all right first of all thanks for waiting um I needed to take a shower so uh um first of all um Central missig Coach M Wayne I've known him a long time he's he does a heck of a job um and uh um thought they had did a lot of good things and our our kids played really hard and um um made some big plays for us so I'm very thankful and I'm very thankful for what I uh and um no matter if we would have won or lost this game um I see a lot of things going on with these young men um as far as people um and that's why you really coach and uh I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for what I see going on in these young men's lives and uh it's really neat and uh so um and win or lose I love them no matter what and care about them and and want to them to see the best as they grow as people um but uh it's always a little bit happier when you win of course but happy is just a feeling um so I'll take any questions at this time coach with the defense the picks were is that a function of of pressure um you're putting on the QB disguising coverages what do you account for you know so many things well F first of all uh um coach Anthony Gator was a great player here coaching our Corners coach Nate Tay coaching our saf is doing a great job and then Coach DT um doing a heck of a job making calls U and the linebackers were making a lot of lot of plays underneath and then of course our D line with Coach um I call him Coach KU and uh Coach George Frasier um we're doing a great job with the D line yeah as a combination of all of it we were able to pressure the guy we were able to hit him some we were able to sack him some um um we're able to kind of get him off the pocket some um but our our our secondary is doing a great job um um playing their coverages playing them tighter uh having good Vision um the linebacker kind of getting in the window sometimes helps because then the guys got to go to the second window and then a backside guy can break on the ball U It's a combination of all of it um and I thought they could really throw the ball that quarterback is has an excellent arm as you saw um but our guys did a good job of disguising some stuff and then also um uh reading our patterns correctly um which was was good so our coaches have done a heck of a job teaching them that it's kind of like you know matchup Zone defenses and manto man where're we're getting a little bit better you know you're in a guy's hand in his face and he he misses a three-pointer you know you you you come off the screen a little bit better and you tip it away that's how that's how the secondary has to play and and I see us doing that um better and better all the time it wasn't that a point of emphasis to getting more turnovers yes a big part of our emphasis was getting more turnovers I think we got one fumble also and we I thought we had another one uh could have had another one it kind of popped in and out of our hands and honestly we dropped we dropped I believe two other interceptions that hit us right in the hand so we need to need to we always tell them all the time a dropped interceptions is a just a pbu it's just a drop I mean said you can play again and um matter of fact that one of them was right before they scored at end the half we had one in our hands back there and dropped it um um so but I they they're playing well and doing a lot of good things I thought they tackled a lot better too those are big running backs those running backs have run good in the M conference really well and uh our th ISS tackled well how much of an emphasis was the tackle it's a big emphasis all the time um I think after playing last week you kind of just get used to the speed a little bit better and understand it we did a lot better job at what we call killing the engine hitting the guy a little bit lower and wrapping up you hit bigger guys High you bounce off of them we did a lot better job of what we call killing the engine talk a little bit about Brian blades what he's done yeah Brian when I got here was a walk- on um and we put him on scholarship after the first spring because I I saw he has great instincts and he's gotten stronger he's gotten faster he's gotten tougher he just keeps pushing and moving he has really good Vision back there and you say well everybody can see but there's a you you know you see those guys can anticipate or see a shoulder or see a quarterback turn and be able to break and anticipate that or feel the receiver um Brian can do all those things and he works extremely hard and uh excited for how um he played today I saw it coming I said he's looking your way I think you got it and he took it to the house so that was exciting for him who what the prognoses for um The Return of Rocky beers and also how did you feel like ji your tight end um Rocky's going to be out for a few more weeks with the hamstring um you know those things are you never know but he's going to be out for at least a month right now so that that's a that's a big blow for us but Josiah and Anthony Ferguson um did um good things tonight um so we were excited about what they did and um and Jose is a really good player and he's doing a good job for us what do you think about Keon's performance I thought Keon did really well um I thought he made a lot of good throws you know he had had the open and throw and and rivers made the catch later on Rivers is an unbelievable receiver and he put him on the money that happened sometimes where they came back to it and nailed it again which shows to me shows a lot of grit when you can bounce back from something like that and then do it again later on the same play and and make the big play by rivers and and kiwan was awesome kian's throwing the as you can tell he's throwing the ball really well he's seeing the field really well um he'll tell you just like me he's a couple more he he could have made a couple more and the good thing is he sees it right after it happens and um so that's what's awesome and he's seeing it and doing it um you know he's a special player now he's pulling the ball down and running and uh we got to get getting him a little bit better shape he started running out of wind down there so I to run him a little bit more U but he's doing