Navy Football Postgame News Conference (Bucknell)

start us out with an opening statement yeah um great to get a win you know one of our one of our goals was was to win the opener we hadn't done that around here since 2019 and so got that done you know we're always going to celebrate wins uh they're not not easy to come by so a lot of things I'm really proud of um you know I thought the game probably you know what we talked about before the game was don't have any expectations about how the game's going to go um and you know couldn't start it off worse you know we defensively we had three three major busts in the first drive I think just Jitters uh some communication issues and then go three and out on offense uh but I was really pleased you know one thing we talk about is just just having a one and0 mindset around here and playing the next play every play has a life of its own and I thought our guys did that in the first half and the way they bounced back way they finished the half U was pleased to see that I thought you know in the third quarter there was a point there where I felt like we were playing a little bit like the game was over um instead of having that one and0 mentality that we talk about and just playing to our standard you know regardless of of the scoreboard so a little disappointed in that um a lot of good things on film uh and a lot of a lot of things that uh need to get cleaned up I thought we were really sloppy at times I think uh don't feel like we played to our standard uh quite our standard on defense uh throughout the entirety of the game and and uh we got to make sure I think people been telling us how good we're going to be on defense and we can't choke on that Sugar um but a lot of good things out there a lot to build off of really love this football team um and you know we got ways to go and and they're they're type of football team that's going to take all this feedback and and and learn from it get better moving forward and and we're certainly going to have to be better moving forward with temple coming in here next weekend to get what we need to get done Bill wag from The Baltimore Sun in the Capital newspaper um I think the entire Navy fan base was eager to see what the wing T offense was all about and showed great potential 437 yards is the most in quite a while PR tou has and show some things in the past game can you just talk about the offense and what you saw here on yeah I think you know there was a lot that I was pleased with I think um you saw the balance that we're we're trying to seek offensively um some good things running the football I think Blake did some nice thing throwing the ball as well uh there's some throws and I know he'd like to get back we had a couple drop balls um two on the same Drive uh would have been first downs and tipped one up got picked off but a lot of good things I'm I'm really encouraged um you know first game is score 49 points and had that kind of production uh I'm pleased uh but there's a lot to get better at for sure and our guys know that and so uh but pleased the way Blake played thought he ran the offense thought he managed things well uh it's good to get braxon in there and I feel good about both those guys and they're both going to help us one football games and you know we just got to continue to get better um but first time out you know there's some things that were sloppy things we got to clean up think we had four penalties on offense we just had the one illegal procedure there toward the end of the game um there a questionable Chop block one was a legitimate shot block and then a kind of a questionable hold but uh jumping off Sid Z on defense was disappointing I think it happened three times and you guys know we can't have those those pre- snap penalties here we talk about it all the time and and those are things that U when we get into tight games are going to kill us so we got to get it cleaned up right there's no doubt about that but really pleased um with the offense um that being said there's a lot of room for growth and Improvement for sure hey coach Noah Ferguson Washington Post um coach brought up when he first came in um the ability to adapt in this new uh in this new offensive system uh being able to adapt from the beginning of the game going into the second quarter or second half things like that um did you see the team adapt after first drive three and out to um you know coming up and putting up the amount of points that you guys did from the be from the beginning to into the second quarter into the second half yeah certainly um you know the thing that that I love about Drew is I think he's an excellent play caller I think he sees things very well I think he knows how to adjust um they had a different plan defensively than than we practiced for the last two weeks and so we were scrambling there a little bit trying to figure things out but uh I thought we did that did a nice job and um but you know he's a I think he's an excellent play caller you know I think it's a system you know one thing compliments another compliments another and um these guys going to have answers you know for what we're seeing so I was I was really pleased with with how he managed the game how he called it Jonathan Anapolis um yeah had two of your quarterbacks saw game time today what did you learn from we had three guys get in there actually yeah yeah Trey Jones got in there to toward the end um yeah the plan was to get get braxon in there um at some point and I thought Blake was playing pretty well and he cramped up a little bit there and so got braxon in thought Braxton did some good things um had a couple passes that got dropped uh had had a Miss throw on one of them but I thought he ran the the offense smoothly got send out of the Huddle got send the right plays and and um but both of those guys are both really really talented both of them can throw the football they can both run and they're just going to continue to get better and better me they're both you know Braxton for all intents and purposes is kind of a red shirt freshman you know Blake's played you know before this five games in his entire career so I think you're going to see those guys just get better and better as season goes on can you talk about the weapon that Eli is he had a spectacular game uh he had a punt return that set up a touchdown he had a couple nice touchdowns on a lot of after yards after the catch on pass yeah he's a guy that we got to get the ball to more we got to find ways to do it you know the on the touchdown run he had I said Drew let's get the ball 22 and he figured out a way to do it and made some exceptional plays he's