MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football head coach Steve Campbell, offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield, defensive coordinator Greg Stewart, along with quarterback Evan Orth, offensive lineman Troy Thingstad and defensive end Sean Grayer met with the media Monday to recap Georgia Southern and preview Saturday's non-conference game against Alabama State.

Head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement:
"It was a disappointing Saturday this past week, any time you play a conference game — home or away — you want to go get a 'W' and we weren't't able to do that.  There were some positives that we could take out of there, there were some things we got better at.  We've talked about overcoming some adversity, Georgia Southern had thrown two first-down passes all year and on the first play of the game they hit a big play but our defense did a great job of stopping them and getting off the field.  In the second series we get called for targeting and they moved it up 15 [yards], but the defense really buckled down and got a fourth-down stop.  Right off the bat I saw a lot of positives, a lot of encouraging things.  Offensively we were able to generate some yardage out of the tailback running game, which was good.

"The things that cost us the game were there were still too many penalties and the turnover bug hit us, and that's not something you can do against a good football team.  We'll keep working on those things and addressing those issues and try to get better.

"This week we turn the page to an Alabama State football team that is coming off of a big overtime win against Alcorn State.  It was a game that Alcorn was able to move the ball really well, but Alabama State did a great job of keeping them out of the end zone and forced them to attempt seven field goals; they played great red-zone defense.  Alabama State has a lot of weapons offensively, 13 different guys have caught passes and I know they have some guys they like at quarterback; they have a lot of good athletes.  I did see their depth chart, on the offensive line they are huge, they are not lacking for size and athleticism up front.  They have a lot of good athletes and are a very well-coached team, we're really looking forward to the challenge.

"It will be great to get back and be able to play a game in Mobile after being on the road from Tennessee to the Carolinas to Georgia in front of our fans.  The first half of the season we've spent a majority of it on the road, but now the schedule flips and things are set up for the second half.  We have to take advantage of that, we need to focus on one game on Saturday and go out and play to the best of our ability and get the 'W.'"

On penalties:
"Defensively we made an improvement, the week before we had a lot of defensive penalties and this week we had two.  Offensively, we had three false starts and two alignment calls, on the alignment issues I need a clarification because I'm not sure what we were penalized for on those.  The three false starts, we have to get those fixed."

On defensive depth:
"I've always been a believer in next man up.  When Rocel [McWilliams] got hurt in the preseason, it was next man up.  When Chris Henderson went out, it was next man up.  Nigel [Lawrence] wasn't there, Spencer [Perry] came in and did some good things.  DJ [Daniels] was out the first half, Tobias [Moss] came in and did some good things.  When Roy Yancey got hurt in the preseason, A.J. [DeShazor], Nick Mobley and Khalil McDonald have come in and done an admirable job.  We're never going to make excuses, we have to keep developing our depth.  Right now we have a lot of guys getting some good playing time through the first six games, which will definitely pay off for us as we go along.  We're not going to talk about the ones who aren't there.  We are playing some guys due to some injuries, but that's only going to make us better this week against Alabama State."

Offensive Coordinator Kenny Edenfield
On Saturday's loss at Georgia Southern:
"The main concern for me was the turnovers; we have to do a better job. After Evan threw the pick, we were able to stay in the game – it didn't cost us the game at that point. I told him that we just have to keep going, and he has to make sure to go through his progressions. I think he got a little skiddish in parts, where he wanted to make sure the thing was really open before he threw it, and you can't play that way; you have to throw it. In the middle of the third quarter and at the end of the second half, he did a really nice job of finding receivers, getting out of the pocket and making some plays. I look forward to building off of that. Our guys are trying to take care of the ball, it's just that our fundamentals are not quite there yet. The ball was low both times, and when it gets low and your wrist is below your elbow then you are a lot weaker to hold on to the ball. We're going to keep coaching those things up, and our guys are going to keep working hard on it to eliminate those mistakes."

On Alabama State's defense:
"There have been a couple of games where they have played a lot of one-high, like when they went in to Auburn they started off the game in it. But they have also played a lot of two-high; I think it's just depends on what they think you can do. They were worried about Auburn running the ball, so they crowded the line of scrimmage really good which left a lot of one-on-one situations for them. It is, structurally, very similar to what we've seen. It will be a 4-2 box for the most part, and every once in a while it becomes a 4-3 box with either some zone or man coverage."

