Craig Ashworth fields questions
Photo by: MSU Sports Information
MSU Tuesday Press Conference Quotes
10/3/2012 7:49:00 AM | Football
Comments from MSU's weekly press conference
Comments from Montana State's weekly football press conference, held each Tuesday...
TUESDAY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
October 2, 2012
BOBCAT HEAD COACH ROB ASH
UC Davis has the same quarterback as last year, but are they different since joining the conference?
“I think they've improved a lot. They look really good on film. They played an awesome, tough game against Cal Poly, who's undefeated this year, they played a very difficult, challenging, close game against South Dakota State, and they just handled Weber State last week. I think they're looking strong and playing well, and of course they'll be at home. It's going to be a tough game.”
What are UC Davis' strengths?
“They're a smart football team. They really are. They get lined up right on every play on offense, defense, special teams. They're in the right spots, they have guys doing the right things, and they play really hard. I really like their intensity and emotion and how hard they play every time they go out on the field.”
How does having played UC Davis last year help you?
“I think there's a little bit of familiarity with the schemes, we can see how we matched up against some of their guys last year, but they have the same advantage with us. So I don't know if it's an advantage, it's just more of a comfort level. The one thing I notice watching them on film is that I think they've made a commitment in the weight room, they made a commitment in their recruiting, and just maybe in their whole approach to the game to try to improve their program entering the Big Sky, and just looking at them on film I think they're a vastly improved team on last year.”
You had success running on them last year, can you run against UC Davis this year?
“I think that's one area where they are much better. Watching them on film, they play really well on defense this year. Cal Poly runs on everybody, but they have a different scheme, with options and so forth. People have lined up and tried to run essential run game concepts, like what we try to run, and UC Davis has done a great job stopping it. It will be a much greater challenge this year.”
What kind of challenge does Randy Wright pose at quarterback?
“Randy's a really smooth, efficient, very talented quarterback. I really like the way he throws the ball, it's effortless. He has all the throws. He has really good touch on his short ball. He sticks the ball in with accuracy on the seam passes and he can get it down the field, as well. He gets out and scrambles around back to the line of scrimmage when plays break down. I think he's really good. And with a year of experience plus for or five games this year under his belt, he's pretty savvy.”
What's the biggest challenge playing in a venue you've never played before?
“Like the UPS commercial – the logistics. It's just one of those things, you have to find out where the locker room is, if there's a walk you've got to time the walk, and the dressing, and the warmups. It can be distracting with all those things. When the game starts, it's the same size field as every other field, it's the same type of environment on the sidelines where your adjustments are and trainers and everything. So once you get started it's not so bad. It's just all the details trying to get everything organized and get the game off to the right start without any uncomfortableness on the team.”
Did the logistical challenges at Southern Utah play any role in the game Saturday?
“No, no. I think the environment was fine. It was difficult there with the walk (from) the locker room and the halftime room and all that, it was not as handy as some of the places we go play, but when the game started it was just football. We put the ball on the ground a couple of times, but it had nothing to do with where we were playing or the crowd or the locker rooms, it was just sloppy play on our part.”
What does having Orenzo back mean to the team?
“Orenzo's a home run hitter, that's one of the things Orenzo can do. He's one of those guys with breakaway speed and the ability to take an off tackle play 74 yards, like he did in the game on Saturday. He gives us the big play that can happen at any time.”
Do you feel Orenzo is an every down back, that he can handle the punishment?
“Oh, yeah, absolutely. Orenzo's extremely strong. Actually, some of his best runs in the Southern Utah game were third-and-ones, and he got three key first downs as the third-and-one back at Southern Utah against a very physical front. He wants the ball, he wants to carry it a bunch of times, and I think he can do that, for sure.”
What did it take for Orenzo Davis to get back?
