Temple Head Coach Matt Rhule Temple VS Army 9-2-16 Opening Statement: I m sorry you saw us play that poorly. A lot of credit to Army. We ended up looking disheveled. We looked good early on at times, but when times got hard we couldn t react. That is not the team that we want to have. Running back Jahad Thomas probably won t play next week after his injury, or even the week after. We ll have to wait and see. I thought defensively, we couldn t stop Army. Offensively, we couldn t capitalize. We got the ball in the red zone three times and could not produce. We had three turnovers, Army had none. We could not protect the quarterback. That s on me. We have had three losses in a row and we have to do something, quickly, to get ourselves back on track. We are still not playing the way we are capable of playing. That was significantly worse than what I saw this past week in practice. We ll find a way. On the start of the second half: I thought that at halftime we would go in there and be fired up. We actually went into halftime bummed that we were not winning 45-nothing. Somewhere along the line we have gotten convinced that we are some team that we are not. Last year this same type of situation would happen and we would just go back out there and keep playing. We have to learn to understand who we are; we are not this team that will be up by 45 points at halftime every game. I have not gotten that across to them yet, but I ll say it again. On not getting a handle on the full back dive: Army just dominated it. Credit to Army, they physically dominated the line-of-scrimmage. On endurance of the defense: I don t think we came out with intentions on physically dominating Army and that is really disappointing to me. They physically dominated us and that s what this game is about. When we lose it is when we get dominated up front. That s what happened today. On Sharif Finch s punt block and getting into a rhythm:
That was the second time we crossed the 35-or 40-yard line where we didn t get any points, first drive we were methodically moving it. To block that punt and have that momentum going and then not come away with any points or a touchdown was really rough. We had three real possessions in the first half. We usually get twelve possessions in a game, whereas today we only had eight. When you have a possession you have to score and I don t know that we did that today at the level we should have. Army would have possession for six to eight minutes at a time and we couldn t stop them so it was hard to get a rhythm going. When you can t get into a rhythm, it s hard to call the plays that you want. On difficulty of simulating the triple option in practice: It was really difficult. I don t think we ll be able to simulate the violence of the fullback. They only pushed the ball once or twice, but they kept hammering us inside and we didn t have a guy step up and make a play on it. We made some good adjustments at halftime and they worked at times, but I would not say we got beat by the option, we really got beat by the offensive line, the fullback, and quarterback. We were not committed to being as physical as we needed to be. On what Coach Rhule takes from tonight s game: We will come back and be a really good football team. I have been begging some of our guys to stand up and be leaders and tonight, for the first time, the guys that we need to take charge, like linebacker Avery Williams, running back Jahad Thomas, offensive lineman Leon Johnson, quarterback Phillip Walker, defensive lineman Haason Reddick, defensive lineman Praise Martin-Oguike, and offensive lineman Dion Dawkins, actually did it. This is their team. Coaches can t be cheerleaders. I need guys in that locker room that are demanding their teammates to stay on their game and realize who we are as a team. I m embarrassed by our performance tonight, but if we have any chance of being a good team, we will come back from this. Army reminded me of the way we played last season when we beat Vanderbilt. They did to us what we did to Vanderbilt. I hope they listen to me after tonight and I hope they listen to each other. Good teams are policed in the locker room by each other. We have to get back to being a gritty-hardnosed team because we weren t that team tonight. On struggle on the offense: Our offensive line did not play well on the passing game. On the running game, we were pretty good. There were a couple interceptions, and at times quarterback Phillip Walker was just throwing the ball where he was supposed to; the quarterback can only do so much. At the end of the day, the guys have to step up. All of us do, even the coaches. I am not here to point fingers. I have to go back and watch the tapes to see what we did and where we can improve.
