Troy University Athletics
Neal Brown Press Conference (Georgia Southern Game)
10/23/2017 2:13:00 PM | Football
Purchase Tickets | Gameday at The Vet
Thank you for being here. It was a critical win for us over an improving Georgia State team. It got us to 5-2 overall, 2-1 in the Sun Belt. Our staff did a good job getting our guys ready.
It was, by far, our best week of preparation in the season. Probably our most enjoyable week as far as coaching this team. I think they pushed each other and made it our best week overall; from how we performed on Saturday to the preparation leading up.
I think Shawn Elliott and his staff are doing a tremendous job at Georgia State. It was cool to play in that venue, they've done some really neat things with what used to be Turner Field. That staff's done a really good job in a short amount of time.
I think they have the opportunity to be a bowl-eligible team this year if you look at how their schedule lays out. I was impressed with them, but we probably played our best game of the season on Saturday.
Special teams, we muffed a punt again, which makes two weeks in a row that we've given away a possession. We allowed one big kickoff return. Our kickoff team has probably been our most consistent special teams unit over the course of three seasons. I thought our kickoff return team really underperformed on Saturday – we had one decent return but need to do a better job of getting on people.
Positives are that we were perfect on PATs and field goals. That's something we had not done this season and it was big. Tyler Sumpter came in with a lot of confidence from the success he's had punting the football and did a really good job. Good operations times and only allowed one punt return yard from Penny Hart – who's probably the most explosive skill player in our league.
Defensively, the biggest negative for me was the last drive of the game. It took up nine and a half minutes. A lot of guys we're expecting to be really good football players down the line played that series and really didn't show what they're capable of. I was really disappointed with how we closed out that game.
Positives, we stopped the run. Really held them without a touchdown with our first and second group in the game. We were really good in the red zone which has been a strength of ours all year. We held them to only two big plays and that's a group that had almost 700 yards the week prior.
Offensively, I was really proud of our staff. I thought the offensive staff did a really good job of rebounding off a really poor performance the week before. We were different in the game.
The negative was that we weren't ready to go on the opening series. We had an interception there that wasn't really Brandon's [Silvers] fault, the receiver slipped down. We had too many hits on the quarterback. We need to score touchdowns in the red zone. It would have probably been a different scenario if we had been making kicks in previous games. We probably would've gone for it, but I thought we needed to get in there with some field goals and get some confidence going.
Positives were that we had 7.9 yards per play and zero sacks. We made competitive plays for one of the first times all season. We made catches when people were on us and made people miss in space.
Quality win, flipping the page to Georgia Southern.
The first thing I want to talk about is that I really feel for Tyson Summers and his family. He was a graduate assistant here. He's a guy that I have a lot respect for. I like him, personally. I think he's a really good person, great family man and a really good football coach. It's unfortunate that it didn't work out and I really feel for him and his family at this time.
It puts us in a really unique situation. We're going into our eighth game of the season and we have to prepare for a new head coach. It's unique, I don't think we've ever been in that situation before.
They have a really good staff. I fully expect them to come out and be reenergized. I think they're going to come out and play their best game of the year. I think they'll play with a lot of energy and a lot of pride. And honestly, they've had our number. They beat us handily in 2015 and then last year, took the conference championship away from us. We had a chance to win with the ball first-and-goal from the 9-yard line and we didn't get it done.
Offensively, they're an option attack. They have some really good skill players. They have two running backs that have been there for a long time, Wesley Fields and L.A. Ramsby. They've had good games against us in the past. They're really good players.
The unique thing is we're going to have to prepare for what we've seen on film and also for what they could do. Their offensive coordinator was at Georgia Tech. They haven't run any option from under center this year but I think we have to prepare for that as well.
Defensively, they're a four-down team. They've given us trouble both years, we haven't played well against them. They are really strong at defensive tackle.
They're a team we have a lot of respect for, a team that has had our number. As much as we have respect for Georgia Southern, it's about us. We got a win, got us to 5-2, now we have to continue to progress and correct the things we made mistakes on last week. I still don't think that we're playing our best football in any of the three phases.
I'm excited about getting in The Vet because frankly, we were embarrassed the last time we were at home. I know our guys are chomping at the bit, our staff is chomping at the bit to get back and perform well for what I think will be a really big Homecoming crowd.
We're 2-0 in Homecoming games so far, so hopefully we get to 3-0 on Homecomings. Maybe we won't be anybody's Homecoming moving forward. I know we have big alumni groups coming back and I expect us to have a good crowd.
On red zone defense…
I think it's our mentality. We practiced a lot of it, and were really intentional about it in the spring and fall camp. We did some type of red zone work every day of spring practice and fall camp. It's showing defensively, not showing on offense.
