The University of Akron Athletics
Ball State at Akron Postgame Quotes
September 13 | Football
BSU Coach Brady Hoke Opening Statement:
It was our first league game and we thought it was very
important to get a win. Overall we played well, but we have a long
way to go to be where we want to be. The win was a little ugly. Our
offense played poor in the first half. We started the game a little
soft but got better as the game wore on. The offense was able to
put up some points in the second half.
On adjusting to the blitz at the half...
We didn't make to many adjustments. We believe that we
just played very sloppy in the first half. Our offensive coaches
made some good calls in the second half and we were able to score
more often.
On the importance of today's win and starting 3-0 for the
first time in 20 years...
It has been a long time, but in that time we have played several
BCS schools. This is a good win and it is nice to be undefeated. We
aren't close to be any type of championship team. We have much to
work to do.
On SS Sean Baker...
He is a young redshirt freshman, that is currently
competing for the starting job with Alex Knipp. He was just able to
put himself in the right place at the right time and that speak
volumes about his work ethic.
On applying defensive pressure on 3rd and long...
We were able to get pressure early and change Jacquemain's
throwing motion. We knew they ran the spread and we were able to
bring six when they only had five to block. Most of our picks came
from our zone defense.
University of Akron
Coach JD Opening Statement:
This team can't play the way we played today, offensively
we needed to score points. Good skill on that side of the ball,
four interceptions, one fumble. Obviously, some critical points
that affected our score which I felt was a big momentum swing. But
again we can't play that way and beat this football team (Ball
State), not many football teams really. They did a good job, you've
got to give credit to Ball State and how they worked their
offensive and got a few new looks defensively that forced some
mistakes.
On BSU SS Sam Baker....
Sean Baker is a very good football player. He's a solid,
smart, athletic good kid. Today he brought the right stuff and made
a nice play on the one interception, absolutely.
On the interceptions/tipped passes...
He (Jacquemain) threw them a little bit out there, but
yes, they were very catchable footballs and the expectations are to
make those plays. If it's close to catchable, I expect us to make
those plays.
On dropped passes...
I don't know why, we've got some pretty sure-handed guys
that didn't make those plays but they weren't thrown perfectly
either. In my mind, it's always about focus and how focused you
are. We obviously weren't focused enough today.
On the defensive pressure on Jacquemain...
The defense called a mix which made him throw in some
tight holes when he had eight in coverage with a blitz at times.
He's a great quarterback and he handles those situations well, he
obviously has the skill to throw it to them. They (BS Defense) hurt
you. They get you in matchups and take advantages of those and
their playmakers make plays.
On Ball State...
They've got speed, they've got two backs that can hurt you
and they've got three seniors on that line who've played a long
time with good experience and opened some holes and caught us a few
times in run situations.
On Akron Defense...
We competed upfront defensively, our fourth nose guard
broke his hand during warm-ups today so now we're on our fifth nose
guard and it's a frustration right now for all of us.
On overall play...
I believe there was very sloppy play on both sides and
missed opportunities on both sides. It was a bad day to look at how
it was and not everyone expected it. I know it hurt us. It was
absolutely a winnable game, they are all winnable games. You might
have to play a little bit harder this week than last week but
they're absolutely winnable.
On Jacquemain's performance...
It was just okay; I didn't really think he played a great
focused game. A couple of the things we taught him to do, he did
not do and that's when he plays best because he operates the
system. We don't need guys to make great plays, we need guys to
operate the system. We we're taught to protect the football and we
were careless with it today and that's not how we operate this.
He's gotta clean that up and play the game he's capable of
playing.
Chris Jacquemain
On Tips/Performance...
Some of my throws weren't accurate and some of the plays,
our wide receivers just made mistakes. We just need to bounce back
as an offense. I think we made some strides last week and failed to
do some things today so hopefully, we can bounce back next
week.
