The University of Akron Athletics
Brookhart Weekly Press Conference Quotes
September 24 | Football
On the win against rival Kent State...
"It was a big victory. I was very proud of the guys. In the end
our troops were down, we had a lot of guys out, captains were out,
and we were on our third holder. Some guys were gimping around,
shoulders, ankles, etc. but they showed a lot of fight and
competed. I don't think we necessarily played well. We didn't have
a ton of critical, critical mistakes but certainly we were not
playing how we are capable of playing. That's a little bit
disappointing. We have got to clean a lot up. We have to play a
better brand of football but we are 1-0 in the east and in the end
that's what its about."
On fixing mistakes...
"We had a number of guys that didn't have winning grades. Some
played a little bit of their own game and didn't execute the plan.
We talk all the time about the details. Sometimes you might have a
winning grade but its low and that's not good enough. We need to
clean it up and get better. There are always going to be mistakes.
I'm not a fool to think that there won't be but our goal is to
clean those up. We would love to have a perfect game or put
somewhat close to a perfect game together. Obviously, that's hard
to do but if three plays would have went different in the Kent game
we would have lost. We approach it that way when we watch tape. If
things did go a bit differently, we would have lost the game and
been upset with our performance. We won and we are happy but not
with the way that we played."
On quarterback Carlton Jackson's
performance...
"Some of the things we are afraid with Carlton is that he tries to
do his own thing. That is what we have to wean him of. He has to
operate the system better. He didn't have a winning grade. He needs
to play better."
On the second half running game...
"I thought in the end, especially in the fourth quarter, I think
our conditioning really showed. We put in extra all summer
especially planning for this game and in the end I think we wore
them down. Our conditioning level was excellent."
On running back Dennis Kennedy...
"A couple times he had great spurts. I don't know if I've got him
involved in too much special teams that are tiring him out, he's on
kickoff, he's on punt. He did have one great play but maybe I have
used him too much on the special teams. I am going to look at
that."
On kicker Igor Ivelijic...
"He is six for seven on field goals. He's still not there but we
are working on some things. I was most pleased that we had a whole
new battery in there with Brian Flaherty snapping and then our third
holder, Andy Hildreth holding. I thought they operated
well and Igor trusted them. He is still working though; he can get
the ball higher and get it up better, which could eliminate some
blocks."
On losing senior John Mackey...
"We think it's his ACL. We will fight, appeal, waiver, do anything
we can to try and get him a medical redshirt. That's not how it
should have ended for him."
On holding Kent State's quarterback Julian Edelman...
"We did some things differently to hold him. We kept away the big
plays, even their long pass. I thought we especially had great
answers for third downs. They were three for 15 on third downs.
Coach Fleming and the defense had a good answer for them."
On Akron's defense this year...
"For the most part we have been pretty good. Obviously, we had some
breakdowns against Indiana. We did some wrong things that hurt and
devastated us. We are accomplishing a lot of goals that we think
wins football games. We are certainly creating a lot of
opportunities for the offense with field position. However, every
week there is a new challenge. Last week it was their quarterback
and the running back and there will be new ones this week. They are
playing hard but we still have to clean some things up."
On playing Connecticut next week...
"In a lot of ways they are like a Big Ten team. They are physical,
they can throw, good play action, they have some good receivers but
they like to run the ball. Their defense I think is the top 12 in
the nation. They have done a great job defensively. I think it is
going to be a physical football gam and we are going to have to
make some things happen, especially on their home field. This is
another chance for us to accomplish a BCS goal. We are excited;
it's a good opportunity for us."