“He had to get through the fall and then the spring and then the summer with all of his courses, just like everyone else does. He had to hit those standards, and he had dug himself a hole that he had to get out of. His determination to come back was phenomenal. He had to pay his own way, he had to work at it very hard to get his grades. He was very motivated to do that and he got the job done. It's been a good lesson for him, that the academic work has to be at a certain level for you to play Division I football. He knows that now, he's doing well in school and he's got himself eligible for a great senior season.”
How clutch has Steven Bethley been for your team?
“He did make the interception in both those (SFA and SUU) games. Like I've always said, it doesn't come down to one play. The whole game fits together, and we've got a lot of guys on that defensive unit that made plays throughout both of those games.
What do you do to make sure you take care of the ball better?
“It's the classic situation, do you talk about it more or talk about it less. Everyone knows about the turnovers. The offensive feels terrible about it because we put our defense in a bad spot four times in this game. Thankfully the defense rallied and we only allowed seven points off all four turnovers combined, so the defense did an excellent job coming in in those sudden change situations. But we have to stop that. That's going to get us beat at some point. Everyone knows that. What we have to talk about on those fumbles is technique in terms of properly handling the ball, put it away, where your hand position is, five points of pressure, all the things you talk about. And the interceptions, it's basically making the right read and throwing the ball to open areas instead of trying to force those situations. Obviously we'll work on that.”
Has the defense continued to improve?
“Oh, absolutely. I think the defense is continuing to get better every week. I think it was a very tough challenge against Southern Utah and Brad Sorensen. And when you look at the numbers the defense did an unbelievable job, holding Southern Utah to 15 points less than their point total, much lower statistics on passing yardage, running yardage, third down conversions, almost every area. They're really playing well.”
You had some injuries to deal with last game. What can you say about guys stepping up?
“We talk all the time about how number two has to be ready. You never know in the game of football when that opportunity's going to come. There are lots of guys whose numbers got called. Actually it's happened several times throughout the season. But if that number two guy is a good player, which hopefully he is because we've recruited him into the program, then he should have the talent to play, and if he's been on point, studying his plays and lifting hard in the weight room and getting himself ready to go, then when his number's called he should be able to do the job. We've had many, many cases of guys going out there and doing a great job. One of the ones in this game was Alex Eekhoff, coming into the game when John Weidenaar was out of the game. He had no idea he was going to be playing (Saturday) but he went out there and he was part of that touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Hopefully we can continue to step up.”
Why is Tray Robinson so effective catching balls out of the backfield?
“He's very gifted. He's a smooth, effortless athlete, he can run routes, he has a good concept of route-running, his positioning on the field, spacing, timing. But he's also a big target and he has soft hands. So he's a pretty good receiver. He really does an awesome job coming out of the backfield.”
Was that a worst-case scenario in Cedar City, four offensive starters out in the second half plus four turnovers? Does it give you confidence knowing you can win a game even when you don't play your best?
“That's what I told the team on Sunday: that's a great win, but the good news is we can play a lot better, especially on the offensive side. I'm not sure we can play much better on the defensive side. That was a stellar performance by those guys on that side of the ball. But we can play a lot better on offense, and the fact that we were able to come out ahead shows we've got a pretty balanced team.”
You had five sacks, what does Zach Minter bring back to this team?
“Zach is an unbelievable force inside, both against the run and against the pass. He's a big man who's very explosive and I thought he played a courageous football game. He's still a little bit sore and probably a little out of shape since he hasn't been able to practice, and he gutted it out and gave us great, great push inside.”
Injury report:
“Cody (Kirk) is doubtful for this week, and Tanner (Bleskin) is likely to play.
Did the time off make Orenzo a little more hungry?
“I think it did. I think he made the connection moreso between academic work and football and how those two both have to be on the same level in order to play. I think he appreciates it more because he missed it for a whole year. And he's really excited to be out there, he's really been a huge key for us, especially now that Cody's injured.”
JUNIOR NOSE TACKLE CRAIG ASHWORTH
What have you seen from UC Davis so far?
“They're going to bring it. Every team we play from now on is going to bring it. We're marked. They're going to be a good team. They're big. I haven't watched much offensive film yet (by Tuesday at noon), but they're a good team. We're going to have to bring it again this week.”