On quarterback Phillip Walker s performance: He has so much physical ability to get outside the pocket and make things happen, but maybe he just did not do that tonight. We can t throw to interceptions down the stretch. We have to do a better job protecting him and we have to get open. It is hard for me to talk about this without having looked it over. On team morale: I don t know if the issue will be believing, I think it is just getting back to our style of play. I think the Toledo game and this game really bothered me. It seems that when we think we are supposed to win, we just don t end up playing like a great football team. I think you will see our leaders holding the team to a higher standard moving forward. On the offensive line play of Army #40 Andrew Davidson (Fullback) Temple vs Army 9/02/2016 The offensive line did excellent. They made holes for me all night, I m more proud of them. I owe all those yards to them. On the win tonight I could imagine a win; we worked so hard in the offseason. Everyday all the guys, offense and defense worked their butts off. Handling Temple s big defensive tackles First off, I give my props to Temple; they played an outstanding game, especially on defense. Our offensive line worked hard every play. They moved those defensive tackles and made holes for me. #39 Jeremy Timpf (Linebacker) Feelings and emotions playing alma mater It s big for us because we were here last year against Navy and it was a tough lost to them in this stadium. It feels really good to start the season off right. All of our work in the offseason paid off. We have a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of good teams ahead of us. Army Head Coach Jeff Monken
Temple VS Army 9/12/16 Opening Statement: I am incredibly proud of our football team. They played with great effort, with great passion, and determination to win. We had our backs to the wall several times, particularly on defense I felt like, but we really bowed our backs and did a nice job several times. The blocked punt in the first half, to get out of that with just three was tremendous. The offense did a great job in the second half coming out and scoring to take the lead right away, and we were able to hold it.that is an incredibly well coached football team, talented football team, and disciplined football team that we played tonight. Temple has a great football program, led by Matt and his staff. I really admire the job he has done. We knew it was going to be a challenge and a battle and that is why I am so proud of these guys and the how well we played tonight, against what I know as a very good football team. Questions: Talk about the productivity of your backfield on offense I was really proud of the way they ran. They ran so hard and ran with their pads down. They really just ran with power and determination. There were a lot of times they were getting hit as you saw. Right at the line of scrimmage, a yard or two down, they ran through some hard tackles and did a great job. Talk about Ahmad Bradshaw s decision making tonight They lined up in a defense entirely different than what we have practiced for the last three weeks and prepared for. So when they came out in that defense, that they had lined in against Navy a couple of years ago, it was kind of a change up for him, but that is what they all settled into. We expected it to be an eight man front and it wasn t so we really had to develop a game plan as we went. We did a lot of the same things we practiced. The great thing about this offense is we can run new plays and block differently particularly on the perimeter, and Ahmad did a nice job because he really had a lot of poise and didn t panic when they did some different techniques, which they did in the front. He handled it well and got us checked into the right play. I am really proud of him and his ability to lead our football team. Talk about the dominance of your offensive line against temple?
I don t know if we dominated. That is an awfully strong word. I thought they had a really good plan against us. It was tough sledding. It s not like we were ripping off 20 yard runs. We were getting it bit by bit, getting third and short, and fourth and short. Phil Snow is a great football coach. I have worked with him. I was a GA under him the spring of 1992 and I have so much respect for him as a coach. They had a really good plan going into the game. One of the things we want to try to stay out of is negative yardage plays and they got us on some. They knocked us back a couple of times in the run game and sacked us a couple of times. They were tough to block and move out there. I was really proud of our offensive line for just digging out cleats in and staying with it and playing with the techniques and fundamentals that they are taught, because in the end that is going to get you the best results How does this set the tone? Does your mentality shift? Can you compare this to your next game? I can t compare any team. Their team is different from a year ago and our team is different from a year ago. They got a lot of guys back and we do too. They have a really good football team. That team is going to win a lot of football games, I know that. Matt is an outstanding coach and when you get a program to the level that they have, they don t lack any confidence in that locker room. They are going to win some football games, that is a credit to him, his staff, and his players. They have built a pretty special program and they have the confidence to win. Our guys are different because we are a team that took a bunch of guys a year ago. Many of them were freshman, now sophomores. We just came close a bunch of times in all our football games. Even though we didn t win those games it gave our guys the confidence to realize we are that close, if we get one more stop of defense or one more score on offense we have a chance to change our fortunes in those close games. Our team is playing much more confident, at least we did tonight, as we practiced and gone through the offense and the preseason camp. It is a measuring stick when you play a team that won 10 football games, won a bowl game, played for the conference championship, and was ranked in the top 25 of the country. That is a huge win for us. Temple stayed on the field for your Alma matter; do other teams do that besides Navy? What does it mean? We have had several teams that have done that. I think that it is a great tradition and certainly a great way to show respect to the other team and the other institution. When it comes right down to it, it s a game, we are playing a sporting event, representing each of our universities and all of our graduates and the fans that are out there. Sportsmanship is important. It is a sport, it is not anything but that, you can play a hard fought game like we did and show respect for your opponent and the other school, I mean what is better than that?
