MONROE, La. – ULM head coach Todd Berry, quarterback Pete Thomas and safety Justin Backus met with members of the media in advance of Saturday's road contest at nationally-ranked LSU.
Below are selected quotes from Tuesday's press conference, to view the press conference videos, please scroll to the bottom of the article.
ULM Head Coach Todd Berry:
Opening Statement…
“We are fortunate that we don't have any injuries to report for this week. That's a great thing for us. I'll start out with a couple of comments about last week, and then as I've already been accustomed to, I'll talk about our next opponent. I'm very, very pleased that we are 2-0, and we haven't played a great game yet as a whole football team. Our Wake Forest defensive performance was outstanding. I thought our Idaho offensive performance was outstanding in relation to what we had to deal with. Both games were very unique. Tracing back a little bit to the Wake Forest game, because of the uniqueness this last week of the Idaho situation where they didn't play a game as we talked about last week, and the difficulties of trying to prepare for an opponent that you haven't seen again. So there were some surprises. I think obviously the lightening delay, which we certainly practiced in pre-season camp, it didn't impact us and that probably helped us to some degree, because we were able to go through and talk about making some adjustments. One thing that I mentioned after the Wake Forest game, reiterated now after the Idaho game, was the fact that I think….you have athletes that can play, and we certainly have those, but the ability to make sideline adjustments is so critical in a ball game, especially in these kinds of situations where you don't know exactly what your opponent is going to do. I think our players did a great job, again, just like they did during the Wake Forest game, of taking sideline adjustments and also halftime adjustments, because we did have to make significant changes to some things. We were not quite as prepared for a few of the things that Idaho did. I was very impressed with their quarterback. I think he's going to be a tremendous player, because he made some throws that were, for a freshman, redshirt freshmen but a freshman no less, that were very difficult throws. Very impressed with him, and that's something we really hadn't prepared quite as much for, was a quarterback with that kind of accuracy. That changed us a little bit. From an offensive perspective, we were dealing with a blitz structure almost every snap, and that had not been their norm. That led to a little bit of non-rhythmic series in the sense that it gets tough when they are blitzing like that, to get into a lot of rhythm, although when you hit a play they tend to go for big plays. That's kind of what happened in the game. We were able to stay in the saddle and just kind of hold on until the play all of a sudden had an opportunity to develop for us. I was pleased with that. I think, lastly, I can't understate this probably, all the coaches across country would agree with me on this, to see us have two game winning drives, two games in a row…that's huge, because that goes back to that refusal to lose. You find a way, you are committed to finding a way. I thought we were very much like that two years ago in particular, where we were going to find a way. I talk about that season because I think this team can identify with that season. Most of these guys that are playing for us were a part of that football team. I'm encouraged by that. Obviously there is certainly enough work to be done out there on the practice field. We still have a lot of corrections we still have to make and we are still finding out some things about some of our younger players. But I am encouraged by what has happened and where we are at and now we need to continue to move forward against a team this week that is just tremendously talented in LSU. They are big. They are powerful. They are physical. They have great speed at the skill positions and Coach Miles has done a tremendous job there. It's a difficult job. It's not a difficult job necessarily to win, it's a difficult job to win as successfully as he's won. I don't know that people really truly understand how difficult those jobs are, because you have to win at such a high level. His teams have done that and they've done it consistently. Obviously, they have had two really good wins. One over a ranked Wisconsin team and then one over a very good FCS team in Sam Houston State, who could give a lot of 1-A teams a lot of problems. So that's two really good wins for them, but we are anxious to go in and play. It's a tremendous venue. Great fan base. Obviously great fan base overall. I think their athletic budget is ten times greater than ours. They have five star guys, we have two star guys. You look at all the stuff that's out there and say 32 point underdogs. All that doesn't sound good, but our guys have been in environments like this before, and we will show up and we'll play. That's all I can ask these guys to do.”
On the challenge of being a 32 point underdog…
I think that you are always anxious, as a player, as a coach, as a human being, to relish that opportunity to overcome, and when everybody says that it can't happen, you want to try to make it happen. It's a tall task. We are playing, again, in a hostile environment. We have some younger players that need to step up for us this week, and our players that are new to our program. I think we will get a great effort from LSU, I know that's going to happen. We are going to have to play really great football. First of all, as in most games you can't beat yourself. But I think the second part is, are you aggressive enough to try to go win games. We know that there are some difficult matchups for us this week, so we have to adjust accordingly. Our players have to handle those adjustments well in practice this week. But we have this senior class, and they've played Auburn, they've played Florida State and TCU, and Iowa and Oklahoma and you can go right down the list. Baylor. So it's not like they haven't been in these venues before. I don't think we are going to be intimidated by the venue. The players still have to play, but in terms of me being worried about 'can we handle Tiger Stadium and the lights' and all that other kind of stuff, I don't think we will have any out-of-body experiences along those lines.