good what was your emotions when Flex got his first touchdown oh it was it was incredible um it really was it was uh when he hit it and busted out of there um it it was really really amazing and uh for the type of leader he is and the type of player he is and to see him come back from that um was awesome really was it was incredible uh coach just one thing you get a lot of turnovers but I thought you also didn't turn the ball over yeah it was we work on that hard all the time and um you know sometimes a ball gets tipped or something like that happens but uh fortunately tonight that didn't happen for us all we're taking care of the ball well um I learned coach parcel you have to say always had a saying um takeaways um plus ball security equals Victory and uh so we did that tonight and usually if you're on top on the takeaways at least two to you know more than two than the opponent you usually win those football games and so um what we did tonight really was a big deal for us and which helped us have a lot of short Fields um on offense because we didn't have a like a ton of yards which you think by the points but that's because we only had most of our drives were from the 50 in or the 30 in or 40 in you know we had one good long drive but that really helps you in that situations most of fi's best plays on defense on fourth down a couple of yesth down stops that interception second talk a bit about what you saw from them well again um our our players are have played and our coaches are doing a great job with them and they did a a pick route on us uh if y'all remember when we played Bryant two two years ago they kept lining up on fourth down and third down and running over and running a pick route and we couldn't stop it and we' worked on it worked on well they ran some of the same type same type play and the same what we call Family package of it and our kids just play it because we've done it so much and they've seen it and they understand it and that's where the experience Factor comes in and you say well yeah yeah The Experience factor of being able to make great decisions under pressure and that's where we're starting to be able to do that talk a bit about the importance of Fu capitalizing on I believe almost all if not all of Central Michigan's turnovers either field goal or touch yeah you you definitely want to do that you know um um coach cutcliffe he always say put on More Steam so you get that and and you know that's an old saying because like a steam engine you put you keep putting coal on it you put keep putting on you put on More Steam and keep it going so when you get a a play like that you you put on More Steam you Pile in more coal on it you get it going and you have to take advantage of it um and we did so that was great update that reference electric cars maybe yeah electric cars yeah exactly I don't know what it is for electric cars I guess get more batteries coach what about trayon Barnes and his you know he yeah trayon um is an exceptional player um and just an exceptional person too and uh um he played really well tonight he he has a little different gear out there as you can see he has phenomenal instincts he's extremely tough um trayvon's a an excellent player and um but he's just such a if you've ever when y'all get to talk to him he's he's really a neat neat kid and uh really excited he's really excited he's here playing and for us what are your thoughts on Reggie and his decision yes um I I have a statement here I'd like to make sure I read cuz uh first of all I love Reggie to death and think the world of him um you know Reggie has made the decision to stop playing football his passion for the sport has faded and he wants to concentrate on his education and his future career and uh you know he's working on getting in grad school and doing all that he's already has graduated so he's taken a few classes to be able to get in grad school um and uh I I love him to death and I I really wish he was out there playing but he's made that decision he's just a pH phenomenal young man he's such an upbeat guy was that not a shock to you wasn't me uh yes it was a shock but I honor what he wants to do and you know these these young men go through a lot and he's just a phenomenal young man and just great and uh I wish him the very best did did the conversation that anything to do with play time or anything like that uh that's no it's right here all the statement I made on everything is good he's a phenomenal kid coach about the offive line just you know said you to a little yeah we we well coach ur's done a great job with them and our guys got a little bit they were a little less nervous than last week those guys are putting on plays more and more plays each game um and playing more and more so now the more plays they see the more things they see the other thing is we got shellin Bach back so we're able to rotate him in there and so we're able to give a couple guys some naer and some other guys some rest and and Wyatt and and all and U um um JD Lee and all those guys we so we're able to rotate a little bit better which helps us um stay a little bit less tired um as the game gets on so we'll be more we'll be better in the second half than we have been so that was a big deal for us how much does this win kind of help you guys going forward into a huge rival over yeah uh winds always help winds always help they they really help the ad he it makes him sleep better so um but uh winds are uh wins are are are great um but you know we um another say learn from a coach either getting better or you're getting worse nothing stays the same and that's so true in anything you do in life and so we've got to go get better Monday and there's a lot of things we can improve on but um they'll be happier they'll be all that but we got to get them focused in on going and yeah it is a huge game a huge game and uh Florida Atlantic has had their way with us around here for a while and uh um so we've got a lot of work to do to hopefully just stay on the field with them so that's what we're hoping to do do you feel like you were able to open maybe the off a little bit more more well we uh um kiwan was seeing it our our line was blocking better on the run