a really good football player and um when the ball Gets In His Hands good things tend to happen and uh I thought 24 is that good player too and the screen before the half the Run he made was 175 lbs and fights and Claws for every inch that he gets and with those two guys guys are are Playmakers and we got a bunch of them and uh there's not enough balls maybe go around but we got to make sure the 22 and 24 get a lot of touches so going back to the Wi T I mean we saw today the variety that's in this package and I'm sure we have not yet to see even a a glimpse of all of what's there but pass plays tight ends catching passes on drag routes screen passes uh a Jet Sweep went for a nice's first down can you just talk about you got to love all of this back yeah I thought it was a good variety of things today I think going to the game we didn't want to to overwhelm them uh with too large of a call sheet you know but it was a healthy menu um there's still a lot out there and I know coach gr's really smart football coach and we're going to have wrinkles you know for people every week you know based on what we're seeing them do defensively and and you got to look at the things you're doing well what complement those things that you know that people are going to try to attack and um so yeah I it's it's um it's an offensive keep keeps you off balance as you guys saw today you know we got the quarterback out of the pocket quite a bit on some some boots and some some Sprints uh some play action there some screen game um you know some triple option in there some power Run game so it's a good variety of things right and we'll continue to get better at those uh Tyson pis here uh coach I would say you guys had a pretty impressive Run game you got 273 yards on the ground with 53 carries averaging like five yards car so how do you say you plan implement the Run game with the game in your future games against Temple yeah Andre d down the road yeah well the formula here is we have to be able to run the football and that's that's what we need to do primarily um and all the past game stuff is is is compliment to what we do in the Run game U but we'll throw as much as we need to to win games you know and that that could be 10 times that could be 25 times you just never know you got to take what people give you nowadays offensively um but yeah I was pleased with some of the things we did in the Run game I think there's a lot more meat on the bone in that regard things we got to clean up and you know I know there's some Miss assignments in there and um some some missed leverage blocks things like that that we just got to go get better at were you pleased with the way the defense buckled down after giving up kind of that surprising touchdown drive to start the game I think they got 68 yards on that drive but then they were held to 69 yards for like the next four or five possessions seven next seven possessions yeah so the defense kind of thanks tightened up yeah they did and like I said that I love the way they responded right there cuz the first drive was a was a disaster not thought we expected to open up the game and um it's it's a veteran group that has a lot of lot of trust in each other and a lot of confidence and so it was good to see them respond that way you know they they knew that was uncharacteristic and U you know what I loved is that they they didn't Flinch you know they kept playing and and didn't hang their heads and and uh question what we're doing or anything like that we just worked at out on the sideline and um it was miscommunication stuff which is critical in the back end and so we got got it figured out and and I love the way they responded thought there's a little bit of a LW like I said in the third quarter and and some of our twos and threes in there on that last Drive You' Lov got a stop right there I was a little disappointed in that because you know our approach is if you're on the field you're a starter you know and wish we would have b a little bit better there uh at the end uh we talked all preas about Jackson Campbell and last year he didn't take advantage of an opportunity he was given but this year he'd been having a great pre season he comes out today 10 tackles one and a half tackles for loss I think he was involved with two big third down stops can you talk about the way he played today with yeah I think stuss just said he had one tackle career tackle coming in right well he he played the way that I I hoped and expected uh that he would and I I know he's he'll tell you he's got a lot of things he can do better I know that but uh really excited about him I told you guys that you know before the game based on what I've seen Spring ball and fall camp and all those kind of things and as you guys know that's a that's a critical position for us you got needs to be really productive and and typically when that guy is productive we're humming pretty good on defense so really pleased with Jackson and looking forward to watching the film and diving into watching a little bit more and and uh evaluating the rest of those guys I mean it's kind of a perfect thing for coaching staff because you had the win but there's a lot to clean up you mentioned uh you know you didn't expect that Wing T there would be chop block penalties cuz that's that's a triple option thing and then the off sides on defense you mentioned just can't you're giving them first downs right well I think you know there some things that we do in a run game where we're scooping on the back side of things is is similar to the option you know I thought u i saw the one shot block on a pass play where all our guys were cutting and so it it wasn't a high low it was a double low and and the referee admitted that he he thinks maybe he missed it but there was another one that was was pretty legit so we got to do a better job with that but um yeah you look at the penalties I think we had seven for 55 four on offense three on defense I think they were all all starts on defense we just we got to get it cleaned up um and that's going to kill us moving forward in tight games and and we know that anything else for Coach uh so uh defensively you guys had uh four sacks today with a negative 22 yards how do you feel like you're going to build on this pressure to kind of pressure the quarterbacks in the pocket yeah we got to do a better job in our points on the quarterback you know there's a bunch of them that we that we missed today and I tell you what hats off the buck now I didn't say that at the beginning of this I thought they had a a really good offensive plan uh coming in especially early on in the game they were all over the