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Moore and Mills

Football

JAGUAR FOOTBALL RECAPS SEASON OPENER; PREVIEWS OKLAHOMA STATE

MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama football head coach Steve Campbell, with running back Deonta Moore, wide receiver Jordan McCray, cornerback Darian Mills and linebacker Nick Mobley.

Below are some highlights:

Head coach Steve Campbell
On Oklahoma State: "Oklahoma State looks like a top-five football team, with the numbers that they put up last week — regardless of the competition — at the end of week one they are ranked third in total offense in the country; they had close to 800 yards, which is Nintendo-type numbers.  They started a new quarterback and all he did was go out and throw five touchdown passes.  They spread the ball around, they ran it well and threw it well and pretty much scored at will; they are an outstanding offensive football team.  They held their opponent to 200 total yards so they are very strong defensively.  They are putting in a new defensive scheme and seem to have adapted to that, they have a lot of talent up front and good guys at linebacker and in the secondary.  It's a tremendous challenge for us, but it is a challenge we are excited about and an opportunity that we are definitely looking forward to.

"Any time you go into Boone Pickens Stadium it is a loud environment, those fans do a tremendous job of getting behind their team and making a lot of noise in trying to be a 12th man.  Last week, with it being the first game of the year you could see Missouri State had some unforced errors caused by that 12th man.  We need to do a good job of handling the environment, making some plays early to try and take the crowd out of the game, and play our football game.

"As the game wore on last week I thought we got better and better.  Now we are playing a new opponent with a new offense and defense, new schemes and players.  We need to make those adjustments a little quicker so that we give ourselves a better opportunity to win the football game."

On the first road game of the season:  "The way we fashioned our schedule, on our itinerary there shouldn't be a lot of difference between a home game and an away game.  I think it is good for us to get away to get focused, which is what we do before home games when we take everybody downtown and sequester them in a hotel so that we can focus on the game, watch our film and do our walk throughs.  The schedule will be real similar to a home game, the only difference is you're doing it at another venue.  We don't care if you're playing in a parking lot at Wal-Mart, you need to be ready to play.  This will be our first away game, but I like the way that our guys handled their preparation last week; we need to improve upon that and start a little faster than we started and handle that environment in a very positive manner to come back with a 'W.'"

On the team's quarterbacks going into the Oklahoma State game: "It's tough, but there are only so many footballs to go around; we'll manage that through the week.  Evan [Orth] has done a good job every time we've given him an opportunity, he prepares himself every step of the way as if he is going to be the guy.  Cole [Garvin] did some great things early and later on, but we need to get the football moving a little quicker.  We'll evaluate through the week and see how it plays out on Saturday.

"We played a couple of 'H's and eight offensive linemen, but people don't ask about that, they ask about the quarterback position.  As a coach, we treat it the same.  When you are a new coach in a new program and you don't have that history, you're still trying to get everybody to fill their role.  We have three guys who do a lot of good things, we will sort our way through it.  I may answer questions on this for the next nine weeks or it may sort itself out this Saturday.  But I've done it at guard and tackle and quarterback and defensive end.  I like playing a lot of people, if guys are ready we are going to give them an opportunity to play."

Running back Deonta Moore
On expectations for this weekend: "We expect there to be a big crowd.  [Oklahoma State] is a good team.  We've played them before.  They have a lot of experience and a lot of talent, but that doesn't make us stray away from the challenge.  We are excited about the opportunity that we have in front of us.  We always play with a chip on our shoulder when it comes to playing bigger schools and games like this one, because we know we have a chance to win them because we've won games like this in the past.  Coming into this week, we are real confident and we're just going to give it all we've got."

On the team getting better as Saturday's season opener went on: "I felt like the first quarter team and the fourth quarter team for us looked completely different.  Coming into the game, it's kind of the type of thing that you expect.  There are a lot of people doing things that they haven't been doing and playing a lot more than they have before.  With a lot of new guys out there, everyone was just trying to find their role and fit in.  Losing the first game is something that you don't want to do, but we did a lot of learning in that game and we know that it's going to help us in the long run because we are a more confident team."

Wide receiver Jordan McCray
On expectations heading into Oklahoma State: "My expectation is to win. Going into an environment like his you have to really focus on the little things. You can't get rattled. You have to trust your training. We've practiced for a long time and we've had some great coaching. We trust in them and have a great plan. I think we could upset them and shock the world."

On the offense picking it up as the game went on: "We started slow, but that fourth quarter, the third quarter really, everything picked up. We settled down and it was our first game together. I felt good about how we finished the game. I would've loved to have started a little bit faster, but that will come with the season. I feel comfortable with this team and what we're doing right now."

On what worked and didn't work for the offense: "I don't think it was too much of what didn't work. The receivers did a good job getting down field. I guess it just wasn't our day. We did good things blocking. I feel comfortable with our coaches calling good plays."

Cornerback Darian Mills
On expectations for this weekend: "Going into Saturday's game, there's a lot of excitement, but our heads are level; we aren't going to get too high or too low.  Coming off of the loss, we are real eager to get back out there and try to get the win.  We aren't going to shy away from the type of environment that we will face; we are just going to go out there and play football."

On the team getting better as Saturday's season opener went on: "We most definitely got better as the game went on.  We came out pretty strong [defensively] and throughout the game we had some missed assignments that could've helped us win the game, but as the game went on we got stronger.  We need to build on that heading into this week and stay consistent.  If we are able to be consistent and use the correct techniques and not have the missed assignments will really help us this game."

Linebacker Nick Mobley
On expectations heading into Oklahoma State: "I believe it's going to be a big atmosphere especially being a more well-known program. It'll be a good opportunity for us to bounce back and show how well we can play. Hopefully we can build on what we did against Louisiana Tech."

On the Oklahoma State offense: "It'll be a good challenge. We watched some film and they're pretty solid. If we play our technique, we'll be fine; fitting our gaps, pass drops, we can get the job done."

On his thoughts on how he fit into his first game: "First game, I thought I did pretty good. Made a lot of mistakes, but that's the challenge of it. I enjoyed it, had a lot of fun and I'm ready to get back to work."

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).

Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics.  Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/sports/2013/3/13/Gridiron%20Club.aspx?id=22

—USA
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