Because of the frustrating losses in the past can you point to this and say that this is where your team learned to win? I think you learn how to win over time. It is one win. It is one game. You take them one at a time. Because we beat a good football team tonight, it doesn t mean that the coach from Rice and I aren t going to have a conversation later this week and say we beat this team that won 10 games last year can you give us a head start leading by 7 points. We have to go earn it. Rice is a team that has beaten us the last two years in a row. They are a good football team. Coach Bailiff is one of the best football coaches in the country; he will have his team prepared. We figured out how to win tonight, we are going to figure out how to win next week. Talk about the secondary line and the effort they put in? Brandon Jackson made a really good play on our sideline late in the game. We had several nice breakups. It was great to see the linebackers get in front of some of those balls. They had the long throw where they threw it right in front of our corner and after the conversion we came right back and got a pick. We just have some guys in some places where they can make some plays. They have a huge offensive line. It s tough to penetrate those guys who are that big. The pressure we were getting was coming off the edge not down the middle. When a 320 pound guys get a hold of a 250 pound guy it s a pretty good miss match. How are you going to take this win and project it to the next game? There will be a lot of things that we will watch on film tonight that are going to frustrate us and we are going to say gosh we have got to do those things a lot better before we beat Rice and if we are going to prove this football team. We will try to recognize those things, I think every team and every coach does that. We take things from the previous game and get some criticism and say here is where we have got to get better. We are going to find those things, but we are going to see a lot of things we did well, and be able to point and break it down to show our team that we need to continue to do these things to have success. Winning and losing are both habits, so hopefully this will get us into a winning habit. Phillip Walker Temple vs. Army 9/2/16
On the Temple seeing the blitz a lot They did everything we saw on film. We picked it up pretty well. We just had a few times where we missed the blocks here and there. Everyone knew where they were supposed to be, we just missed some blocks and cover zones but we just have to come back, watch the film, and we have to do better. On response to this game We were 2-10 at one point so we know what losing feels like and we know what winning feels like. We know what we have to do to get better and we might have needed this game to realize what kind of team we are and get back out there on Monday and fly around with the team. On what was working on offense early on We were moving the ball. We were stretching them on the runs. We got away from it at one point but overall, I feel we moved the ball really well, we just weren t efficient enough in the red zone. On the first interception It happens, it comes with the game, and there s nothing we can do about it. Just move onto the next play. I have a lot of trust in Brodrick and I know he can make that play. You can t really complain. He just has to turn around and put his hands up. On limited possessions because of Army s offense They moved the ball pretty well, it s hard. I felt we were moving the ball well and were in a good position. We just couldn t settle for three points because three points wasn t enough tonight. We needed touchdowns, and we weren t effective in the red zone. On the Army offense compared to what was seen in film It was everything we expected. They brought a lot more crashing with the corners. But overall I thought we played pretty well offensively. We just didn t execute in the red zone. We moved the ball up and down the field, I think we had one three-and-out. We just have to do better next weekend. We aren t going to sit on this loss like it s the end of our season. On how to improve next week We ll probably practice red zone a lot this week. Just because we know we can move the ball in the open field. So when we come to that red zone we have to be a lot more effective.
On whether this game feels like its 0-3 No, this is a whole new season. All we can do is just play better next week and try and get this season to 1-1. These are not conference games for us. Our end goal is to win the conference. We can be 9-3 and win this conference. Winning the conference championship, that s our major goal. On offensive adjustments for the second half We pretty much did the same thing. We ran less stretch in the outside zones. I think we still had some good plays with the rollout. It was just limited with how much we had the ball. It was just kind of hard. On becoming the all-time passing leader for Temple We just lost the game. I don t even care about what s going on with accolades or anything like that. Right now were just trying to be 1-0 next week. I m pretty sure everyone s mentality is they want to be 1-0 next week. I think this team will bounce back stronger than anyone expects because for a lot of guys on this team, this game means something to them. Especially the senior class. Avery Williams Temple vs. Army 9/2/16 On what happened in game and specifically struggling to stop inside runs Whatever happens to the defense, it s always on me. On why he feels like it is all on him It s my team. If something good happens, praise the person that did it. If something bad happens, look at me. Don t look at anybody else. It s all on me. On triple option in game compared to seeing it in practice It was exactly like practice. It was on me. I couldn t get my guys on it. It s my defense; I should have gotten my guys going earlier. On defense s energy
