Mike Shula Guys Quotations

I was a little nervous at halftime just because I couldn't tell where we were as a team, if we were a little bit down or flat, ... What I realized is we've got some veteran guys who weren't necessarily going to panic even though we didn't play as well as we thought we could in the first half. They just went out there and did their job better.

I thought the tempo and enthusiasm from our guys was real good. We have a lot of positions that are open, nine positions specifically. We have to get used to reacting faster and playing better as a group.

We want guys here we've got guys here who want to have people looking at them and wondering what our football team is about.

We've got guys here that enjoy that, ... They want people looking at them and wondering what this team is all about.

We're going to put importance on the depth chart through the jerseys. We talked to the guys who have the white jerseys on offense and the crimson jerseys on defense about how you have to fight every day to hold on to those jerseys. We want it on their minds. We want to create an atmosphere that we have more competition that we've ever had.

We felt like if we come out with a great attitude and get after these guys and play physical type football then we could move the ball.

What a way to win the game. Our guys hung in there for the whole game. Whenever it looked like things were going against us and nothing was going to go our way, our guys stepped up and made some plays.

We've got a lot of guys coming back, but the guy pulling the trigger is going to be brand new. We have to continue with the improvement on the offensive line and create competition. We're still not there where there's competition at every position which is going to make everybody better.

You spend three weeks in April getting yourself lined up for spring recruiting. You're trying to evaluate as much tape as you can. If you don't know who you want by this time, you're way behind. Character is more important too. We're being held accountable if guys leave with the new (Academic Progress Report).

The effort was really, really good. I thought we looked real good on defense. We talked about getting to the ball and making plays. Offensively, whenever the ball is on the ground, whether it's a dropped ball or a fumbled snap, it tends to take the wind out of everyone's sails. I think that's what happened. We had a chance to make big plays and didn't do it and guys got frustrated.

These kids have been through a lot, ... When everything around them was changing, they were the constant. Our guys hung in there again until the end. When everything looked like it was going against us, and when it seemed nothing was going our way, we found a way to make plays.

That's really another spot that you'll probably see both guys on the field this week.