What do you have to do to keep this momentum going?
“I just think we need to keep doing the little things right. We try to work hard every day. On Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday we continue to work hard, and hopefully if we continue to do that for the rest of the year we can keep rolling.”
How dangerous is MSU's defensive line at full strength?
“When we have four healthy guys we're going to get sacks and we're definitely going to put pressure on people. Like you said, when we're healthy we're a dangerous bunch.”
How does it change your approach going from playing a quarterback who stays in the pocket to a player who moves around a little more?
“Our main worry is containing him. If the outside guys contain him, and hopefully he doesn't bust anything outside, the two inside guys can get there, and hopefully we can do that.”
How does last year's game against UC Davis help this week?
“We've seen them before, we know what to expect a little bit. We haven't been to UC Davis, but the whole Southern Utah thing, we didn't know what the team was going to bring, we'd never been down there, it was a whole new experience. We've actually played (UC Davis) so we have a better gauge on how they're going to play.”
What's the most challenging part of going somewhere you've never played before?
“I think the hardest part was the facility. You don't really know what to expect. We had to walk down from the weight room (which was the halftime meeting room). We adjusted well to it, but usually you like to know what's going to happen, what to expect.”
When you know it's coming, is it easier to prepare for everybody's best shot?
“It's definitely motivation for us in practice. You want to continue to practice hard to (try to) be perfect. You can't take days off, and if you do take days off this could be the week you go down. So I think it just motivates everyone to play harder and do better.”
How does it play into your mindset as a defender when the offense turns it over four times?
“Definitely we wouldn't like that to happen, but it happens. But as a defensive player we're going to bail the offense out sometimes and the offense is definitely going to bail us out. It goes both ways. I don't think anyone gets too upset. It goes both ways. We've bailed them out sometimes this year and they've bailed us out.”
Steven Bethley has intercepted passes in your two closest games this year. How clutch has he been?
“Absolutely. The Stephen F. Austin game was huge. He just seems to be in the right place at the right time. I know the front seven really appreciates (that) he's played great the last few games.”
TUESDAY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
October 2, 2012
BOBCAT HEAD COACH ROB ASH
UC Davis has the same quarterback as last year, but are they different since joining the conference?
“I think they've improved a lot. They look really good on film. They played an awesome, tough game against Cal Poly, who's undefeated this year, they played a very difficult, challenging, close game against South Dakota State, and they just handled Weber State last week. I think they're looking strong and playing well, and of course they'll be at home. It's going to be a tough game.”
What are UC Davis' strengths?
“They're a smart football team. They really are. They get lined up right on every play on offense, defense, special teams. They're in the right spots, they have guys doing the right things, and they play really hard. I really like their intensity and emotion and how hard they play every time they go out on the field.”
How does having played UC Davis last year help you?
“I think there's a little bit of familiarity with the schemes, we can see how we matched up against some of their guys last year, but they have the same advantage with us. So I don't know if it's an advantage, it's just more of a comfort level. The one thing I notice watching them on film is that I think they've made a commitment in the weight room, they made a commitment in their recruiting, and just maybe in their whole approach to the game to try to improve their program entering the Big Sky, and just looking at them on film I think they're a vastly improved team on last year.”
You had success running on them last year, can you run against UC Davis this year?
“I think that's one area where they are much better. Watching them on film, they play really well on defense this year. Cal Poly runs on everybody, but they have a different scheme, with options and so forth. People have lined up and tried to run essential run game concepts, like what we try to run, and UC Davis has done a great job stopping it. It will be a much greater challenge this year.”
What kind of challenge does Randy Wright pose at quarterback?
“Randy's a really smooth, efficient, very talented quarterback. I really like the way he throws the ball, it's effortless. He has all the throws. He has really good touch on his short ball. He sticks the ball in with accuracy on the seam passes and he can get it down the field, as well. He gets out and scrambles around back to the line of scrimmage when plays break down. I think he's really good. And with a year of experience plus for or five games this year under his belt, he's pretty savvy.”
