Opening Statement
“So, a total team effort. I was really proud of just their overall performance of four quarters of execution. And it really was a great way to start the season. You couldn’t draw it up any better. But they prepared for this. They prepared for this opportunity. Navy’s a great opponent. And as I told their coach after the game, they’re going to be a really good team. They did some things that were extremely difficult to prepare for on both sides of the ball, but I thought our guys really did a good job.
“I want to make sure I mention the 40,000 fans [who made the trip from the U.S.], It was an unbelievable atmosphere, and it was a special Kickoff Classic. Everyone's done a great job. And so for us to be a part of this game to start the season, this was a great way to do it. And so with that, I’ll open it up for questions.”
For so long we talked about the potential of Sam Hartman. Game 1, he was almost flawless. What did that mean for him to have that performance to kind of set the tone for what the season could be for him and the offense?
“I think it's a reflection of this being the [49th] game he’s played his [46th start]. This moment wasn’t too big [for him]. It's about him going out there and just executing, and what I really, really thought he did a great job of was putting our offense in a really good position to execute the play.
“There were a couple of calls that we had, depending on what the defense was showing, we were going to check into a run or a pass or a certain protection. Just to hear the communication of our coaches, to make sure that Sam was putting our offense in just a really great situation was really good. I just thought the overall operation of our offense, the ability to run the ball helps him a lot too. We talked about that yesterday on TV, the greatest friend for a quarterback is the ability to run the ball. And that was something that our offensive line and our running game did a great job of doing today.”
Jaden Greathouse already had a lot of confidence coming into this game. But what does this do for him to realize that he can work at this level?
“Yeah, I think consistently do your job, especially at that position, and you will be in a position to be rewarded. And Rico Flores played well in his first college experience, but sometimes when you play well at the wideout position, you don’t always get those rewards. And so to see Jaden Greathouse go out and score two touchdowns today, it's a reflection of what coach [Chansi] Stuckey has done with the room. In fact, four wideouts caught touchdowns today, and Greathouse had two of them. That room is continuing to improve. The protection was good, and so, I think that's going to be a great momentum-builder as we get ready for next week for Jaden.”
What did you learn about the rest of the receiver corps today?
“I’ve seen it in practice, but to go up against an opponent and show them that they can do it in a game when it matters. You do it all the time in practice, but the ability to execute in the game is so important, But it's a deep room, and, for the most part. We know who Jaden Thomas was and Tobias had a catch last year, but it's still a relatively inexperienced room. And so, this game experience is so valuable, because they are talented. And now, to be able to show them that they have the ability to do it in a game, is, to me, what's going to catapult them.”
What did you learn about the way that Sam and Gerad Parker worked together in their first game together?
“As I said, the overall operation of coach Parker to the signallers to Sam getting into the right protections, getting into the right checks, executing — that's the whole operation. And it was really good. Usually, the first game, with a first-time offensive coordinator and a first-time quarterback, there's some operations in week zero, there's some bad snaps. That didn't happen. We didn't have to call timeout. I think we had one in the second half, maybe. But, I mean, that's the little things that you really worried about in this first game — how many operational mistakes are we going to have from the communication to the actual play on the field? It was really good that we didn’t have any.”
Audric Estimé seemed to leave the game after the fumble. Was that a result of his fumble? And what did you see from the running backs behind him that your guys were able to get some work out of all five of those running backs today?
“We had a plan to get all the running backs in the game, and I don't know if coach [Deland McCullough] pulled him out just because he fumbled. It was a pretty long run or something that he had, but we wanted to rotate all those guys in. And you’ve got to be unselfish. There's one ball, and there's a lot of talented individuals. And this is just week zero. That's what you have to be able to do, is have a team that is full of unselfishness, and it's hard. It's really hard.
“But I think coach McCollough has done a great job with that room in terms of making sure they understand before the game: That's the worst thing you can do to a kid, is tell him, ‘Hey, you're going to play’ and you don't do that. The ability to say, ‘Hey, all five of you are going to play.’ it's really a great job on coach McCullough. But you're going to have to be unselfish, and Audric is a great example of that.”
Why was Jack Kiser able to have success with the different alignments he was being used in, and what went into his performance tonight?
“You’re talking about the second year, really, the third year for Jack being in that similar position, being a linebacker, then being a safety and doing some different things. He's a reflection of really what the entire defense did. I’m really proud, because what you saw in the first half offensively from Navy — we looked at everything we could find. I'm talking, we looked at Kennesaw State. We looked at everything we could find, and they ran some things that we have never seen. And so, the ability to hear the coaches say, ‘OK, write it down. Draw it up. Let's adjust on the sideline.’ And then go out there and implement it. I mean, that's more impressive than anything. And so, Kiser played well, and [making] eight tackles was amazing. And he's a leader. He's a senior, but man, the adjustments our defense was able to make were tremendous.”
What pleased you most about the defense?
“Like I just said, the overall execution, the ability to adapt on the sidelines, to hold that offense to three points. The one thing that’s a little bit disappointing was that we didn’t get any takeaways on defense. We were close, but that’s something we’ve really been harping on, but man they did a really good job, especially after being exposed to certain aspects last year.”
You had two new starting offensive guards going against a veteran defensive line. How would you evaluate the overall execution of the interior offensive line?
“I was just talking to [athletic director] Jack Swarbrick about that. I guess we found out those two guards can play. Three of those guys [on the offensive line] had game experience, but Pat [Coogan] and Rocco [Spindler] both stepped up and did a really good job against — again — Navy’s defense is almost as exotic as their offense. Like, you don't see some of the things they do. So, for them to execute and run the ball and to play physical, man [it’s] a credit to, obviously, coach [Joe] Rudolph and just really a credit to those guys for what they were able to do in their first game.”
You said you studied everything you could about their offense, but did you anticipate them going to the Horvath kid, who could throw the football a little bit?
“Yeah, we thought he was going to be the backup. He wasn't. No. 7 [Xavier Arline] was the guy who came in [for the starter, Tai Lavatai]. So, we were anticipating [Horvath] being the next guy to come into the game, but our defense really wasn’t going to change that much no matter who the quarterback was.”
How did you find playing in Europe, and when are you coming back?
“I would love to come back. This was a great experience for me personally. Coming to Ireland, I've never really been out of the United States, and it was awesome. It was everything that I heard. But I thought our team did a great job in our plan in terms of when we got here, what we were going to do, how to keep the kids up, when to put them to bed. There was a lot of planning that went into the logistics of these 48 hours and the way they played. I thought they played with physicality. I thought they played with a lot of speed and effort, and so I just think they were prepared really to go out there and play at a high level when, and they did.”
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