Bob Spoo Quotations

One of the prime characteristics we were looking for in this position was enthusiasm and Justin met that qualification by exhibiting a high level of energy throughout the interview process.

We're glad it's over and we're back where we belong.

Mike is our No. 1 coming out of the spring. He accepted a challenge like a man. He commanded the respect of the players.

For us, the I-A games are strictly monetary situations all the way. Whatever we schedule, we go. The bottom line is for finances.

I believe we have to run the football. It was a grave disappointment last week.

He's also had a lot of success with special teams particularly last fall where his units accounted for six touchdowns. Justin grew up in a coaching family so he's been around the profession for quite awhile. He just brings a lot of positive attributes to our staff.

That concerns me. They did a nice job against Furman. Even though they lost those two all-conference players, they replaced them. Their quarterback, he's an outstanding competitor. They have the capability of scoring points.

Players bounce back quickly. It's a new season. They understand that. We had a good practice (Tuesday). That whole offense has to start playing up to their abilities. They have to show more heart.

I think we lost to a superior football team. There's no question about that. We knew that coming in. The thing we couldn't afford to do, we did. We gave them 17 points off of turnovers. Those are things you have to eliminate against a team that is superior to you. I was a little disappointed in that aspect of it.

We're anxious to get those grades back. A couple of guys are on the bubble so to speak. It's important that we get the job done.

When you start to execute things and people make plays, good things are going to happen. That's what we didn't do in the first half. In the second half, we did some pretty good things. Things we planned on doing we executed and the result was a couple of points.

The defense played very well. When the defense gives you the ball, you should do something with it.

We are very excited about getting Ron to Eastern Illinois. He brings a lot of speed and versatility to our offense. We are going to try and get him the ball as much as possible. With his speed, he has the threat to go the distance every time he touches the ball. We will also have him returning kicks and punts.

Oh, I don't know. There's a long way to go. Everybody has a chance. I couldn't even give you a close pick on that.

The best way to keep their offense off the field is to get our offense going. I believe we have to run the football.

The biggest question was whether our QB would be able to play or not because he had only taken three snaps (last year). But he played like a veteran player.

No, there isn't. The backup is the freshman and that just wouldn't be right. He's not ready yet. Mike played well against Indiana State and he has to perform up to that potential.

That's a real deficiency when only two of five guys are grading out.

He's what the game is all about. He's a 100 mile an hour guy all the time.

It's the only way to truly assess what a guy has.

It's too bad he was ineligible last year and it'll be too bad if he's ineligible next year but he's putting his work in. He's a tough guy who relishes the competition and the hitting part of the game.

We missed the holes as running backs at times, but there were also a lot of missed assignments and not great effort. There wasn't a lot of fight. Every man has to realize it's a dog-eat-dog world. You have to want it very badly.

We just couldn't block them all. They came from too many angles.