What's the biggest challenge playing in a venue you've never played before?
“Like the UPS commercial – the logistics. It's just one of those things, you have to find out where the locker room is, if there's a walk you've got to time the walk, and the dressing, and the warmups. It can be distracting with all those things. When the game starts, it's the same size field as every other field, it's the same type of environment on the sidelines where your adjustments are and trainers and everything. So once you get started it's not so bad. It's just all the details trying to get everything organized and get the game off to the right start without any uncomfortableness on the team.”
Did the logistical challenges at Southern Utah play any role in the game Saturday?
“No, no. I think the environment was fine. It was difficult there with the walk (from) the locker room and the halftime room and all that, it was not as handy as some of the places we go play, but when the game started it was just football. We put the ball on the ground a couple of times, but it had nothing to do with where we were playing or the crowd or the locker rooms, it was just sloppy play on our part.”
What does having Orenzo back mean to the team?
“Orenzo's a home run hitter, that's one of the things Orenzo can do. He's one of those guys with breakaway speed and the ability to take an off tackle play 74 yards, like he did in the game on Saturday. He gives us the big play that can happen at any time.”
Do you feel Orenzo is an every down back, that he can handle the punishment?
“Oh, yeah, absolutely. Orenzo's extremely strong. Actually, some of his best runs in the Southern Utah game were third-and-ones, and he got three key first downs as the third-and-one back at Southern Utah against a very physical front. He wants the ball, he wants to carry it a bunch of times, and I think he can do that, for sure.”
What did it take for Orenzo Davis to get back?
“He had to get through the fall and then the spring and then the summer with all of his courses, just like everyone else does. He had to hit those standards, and he had dug himself a hole that he had to get out of. His determination to come back was phenomenal. He had to pay his own way, he had to work at it very hard to get his grades. He was very motivated to do that and he got the job done. It's been a good lesson for him, that the academic work has to be at a certain level for you to play Division I football. He knows that now, he's doing well in school and he's got himself eligible for a great senior season.”
How clutch has Steven Bethley been for your team?
“He did make the interception in both those (SFA and SUU) games. Like I've always said, it doesn't come down to one play. The whole game fits together, and we've got a lot of guys on that defensive unit that made plays throughout both of those games.
What do you do to make sure you take care of the ball better?
“It's the classic situation, do you talk about it more or talk about it less. Everyone knows about the turnovers. The offensive feels terrible about it because we put our defense in a bad spot four times in this game. Thankfully the defense rallied and we only allowed seven points off all four turnovers combined, so the defense did an excellent job coming in in those sudden change situations. But we have to stop that. That's going to get us beat at some point. Everyone knows that. What we have to talk about on those fumbles is technique in terms of properly handling the ball, put it away, where your hand position is, five points of pressure, all the things you talk about. And the interceptions, it's basically making the right read and throwing the ball to open areas instead of trying to force those situations. Obviously we'll work on that.”
Has the defense continued to improve?
“Oh, absolutely. I think the defense is continuing to get better every week. I think it was a very tough challenge against Southern Utah and Brad Sorensen. And when you look at the numbers the defense did an unbelievable job, holding Southern Utah to 15 points less than their point total, much lower statistics on passing yardage, running yardage, third down conversions, almost every area. They're really playing well.”
You had some injuries to deal with last game. What can you say about guys stepping up?
“We talk all the time about how number two has to be ready. You never know in the game of football when that opportunity's going to come. There are lots of guys whose numbers got called. Actually it's happened several times throughout the season. But if that number two guy is a good player, which hopefully he is because we've recruited him into the program, then he should have the talent to play, and if he's been on point, studying his plays and lifting hard in the weight room and getting himself ready to go, then when his number's called he should be able to do the job. We've had many, many cases of guys going out there and doing a great job. One of the ones in this game was Alex Eekhoff, coming into the game when John Weidenaar was out of the game. He had no idea he was going to be playing (Saturday) but he went out there and he was part of that touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Hopefully we can continue to step up.”
