University of Massachusets Athletics
Don Brown Monday Teleconference Previewing NCAA Championship
December 12, 2006 | Football
Dec. 12, 2006
What are your thoughts on Appalachian State? Have you seen enough on film yet?
Don Brown: I have. They are an excellent football team. There is a reason they are the defending national champion. For the second week in a row, I find myself saying there are no weaknesses. Starting on the offensive side of the ball, I really like their center, Scott Suttle. I think he anchors a very solid offensive front. Daniel Bettis, their tight end, does a solid job and obviously an Armanti Edwards is dynamic at quarterback. Kevin Richardson really fits what they do well, just a great slasher at running back, can jump, tuck and do all the things they are looking to do with their zone scheme. Number 9 Mayfield, is a excellent receiver; he has great size, strength as well as athleticism. On defense, I am really impressed with Marcues Murrell up front. I think he anchors a really solid front seven. They are very solid in their 4-3 scheme. I love both their corners, Touchstone and, I'm not really sure how to pronounce Justin's last name (Woazeah). He's a very good player as well. Jeremy Wiggins, their nickel cornerback is also an excellent player, very physical. I am very impressed with Corey Lynch as well. He reminds me of one of our guys and sure is an inspirational leader, playing with that broken arm. Those guys are really good on both sides. Julian Rauch, their kicker/punter, is excellent. There are really no weaknesses in anything they have. They're just whacking people the last six weeks.
I know it's been eight years since you last came to Chattanooga, but would you use the same routine as far as travel and practice schedule and what did you learn from that? Would you change anything?
Don Brown: We are kind of following a similar loop. Obviously the NCAA mandates you get down here on Wednesday and when we played, we played on a Saturday, so it's another short week for us. So we will probably follow a similar structure to what we followed for Montana. Get down on Wednesday; we will practice 4-6. We will meet after practice. Get up Thursday morning, eat breakfast, then have our meetings at night. We are schedule to have an open practice with the media. I think that's mandated somewhere on Thursday afternoon. We will do a walkthrough somewhere on Friday morning just to get the guys out of the hotel, so they are not stuck there all day long. Then we will get into our full pre-game routine beginning around 4 o'clock.
The game has been announced as a sell-out, what is your reaction to that?
Don Brown: It is exciting. I think that is a testament to the two teams and how far we have come in the national championship picture. It's just another positive step for 1AA football. I thought the environment that we played in on Friday night with the one that Appalachian State and Youngstown State played in on Saturday were also great testaments to what is going on in Division 1AA football across the country.
You mentioned Marcues Murrell, what has impressed you about him?
Don Brown: Everything: get-off. explosion, motor, anticipation, pass rusher, he can do it all. I think he is one of the more talented guys in the country at his position if not the most talented. He is a great football player. We have played against a couple of great defensive ends last week up at Montana and he is certainly in their class, if not a hair better.
Kevin Richardson came in as an kind of an unknown guy at Appalachian. I am sure a lot of 1AA programs get that unknown kind of guy. Could you talk about what you look for when you are recruiting?
Don Brown: In watching the game on TV Saturday, I followed that story. I think you can go across rosters in 1AA across the country and find guys who have impacted rosters in that scenario, so it does not surprise me. A lot of guys just play clueless. For whatever reason, when they come out of high-school, they put on 30 pounds, the fire goes on, the passion goes on, they raise their level of play and attitude-wise, they are just what you are looking for. The light switch goes on and you got yourself a pretty good football player.
On your blitz package, has the speed of Armanti Edwards caused you any concern or will it create any problems with your blitz packages?
Don Brown: In our philosophy, we chase athletes with athletes. I am hoping our athletes are up to the challenge, but at this point in time, we are who we are and they are who they are. We just go from there. He is a very, very special player. 1000 yard rusher, 2000 yard passer. I think he has a great handle on what Coach Moore is trying to do offensively. We know we are going to have our hands full. On the other side, we are excited about the challenge.
Have you played anybody who is similar offensively to Appalachia State?
Don Brown: We have played some teams that run the zone read. New Hampshire and Ricky Santos, they run some of the pieces of it and they do it well. Beside of them, is anybody even in there class? I would say no.
At this point of the year, are freshmen still freshmen? Is there anyway you can exploit a true freshmen at quarterback or has Edwards played enough that it will not be a factor?
Don Brown: You like to think so, but at the same time, the young man has got off to a great state. He has played at NC State and has not lost a game since. The bottom line is I do not think he is going to flinch. I do not think he is going to flinch. He knows what he is doing, he will take what you give him. Obviously, it is our job to try to take things away from him. We do not have illusions, he is going to make some plays, we are just going to have to recover from that and go back to work if he does make plays.
What do you think the strength of your time has been this season?
Don Brown: I think we have been very good at running the football which gives us balance. I think our balance on offensive has pretty much shown through in every football game. When we can get Stevie going, running the ball and open up the play action lanes, that has been really solid for us. From a defensive perspective, we have given up some yards at times, but right now I still think we are number 1 in the nation in scoring defense so we feel good about that. We have improved drastically in some of the special teams. So if you ask me what our strength is, we exhibit quality in all three phases and there have been times when each phase has had their moment to help us try to win games.
