MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football head coach Steve Campbell, offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield, defensive coordinator Greg Stewart, along defensive lineman Sean Grayer, quarterback Cephus Johnson and punter Corliss Waitman met with the media Monday to preview Saturday's game at Louisiana and recap the ULM game.

Head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement:
"It's the last road game of the year against a good Louisiana football team, a team that can really run the football; they have three backs — big, physical backs — who have all run for a lot of yards on the year.  We're looking forward to the opportunity to go out and play.  We've asked our guys to start faster, I think we've played good first halves the last two weeks and then run out of steam in the second half; we are not making enough plays on either side of the football.  This past week I thought started fast, we made plays defensively to get off the field and forced them to punt, made a play on special teams to get the turnover and made a play offensively to take the lead.  The guys responded in a good way.  But that's two weeks in a row that we did not finish the first half the way that we needed to, that's what happens with teams that are struggling.  Against A-State two weeks ago we had a third-and-one and didn't convert, elected not to go for it on fourth down and punted, then they took it down and scored right before the half. This week was real reminiscent, we got down into the red zone and had a field goal blocked so we don't get points; that's where the game kind of swung.  We're going to challenge our guys to start strong and to make sure we finish the half strong, and that will hopefully give us a better opportunity to be successful and have a chance to win the football game.  I liked the way the guys worked last week, we need to come back out and have another really good week of practice before we go play a really good Louisiana team."

On where the team has made improvements in recent games:
"Obviously you want to win the football game.  Are we scoring enough points? No, but some of the things that I've pinpointed were penalties — we were highly penalized earlier in the year — and this week we had five worth 35 yards, that is two weeks in a row that we've limited our penalties.  This was two weeks in a row that we had zero turnovers offensively, that's a positive.  Typically if you are not highly penalized and you don't turn the football over you're going to have a chance to win the game.  That's not where we are at right now, we have to make some more explosive plays offensively.  Some of the things that were glaring like the penalties and turnovers we've improved at, now we need to keep getting better at those and work on finishing halves and creating more explosives."

On keeping the players mentally engaged in the remainder of the season:
"You have to make sure you have the right kind of people I like our guys right now, we are just young at some spots.  We're gaining that experience as the season goes on.  What do I do to make sure they don't check out?  I need to keep encouraging them.  I've been blessed, I've been around championship football teams and we are going to have a championship football team here when the guys are policing themselves and self-motivated.  We're making progress toward that, you can't always see it right now but we are getting there.  We are going to get there sooner rather than later, we have a lot of work to do but I can see us making progress."

On the team's quarterback play against ULM:
"I thought they both did some good things.  Cephus had a big play early, it was an explosive play that gave us a chance to get on the board and get the lead.  Both of them [Johnson and Cole Garvin] did a really good job in the first half of protecting the football.  Cole was very efficient, we started off at a very high efficiency rate but just didn't have enough explosive plays in the first half.  Cephus created one when he threw it up and Jordan McCray made a great play taking it away from the safety and corner, after that we were efficient but not explosive.  Both quarterbacks did a good job of protecting the football, we just have to give them more time; there were a couple of passes that if they had more time they could've sat in the pocket and delivered the football downfield, but they had to get it out of their hands a little early."

On what an on-campus stadium will mean to the program:
"The stadium is a huge deal for us.  After being here and traveling to App State, Georgia Southern and Arkansas State and seeing what a home-field advantage is in this conference, you can see what a tremendous advantage it's going to be for us to be able to have our student body and all of our fans here on campus backing up our team on game day.  It will also have a huge impact on recruiting.  The last two weeks we've been very close at the half, we're just not deep enough right now to finish those games.  Recruiting will be ramped up when we have an on-campus stadium, which will definitely help us depth-wise.  Having an on-campus stadium will not only pay dividends during the game with the crowd support but it will pay off during recruiting which will add depth to our roster and help us finish some games like the one we were in this past week."

Offensive Coordinator Kenny Edenfield
On Louisiana's defense:
"I have played against the defensive coordinator numerous times when he was at Delta State and I was at North Alabama. I have seen some of the same things that he did back then. Coach (Steve) Campbell also played against him when he was at Southeastern Louisiana and Coach (Campbell) was at Central Arkansas. He does a great job on defense. Right now, I think they're trying to create some pressure and tackles for losses, and they've done a pretty good job of that. They probably don't have exactly what they want right now, at times; they're playing some young guys. What we have to do in some of those situations where they put us in one-on-ones down the field, we have to be able to make those plays and I think we'll be able to do that. We had some guys set up to do that last week, and we didn't quite get them the ball; but I think this week we will get them the ball. That's the key, being able to make some of those plays down the field for us."

