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read interviews with Coach Mike Shula, Brodie Croyle, Simeon Castille

Tide Breaks On Utah State 48-17

Mike Shula (head coach)

These comments came following the 2004 Utah State game as Coach Shula answered questions from the press pool ...

Coach Mike Shula … Feels good to win again. This team has been very resilient in the off-season about getting back on track. We came out tonight and really had a good look in our eye. We talked about that. Coming out and taking the field with confidence. Came out and moved the ball a little bit. I felt like we were going to get a touchdown on the first drive. Unfortunately, we took a sack there on first or second down and had to settle for the field goal. It was back and forth in the first half. We were doing some good things, but we couldn't quite keep the momentum. We go up 17-7 and kick the ball off right before the half and kick it out of bounds. Then they move the ball and punt it. We get the ball on our one and can't make the first down. They get the ball back and get three points. We let them back into it and made it a one score game. But the second half, we talked about finishing the football game. We got obviously a huge play from Simeon. I teased Tim ... I think it took Tim two touches before he scored, is that right? Simeon, it just took one. (laughs) You know, just being in the right place at the right time. The guy didn't catch the ball and he made the adjustment and took it to the end zone. He made some other plays for us later on. He looked like he was playing with a lot of confidence. He made some mistakes and we know he's going to get better. But we feel good about Simeon. Then later on, we hit the deep pass to Keith Brown. Our offensive line did a good job of running the football later. Defensively in the second half, we got a little more pressure. We didn't get much pressure in the first half. I think that resulted in some field position, forced them to punt a little bit and we scored some more points. Overall, it was a good win. But we have to put this one behind us as quick as we can and get ourselves ready for Ole Miss.

With so many young guys playing tonight, how important was it to have a big night like you had tonight?

I think it's important. All these guys are going to get better with experience. If you look at the wide receivers ... they made some mistakes and made a couple of busts. But for the most part they looked like they were playing with confidence for some true freshman receivers. They caught the ball in traffic. Made some guys miss. Obviously, Keith Brown showed some speed getting down the field and Brodie showed some arm strength there, so that was nice to see. DJ Hall ... Ezekiel Knight got his feet wet a little bit. Then (Tyrone) Prothro and (Matt) Caddell ... you know, they're all young. So every snap they can get, they get better. Chris Turner, who is new to the team, made some plays. Wallace Gilberry made some plays on the other side of the ball. We got Trent Davidson in there some with our two and three tight end offense. So it's good to see.

How much did you change your offensive objective? You had two runners go over a hundred yards and Brodie with two touchdowns ...

We're looking at winning football games. I would think the next biggest thing there would be every snap we can take; our offensive line is going to get better. That's why we kept them in there longer, because they need that. Evan Mathis at left guard, Danny Martz starting for the first time at right guard, Wesley Britt coming back and then obviously Kyle Tatum. So it's good to see us rush the ball like that, make some plays in the passing game and have a high percentage with no turnovers.

What was the attitude at halftime? Utah State was able to hang around and do some things.

Well I tell you, it was focused. It was really focused. I think we realized we had a chance to get some momentum and didn't get it. But more so, it was just being focused and saying "OK, we're listening coach. What adjustments do we need to make and we're going to make them." That was on both sides of the ball. We talked about working hard in the off season and making it pay off each Saturday. This is just the first week and it feels good, but now we have to make the corrections and make ourselves better and play better next week.

The running game, especially with Ken Darby ... talk about how that came together.

Yeah, he has really done a nice job. Sparky Woods relies a lot on substituting those guys and rolling them. He's got a good feel for that. Every now and then, I'll interject and when I do I usually mess it up (grins). But Sparky does a real nice job. Ken has worked extremely hard all off season. And really over the last few weeks, he has been the guy that has shown the most in practice with the way he works. All our guys have. It was good to see that hard work pay off for him tonight.

Talk about Brodie's play tonight.

Yep, where is he, is he in here? He doesn't need to take a sack on the goal line. But for the most part, he was very accurate in getting the ball out and making good decisions. We have to do a better job protecting on third down, and we will. We talked about, "Hey, don't try to do too much. Just get it in the hands of the receivers and help the young freshmen out. But do it within your own framework. Don't try to do too much. Just make sure you're there for them and they see the look in your face and how that confidence reflects on them."

How important was it to set the tone with this first game for the rest of the season?

Well, um ... not really. These guys are focused. They've got a good look in their eye. To tell you the truth, before the game I was worried that we were maybe a little bit too tight. But I don't think we were. Our guys just came out and had a good look. You just sensed focus. But during the course of the game there were a couple of things ... things that we even addressed on the sideline. Other teams are going to make plays. We got some momentum, then all of a sudden they made a couple of plays and we felt a little flat. That's going to happen during the season. We have to rally around each other when that happens and someone has to step up ... hopefully everyone steps up ... and then go out and play the next play. We did that better in the second half, that's for sure.

Can you talk about the sequence where you had two touchdowns within about a minute ... the interception, then the three and out, then the long touchdown ... how did that affect momentum?

Yeah, for sure. That was a big momentum change. We had a little bit of the wind and had the good field position. We got that quick touchdown on defense, then go back and get the ball with decent field position and took a shot down the field. It was great execution. Nice protection. Brodie threw it about as far as he can throw it and Keith just ran underneath it. That's good when you get the chance to go up and make a play in the end zone, it kind of kills the other team's momentum and puts them in a hole early ... which is what we wanted to do.

Were you surprised at how much impact the freshman had?

Yeah, it as a lot of impact, especially early. DJ (Hall) had a couple of catches early I think in that first drive, and he looked very calm doing it. He played with a lot of confidence. Then Keith Brown came into it. We hope we continue to see that.

Can you talk about the defensive pressure and the adjustments you made in the second half?

We talked about it at half time. We had to create more pressure. Not just if we were going to blitz, but up front. They were moving in the pocket, they were throwing quick screens and doing a couple of other throwbacks. They had a nice plan and were keeping our defensive line off balance. But we said, "Hey, just stick with it and work to get pressure." Our guys in the second half did a nice job of covering, which made the quarterback hold the ball a little longer. Then we started getting a couple of hits on the quarterback. I think that affected them a little bit.

Can you talk about the kicking game? Christiansen and Bostick, and how they did?

It was nice to see. Those guys have worked hard. Jamie (Christiansen), all but the one kick ... he had good hang time. He too, has worked extremely hard in the off season. It kind of sounds funny for the head coach to be talking about strength and conditioning with the kicker. But he really has, and I think that showed up a little bit tonight. Brian (Bostick) did a nice job. Good focus and concentration. We had a little leakage inside on one kick. But we stuck with it and got the ball through there. For the most part, the snap, hold and kick were pretty good.

You brought Aaron Johns in there for some of the game. What do you expect from him?

What took so long for that question? I thought that would be the first one. Aaron, we think he's going to help us this year and that's why he was in the game. He had a good run early, kind of bounced that thing outside. Then we didn't quite have the blocking up front, we had the second line in there. But he's another freshman that has showed a lot of good things. We've got some other guys that ran the ball well tonight. But we think that every game, he has a chance to get in there and make something happen for us.