Georgia State Head Coach Trent Miles
Opening Statement
Ball State did an excellent job at doing whatever they wanted to do. We turned the ball over in the first quarter and we did not get off the field. We could not sustain any drives. We did not do anything on offense to help move the ball and protect our defense. They ran the ball and did things better in the second half offensively, they did a much better job than we did, so congratulations Ball State.
On the issues of running the ball and the effect on Conner Manning…
I will not be able to tell, I know that they were blitzing and they were doing a cross blitz in the middle and they we’re bringing first downs, and saw blitz, they decided to be aggressive. We were just unable to run the football which was very disappointing to me because I felt like we had a pretty good fall camp running the ball. I felt that we had the ability to run the ball and for some reason we we’re unable to do it tonight. That is why “us” coaches will get a grasp on that and figure out why this is going on, because there is too much talent on the offense, for us not to be able to run the football.
On assessing how Conner did tonight…
He made some good plays but there were some things we wish we had back. I am not going to put the blame on Conner Manning, it’s not his fault we lost, it’s my fault. It’s not a players’ fault, it’s just things we have to do differently. There is still a competition in the Quarterback position for us to figure out who is going to end up being the leader to lead out team, and getting us in the right place, making the right throws.
On the personal foul called on Georgia State at the touchdown…
The referee said that Penny Hart taunted the DB on Ball State’s football team. I did not see that, he may have. They said that he did it at the 2-yardline. I did not see it, and the referee on my side did not see it either, but that did not have anything to do with it because we ended up scoring on that series anyway.
On how Ball State prevented medium to long range passes for Georgia State in contrast to last year…
They were blitzing and you have to get the ball out of their hand. Any time you have more coverage in the back, you have to get it out. I have to go look at the film and see exactly what is was. However, from within the box the guys we’re telling me what the blitzes were and we ended up getting a good beat on them, we just did not execute very well, and we didn’t play good football. So, if you’re going to blame anyone then blame me for them not playing well.
On Aaron’s performance at Quarterback…
Well he ran the ball pretty well but there are some things he has to do, because there are a couple of times he should have thrown it to a guy rather than run it. Now, you’re seeing what life is like without Nick Arbuckle. There’s growing pains and I still feel very confident in those two guys and what they can do and as coaches we have to do a better job of getting them to perform better period.
On deciding when to play Aaron in the game…
We talked about it at halftime and I did not want to make the move right at the half. I think sometimes that send a bad message, because it makes it appear like we were putting the blame on Conner and that was not the case. So, we felt we needed to get him in there the second series and in the second half the plan was not about if we were going to play him, it was more so a matter of when we put Conner out there and then Aaron.
Ball State Head Coach Mike Neu
We had as bad of a start that we could have had from an offensive stand point. The best thing about tonight was overcoming that early adversity. Defense did a fantastic job especially in the first half when they had to carry the “load,” if you will. The best part of it was that our guys stuck together. We were able to overcome the start and finish the half on a high note. In the half time, we kind of came out with a mindset that we were going to finish this game, and that were not leaving the Georgia Dome without a win.
Ball State’s rushing game:
I think it was awesome. The offensive linemen stepped up and accepted the challenge; they wanted the challenge, to take that on, and for us to run the ball like that knowing that Georgia State’s defense knew that we were going to run the ball and for us to have success like that and finish the game, our offensive lineman deserve it. Every time during the huddle on the sideline, I looked them in the eyes and said, “this is what we’ve been waiting for. Let’s finish it off with a victory.”
Question about how important it was to get the first win of the season:
I want to win all of them. Georgia State is a good football team. I have a lot of respect for the job coach Miles has done. I have a lot of respect for Rick Minter and Jesse Minter who are on that staff. I had a lot of opportunities to play under Rick Minter during my Ball State days, and there are a lot of great coaches on that staff. They won their last four games and went to a Bowl game, so we knew it was going to be a challenge for us. However, our guys were up for it. We prepared hard for last several months. And to see our hard work pay off are great to see.
Question about room for improvement:
Everything. Unless we look at the tape, we won’t really know, but there is a lot of areas that we still need to grow in. I am just proud of our guys for staying the course. There was no time where we were panicking on the sideline. The guys had a quiet confidence about themselves, and we were ready for the next series when the opportunity presented itself. We stuck together as a team. The first half didn’t unfold for us as we planned for offensively, but we stuck together. It was a total team effort. At the end, it was a lot of fun to see the excitement of the players on the sideline and sing the fight song in front of our fans that traveled to Atlanta to see us, there is nothing better than that.
Question about how it feels to get that first win:
I am very glad to have today over with, especially with a win. We prepared for months on end for this day, and our mindset on the plane was to win a game knowing that we were facing a tough opponent. I always emphasize to play how we practice which is hard. Even though we don’t have preseasons games in college football, I felt really good going into the game knowing that our guys practiced hard and was ecstatic to see our hard work pay off.