place shifting and formations and things like that kept us off balance forced us to communicate um it's part of the reason why we you know we screwed up in that first drive mik cut off um good um I got off track with with the question talking about the defensive sacks I'm sorry yeah yeah yeah we pressured the quarterback well today I think we hit him a bunch uh probably should have sacked him a few more times but he's he's a really good player that's where I was going with this the easy quarterback to could play in our league there's no doubt about it they're big physical up front on the offensive line I think it's a you know offensively they're going to score points in that Patriot league and they're going to win some games there's no doubt about that but um yeah we got pressure uh we got do a better job of containing the quarterback keeping him in the pocket well Blake why don't you give us the assessment of the offense I mean 467 yards it's the most in in quite a while a lot of points but yet at the same time probably left a lot there on the field yeah I mean I think you could sum it up with just saying 49 points but at the same time like you know I think the biggest thing we talked about in uh the off season was getting the offense installed with the new system but then like we got to start making plays and within that it's just a college football player I think is the biggest thing is sometimes players are going to break down and you got to make guys miss you got to make a good catch and you know like chats are I mean you can't describe a playmaker better than that but I think overall that uh it was you know like you said we left some things out there we were shooting ourselves in the foot with some penalties and some Miss blocks here and there but overall 400 yards 49 points can't ask for much more hey hey guys u in terms of the installation process with the new office especially one with a lot of details like the one you guys have implemented with a lot of motions and and a lot of movements um how how was the implementation process of the of the new system that your offense has been going through and how do you think uh that you know you guys performed today um I'll take it um the biggest thing so within any offense you know you sort of start very very broadly you know with your base plays the sort of fundamentals and the pillars of what you want to build it off of and so you know with us that's that's the power run you know getting the ball downhill uh to Alex uh you know getting the ball on the edge to to chat and Eli and things like that and then once you sort of have that base that those pillars you want to refine the details you want to start chiseling the stone um so like then it gets out of the motion timing you know we want to make as many plays look identical as we can and get the defenses unsure where the ball's going give us a second you know to get it on the edge get it up the middle wherever we want to get it um so I think that was the biggest thing once uh once we had sort of learned everything is just the details the timings and that sort of thing uh I think the process was very smooth you know we put in a lot of work and we did a lot of walkthroughs and went over the plays and stuff and if he did make a mistake Co chronic he wasn't all over you he was more like don't make the same mistak so I feel like that was a pretty good in the process of during the plays and installing the entirely new offense um a thing I'd add is I I feel like it does look really complex from the outside uh I think there's a lot of moving Parts but uh from what coach coach kronic tried to do I think he really tried to just make it simple to understand and going from last year's offense to this year's offense I feel like you know with only Spring ball and uh fall Camp you know under our belts uh I feel like I have a in a really good understanding of the offense and I know these guys would say the same thing uh so Blake you had a 7 of 12 today averaging I think with 58% and at a career high of 108 due interception and you had two touchdowns today how would you feel like your performance was um in helping the team get to this point yeah I think uh you know the biggest thing in the passing game is we want to be able to hit hit our throws and when we call them and and different things and so um you know I I think we had a lot of good calls and we had a good game plan going in expecting what type of coverage and stuff they did they did come out at different defense than what we expected but still their their coverage was uh sort of what we expected um so I think you know we didn't need to you know try and throw the air out of the ball today but uh when we did I think we really wanted to affect them whether it was they were letting up the short passes a lot honestly and so whether it's just getting the ball to a guy like Chad or Eli and just letting them make a play you know both of them did that so I think that's the biggest thing is you know sometimes just just take our easy shots and not try and force it down the field throw an interception and uh uh chman I was wondering about that uh that touchdown right before the half uh what feel like catching the ball and then you just see the end zone you really you got to get you got to go like what was going through your head during that time during that pass I mean when they initially called the play like I was just looking around and I told the Lin I was like yeah this my touchdown play and then when I got the ball you know it was kind of it was more just second nature we put in the work this off season and everything and I was confident in my abilities and and my strength and everything so this when it made a play you know I think the entire Navy fan base has been anxious to see what this offense is all about do you think today was a bit of a tease as to what this because I we haven't seen anywhere near the entire package but there was quite a lot of variety you saw drag routes to tight ends you know you saw jet sweeps screen passes there were and downfield passes if you think this was a teaser for what this offense is capable of the potential it has yeah absolutely I I'd say the big thing obviously I think it starts up front I think we pounded the ball today and we we ran well I think our our line was physical and you know they were a little agile too on those screens but you know at the same time I think we got the ball into a lot of Playmakers hands and I think we did that um in some pretty simple ways and um you know I'm can't predict the future but I I I can say that we uh will be you know mixing up a little bit and um doing some