TEMPLE HEAD COACH MATT RHULE
On defending Navy’s triple-option offense
Whatever you do against it, they have more answers. They run it with such precision. If you make the smallest adjustment, even if you’re still thinking ‘it’s the triple option,’ they have 20 different ways to attack what you’re doing. So, when we go on the field tomorrow, we know they know what they’re doing against us better than we know what we’re doing against them. You just have to hope your players make plays, turn into football – get off blocks and tackles. At the end of the day, that’s what football is, it’s about getting off blocks and making tackles.
I will say this, we’ve watched other option teams, we’ve faced other option teams in years past and no one does it like these guys do it. That’s because of the level of player they have there as well. You take tremendous players and tremendous coaches like that staff and then you run a system that is not only hard to defend because there’s multiple options on every play but also because they have answers for everything, it’s really, really hard to defend. People have tried all kinds of things this year in our league and no one’s been able to tame it – especially at the latter part of this year. We know as we go out there that there is no stopping the offense. You just have to hope you get two or three stops within the course of the game.
Update on QB Phillip Walker and RB Ryquell Armstead
They’re both going to try to play. PJ (Walker) looks farther along than Ryquell does. PJ hasn’t been hit or even bumped this week. He hasn’t done much. He’s going to try to play. How limited he is? I don’t know how long he can play. That being said, I’m very confident in Logan Marchi. One thing this has done is that he’s been taking most of the reps in practice, for the most part, this week. He’s looked pretty good. With regards to Armstead, we’ve tried to bring him along and get him as healthy as we can. He’s says he’s going to give it a try. With that being said, we have to wait and see. That’s not some vague coaching answer. As the coach they both tell me ‘Coach, I’m playing.’ As the coach, I have to make plans based on what I think is going to happen. I think they’re both going to try and we’ll see how well they can play and how long they can go.
On the strength of the American Athletic Conference
Here’s how strong I think the league is, you have a team that finished 2-3 in the American Athletic Conference West and they’re ranked (Houston). We’re like the SEC. You can lose three conference games and still be ranked. I think that speaks a great deal about the level of teams in this league.
You watch Tulsa, fantastic. SMU, I feel for them. A young quarterback came in but they’re a tremendous team and if Matt (Davis) doesn’t hurt his leg, they’re another bowl team. South Florida is the best offense we’ve ever faced; they were so dynamic with Quinton Flowers and Marlon Mack. Houston, what a great job they’ve done.
I think: No. 1, there are no easy games in this league. No. 2, there are several top-25 caliber teams in the league. No. 3, when teams can go out and beat highly ranked teams from outside the league and then lose to teams within the league, it shows that you have a great league. That’s why we put the P6 stickers on our helmet, proudly, because there’s no doubt where we are and what we are and the level of play that’s happening within the conference.
We went down to Memphis and lost at Memphis to a really great offense and a great defense in a tough place to play. That was really hard down there. There were a lot of other games like that. South Florida is one. Central Florida with the job Scott (Frost) did there this year. There are great teams and the teams are going to get better and better. I watch the recruiting, I watch everything. This league is at a high point right now and it will only exceed it the next couple of years.
NAVY HEAD COACH KEN NIUMATALOLO
Opening Statement
Well first of all I want to congratulate Matt Rhule and the Temple Owls for winning the East side. They had a great year, it is going to be a great game. We’re looking forward to playing them, I have a ton of respect for Matt and his program and who he is as a person. I have gotten to know him over the years in this conference and we’re both with Under Armour so just knowing him at different functions, just a great man.
It’s an honor for our football program and the United States Naval Academy to be here. It’s an exciting time for us, it’s uncharted waters. It’s kind of cool to have a press conference for the championship game. Even though I live five minutes away from here, it’s still an exciting drive to be here. Grateful to Mike Aresco and all that he has done for our conference. I still remember our first meeting three years ago, with the great coaches in the room just talking about our league and what we could do to help our league to get some notoriety and some recognition and to build our brand, and I think it was Coach (Tommy) Tuberville who said, ‘The thing you have to do is win.’ You have to win on the field. There are a lot of things you can do but you have to win. Obviously this is a really, really good football league. A lot of good teams, a lot of good coaches and we feel very fortunate to be representing the West. We have had some really good football games against good teams and we are humbled and honored to be here and represent the West in this conference championship.
On Temple’s defense
We played them a couple years ago and Coach (Phil) Snow, the defensive coordinator, is one of the most respected defensive coaches in the country. They are tough, hard-nosed; his defenses have always been really good. They are well coached, they’re hard-nosed, they present a lot of issues because they have a lot of pressures and do a lot of different things, even though they may not have the same type of pressures against us. He likes to change fronts and change defenses. So we have to be on point.
The last time we played, they played a lot of different fronts against us, a lot of movement, different things, so we are prepared to play an attacking aggressive defense which is kind of a trademark of Coach Snow. We have a ton of respect for him. Like I said, being in this profession, you know the type of coach that he is and it is going to be a great challenge for our offense.
How the team might react if the offense doesn’t move the ball as well as in recent games.