We're stopping the run and it's hard to throw the ball down there because there is no space.
On Jordan Chunn…
I think he probably could have played. He wasn't 100 percent confident and I had a lot of confidence in our other guys. Josh Anderson was our primary guy running the ball in fall camp so I was excited for him to get the opportunity to start. I knew Jamarius Henderson was starting to get a feel for what we are trying to do on offense. I thought both of those guys played solid.
It'll be the same way this week. If he feels confident and he's 100 percent then he'll play. If not, then he won't play and those other guys will go in and get the job done.
On playing Homecoming games…
We're aware. I really say it as a joke to the kids more than something we use as bulletin board material. I think all that bulletin board material and motivational talks are really overrated and probably the most overrated thing about coaching. After the first play, they've forgotten what we talked about in the locker room anyways. In high school, Homecoming is a really big distraction for some of your kids but in college it's just a good reason for people to come back.
On receiver play…
Still not where they can be or I want them to be, but they played better. That's the position I played so I'm probably harder on those guys than anybody else. I do think we have a lot of potential at that position that we haven't played up to so far. They tried to do what we were coaching them to do at a higher rate. We went and made competitive plays.
On entering the next four games against sub-.500 teams…
South Alabama was 1-4 before we played them and they kicked our tail. The mentality has to be who we got this week. We don't dictate the schedule. Some of those teams played ridiculous non-conference schedules. South Alabama played Oklahoma State and Ole Miss. I think that you just play who you got. Until you pointed that out, I really didn't know that. We have Georgia Southern this week and we have to be 1-0.
Everybody talks about the whole thing, the season as a whole. As a coach, you have to be compartmentalized, A to B to C. Our guys did a better job of that last week. Let's worry about what we got. I don't even talk to our guys about the game – that's so far away. Today, in our team meetings, we're going to talk about corrections from the Georgia State game and then put it to bed. Here's the corrections, here's what you do well, okay now Georgia Southern.
I'm not worried about Saturday. I'm worried about our preparation on Monday and Tuesday. If we can do that, then we play well. When our guys start worrying about things out in the future and our record at the end of the year, we can't handle that and we don't execute. So, I worry about Monday practice, then Tuesday and moving on.
On losing to Georgia Southern last year…
They've had our number. Last year, we didn't necessarily play poorly, they were really talented. They had some bad breaks but were just talented. That wasn't a game that we just blew, they just made some plays down the stretch. This is a program we know we have to beat to be at the top of the conference.
Thank you for being here. It was a critical win for us over an improving Georgia State team. It got us to 5-2 overall, 2-1 in the Sun Belt. Our staff did a good job getting our guys ready.
It was, by far, our best week of preparation in the season. Probably our most enjoyable week as far as coaching this team. I think they pushed each other and made it our best week overall; from how we performed on Saturday to the preparation leading up.
I think Shawn Elliott and his staff are doing a tremendous job at Georgia State. It was cool to play in that venue, they've done some really neat things with what used to be Turner Field. That staff's done a really good job in a short amount of time.
I think they have the opportunity to be a bowl-eligible team this year if you look at how their schedule lays out. I was impressed with them, but we probably played our best game of the season on Saturday.
Special teams, we muffed a punt again, which makes two weeks in a row that we've given away a possession. We allowed one big kickoff return. Our kickoff team has probably been our most consistent special teams unit over the course of three seasons. I thought our kickoff return team really underperformed on Saturday – we had one decent return but need to do a better job of getting on people.
Positives are that we were perfect on PATs and field goals. That's something we had not done this season and it was big. Tyler Sumpter came in with a lot of confidence from the success he's had punting the football and did a really good job. Good operations times and only allowed one punt return yard from Penny Hart – who's probably the most explosive skill player in our league.
Defensively, the biggest negative for me was the last drive of the game. It took up nine and a half minutes. A lot of guys we're expecting to be really good football players down the line played that series and really didn't show what they're capable of. I was really disappointed with how we closed out that game.
Positives, we stopped the run. Really held them without a touchdown with our first and second group in the game. We were really good in the red zone which has been a strength of ours all year. We held them to only two big plays and that's a group that had almost 700 yards the week prior.
Offensively, I was really proud of our staff. I thought the offensive staff did a really good job of rebounding off a really poor performance the week before. We were different in the game.
The negative was that we weren't ready to go on the opening series. We had an interception there that wasn't really Brandon's [Silvers] fault, the receiver slipped down. We had too many hits on the quarterback. We need to score touchdowns in the red zone. It would have probably been a different scenario if we had been making kicks in previous games. We probably would've gone for it, but I thought we needed to get in there with some field goals and get some confidence going.
Positives were that we had 7.9 yards per play and zero sacks. We made competitive plays for one of the first times all season. We made catches when people were on us and made people miss in space.