more complex stuff I feel like moving forward so and it seems like this offense has a lot of potential for explosive plays sure yeah absolutely um uh again I feel like that starts uh with the run you know we're kind of softening up the defense a little bit and then you know hitting over top or uh going you know out wide and just kind of spreading the field I I think we have you know a lot of speed a lot of physicality to do that too so um Temple's not Buck now what needs to change in the next seven days um I mean yeah like you said temple is a a opponent so we we approach those in just a different mindset I I think and uh I think the biggest thing is just the fundamentals you know getting back to it because when you look at our mistakes some of those you know aren't them making plays as much as it was us sort of blundering in a sense and they weren't large blenders where it's so easy to you see maybe on the edge you're like wow that guy just totally whiffed the block it was up front in some some small areas that you know just maybe a miscommunication here and there between a tight end and a lineman and you know they they split us and so that's the biggest thing is I think if we can get those really refined it would you know just allow us to sort of ground and pound and you know just March down the field better think BR yeah I feel like uh I feel like at the end of the day we just play Navy football no matter who our opponent is so we going to go get in the lab and and work and go attack it the same way doesn't matter if our opponent is better or worse you going to play Navy football well Jackson you've waited a long time for this day how good does it feel to go out there and really wreak some Havoc 10 tackles t one and a half tackles for loss I mean you made you made your presence felt yeah it it feels great um been really wanting to play so glad I got the first one out the way um I know there's a lot more meat on the bone definitely miss some tackles but we'll get on the film and get that fixed but it feels great being out with these guys hey guys um just for any of you um congrats on the win and um going into to next week obviously new opponent uh where do you think this the defense has to improve uh going into next week I think to start you know we had a few you know offside penalties that we can you know eliminate so I think just watching the ball um being disciplined um and just like continue to work on our play calling um and where we need to fit in our defense and I think that's that's a good place to start uh Hey guys so as a as a whole you know the defense did a really good job today with 77 tackles uh four sacks and you guys were really punishing and putting pressure especially in the mid half of the game how would you feel like you need to keep this pressure up what you guys need to work on in order to make this a little bit better for next week against Temple uh yeah I mean coach fker has a really good job of applying pressure to the offense and uh we really like dialing up some blitzes from each side of the ball the boundary in the field but uh I mean I would assume our game plan going in Temple will be something very similar be aggressive uh get them on their toes but I'm looking forward to uh this upcoming week I think yeah just adding on to that just continue to watch the film uh that's something you know you watch the film you go back you see the play calls that you like you don't like and uh we take out what we don't like and we continue to get better at what we're we're good at so and I'm excited like we're we're here up here we're our harshest critics there's so much more meat on the bone and um yeah we're just going to keep getting in lab and and fixing those things so Landon I mean we heard all offseason how the defense was the strength of this team they had so much returning experience that first drive was that was that a shock to the system and kind of a wakeup call if you will yeah absolutely you know that something like that is never you know you don't want to see that happen to your defense but I think it's it's important that we you know bounce back one to all mentality and we got back out there and we did what we needed to do the rest of the game Luke can you talk about wreaking some havit in the back field I think you had a couple your you know tackles for loss absolutely um I was putting in a good position because the dine was really doing a good job of owning their gaps and stuff like that so it makes my job a lot easier uh when I'm able to come free sometimes and uh yeah I just had a good feel for the game today so what coach Newberry mentioned that losing contain uh several times there was opportunity get the quarterback in the in the backfield and he's escaped got some big scramble yards what do you have to do to fix that both Landon and yeah absolutely as as a dine we have to be on our points on the quarterback we have to make sure you know we have we have the the cage if you will on the quarterback you know sealed up so that you know if he tries to escape here we got a guy there he tries to escape there we got a guy there so I think just continuing to work on our cage of the quarterback is important yeah and I feel like you got to give credit to the their quarterback he was a slippery guy he's a good player so um did a good job of just kind of evading tackles and he was hard to get down on the ground but uh we're going to definitely look at the film and figure out what we got to get better at and I feel we can always get better at attacking our our uh points on the quarterback so that's definitely going to be a huge thing going next week anything else one ask question I mean not not looking ahead too much but Temple was a team that last year really kind of picked apart your defense one of the few teams that really did um I think that coach Newberry would say that was probably one of the low points for defense All Season how much are you looking forward to trying to get a little Redemption next Saturday definitely uh circled yeah it's definitely been circled they they did a good job last year of um doing some RPO stuff and like that but we'll we'll definitely look at the film and see what we got to fix from last year there's a lot of it and then we'll look at this week and figure out what we got to fix for uh from this past game so absolutely yeah the improvement from week one to one week one to week two is very important and like like Luke said we're going to watch the film from last year what we didn't do well last year and we're going to watch what we didn't do good this game we're going to continue to get better at and improve to week two