VIDEO: Mike Turner Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Coach Mike Turner spoke with the media Tuesday ahead of Carson-Newman's contest against Mars Hill.
Opening statement
"It's a great time of year for a young man to be playing college football. We get to go at Mars Hill, just a short trip across the mountain, that's always been a tough football game for us and for them I'm sure. Both of us know each other well. Right now we're both having good seasons, good starts to our seasons, so it should be an interesting football game."
On what makes Mars Hill wide receiver Craig Rucker so dynamic
"Gosh, I read an article in the Salisbury paper Sunday morning about what he did against Catawba. Receiving touchdowns, punt returns for touchdowns, running it, whether it's a reverse or a jet sweep for a touchdown. He is an explosive young man. He hits, he gets his hands on the football somebody, you better have him corralled up."
On how tough it is to gameplan for Rucker
"And Tim (Clifton, Lions head coach) does a great job in his formations and he's formatting the plays and does a great job for them over there and has for many years. He's (Rucker) going to be in different positions on the field, different formations, different motions, to put him in a position to get the football. You can't line up and say, 'against this, we're going to do this. Against that we're going to do that.' There's no way you can possibly do that. The most important thing for us is to be sound in what we're doing, to execute, to know who's got backside for reverse, jet sweep, those kind of things. Do not let your eyes betray you in the secondary, it's going to be a day that you have to be heads up on every play."
On how similar Mars Hill is offensively to playing against the option
"It's very much that you've got to have responsibilities. You have to be alert in what is going on. I think everybody says they have certain responsibilities in the option, I think you've got certain responsibilities when you're playing against a young man (Rucker) that is a unique playmaker."
On what sticks out about Mars Hill quarterbacks Jimmy Urzua and Collin Sneed
"I think they realize they have great people out there to get the football to. It's a quarterback's job on our offense or their offense to get the ball in the hands of the right person at the right time. Both those quarterbacks have done that and proven to do that, I think their offensive line is allowing them to have enough time to get that done, but they're quick-hitting…route wise to get you outnumbered, get you outflanked and then that's the danger of it."
On what the No. 6 region ranking does for the team's mentality and mindset
"I hope it gives them a much clearer picture that you're not depending on anybody else. We need to be Carson-Newman and play like Carson-Newman, take care of our business, be excited about the opportunities that we've been given and to make the most of that. Understand we're getting ready to play a football team that's very dynamic in Mars Hill and we're playing on their turf and that's always an advantage to them, so we're the ones that have to get up and travel and do some things a little bit more uncomfortable that other people have to do. But, we better have a focus about us. We talked about yesterday, our theme this week, coach Crowder is the coach of the week, and our theme is one – one practice at a time, one day at a time, one rep at a time – but also it goes back to there's power in one. One guy could make a difference. He can make a difference with his heart and soul and we talked to them yesterday about, what if one guy can make a difference with his heart and soul, what can 11 guys do at one time. So, if we'll learn to latch onto that idea about one, yes, take care of it one snap at a time. You can't let a past snap affect what's going to happen in the next one. Our eyes should have a great focus about it, we should have great hunger about us to be able to come and play, and play well and get an opportunity to play against a great football team."
On what it did for the team's mentality in the win over Newberry
"Well, Newberry is a very solid football team, don't let anybody be fooled about that one. They got players, no question about that. But I thought our kids reacted well, responded well, we needed the win, no question, that was a must-win. And (Newberry), a team that had beaten us three years in a row, so that part of it, it's a good win. You celebrate that, now realize what I could done better, what we could have done better. We left some scores out on the field, we left some opportunities to get off the field with a three and out and didn't do that and gave them some scoring opportunities. We had a couple opportunities to score on a kickoff return and we missed it by a foot or a leg or something right there. So, we're grateful for the win, excited about that, but now your eyes and your focus is on Mars Hill and getting ready to go this week."
On how fresh the group of Eagles running backs are at this point in the season.
"It's great that you can have more than two running backs running the football because this is an offense, and especially this is the first game in November. I don't know that there's many college football players in America right now as fresh as they were on August 1st, so everybody's got some kinks in them, some bruises and bumps and those kind of things. Our younger guys are getting more confident in what they're doing, they're getting more explosive in what they're doing so we're excited about that."
On what has stood out about the growth of confidence in the team throughout the season
"I think you go back a couple weeks to not letting down when it got to be 16-0 against Lenoir-Rhyne and fighting your way back and having a chance to win. Take away some of those other mistakes but I've watched them grow responsibility wise and we're always trying to grow them up to and be (held) accountable for our actions and those actions on a football field jump out sometimes just like they do in life, but I have been impressed with them. I'm impressed with their hearts and we're going to continue to grow them up in that way."