Quality win, flipping the page to Georgia Southern.
The first thing I want to talk about is that I really feel for Tyson Summers and his family. He was a graduate assistant here. He's a guy that I have a lot respect for. I like him, personally. I think he's a really good person, great family man and a really good football coach. It's unfortunate that it didn't work out and I really feel for him and his family at this time.
It puts us in a really unique situation. We're going into our eighth game of the season and we have to prepare for a new head coach. It's unique, I don't think we've ever been in that situation before.
They have a really good staff. I fully expect them to come out and be reenergized. I think they're going to come out and play their best game of the year. I think they'll play with a lot of energy and a lot of pride. And honestly, they've had our number. They beat us handily in 2015 and then last year, took the conference championship away from us. We had a chance to win with the ball first-and-goal from the 9-yard line and we didn't get it done.
Offensively, they're an option attack. They have some really good skill players. They have two running backs that have been there for a long time, Wesley Fields and L.A. Ramsby. They've had good games against us in the past. They're really good players.
The unique thing is we're going to have to prepare for what we've seen on film and also for what they could do. Their offensive coordinator was at Georgia Tech. They haven't run any option from under center this year but I think we have to prepare for that as well.
Defensively, they're a four-down team. They've given us trouble both years, we haven't played well against them. They are really strong at defensive tackle.
They're a team we have a lot of respect for, a team that has had our number. As much as we have respect for Georgia Southern, it's about us. We got a win, got us to 5-2, now we have to continue to progress and correct the things we made mistakes on last week. I still don't think that we're playing our best football in any of the three phases.
I'm excited about getting in The Vet because frankly, we were embarrassed the last time we were at home. I know our guys are chomping at the bit, our staff is chomping at the bit to get back and perform well for what I think will be a really big Homecoming crowd.
We're 2-0 in Homecoming games so far, so hopefully we get to 3-0 on Homecomings. Maybe we won't be anybody's Homecoming moving forward. I know we have big alumni groups coming back and I expect us to have a good crowd.
On red zone defense…
I think it's our mentality. We practiced a lot of it, and were really intentional about it in the spring and fall camp. We did some type of red zone work every day of spring practice and fall camp. It's showing defensively, not showing on offense.
We're stopping the run and it's hard to throw the ball down there because there is no space.
On Jordan Chunn…
I think he probably could have played. He wasn't 100 percent confident and I had a lot of confidence in our other guys. Josh Anderson was our primary guy running the ball in fall camp so I was excited for him to get the opportunity to start. I knew Jamarius Henderson was starting to get a feel for what we are trying to do on offense. I thought both of those guys played solid.
It'll be the same way this week. If he feels confident and he's 100 percent then he'll play. If not, then he won't play and those other guys will go in and get the job done.
On playing Homecoming games…
We're aware. I really say it as a joke to the kids more than something we use as bulletin board material. I think all that bulletin board material and motivational talks are really overrated and probably the most overrated thing about coaching. After the first play, they've forgotten what we talked about in the locker room anyways. In high school, Homecoming is a really big distraction for some of your kids but in college it's just a good reason for people to come back.
On receiver play…
Still not where they can be or I want them to be, but they played better. That's the position I played so I'm probably harder on those guys than anybody else. I do think we have a lot of potential at that position that we haven't played up to so far. They tried to do what we were coaching them to do at a higher rate. We went and made competitive plays.
On entering the next four games against sub-.500 teams…
South Alabama was 1-4 before we played them and they kicked our tail. The mentality has to be who we got this week. We don't dictate the schedule. Some of those teams played ridiculous non-conference schedules. South Alabama played Oklahoma State and Ole Miss. I think that you just play who you got. Until you pointed that out, I really didn't know that. We have Georgia Southern this week and we have to be 1-0.
Everybody talks about the whole thing, the season as a whole. As a coach, you have to be compartmentalized, A to B to C. Our guys did a better job of that last week. Let's worry about what we got. I don't even talk to our guys about the game – that's so far away. Today, in our team meetings, we're going to talk about corrections from the Georgia State game and then put it to bed. Here's the corrections, here's what you do well, okay now Georgia Southern.
I'm not worried about Saturday. I'm worried about our preparation on Monday and Tuesday. If we can do that, then we play well. When our guys start worrying about things out in the future and our record at the end of the year, we can't handle that and we don't execute. So, I worry about Monday practice, then Tuesday and moving on.
On losing to Georgia Southern last year…
They've had our number. Last year, we didn't necessarily play poorly, they were really talented. They had some bad breaks but were just talented. That wasn't a game that we just blew, they just made some plays down the stretch. This is a program we know we have to beat to be at the top of the conference.
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