Oct. 4, 2005
On last week's loss to Marshall...
"I thought our guys were very focused and came out ready to play. It was a bitter loss but there were a lot of things in the game that I noticed as signs of improvement. Though it was not a dominant effort on defense, it was a very sound effort. Our intensity was better than it was the week before against Tulane."
On the injury to Tony Eckert...
"We lost Tony in the second quarter to a broken collar bone and he will be out for the year. We are in the process of evaluating whether there is a possibility we can get him another year through a medical redshirt based his playing time."
On this Saturday's game against UAB...
"We have a big challenge ahead of us. I think UAB is one of the top programs in Conference USA right now and they may be the best offense we will face this season. I think Darrell Hackney is throwing at a 70% percent completion rate. He has good receiver to throw to and a good line to protect him. They are really good at spreading the ball around and also have two really good running backs that can run and catch. We are going to have to come ready play and play a solid game."
On UAB QB Darrell Hackney...
"He is a very good player and makes very good decisions. We are going to have to stick to our assignments and contain him. He prides himself on throwing the ball and he gets rid of it fast. He also throws the tightest spiral I have ever seen. His throws are always right where you want them. He has a very quick release and takes pride in getting the ball where it needs to go. He reminds me a lot of Steve McNair who I had a chance to see play when I was at LSU in that his technique is very sound."
On the SMU quarterback situation...
"We are trying to get Jerad (Romo) healed up a bit. Chris (Phillips) will be in the mix along with Justin Willis. We are going to practice Justin this week and see how he handles things, but we will not make decisions until later in the week. I can tell you that Justin is a smart player and we are very excited about his abilities. We have to be ready to play a couple of quarterbacks, though, and we will make decisions later in the week."