On the offense:
"We're getting really close. As you get guys who have been in the system a while, things are second-nature and just start happening a lot quicker. I can see that now. We have improved greatly on the offensive line and at the quarterback position, we're getting better at running back and our receivers are getting better. Unfortunately, it's just not showing up on the scoreboard because of our fundamentals. We have to continue to work on those fundamentals. I think we're really close. I would love for it to be this weekend when we break out, but I know it's coming soon."

Defensive Coordinator Greg Stewart
On the Georgia Southern game:
"Last week in practice, we talked a lot about having discipline in what you're doing because of the assignments each player had. I think that is a good theme for us defensively as a whole as we try to eliminate penalties and do our job whether that be getting in a good stance or a good alignment and play our technique. I feel we did a better job of all of those things. We still had some stuff happen that we have to get better at, but I feel like we improved. Just like Coach [Steve Campbell] was saying, the more snaps the better. Our guys have to keep playing and stay the course. There isn't any magic solution, we just have to keep doing what we're doing and get better at those things."

On the attitude of the players and them continuing to battle:
"They're awesome, I love these kids. I think that goes to players like Bull [Barge] and the rest of the seniors like Sean Grayer, Chason Milner and [Darian] Mills. Those guys want to do well bad. We have confidence in them and they have confidence in us. We look at the film and we see things that they can do better and that we can do better as coaches. We're going to keep playing hard, keep trying to reach our goals and we will get there."

On being close defensively:
"I think we're really close. We've got good players but we have some young dudes also. A.J. DeShazor played really well Saturday [against Georgia Southern]. There are things he hasn't been doing that he did. He's not the biggest guy, so there are times he has to do some certain things a certain way, especially in the box. He really tried working on that last week and he did a lot better. Out on the edges, he's good. Nick Mobley also does a great job in the box and he did a better job last week of getting off blocks and making plays. We got better a squeezing and at safety. We also had some young guys play that haven't played a lot and they did some good things and were where they were supposed to be. We are really close and we're going to keep doing those things until we get where we want to be."

Quarterback Evan Orth
On expectations for the game against Alabama State:
"Every single week we come into the game expecting to win, no matter who we play. It's no different this week. We've got to prepare and get a win. I don't care if we're 1-5 or 6-0, we're expecting to win and that's our goal this week."

On how anxious the team is to get back on the field:
"I hate losing more than anything, so it hasn't been too much fun. We're going to do whatever it takes to win. We're going to run the game plan the way it's supposed to be run and do our assignments on game day and throughout the whole week."

On sustaining the good starts from the last couple weeks:
"We come out and we're excited and have a great game plan coming in. We've been putting points on the board early. I think the only thing that's really stalling us are the stupid penalties, fumbles, and interceptions. That stuff can't happen. I don't want to ever but that on our defense. It's hard for them to stop a team that's really good on offense and can score at any time and then we give them the ball on the four yard line. That's on me. We'll get better, but at the end of the day you've got to do what you're coached to do and execute. We're going to do that this week."

Offensive Lineman Troy Thingstad
On expectations for the game against Alabama State:
"We keep a set expectation level of being better each week. We have a great opportunity to get better at some things that we've been lacking on the past couple weeks on the offensive line. We have to get our pad level lower and there are some things that we can work on, so we're going to take this week to do that and focus on ourselves."

On how anxious the team is to get back on the field:
"Very anxious, especially after watching film Sunday. I really cannot wait to get back to practice and improve on some missteps and things we are not doing exactly how Coach wants us to do. We're ready to get this taste out of our mouth and get better."

On false starts and concentration issues:
"It's a discipline thing. It's something we have to improve on up front. It was irregular this game. We know better, we're coached better, and it just shouldn't happen."

Defensive end Sean Grayer
On heading into this week against Alabama State:
"We know with Alabama State it's a must win for us. We're on a big losing streak and we know to get the momentum and to get it going we need to win."

On what they can take away from the last two weeks:
"From this last game, we did a lot of good stuff. We made some little mistakes that cost us big time, a lot of penalties, missed assignments and stuff like that. We're getting better, but we know we need to keep pushing and if fix the small things we can become dominant."

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