very talented Houston offense last week, two only 256 yards. And I think Houston only had two offensive touchdowns in regulation. They had one kickoff return and then one there and overtime. So, I think they're very confident in the way that their defense is playing. For us, it's definitely a short week, you know, just had a staff meeting a minute ago and told our staff, we're loading the buses in 48 hours and 30 minutes from right now is when we get on the buses to head to Greenville. So it's gonna be a really, really quick turnaround. And I think the next 48 hours for us is going to be critical in our prep.
We had a modified practice yesterday evening. And really tonight will be our one big physical practice is kind of a Tuesday, Wednesday, practice combined in one, we'll have that tonight. And then tomorrow night is like our typical Thursday night practice where you're kind of polishing up your game plan and, and doing all the things you do in that last practice. And then that's it, we'll load the buses Wednesday, a little bit after lunch, and head up to Greenville. Look forward to an opportunity to get to play on Thursday night on ESPN. It’ll be a really great opportunity for our team and our program to hopefully showcase the progress that we've been making and we'll find out here with the next big challenge Thursday night. So with that, I'll open it up for any questions.
Opening statement…
I think that the goal every year is to get better week by week. And I feel like we're doing that whenever I look at our team. I see a continued improvement, really, in all three phases. And so we're really proud of that, especially during a difficult first start of the season.
East Carolina is definitely going to be a huge challenge, very talented East Carolina team, you really go back and study it. They had a three point loss at home to South Carolina. You know, they had a four point loss to Central Florida, when Central Florida scored on the last drive of the game. And then, you know, this past Saturday had an overtime loss to a 6-1 Houston team. So, they're really about three plays away from being 6-1 themselves.
We did not play very well, last year against East Carolina here at home, I really felt like they dominated the majority of the game there. So, it is definitely going to be a good challenge for us here on Thursday. You know, offensively, I think they're very talented. Their quarterback, number 12, I think is one of the best quarterbacks in our league. And I mean, he is just one of those guys that has the “it factor.” And he finds ways to, to make plays when plays maybe aren't there. I gained a lot of respect from him last year and watching what he's doing on film this year is definitely pretty special.
They have two very talented running backs that are having a really good years. Defensively they’re a physical group. They love to bring pressure. They blitz about 80 percent of the time. And so it's definitely going to be a really big week for offensive line, running backs and tight ends and being able to pass protect, because their linebackers and safeties are coming pretty much every snap.
Their defense held a very talented Houston offense last week, two only 256 yards. And I think Houston only had two offensive touchdowns in regulation. They had one kickoff return and then one there and overtime. So, I think they're very confident in the way that their defense is playing. For us, it's definitely a short week, you know, just had a staff meeting a minute ago and told our staff, we're loading the buses in 48 hours and 30 minutes from right now is when we get on the buses to head to Greenville. So it's gonna be a really, really quick turnaround. And I think the next 48 hours for us is going to be critical in our prep.
We had a modified practice yesterday evening. And really tonight will be our one big physical practice is kind of a Tuesday, Wednesday, practice combined in one, we'll have that tonight. And then tomorrow night is like our typical Thursday night practice where you're kind of polishing up your game plan and, and doing all the things you do in that last practice. And then that's it, we'll load the buses Wednesday, a little bit after lunch, and head up to Greenville. Look forward to an opportunity to get to play on Thursday night on ESPN. It’ll be a really great opportunity for our team and our program to hopefully showcase the progress that we've been making and we'll find out here with the next big challenge Thursday night. So with that, I'll open it up for any questions.
