MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football head coach Joey Jones along with senior running back Dami Ayoola and redshirt-freshman defensive lineman Tyree Turner met with the media Monday to review Thursday's Sun Belt contest against Troy and preview Saturday's Homecoming game Georgia State.

South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones
Opening statement: "I talked to the team a long time on Sunday about how there really was no shame in that loss the other night.  We played hard and had a great attitude, I thought we played out guts out.  Now did we make some mistakes that hurt us? Sure.  But they really played hard, I'm not looking at that through rose-colored glasses.  The shame would be if we came back and didn't go back to work and try to have the very best season we could have.  That's what I talked to them about the other day, I think they got it and we're moving forward."

On Georgia State: "The first thing when you look at them is that defensively they are really, really good.  I'm watching film and thinking they do a great job scheme-wise, their coordinator does a really good job.  They run to the ball very well, they have more cover guys in the secondary than they have had in the past.  They are very good defensively, that's the first thing that stands out."

On how the Georgia State offense compares to Troy's: "They do throw it downfield a little bit more than Troy, but they are going to throw the football.  Their quarterback does a good job and they have really good receivers out there catching it.  Robert Davis has had a great year, I think he is one of the best in the league.  They have some weapons outside for sure."

On being favored in Saturday's game: "That's nice, but I'm telling you we have a very tough team to play this week.  We're at the point where we really have to work on ourselves, including the penalties; you can't play like that and expect to win a close game.  We have to look at what we've done and mistakes we've made and continue to get better."

On what he is looking to improve on this week: "I think defensively we had gotten better every week until last week, I didn't think last week was our best game execution-wise.  We missed a lot of tackles and had some mental mistakes that we weren't making and had fixed; the two previous games I thought we played really good defensive football, but that night — giving up almost 600 yards — there were some breakdowns.
"Offensively I think we have to get more consistent, right now we are a little spurty on offense, at times we look great and at times we don't.  I think that comes down to blocking up front, when you block up front it makes things a lot easier to run the football and throw it.  We have to get better in the trenches."

On Gerald Everett's touches against Troy: "They were taking that away, and we knew that going in.  They were basically double covering him out there.  He broke loose right before the half on that one touchdown pass, but for the most part they were double covering him.  We're going to get that a lot, other guys have to make plays at that point, other guys are going to have one-on-one shots and we have to make throws and catches.  We had a couple of guys open for touchdowns the other night and barely missed them, but we have to hit those and make people pay."


Running Back Dami Ayoola
On what the team needs to do this week as they prepare for Georgia State: "We're all still believing and going with our plan of action.  We're all motivated to get our first conference win.  It starts with everyone in our building.  It's a really urgent time around here right now knowing we have to get a win right now.  This week is huge for us."

On if there is a frustration level with being winless in conference, knowing what this team is capable of: "It definitely is frustrating.  You look at it and ask yourself 'Why haven't we been able to get our first conference win yet? Why can't we have that same level of execution in those games?'  One thing we have to do is minimize our penalties.  That's a big part of it.  We are trying to be the smartest team on the field.  All we are focused on is moving forward and trying to be the team that we are capable of in these five games we have left."


Defensive Lineman Tyree Turner
On what they need to do this week as they prepare for Georgia State: "We just have to take it one step at a time.  We have today off to rest and keep our bodies right.  We just have to stay the course and believe in it, and have everyone believe in it."

On putting it all together and avoiding the mistakes: "It's definitely a focus thing.  How can you win games with a bunch of penalties?  When we play, we have to be the most disciplined team on the field and minimizing those mistakes is key."

On the attitude of the team heading into these final five games: "In the locker room, we don't talk about the past.  We just look forward to the future and know we have to win these five remaining games if we want to get to where we want to get.  We just have to have the right attitude and energy.  We can't have any negative energy, because that affects everything from practice to the game.  As long as we are up-beat and have one heartbeat, we should be fine.  We just have to take it one game at a time."

On what the defense didn't do well against Troy that cost them: "One thing we have to do on Saturday that we didn't do against Troy is we have to tackle better.  We just have to go out and execute better on every play."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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