Why is Tray Robinson so effective catching balls out of the backfield?
“He's very gifted. He's a smooth, effortless athlete, he can run routes, he has a good concept of route-running, his positioning on the field, spacing, timing. But he's also a big target and he has soft hands. So he's a pretty good receiver. He really does an awesome job coming out of the backfield.”
Was that a worst-case scenario in Cedar City, four offensive starters out in the second half plus four turnovers? Does it give you confidence knowing you can win a game even when you don't play your best?
“That's what I told the team on Sunday: that's a great win, but the good news is we can play a lot better, especially on the offensive side. I'm not sure we can play much better on the defensive side. That was a stellar performance by those guys on that side of the ball. But we can play a lot better on offense, and the fact that we were able to come out ahead shows we've got a pretty balanced team.”
You had five sacks, what does Zach Minter bring back to this team?
“Zach is an unbelievable force inside, both against the run and against the pass. He's a big man who's very explosive and I thought he played a courageous football game. He's still a little bit sore and probably a little out of shape since he hasn't been able to practice, and he gutted it out and gave us great, great push inside.”
Injury report:
“Cody (Kirk) is doubtful for this week, and Tanner (Bleskin) is likely to play.
Did the time off make Orenzo a little more hungry?
“I think it did. I think he made the connection moreso between academic work and football and how those two both have to be on the same level in order to play. I think he appreciates it more because he missed it for a whole year. And he's really excited to be out there, he's really been a huge key for us, especially now that Cody's injured.”
JUNIOR NOSE TACKLE CRAIG ASHWORTH
What have you seen from UC Davis so far?
“They're going to bring it. Every team we play from now on is going to bring it. We're marked. They're going to be a good team. They're big. I haven't watched much offensive film yet (by Tuesday at noon), but they're a good team. We're going to have to bring it again this week.”
What do you have to do to keep this momentum going?
“I just think we need to keep doing the little things right. We try to work hard every day. On Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday we continue to work hard, and hopefully if we continue to do that for the rest of the year we can keep rolling.”
How dangerous is MSU's defensive line at full strength?
“When we have four healthy guys we're going to get sacks and we're definitely going to put pressure on people. Like you said, when we're healthy we're a dangerous bunch.”
How does it change your approach going from playing a quarterback who stays in the pocket to a player who moves around a little more?
“Our main worry is containing him. If the outside guys contain him, and hopefully he doesn't bust anything outside, the two inside guys can get there, and hopefully we can do that.”
How does last year's game against UC Davis help this week?
“We've seen them before, we know what to expect a little bit. We haven't been to UC Davis, but the whole Southern Utah thing, we didn't know what the team was going to bring, we'd never been down there, it was a whole new experience. We've actually played (UC Davis) so we have a better gauge on how they're going to play.”
What's the most challenging part of going somewhere you've never played before?
“I think the hardest part was the facility. You don't really know what to expect. We had to walk down from the weight room (which was the halftime meeting room). We adjusted well to it, but usually you like to know what's going to happen, what to expect.”
When you know it's coming, is it easier to prepare for everybody's best shot?
“It's definitely motivation for us in practice. You want to continue to practice hard to (try to) be perfect. You can't take days off, and if you do take days off this could be the week you go down. So I think it just motivates everyone to play harder and do better.”
How does it play into your mindset as a defender when the offense turns it over four times?
“Definitely we wouldn't like that to happen, but it happens. But as a defensive player we're going to bail the offense out sometimes and the offense is definitely going to bail us out. It goes both ways. I don't think anyone gets too upset. It goes both ways. We've bailed them out sometimes this year and they've bailed us out.”
Steven Bethley has intercepted passes in your two closest games this year. How clutch has he been?
“Absolutely. The Stephen F. Austin game was huge. He just seems to be in the right place at the right time. I know the front seven really appreciates (that) he's played great the last few games.”
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