On having two wins before a big venue like LSU…
“I think that this is certainly the biggest challenge we've had. There's no question about that. We'll take the schedule however it kind of comes to us and we will play the schedule. As long as we have 12 games, it's a good schedule. You've never heard me complain about who we have to play. These are just other opportunities. You mentioned Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor. Well that kind of worked to our advantage to some degree, in the sense that we beat Arkansas and then we had to validate the Arkansas win by going to Auburn and playing well. Which we did, and came close to winning that game. Then obviously you've got Baylor on national television on a Friday night. So that year it worked out really well. Now, a few years back, we kind of had that same little run with Auburn, LSU and Arkansas all lumped pretty close together, and that was a tough run, because every time you started feeling a little bit better, you got throttled. So I think every year is different. We will play them how they come. That's just kind of the way we are.”
On having confidence because of two game-winning drives…
“I would agree with that. We've been able to play quite a few people too, and I think that's critical, not just in terms of evaluating your team, but getting more guys on the field. If they know that they are going to play, they tend to practice pretty well. The more they practice well, the better they become, so you have more talent to play with. Sometimes, when you play the Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor run, there weren't a lot of guys that got to play in those games. Quite honestly, from a depth standpoint it hurt us later in the season, because there wasn't a break, so as you lost some players to injury, you had players behind them that hadn't had significant playing time, and I think that does, obviously, impact your football team going down the road if you don't stay completely healthy.”
ULM Quarterback Pete Thomas:
On playing in similar game atmospheres…
“We played at Florida State last year. It was obviously pretty cool playing the eventual national champions. I know we are all really excited to play LSU. It's an SEC team and a great opportunity for us as a program.”
On being the underdog…
“It's why you play the game. Like I said, it's a great opportunity for us as a program, as a team and individually. I know we are all looking forward to it. It's not a bad place to be the underdog. In the past, ULM has been pretty successful playing the underdog. It's a role that Coach Berry doesn't mind, and that we don't mind. We're very excited to play this game.”
On LSU's defense…
“They are big. They are athletic, and they can run. They are going to challenge you man-to-man. They are going to pressure your receivers and see if you can make plays offensively. It's going to be a challenge for us. They are a great team. You can tell they are well coached. We are looking forward to the opportunity.”
On being comfortable leading the offense…
“I've gotten a lot more comfortable. Offensively, we made a lot more plays last Saturday. We aren't where we need to be, but we are working hard. Hopefully we will see more improvement like we did from week one to week two going into this game too.”
On where the team stands…
“I think we are where we want to be as far as our record goes. We're 2-0 and 1-0 in the conference. Obviously, we would have liked to play better in both of those games and put a full game together as a team. We're still working. I'm confident we can do it. I think at this point of the season, we are where we need to be at as a team.”
On playing against SEC teams…
“I have not played against one before. I'm a big college football fan, so I know about the SEC and the SEC tradition. Its big crowds and big stadiums. I'm really excited for it, and I know the team is.”
On preparing the younger players…
“You've been playing football since you were five years old. It's no different. It's obviously a bigger stadium and more people. It just adds fuel to the fire. There is no reason to get nervous. Just go out there and do what you've been doing since you were a kid.”
On calmness of last game transferring to LSU…
“I think it will transfer. Coach Berry does a great job teaching the two-minute drill. We work a lot on it in practice. I think that is why we have been so calm these last two games. There was no panic or pressure. We were confident in each other. We looked each other in the eye and said we were going to get this done. We did.”
ULM Safety Justin Backus:
On hitting referee in Wake Forest game…
“I haven't gotten a report about his status. I tried to talk to him before he ran off the field, but I didn't want to say too much while he was on their sideline. From what I have heard, he was alright.”
On what has impressed him about LSU…
“The quarterback has a good arm. The linemen give him a lot of time to get the ball to receivers. They do a lot of long routes. We have to be discipline and contain them. We have to stay with the receivers and not break down our coverage.”
On polishing up missed opportunities on defense…
“It starts with the mindset and going into a game with confidence. If you believe, you can do anything you set your mind to. You hear it so much, you sometimes brush it off. We hear it so much because it is true. If we can stick to that, we can do anything we want on defense.”
On traveling to LSU…
“They are obviously a big school. They have a good coach and good athletes. When it comes to the game, the best team on the field wins. Once we get there, all the tradition is out the door. It's only about who wants it the most.”
