The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Coach Clark Previews Southern Miss Road Trip
10/23/2017 4:41:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Meeting for the 16th time in program history this coming Saturday in Hattiesburg, UAB head football coach Bill Clark previewed his team's upcoming game at Southern Miss with his weekly press conference Monday morning.
NOTES:
Head Coach Bill Clark
Opening Statement:
"We are still recovering from a tough loss on Saturday night, we've had four straight games of games coming down to the last play. We had a great week of practice and I felt we were prepared. The most disappointing thing was to have the game in hand and then lose in overtime on a two-point play. You can imagine how difficult that was to deal with as players and coaches. We are trying to put that one to bed even though it'll be tough to forget about. Knowing we have a huge game this week at Southern Miss, a traditional rival, they are playing great and they had a monstrous win over Louisiana Tech. it's just another conference game and everyone in this conference is playing great.
"Southern Miss is very explosive, good on both sides of the ball and the kicking game. We will have to play well to be in it and I think our guys will respond to the challenge. The 24-hour rule is really good when we get to move on and really tough when you lose a tough game like this one. One of the hardest as I've been a part of but I think they'll move on, they are resilient."
On not letting Charlotte beat UAB twice:
"I go back to games we were a part of in 2014 and 2013 and as a coach for 30 years, you can't lose a game twice. That's hard, guys are hard on themselves but that's what we do on Monday mornings. We look at those plays that could change the game or cost us the game but I think there is something to be said for putting a game to bed. I think you have to experience that and then we ask if anyone has something to say and if they don't then we are moving along."
On the mental challenges of four straight games being decided on the final play:
"That's tough, I don't think there is any way around it. You just have to go back to experience and we had about three or four straight overtime games at Jacksonville State when we started there but it is hard on you emotionally. As a coach and as a player you just have to be resilient."
On the advantage of playing in close games:
"I think experience is such a great teacher, for all of our guys what does it take to avoid certain situations and there shouldn't be any panic in our guys, we've been there. I think experience is a great teacher for us moving forward because really everything is still new to them. Hopefully we're about to run out of those experiences, it's got to help us."
On what Southern Miss does to make them effective:
"Their running back who we saw in 2014, we did a good job on him until the end when he broke one out on us and he has that game breaking kind of speed. He's dynamic and explosive and he is arguably the best back in the conference. They've got two quarterbacks who are strong and fast and can throw it. They run quarterback runs with them and looks a lot like us. I think they had 100 plus snaps against Louisiana Tech and can throw the ball vertically with their big receivers. They are very balanced offensively and defensively they have multiple looks and they are good in the kicking game. They are winning games, well coached and solid and they had a huge win over a good Louisiana Tech team.
On the focus this week in practice:
"Just getting better and getting ready for another big game, there really isn't a change. We think we have a really good practice plan. We had a great week last week and we'll be putting this one behind us and moving on to the next one. That's the good and bad of this job, you're going to a great opponent so you have to put that other one behind you, win or lose and just focus on the next one."
NOTES:
- Arguably the Blazers' biggest rival, Southern Miss is UAB's most common opponent in program history. In a series that dates back to 2000, USM won the first nine games, but UAB has been victorious in five of the last six games.
- The last time the Blazers and the Golden Eagles met was the final game of the 2014 season which was a 45-24 UAB victory which earned the Blazers bowl eligible for the first time in a decade. Jordan Howard set the UAB single game rushing record with 262 yards.
- UAB's first four Conference USA games this season have been decided by a total of seven points and the outcome of every game has come down to final play. The seven total points are the fewest to decide the first four conference games of any team in the country. Only Florida and Eastern Michigan can claim something close as Florida has had four of five conference games decided by 10 total points with the outlier being a 14 point victory over Vanderbilt, while EMU has played three conference games and has suffered two overtime losses (24-20 and 20-17) and a last second loss to Toledo (20-15).
- UAB's Salute to Service game vs. Rice on Nov. 4 at Legion Field is slated to kick at 2 p.m., announced by Director of Athletics Mark Ingram today.
Head Coach Bill Clark
Opening Statement:
"We are still recovering from a tough loss on Saturday night, we've had four straight games of games coming down to the last play. We had a great week of practice and I felt we were prepared. The most disappointing thing was to have the game in hand and then lose in overtime on a two-point play. You can imagine how difficult that was to deal with as players and coaches. We are trying to put that one to bed even though it'll be tough to forget about. Knowing we have a huge game this week at Southern Miss, a traditional rival, they are playing great and they had a monstrous win over Louisiana Tech. it's just another conference game and everyone in this conference is playing great.
"Southern Miss is very explosive, good on both sides of the ball and the kicking game. We will have to play well to be in it and I think our guys will respond to the challenge. The 24-hour rule is really good when we get to move on and really tough when you lose a tough game like this one. One of the hardest as I've been a part of but I think they'll move on, they are resilient."
On not letting Charlotte beat UAB twice:
"I go back to games we were a part of in 2014 and 2013 and as a coach for 30 years, you can't lose a game twice. That's hard, guys are hard on themselves but that's what we do on Monday mornings. We look at those plays that could change the game or cost us the game but I think there is something to be said for putting a game to bed. I think you have to experience that and then we ask if anyone has something to say and if they don't then we are moving along."
On the mental challenges of four straight games being decided on the final play:
"That's tough, I don't think there is any way around it. You just have to go back to experience and we had about three or four straight overtime games at Jacksonville State when we started there but it is hard on you emotionally. As a coach and as a player you just have to be resilient."
On the advantage of playing in close games:
"I think experience is such a great teacher, for all of our guys what does it take to avoid certain situations and there shouldn't be any panic in our guys, we've been there. I think experience is a great teacher for us moving forward because really everything is still new to them. Hopefully we're about to run out of those experiences, it's got to help us."
On what Southern Miss does to make them effective:
"Their running back who we saw in 2014, we did a good job on him until the end when he broke one out on us and he has that game breaking kind of speed. He's dynamic and explosive and he is arguably the best back in the conference. They've got two quarterbacks who are strong and fast and can throw it. They run quarterback runs with them and looks a lot like us. I think they had 100 plus snaps against Louisiana Tech and can throw the ball vertically with their big receivers. They are very balanced offensively and defensively they have multiple looks and they are good in the kicking game. They are winning games, well coached and solid and they had a huge win over a good Louisiana Tech team.
On the focus this week in practice:
"Just getting better and getting ready for another big game, there really isn't a change. We think we have a really good practice plan. We had a great week last week and we'll be putting this one behind us and moving on to the next one. That's the good and bad of this job, you're going to a great opponent so you have to put that other one behind you, win or lose and just focus on the next one."
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