I think a bigger part of it is two-fold. They are really good on defense, obviously, and they huddle on offense. They are hard-nosed, old-school, run-the-ball-downhill. Most of the teams in our conference are up-tempo, trying to get 90 snaps in, and so some of that fit in to what we were doing, playing those guys that like to go fast. Now we are going to play a team that is very similar to us. They run the ball, they’re tough and like I said earlier, they are a really good defense. We just have to know that possessions aren’t going to be like they have been in the past. They are going to possess the ball, they are No. 5 in the country in time of possession. They actually hold the ball longer than we do.
There is a reason that they are here, it’s not a fluke. They are a really good solid all-around football program, offense, defense and special teams. We’ve got to be ready, if we have to punt, we have to punt. We recognize it is going to be a tough game.
On quarterback Will Worth
He is on track to break all of the records that we have ever had here. We have had some really good quarterbacks starting with the one last year (Keenan Reynolds). Keenan was a remarkable quarterback for us. Prior to that, Ricky Dobbs, we have had some really good guys. Coming in to the season we thought Tago (Smith) was going to take the reins and unfortunately he got injured.
With Will, I just can’t say enough about how well he has played, how he has led our team. And I have said this before, you always hope that your guys play well, but he is playing on an unprecedented level, a level that we have never seen before. He’s on track to break all of Keenan’s records and most of Keenan’s records are NCAA records. It’s remarkable what he has done and because of Will, we are here. That is just the truth. Because of the play of Will Worth we are here in this conference championship.
On the conference championship’s preceding the Army-Navy game.
Well several years ago when Mr. (Chet) Gladchuck, myself and our superintendent talked about joining this conference, we were really, really excited about it. We recognized it was a really good league, lot of good teams. As we got in to the league we talked about the championship, when it would be played, right before the Army-Navy game.
We joined the conference to be in this game. I don’t think anybody joins a conference to finish in fourth place. You always want to win. We have a plan in place, we planned on being in this game, we planned on being in it last year.
We’ve prepared for the Army game, we have done things during the course of the year. Like most people that get ready for us do a little bit during the year to get ready for our offense because it is so different, we have had to do the same things to get ready for Army. We have a ton of respect for them but right now our focus is on this conference championship against a really good team. We have spread it out through the whole course of the year hoping that we would be in this game and then with one week to prepare after, that we would have already done some of the pre-work and done a lot of work to prepare for that game. It was a good problem to have, we talked about it and it was kind of weird preparing for another team when you are getting ready for other people but we spend a little time every week getting ready for Army hoping that we would be right where we are at today
On defending Navy’s triple-option offense
Whatever you do against it, they have more answers. They run it with such precision. If you make the smallest adjustment, even if you’re still thinking ‘it’s the triple option,’ they have 20 different ways to attack what you’re doing. So, when we go on the field tomorrow, we know they know what they’re doing against us better than we know what we’re doing against them. You just have to hope your players make plays, turn into football – get off blocks and tackles. At the end of the day, that’s what football is, it’s about getting off blocks and making tackles.
I will say this, we’ve watched other option teams, we’ve faced other option teams in years past and no one does it like these guys do it. That’s because of the level of player they have there as well. You take tremendous players and tremendous coaches like that staff and then you run a system that is not only hard to defend because there’s multiple options on every play but also because they have answers for everything, it’s really, really hard to defend. People have tried all kinds of things this year in our league and no one’s been able to tame it – especially at the latter part of this year. We know as we go out there that there is no stopping the offense. You just have to hope you get two or three stops within the course of the game.
Update on QB Phillip Walker and RB Ryquell Armstead
They’re both going to try to play. PJ (Walker) looks farther along than Ryquell does. PJ hasn’t been hit or even bumped this week. He hasn’t done much. He’s going to try to play. How limited he is? I don’t know how long he can play. That being said, I’m very confident in Logan Marchi. One thing this has done is that he’s been taking most of the reps in practice, for the most part, this week. He’s looked pretty good. With regards to Armstead, we’ve tried to bring him along and get him as healthy as we can. He’s says he’s going to give it a try. With that being said, we have to wait and see. That’s not some vague coaching answer. As the coach they both tell me ‘Coach, I’m playing.’ As the coach, I have to make plans based on what I think is going to happen. I think they’re both going to try and we’ll see how well they can play and how long they can go.
On the strength of the American Athletic Conference
Here’s how strong I think the league is, you have a team that finished 2-3 in the American Athletic Conference West and they’re ranked (Houston). We’re like the SEC. You can lose three conference games and still be ranked. I think that speaks a great deal about the level of teams in this league.
You watch Tulsa, fantastic. SMU, I feel for them. A young quarterback came in but they’re a tremendous team and if Matt (Davis) doesn’t hurt his leg, they’re another bowl team. South Florida is the best offense we’ve ever faced; they were so dynamic with Quinton Flowers and Marlon Mack. Houston, what a great job they’ve done.