On Cephus Johnson's development from first of the year to now:
"When you're a coach, you want it to happen right now. I have seen great improvement in Cephus' development. I think he continues to get better. It has taken time, and he's probably not quite ready to play but he is being forced to play a little bit right now; he's getting through some of those things. I thought Cole (Garvin) came in and did a really nice job. It wasn't that I benched Cephus; we talked about playing both of them. I left him (Johnson) in one more series than I planned, because he threw the touchdown pass. I wanted to give him that third series. Both of them tried to do exactly what I wanted them to do. We made some good plays. I don't think we hurt ourselves, the only thing we didn't do is there were a couple of guys who got open and we under threw a few balls that we have to do a better job  of putting the ball out there. And that could be my fault; I'm always preaching in practice, 'Don't overthrow the guy who is wide open.' Maybe I overcoached that a little bit; let it fly sometimes and let's live with the results."

On what a win would do for the young guys:
"I think it shows them that they are getting better. We showed them last night, there were seven plays on offense where we had a chance to score a big run or touchdown, and it was a little thing. I think if they keep seeing that and if we could win the game, now all of a sudden what coach has been saying and what I have seen on film has come to pass. I really thought that was going to happen Saturday night. Cephus did a really nice job on the touchdown. We worked all week – if they press the side we call this on, tag this guy on a fade. He goes through the process and does it, the only thing he could have done better is instead of just turning and throwing it, hold his eyes down the middle and that guy wouldn't have had a chance to get over there and have a chance on the ball. What was encouraging was seeing him go through those processes and get that done, which he couldn't have done five weeks ago. It's starting to come along, and I think the more we do that then the more it will happen. That's the whole thing – these guys are seeing some of the things we are talking about. Offensive line-wise, we ran the ball the other night out of 10-personnel. They fit guys up really well, but there were two or three plays where we didn't quite fit them up good and we had a lost yardage play and that's really what we can't afford right now."

Defensive Coordinator Greg Stewart
On what he expects to see from Louisiana's offense on Saturday and the approach against it:
"Louisiana has got a good team. Their running backs 9 [Trey Ragas] and 4 [Raymond Calais] are really productive. The last couple of weeks they've run what we call the 12-personnel where they put two tight ends in the game and they've had success running the football with that. They are averaging around 230 yards a game rushing. They also have a pair of good quarterbacks, a righty and a lefty. Both do a good job of managing the game. What we have to do against them on Saturday is what we try to do against everyone each week; we have to limit their explosive plays. When they do have an [explosive] play, we have to get better at getting over that play and going onto the next play and play the defense. There are some points to that that we are getting better at. I'm expecting it to be a good game. I used to live down there and there are a bunch of good folks down that way. I'm excited about going and playing in Lafayette."

On where South is defensively:
"We've got a lot of young guys, especially at linebacker. When you watch the film on Sundays, you can see they are making improvement every week. Sterrling [Fisher] at outside linebacker hasn't played there a whole lot, but you can see that there are some things to build off of. Those guys playing is only going to make them get better. We just have to make it through it. My daughter sent me a picture on Sunday that said 'Tough times pass, tough people last.' That's what we're doing. I'm old and these are some tough times right now for us, but they're going to pass. I think that's the way our guys are looking at it. Every week we're getting better at some things and it will eventually come together."

Defensive lineman Sean Grayer
On expectations going into Louisiana and what the team needs to do to have success Saturday:
"Lafayette has always been a really physical team and one of our big rivals. They always have a lot of playmakers. It's one of those games where we have to be sound on defense to win. We can't make mistakes. We just have to go out there and play hard."

On the team's mentality after the last few weeks:
"We're going to be positive. Like Coach Campbell says, we're going to get this team turned around. As a senior, I'm trying to start some momentum so the young guys have something to look forward to next year. We want to end the season strong so we can look ahead to next year."

Quarterback Cephus Johnson
On preparing for the final road trip of the year and focuses heading into the Louisiana game:
"Going into this week we want to continue to do what we've been doing all season and getting better every day. We've been trying to do the little things right, go out there and do the best we can, and get the win."

On how close the team is to getting a breakthrough win and what it would mean to them:
"It would mean a lot to get the win and get things going in the right direction. We're trying to continue to do what we've been doing and work hard every day watching film, in practice, and in the weight room."

On the opportunity to start and how he wants to improve:
"I'm still learning from Cole [Garvin] and Evan [Orth]. They've helped me a lot throughout this season and they're still helping me. With the opportunities I've been given, I'm just trying to have fun, go out and make plays, and do the best I can do."

On starting in his hometown:
"It was great. I can't even explain it; it was just good to be back out there at Ladd having fun. Making my first college start really meant a lot to me."

Punter Corliss Waitman
On preparing for the final road trip of the year and focuses heading into the Louisiana game:
 "It's what Coach Campbell always says: stay faithful to the process. It's hard to tap out. We've got to stick together and buy in and get better every week."

On how close the team is to getting a breakthrough win and what it would mean to them:
"It would mean a lot. We have a great team. I have great teammates. We work hard and I think we have the right mentality. I believe in my teammates every week and I believe we're going to get the win this week."

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