MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football head coach Joey Jones along with senior tight end Gerald Everett and junior safety Neiko Robinson met with the media Monday to review the off week following the win over San Diego State and preview this weekend's contest versus Arkansas State.

South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones
Opening statement: "The break has come at a good time, our guys were pretty beat up from five weeks of camp and five weeks with the schedule that we had to play at the beginning of the year.  Even the guys who played last week were still banged up a little bit."

On if there was an urgency to get back on the field after beating San Diego State: "You plan on winning every game, our guys have prepared well every week.  They understand that we are 0-2 in the conference and that even though we have won some big games, conference play is important.  We're playing a team in Arkansas State that won the conference championship last year and their first [Sun Belt] game this year, it will be a great challenge for us to go up there and beat a really good football team."

On what Arkansas State did different in its win over Georgia Southern last week: "One thing I noticed was they ran the ball a lot better.  They did a good job in their run game, changing a couple of things in their scheme, and just executed better on the field running the ball.  That was huge for them."

On how the team handled the break over last weekend: "They came back ready to go.  We challenged them with that last week — we practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — to come back on Sunday ready to practice like champions, and they did.  They came back with a good mindset, a good attitude, their bodies were healed.  A break is good for a lot of people; I needed it, I didn't realize how tired I was."

On Arkansas State: "I think their defensive front is what stands out to me most on their team, they are really good against the run.  They have good athletes everywhere, when you look at them on special teams and guys covering on kickoffs you see 11 guys running down there who are 6-3, 215-230 [pounds] and they can all run.  That's from years and years of having good recruiting classes, they are very athletic."

On if last year's game against Arkansas State has any impact this season: "Not really.  Whether we won or lost has no effect on this team.  We've got a team that is sticking together, that's one thing we've been focused on.  We've had four games come down to the wire and won three of them.  Our guys are focusing on ourselves.  They know it's an Arkansas State team that's been dominant in our conference, but focusing on ourselves is what is going to help us win."


Tight End Gerald Everett
On what the off weekend meant to the team: "We feel good coming in off of the bye week, we definitely needed it.  We were able to get some rest that we needed and were able to get our legs back under us so that we can get ready for Arkansas State."

On maintaining the intensity coming off of the San Diego State win: "Since the season has started, it's been kind of a roller coaster ride for us coming off wins and losses.  We are back in the win column coming off of the San Diego State game and we just want to keep that momentum alive and see how far our team can go.  Our game against Arkansas State will provide the perfect opportunity for us the do that with them coming off their win over Georgia Southern.  I feel like that game will give us an identity and show that we can come out and play up to our potential."

On the game against Arkansas State last season: "In the game of football, anything can happen.  Last year things went awry and got out of hand late in the second half.  I feel like we are more prepared this season.  We are going to be opportunist at every skill group and position group, so we are definitely going to capitalize coming off a big win like San Diego State."

On South Alabama's two quarterbacks: "They are both great quarterbacks.  Cole [Garvin] did a great job of stepping up when Dallas [Davis] when down.  It's the next man up philosophy at each position on this football team.  Everyone is prepared and well equipped.  I feel like when Dallas comes back that he's going to be even better than before.  Cole will be ready to step up if it happens again."


Safety Neiko Robinson
On what the off weekend meant to the team: "You have to give your body a break [during the season] because football is a violent sport.  I feel like the time off we had was time off that we needed.  We're around each other all of the time and I love my brothers, but we needed a break.  It's back to business now."

On what Arkansas State does offensively that the defense will need to focus on: "They run a lot of option-pass and they pull their guards a lot to make it look like a run and use a lot of 'glass' routes.  You have to be disciplined on defense when facing them.  We just have to show up and play.  I feel like that if we do that and everyone does their job, that we'll put ourselves in place to get the win."

On what the team focused on in practice during the bye week: "We focused on fundamentals and went back to the basics.  You kind of lose sight of those things when you are going over game plan after game plan.  That's what we really had an emphasis on in practice last week and I believe it helped us as we head into practice for Arkansas State this week."

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