I think: No. 1, there are no easy games in this league. No. 2, there are several top-25 caliber teams in the league. No. 3, when teams can go out and beat highly ranked teams from outside the league and then lose to teams within the league, it shows that you have a great league. That’s why we put the P6 stickers on our helmet, proudly, because there’s no doubt where we are and what we are and the level of play that’s happening within the conference.
We went down to Memphis and lost at Memphis to a really great offense and a great defense in a tough place to play. That was really hard down there. There were a lot of other games like that. South Florida is one. Central Florida with the job Scott (Frost) did there this year. There are great teams and the teams are going to get better and better. I watch the recruiting, I watch everything. This league is at a high point right now and it will only exceed it the next couple of years.
NAVY HEAD COACH KEN NIUMATALOLO
Opening Statement
Well first of all I want to congratulate Matt Rhule and the Temple Owls for winning the East side. They had a great year, it is going to be a great game. We’re looking forward to playing them, I have a ton of respect for Matt and his program and who he is as a person. I have gotten to know him over the years in this conference and we’re both with Under Armour so just knowing him at different functions, just a great man.
It’s an honor for our football program and the United States Naval Academy to be here. It’s an exciting time for us, it’s uncharted waters. It’s kind of cool to have a press conference for the championship game. Even though I live five minutes away from here, it’s still an exciting drive to be here. Grateful to Mike Aresco and all that he has done for our conference. I still remember our first meeting three years ago, with the great coaches in the room just talking about our league and what we could do to help our league to get some notoriety and some recognition and to build our brand, and I think it was Coach (Tommy) Tuberville who said, ‘The thing you have to do is win.’ You have to win on the field. There are a lot of things you can do but you have to win. Obviously this is a really, really good football league. A lot of good teams, a lot of good coaches and we feel very fortunate to be representing the West. We have had some really good football games against good teams and we are humbled and honored to be here and represent the West in this conference championship.
On Temple’s defense
We played them a couple years ago and Coach (Phil) Snow, the defensive coordinator, is one of the most respected defensive coaches in the country. They are tough, hard-nosed; his defenses have always been really good. They are well coached, they’re hard-nosed, they present a lot of issues because they have a lot of pressures and do a lot of different things, even though they may not have the same type of pressures against us. He likes to change fronts and change defenses. So we have to be on point.
The last time we played, they played a lot of different fronts against us, a lot of movement, different things, so we are prepared to play an attacking aggressive defense which is kind of a trademark of Coach Snow. We have a ton of respect for him. Like I said, being in this profession, you know the type of coach that he is and it is going to be a great challenge for our offense.
How the team might react if the offense doesn’t move the ball as well as in recent games.
I think a bigger part of it is two-fold. They are really good on defense, obviously, and they huddle on offense. They are hard-nosed, old-school, run-the-ball-downhill. Most of the teams in our conference are up-tempo, trying to get 90 snaps in, and so some of that fit in to what we were doing, playing those guys that like to go fast. Now we are going to play a team that is very similar to us. They run the ball, they’re tough and like I said earlier, they are a really good defense. We just have to know that possessions aren’t going to be like they have been in the past. They are going to possess the ball, they are No. 5 in the country in time of possession. They actually hold the ball longer than we do.
There is a reason that they are here, it’s not a fluke. They are a really good solid all-around football program, offense, defense and special teams. We’ve got to be ready, if we have to punt, we have to punt. We recognize it is going to be a tough game.
On quarterback Will Worth
He is on track to break all of the records that we have ever had here. We have had some really good quarterbacks starting with the one last year (Keenan Reynolds). Keenan was a remarkable quarterback for us. Prior to that, Ricky Dobbs, we have had some really good guys. Coming in to the season we thought Tago (Smith) was going to take the reins and unfortunately he got injured.
With Will, I just can’t say enough about how well he has played, how he has led our team. And I have said this before, you always hope that your guys play well, but he is playing on an unprecedented level, a level that we have never seen before. He’s on track to break all of Keenan’s records and most of Keenan’s records are NCAA records. It’s remarkable what he has done and because of Will, we are here. That is just the truth. Because of the play of Will Worth we are here in this conference championship.
On the conference championship’s preceding the Army-Navy game.
Well several years ago when Mr. (Chet) Gladchuck, myself and our superintendent talked about joining this conference, we were really, really excited about it. We recognized it was a really good league, lot of good teams. As we got in to the league we talked about the championship, when it would be played, right before the Army-Navy game.
We joined the conference to be in this game. I don’t think anybody joins a conference to finish in fourth place. You always want to win. We have a plan in place, we planned on being in this game, we planned on being in it last year.
We’ve prepared for the Army game, we have done things during the course of the year. Like most people that get ready for us do a little bit during the year to get ready for our offense because it is so different, we have had to do the same things to get ready for Army. We have a ton of respect for them but right now our focus is on this conference championship against a really good team. We have spread it out through the whole course of the year hoping that we would be in this game and then with one week to prepare after, that we would have already done some of the pre-work and done a lot of work to prepare for that game. It was a good problem to have, we talked about it and it was kind of weird preparing for another team when you are getting ready for other people but we spend a little time every week getting ready for Army hoping that we would be right where we are at today