that that was probably the most exciting thing to me was in the SEC second half when you knew okay we've got to be able to establish some run to run some clock to to keep us in the game and then we did it and then we busted some um which was really when they knew you were running um that we haven't really ever been able to do that before and uh that was really exciting because we're going to have have to do that in fourth quarters to put away some games and win some games um instead of having to throw it and it's incomplete and they got more time I mean it's a big deal and I was really excited to see that kids were running hard too the running backs were running hard then just talk a little about the incorporation of the tight defitely seems like you guys are more saw yeah um yeah we're we're using the tight end more in different ways um our tight Ting blocked better tonight too which really helps they're really improving on that and practicing hard and we'll keep us utilizing the tight end uh in our scheme and that that that enables us to do a lot more things so we're excited about doing that and then last one just you know 17,000 fans talk about yeah yeah um wow um what our marketing crew does what all the people at our University have done and but most of all what our athletic director does um he's tirelessly working at that um what Scott Carr does in in that area it's a gift of his um and has also has a Gift of Gab if you've talked to Scott a lot he's awesome but I think that uh the the way he's built a team we have a when we got here we didn't even have a ticket office really we had one person now we got multiple people in there um and our marketing crew um we have an unbelievable marketing team an unbelievable you all the stuff that gets put out there and then wow um him and uh them getting that and Andy Kelly those guys um getting the uh Pitbull thing done was big and I think a lot of people here would be the pit bull's first time so we need to do our part and keep playing good football keep winning and and hopefully it goes to overloaded 22,000 plus and uh that's what we want to see as the season goes along but we got to learn from this one and then get ready to go play a a really talented FAU football team they are really talented and um I watch them a little bit today on TV I know they got beat but boy are they fast and quick and run the quarterback looks like Houdini um so we've got to find a way to go up there and do what we can do all right thank you'all for staying late and doing this I appreciate it thank you so much coach how y'all doing B for you guys just talk about what off I saw a team that fought through adversity and came back this week and bounced back from a tough L last week uh I seen Improvement I seen gratitude attitude and I seen fight you you got four times last week to one you you know on the TV definely saw pretty voal with your last week just what was the message you were giving them you know during the week leading up to this game talk about you know their performance I trust those guys I tell them all the time I trust y'all my life in your' hands you know what I'm saying so if y'all don't block then I'm G get hurt but I trust those guys you know with everything my coaches tell me all the time just stay in the pocket kind of trust it and that's what I try to do as much as I can I try to get them time but if it ain't there I try to scramble out make a play and help them as well but uh the whole game I was just telling like you know what I'm saying people can't mess with us you know what I'm saying like we good I had I had a lot of time back there and we was blocking good in the Run game as well talk a little bit about ER Rivers who dropped that first pass for the touchdown but then came back he he real he he nice you know what I'm saying that that draw I told him like we leaving points on the board we can't be doing that um he goingon to be a key factor and he's straight you know saying I can't say what I told him but I told him like yeah basically I told we leaving points on the board we can't be doing that I came back give him a shot again he caught it so you know just things like that that keep my team going keep him up the whole fall alling just what you see from I I finally got him the rock I got him into the uh touchdown um but he goingon to be he GNA be real Smooth N that's my guy um real quick real Shifty uh great route running as well and 98% of the time he open I just gotta look for him the rushing team got four touchdowns today including one for you think about that oh that's great you know what I'm saying like that's first leg so having Flex back that's a great addition so it give like guys like ke joh Owens Shamari Lawrence a breather you know so it just keeps the Back Field fresh and we can always have a fresh set of legs every drive if you wanted to and um they all got different type of run Styles so that's another thing so teams don't know how to adjust to how they play and uh that was just great and I'm I'm excited for Flex you know what I'm saying he went through a lot and he came back got him a touchdown in our home open that was good talk a bit about having to start so many drives in great field positioning due those five interceptions from the uh um my defense was biting today I ain't gonna lie it was biting um shout out to coach dwit coach uh coach M you know what I'm saying those guys it was protecting that Endzone today for sure what you think of the speaking of the endone do fi that's all Kudos the Pitbull dolly is that in your vocabulary Dolly N I don't know too much Spanish I just know the little detail Spanish for like the lady pickup lines um and like you know simple stuff like thank you and you're welcome how you your performance uh not good it was all right I say I could have did way better it was a lot of throws I missed out I know I can make um we left some points out there on the board as well and there was a lot of plays I should have made that I didn't but just got to get back in the lab correct those mistake and try not to make those same mistakes throughout the week and next week you know what I'm saying what your thoughts on that for you you got to go to there