University of Massachusets Athletics
Coach Don Brown's Weekly CAA Teleconference
October 06, 2008 | Football
Oct. 6, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. -
Coach Brown's general thoughts on last week's game and UMass' first CAA win:
Well coming off of the bye, one of our goals offensively was to come out and be ready to go in the first drive; and we really did a nice job answering the bell. We drove the length of the field, five plays, 86 yards. Jeremy Horne was on the back end of a Liam Coen pass on a 40 yard strike, and we took a solid 7-0 lead. Who would have known that would have been the only offensive score we'd have had from a touchdown standpoint at the end of the day? I give Delaware a tremendous amount of credit; they did a great job, especially near the red zone and in the red zone by turning us over.
But then Delaware responded with a 15 play, 79 yard drive and it was an excellent drive culminating in Robby Agnone catching a pass from Schoenhoft. Defensively, that's been a problem for us in the sense of not getting off to a good start. But from there on I thought our guys really settled in, we executed very well. We did a good job on conversion downs; I thought our secondary did a good job of being able to cover up their receivers and throwing scenarios and just did a good job of gap integrity. If you don't do a good job with gap integrity against an excellent Delaware offensive line, against the zone and against the power scheme, you're going to have a long day.
We just settled in; it was a heck of a football game. Armando Cuko made a big field goal with 12:55 to go in the fourth quarter and then Jeromy Miles sealed the deal with a 52 yard interception return for a touchdown. And at the end of the day, I was really happy with our production offensively. Tony Nelson had 160 yards rushing, Coen threw for 265 yards; but we had to overcome four turnovers, which was disappointing.
We also moved the ball very well during the course of the day, they just stood up. I give Delaware a lot of credit, Coach Keeler's teams have tremendous pride and they played with great passion. It was just a good, hard fought, CAA Football game and we were fortunate enough to come out on top.
Coach Brown on Josh Jennings leading the defense:
Josh is a great player, and he's really quick twitch. You have to coach him at linebacker like you don't coach the other guys; he has a tremendous instinct for the game. He can get off blocks, and made a great play on fourth down when Schoenhoft scrambled and looked like he had room to make a first down. But Josh had come off the pressure and made a great open field tackle, and it was probably the play of the game that I look at. Again, he spear headed the attack all day; he was running to the football and getting up the field in our pressure game. He just played a complete football game and led our defense all day long.
Coach Brown on the defense getting the ball back after UMass turnovers:
We certainly have not responded like a typical UMass defense, but I think Texas Tech had a lot to do with that; I think they scored 58 points against Kansas State last week. James Madison played very well against us as well, I give them tremendous credit.
But the guys just stayed focused, executed, and ran the football. When you get your guys to play as a unit, that's what you're looking to do. And I thought we did that on Saturday; playing defense sometimes is all about confidence. I thought our confidence built during the course of the first half, and remained high throughout the game. Obviously when you hold a great Delaware offense to 167 yards, you feel good about your effort.
Coach Brown on turnovers by the offense:
I have to give Delaware credit; they did a nice job by making several plays in the red zone. Liam threw for 265 yards, he was 19-33, but the three interceptions were very uncharacteristic for him. I think it will make him more determined for this week, he will pay more attention to detail.
But obviously we were really happy with the way we ran the football; we rushed for 194 yards, with Tony Nelson having over 160 yards for the day. So we felt good about that piece, but we just didn't finish, and we need to make sure we do. But Delaware's defense is solid and played very well when their backs were against the wall.
Coach Brown on next week's game at Northeastern:
They are an excellent football team and are improving on a week to week basis. Alex Broomfield is having a tremendous year at tailback, and Coach Hager is utilizing his ability to the fullest. Anthony Orio is playing really solid, making great decisions in the throw game. Receiver core is led by Tony Lott, Chris Plum. They have Brian Mandeville the tight end; they have a lot of good players.
We have our hands full; they use a lot of formations. They're trying to get on the perimeter on you, and we're going to have to be ready for a great attack there. Up front, I think they're improving on defense; they play very solid. Nate Thellen is off to a great start with four interceptions for Coach Hager's team. Going to Northeastern is never easy, it's going to be a great test for our guys, and I know we're going to be excited to play on Saturday.