Energy, playmaker, whatever, it s all on me. I could have made big plays At the beginning of the game, I could have made a big play. At the end of the game, I could have made a big play. On motivation from this loss Oh it motivates the guys that it s their first year playing. You have to be all in or nothing. Coach tells you something, you have to detail yourself enough to be able to listen to him. That is the biggest part of being a football player. You have to listen. I just hope it motivates guys. I know it definitely motivated me. Being 0-1, that s never good. Losing a football game is never good. Losing is never an option around here. I hate losing. It eats me up inside. I just want everyone to feel like that. I want us to feel this loss. I don t want anyone out partying tonight or on social media. I just want people to feel this loss and understand what losing feels like. We are 0-3 right now. We lost the conference championship, the bowl game, and this game. We are 0-3. It s never good losing. It hurts. I want it to hurt for the rest of the season. I don t care if we go undefeated the rest of the season. I want this to hurt. I want people to remember this game. Remember how hard they have to work and how hard they have to detail themselves. RB Ryquell Armstead First half seemed like you really had a lot of big holes and were a big success as the game progressed it seemed like the holes really got tighter and less successful what changed? Nothing changed the holes were still there my line blocked fantastic tonight I can t thank them enough all my success tonight was from them. Nothing changed; just didn t work out the way we wanted it to we will get better and move on. Coach Rhule said that for the first time all off season players that needed to speak up did speak up. Is that something that you noticed in the locker room? Yeah, most definitely they spoke up and they said let it sink in. Let this loss hurt and move on and get better for next week. Out mentality is not to lose two in a row it definitely hurts. It hurts me right no. It s not what we expected as a team but you know we have to learn from it and grow from it. Would you like to see yourself more involved in the passing game at all going forward? I m just here to contribute as much as I can if they want me in the passing game I ll be there and just do what my coaches say and just help my teammates. Averee Robinson What do you think made you guys not get that pressure today and not quite be what you wanted to be? We didn t come out ready enough for a fight, Army came out ready for a fight and we came in tighter and expected to win. More than we should have we didn t come out ready to go to the body like what
we teach and I think that was our downfall because in the third and fourth we weren t ready, we were steely eyed. We didn t look like we wanted to play football anymore. Can you talk about how hard it must have been to simulate the triple option in practice and actually play against it in game speed tonight? I think in practice we did a pretty good job at executing it, our scout team gave it a pretty good look and I think that it is a lot different in the game and a lot quicker in the game. But at the same time I didn t think we went out there and executed like we should have. I think we were fully prepared to but we just didn t come to play. Going into Stony Brook next week how do you guys rebound from this? We have to prepare even harder and we just can t be scared of the moment. Marshall Ellick It seemed like in the beginning every time you guys did a play action or rolled out it just worked like the wide receiver was wide open. What happened as the game went on to take that away from you? I don t know like you said they have a heavy presence in the run game and the roll outs were just wide open I guess we kind of let it get away from us and they stopped it later in the game. Where you guys have to sit on the side line for 6 or 7 minutes how does that kind of take you out of the groove and keep you from really putting some momentum together. Army did a great job with that. It definitely took us out of the groove. It s hard to get the flow of the game when you are on the sideline for that long but that s what they are trying to do. That is a part of their game style and it is kind of hard for the offense to restart every time because we are off the field for so long. All camp long there has been talk about how much depth that is at wide receiver with you, Keith, Adonis,and Ventell, if you guys ever get on the same page with this how dangerous could this wide receiver corp be? We could be explosive receiving core in the conference we believe that and we are going to show that next week. Like you said we didn t have that many possessions but we have the ability that other receiving corps don t have. But we are just going to show that next week. Sean Chandler How tough is it for the defense to be on the field for six, seven or eight drives? It is very tiring and you tend to do that things that you dint usually do when you re not tired. For you guys after the game did the seniors or anybody step up and make a speech to you guys either after the game or at half time? Yeah after the game the seniors gave a little speech basically who is going to come out and practice hard this week.
Obviously they didn t stretch the secondary at all but how did you feel about playing safety for the first time in a while in an actual game? It actually felt good. My angles feel better because my angles from corner and safety are definitely different. It s more of a tackling thing I have to do. It was good though. Sharif Finch It seemed as it kind of went down they got simpler In their rushing attacks they relied more on the fullback to kind of straight pound it down your throat and they still had success. Was it the fatigue from those eight minute drives? I wasn t sure what it was. They have a lot of blocking schemes and things like that. We definitely have to just play better be more physical. We had better realize we just need to do our job.