execute oh a couple years ago it was a rivalry until he left the conference so um coach M take this game serious and he don't like how they beat up on this a couple years ago so it's not a Revenge game but you know we got to go out there and drop all nuts you don't feel it's a rival anymore nah um I don't think so you know what I'm saying but hey that ain't got nothing to do I'm playing football because if they're not in the league you feel rival nah N I don't really see those guys as a rival but no disrespect just you know what I'm saying I don't really see too much of a rival in college football unless just like teams like Ohio State Michigan you know stuff like that like where it's big but I don't think so mentioned earlier Rocky might be out so did you see Ste J M mcra he was hurt uh I think halfway through the season last year and just having him out there like fresh and getting a lot of reps you know it's boosting his confidence as well because he had like um a Reese's Bowl uh watch watch his invite so he definitely talked to me and told him like Hey you know what I'm saying like give me the ball this all I want in my whole life so I'm going try to work with him give him the ball and have the best sen year he could possibly have what was your reaction to the team I did not even see it till I got on the sideline and uh we was watching the iPad on the sideline because when I threw it I kind of got hit and I just like heard the crowd crazy but when I got back on the sideline I was like no you caught out one hand he was like yeah I was like yeah you tough tough talk a bit about your performance today rushing the B 47 yard and early touchdown i r uh I run when I need to not when I have to so plays I can scrumble out and try to make a play I'm going try to make a play but if there nothing there then I tuck the ball pull it and run that also helps with you know open up the pass game so if I'm going threat my legs it's going to be kind of hard to stop me and um I ain't slow y'all I just you know had had a little injury that's all and talk a bit about the the energy from 1 1,000 plus how did they help you it was great uh I think that was the most fans I've seen at the stadium since I got here and part of that was I want to say Pitbull his influence um but it was great um they just got to keep coming out keep getting us that energy and we going to deliver for those people in the [Music] stands how did that how did it feel getting the it's a blessing man cuz at one point in my life after my injury I thought I'll never do it again but it's a team effort without the old line the play calling lights catching a snap hand it off me trusting my guys it would never been possible but it was a blessing just to get back in the end zone again what was the reaction when you got back to the sideline from your teammates coaches everyone just said they proud of me because they know since my since my surgery the next day I did rehab CU they know how much it meant to me just the being that leader having that presence back in the locker room and I worked every day since my injury and like to see all my hard work payoff in the training room in the Wai room running all those wind Sprints and stuff so it's a great feeling man speaking about loving football your your team your roommate Reggie Peterson decided to step away what what are your thoughts on that well he a great guy and I know man God has a plan for his life it's a hard thing we do you know we it's a hard sport to do but like like you say God has a plan for everyone so I respect them I love him that's my boy I love him and I'm out side no matter what are you shocked yeah was shocked we talked he heal we talked about it for like a little minute but I understood where he was coming from and I whatever you need I'm here for you about your off you yeah we could have scored more that's what I told him we got in the locker room after at Hal time like guys great half but it could have been better but like as you say man yeah we we very more explosive more aggressive and I'm happy what I'm seeing from the receivers the o line the quarterbacks and the running backs what you see specifically from the you guys went from just 40 yard last year to more confidence and Noel dery the strength coach you know we all got stronger more agile quicker but the biggest thing is they believing in their and they believeing in the system fa you've been here for a while you've been know that rival yeah you know they a great team you know I've been here the long actually longest I've been here the longest on the team so and I never beaten him so this this week it means a lot to me but they're a great team man we going to go we going to go there work our butts off and execute of course Sho that's why we got that that trophy case it means a lot especially for me because I've been here I'm I'm a die hard FIU Panther fan I bleed blue and gold and playing against them it's a great environment we going in B great environment and I'm just I can't wait you know the fans bring that energy man just just just being able to look in the stands and see everyone cheering for you is give you that extra boost and and like knowing that you playing not for yourself but you playing for the fans for FIU and it just it's just it's just it's a great feeling like usually running backs like to get ball out wear down and kind of a position with field right but here with the you got get seven n carries how do you like that it's great cuz we all like Dynamic we all we got that big playability and like as you say you know most running backs they want to get the feel of the game but the way we do it we feel off each other so ke Owens had that first touchdown it felt like our score so I'm like okay I got a match this energy I got a match this energy and we all compete we compete every day we compete weit room on the field we competing making jokes making everybody we just competing everything so just on the field when I see him get a run I got to do the same thing talk bit about reaction lot ofes defense win championships man we know Defense work their tail off since since since spring since spring went they they've been working they've been working and they Trust