Mike Norvell Weekly Press Conference Highlights

Mike Norvell Quotes 9-12

Opening Statement:
"Even though they made us wait for it, Game 2 is on the horizon. We had a great off week. I'm really pleased with the mentality of our players and the preparation for this next step. They were very mature in their focus. We tried to have great attention to detail in our improvement as a football team. Coming off of the first game, I really liked how the guys approached our preparation. I thought we started fast and we had a little lull in the second half. Offensively, I don't think our tempo was where we need it to be, but we had a great focus on that this past week in practice.

This week, we have a Power 5 opponent coming into town. Kansas is a much-improved football team from where they have been. They are going in to the second year with their new coaching staff. In their first game, they had a great victory and scored a lot of points. This last week they had a little setback. They turned the ball over and had a couple of self-inflicted mistakes and came up on the short end. We know they are going to come in to our place with a great intensity and focus on improving and we know we have a tremendous challenge at hand. We are excited about this week and getting back on the field at the Liberty Bowl."

Some of the positives from the opening game…
"I thought it was great getting to see the first-timers in action, especially offensively. We had a lot of guys that had never seen live game action. Tony Pollard really stood out to me. He made plays, not only offensively with a couple of big catches but also on special teams. He did a great job in the return game and he blocked a punt. Seeing guys that you are really not sure how they are going to perform when the lights come on, we had a nice first showing. I liked the way our guys prepared. You can simulate all that you want but for them to understand the importance of Friday walkthrough and for how we are preparing on game day, I thought the guys came out ready to play and I loved the intensity. We just have to continue to clean up things throughout the game."

What was the emphasis for the bye week?
"For us it was really about focusing on who we are and trying to make sure we have a better understanding about what we are good at. We have implemented a lot of schemes and we have tried to tie those schemes to the personnel that we have. As each day goes by, we have a better understanding of what our personnel is good at and where we need to improve. Last week was a big focus on fundamentals. We did get an introduction to Kansas but the biggest thing we have to focus on is ourselves."

On the early bye week…
Just like what we tell the players, we can only control what we can control. We have no say in when our bye week shows up, so we have to maximize it whether it was late in the year or early like it occurred. With us being a first-year staff, we can definitely take the positives out of it because it gives us another opportunity to continue to get to know each other, to continue to evaluate where we are early in the season. We are going to have to be smart later in the year for how we prepare, and we'll have to get to that down the road. After the game, we were able to sit as a team and see all of the good things, but also the room for improvement. I don't think anyone was satisfied with how we played. There were some bright spots but we have to do a better job of finishing defensively. We have to be better on offense with efficiency and not turning the ball over, making sure we are able to establish the run. There are a lot of things that we could work on and I think the guys came out and really improved this week.

What can be done to improve the running game?
"Focusing on our fundamentals. We first have to look at ourselves. What can we do better from a fundamental or scheme standpoint to put our guys in a better situation? On the same hand, we have to be able to take what the defense gives us. In the first quarter, we might have had 2-3 yards rushing but we had 22 points passing because the defense was trying to take away the run. During the second half, we were trying to force the run just to get it established and later in the fourth quarter we were able to hit a couple of big runs. I don't get too caught up on the overall numbers because we have to take what the defense gives us."

The depth in the backfield…
We feel like we have five or six backs that can do a variety of things. Doroland Dorceus is primarily a ball-carrier, but he scored a touchdown last week catching the ball as a free-release. Having backs that can catch the ball out of the backfield gives them another opportunity to get touches. This offense is built for playmakers. We want to be able to showcase all the skills and talents they have. The more things we can do with them, the better opportunity we have to be successful. I like where we are at running back. That's a position that usually you're going to have guys that as the season goes on that do get banged up because of the workload that they have. You have to have that depth."

University of Memphis Athletics

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Doroland Dorceus

Tony Pollard

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