MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football head coach Joey Jones along with senior linebacker Roman Buchanan and senior offensive lineman Steven Foster met with the media Monday to review Saturday's win over Nicholls State and preview this weekend's contest versus San Diego State.

South Alabama Head Coach Joey Jones
Opening statement: "In a lot of ways I really thought we got better as a football team last week, though I think people may question that.  Offensively and defensively we definitely improved, there's no doubt about that.  We ran the football better and our offensive line came off better, we had a great emphasis on that.  I think our run-stopping defense was much better, we filled our gaps better.  We became a better team in a couple of areas.

"The kickoff return team returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown was great, our punt team continues to be really good; there have been hardly any returns on us the whole year.  Our kickoff coverage was horrendous, and on the flip side we didn't field a kick one time near the 20-yard line when we knew they were going to pooch kick it.  So we have some areas we need to work on, those are obviously quick-fix things."

On how much better the team needs to play this Saturday: "We better not make the mistakes we made this past weekend if we want to have a chance to beat these guys.  They are a very good football team with the leading rusher in the country.  Their quarterback is doing a nice job throwing the ball.  They are very complex offensively; for a pro-style team they do a lot of motions, a lot of play-action pass, boots and nakeds.  They do a lot of things to get the ball out on the perimeter on you really quick.  They run the ball inside and outside, they threaten the whole field so our defense will have their hands full this week.

"Their defense is a 3-3-5 if you want to call it that, they never line up in that; they line up something new every down.  They'll blitz and bring pressure just like they did last year.  They are a very well-coached team, they will get after you with the blitz."

On last year's win in San Diego: "I don't know if we take anything from the win.  It was a great win, obviously, but I think what we took from it was the experience of playing against them, knowing some things about them now that we didn't know before we got out there.  We know some of their personnel a little better having played against them, some of those guys are back.  It was a big win, but here we are in 2016 and it's a new year."

On if he expects SDSU to come after the team looking to avenge last year's result: "I would definitely think they are.  They ended up having a great year last year winning the Mountain West Conference.  Coach [Rocky] Long and I got to know each other out there, he is a great man and a very good football coach.  But I guarantee you that he is ready to come in here with his guys ready to play, they understand this is a big game for them.  They just got in the top 20, I'm sure they don't want to lose that ranking.  They will be ready to play for sure."

On how Dallas Davis responded after throwing four interceptions in last week's win: "If you look two of the interceptions went through the receivers' hands to a defensive back, a couple of them certainly were not his fault..  Dallas is going to bounce back as always, he's a level-headed guy.  On the last drive, he could've been down with his head hanging, but he came out there and told the team that we were going to score in the huddle out there.  The defense did a great job getting the offense the ball back late, then the offense drove down with 2:47 on the clock, made a couple of fourth-down and third-down conversions on the way to score a touchdown.  That shows you what kind of character that he has, that our offense has and that our defense has."

On Donnell Pumphrey: "He kind of reminds me of Reggie Bush, he is that type of back.  He is what I can a one-step cutter, he can be running full speed and it only takes him one step to change direction at a great angle.  He doesn't have to chop his feet and have a rounded angle.  He takes one step and he is going in a different direction really quick, he can cut on a dime as some people say.  He has the speed to take it home, if you miss him and he gets out in the open field he can score from 60, 80 yards out.  He's a guy who can make big plays."

Linebacker Roman Buchanan
On what they are doing to prepare for San Diego State and the team's expectations: "The first few weeks of our schedule this season have been to a point where you can't take a moment to stop and breathe.  You have to be on your Ps and Qs at all times.  Our team is very capable of beating anybody in the nation.  In college football, if you don't come to play that week, you can get beat by anybody.  We're preparing for this week just like we have for Mississippi State, Georgia Southern and our other opponents.  We're taking the same approach and just trying to fix some mistakes we've made in prior games."

On the attitude of the team on the sideline during the second quarter against Nicholls State: "I feel like on a bad team there would have been negative talk [on the sideline], but that's something we took care of this summer.  For the most part, our defense had the mentality that when we were put in bad situations that [Nicholls] hadn't scored yet.  Because they were already in the red zone didn't mean that we had to let them score.  We feel that when we're playing to our standard level of defense and execute, that not many people can have high success on us, even in the red zone.  At the end of the day even when we do get put in a bad situation it actually puts a little more of a fire in our gut.  We're a little more aggravated that you're down there in the first place.  It's a whole different attitude when they are in the red zone.  We're just trying to make an impact on defense and get the ball back for the offense."

On what he remembers about playing against SDSU running back Donnell Pumphrey and what he's seen on film this season: "He's an extremely fiery competitor and he plays with a lot of passion.  He's a very well-rounded player and a guy you have to prepare for in the film room.  He's going to push you both physically and mentally because he's a good player.  I expect him to be the same this week."

Offensive lineman Steven Foster
On what they are doing to prepare for San Diego State and the team's expectations: "I don't think much changes for us.  You prepare every week pretty hard.  We don't really pay attention to the rankings and I feel like we just got to focus on us and keep working hard."

On the attitude of the team on the sideline during the second quarter against Nicholls: "Our coaches have done a pretty good job of preaching to us that adversity is going to come and that there are going to be highs and lows in games.  No matter how high or how low you get, you just have to stay consistent and keep pushing.  I feel like we did a great job of that [Saturday night].  All of our leaders kept us up.  We just have to keep pushing and fighting no matter what and stay the course."

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