MONROE, La. - ULM
head football coach Todd Berry, quarterback Kolton Browning and linebacker R.J.
Young met with members of the media Tuesday afternoon in advance of Saturday's home
contest against Florida Atlantic.
Below are selected quotes from Tuesday's event and the
entire press conference can be viewed by clicking the link on the right side of the article.
Head Coach Todd
Berry
Opening Statement...
"Obviously, it was a good win for us last week against
Middle Tennessee State. I think they
have a very good football team. It's a very athletic team. They were excited
about playing us and we were excited about playing them. I say that because
this is that point of time in the year where it's really easy to come out and
play flat. The excitement and the newness of the season is over, and we're
still a little far away from closing out the season to where you know what
you're playing for and what's awaiting you."
"I think that showed up a bit in the third and fourth
quarter for us. We've played a lot of emotional games this season. I think when
you go on the road, you bring a lot of that emotion with you. It's not like the
crowd is going to energize you, they're going to anything but that. I think
that's something that we can learn to control, but it's also the kind of thing
where the home crowd can really pick you up. It was not our best game of the
season by any stretch, but it was a good win for us"
On Florida Atlantic...
"Going into Florida Atlantic, this is a significant game for
us. There's an opportunity for us to put ourselves up one more up in the
conference race, which is obviously one of our goals. We're playing against a
team that had a bye week last week. They're in transition there this year, and
that's one of the things that can scare you as a coach. They're picking up
their new systems. They've always been a very athletic team and they are now.
They are going to have an opportunity to fix some of the things they've been
struggling with. We're going to see some potentially different looks, and we're
going to have to prepare for that. "
"The FAU quarterback is impressive size wise, and has a very
strong arm. That's something we're going to have to contend with. Their defensive
structure is very unique. We have not seen this coverage contour or structure
this year. I am familiar with it because
it is similar to what we ran when I was at the University of Miami (Florida). "
Kolton Browning|
On the team's confidence...
"We've been playing with a lot of confidence all year. I
feel like we have a great team this year. Everyone's excited to be back at home."
On game improvements...
"Last week, I didn't feel like I played to the best of my
ability. I definitely made some mistakes out there. I have to cut out the
mental mistakes and try not to make turnovers every week. I should just focus
on taking care of the football and doing what we need to do to get points on
the board."
R.J. Young
On the defense's mentality...
"It's been engrained in our head to pick up our linemen
assignments and to play physical. Last week, Middle Tennessee said that they
were a very physical team. We wanted to show them that we played physical
unlike teams they had played in the past."
On the home crowd...
"Nobody likes to travel when you can just play football right in your
backyard. It feels good to be back at home. On Twitter, they started a hash tag
to 'fill Malone'. I know it's Sun Belt play and it's mid-season, which I know
isn't exciting to some people, but I think we're still going to have a good
support base."
