USF Football Post Game Notes
RV/RV USF (1-0) 59, Stony Brook (0-1) 14
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2009, 7:05 p.m.
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.

Below are quotes from USF Coach Skip Holtz, Stony Brook Head Coach Chuck Priore, USF players BJ Daniels, Mark Joyce and Bobby Eveld, and Stony Brook players Michael Coulter and Brock Jackolski.

USF Head Coach Skip Holtz

Opening statement...
"It is great to win. Obviously the goal coming into the day was to be 1-0.  That was the goal coming in and there were a lot of positive things and probably a million things that I could sit here and harp on and think negative about, things we have to correct. The goal was 1-0, and we are 1-0. I'm proud of the way this team competed, proud of the way we went out there and the way we played. We found ourselves with a little adversity, all a sudden we're down and they kept battling back.  They did a really nice job. I think there were a lot of positive things to build on. I want to say thank you to the student body, which was great down there in that end zone.  The crowd, having the opportunity to play at home and the people that came out to support this team, thank you. It's a nice environment and it's a great place to play. I'm just really excited for this football team right now. I could sit down and probably single out a lot of positive things in this game on offense and defense. I thought B.J. Daniels played very well. I thought the offensive line did a nice job. It's great to see some of these young kids come to the party. Bobby Eveld went in and did a very nice job, I don't know what he finished statically, but he did a really nice job managing the game. Bravo-Brown did a nice job in there and made a couple nice catches. Marcus [Shaw] went in there and obviously had a nice play at the end of the game.  A lot of young guys played; [Bradley] Battles played, [Demetris] Murray played. A lot of guys got a lot of game experience. From seven minutes in the third quarter on, we played our entire second offensive line, so they got a lot of work.   A lot of guys got a lot of work today.  This was a needed thing for us on offense. Defensively, I was frustrated early. We gave the hitch and go and we gave up a wheel route. You look at it and you're right there. We just didn't make a play on the ball, but I thought the defense ran around and played with some effort, some passion and were physical. I thought they did a really nice job. It was a good first game learning experience. It was the same mindset in that game, Luke Sager got a chance to play quite a bit, Anthony Hill got a chance to play quite a bit, Devekeyan Lattimore played quite a bit, Jacquian Williams played quite a bit. There are just a lot of young guys that haven't played, but obviously we'll get it. Mark Joyce did a really nice job, he's one of the freshmen that stepped in and played.  He made a big play and had an interception.  George Baker had an interception; I would imagine program sales were high tonight with all the bodies that played and all the different people that made some plays on the field. The one thing that's probably the most frustrating part of it was the special team's side of it. I thought the kick-off team really did a nice job. I don't think we kicked the ball very well today. I don't think we kicked off very well in the first half, we did much better in the second half. Obviously, we had the bad snap on the punt, a 37-yard punt. It's just like a turnover.  We put the ball on the ground. The punt return was on the ground more than it is in a soccer match.  We fumbled the first one, we fumbled the second one and lost it. We dropped the third one.  The thing about it, at practice Faron Hornes is the guy that had done the nicest job with it. He did it last year and that's why I went with him because he had the most reliable hands. At some point the other young men that are out there working deserve an opportunity and a chance. We put Terrence Mitchell back there and it was nice to get him some experience. They kicked it out of bounds twice to him but then he got an opportunity to catch one.  Right now, the negative thing to this point and the thing that were really going to have to turn and make some huge improvements on is special teams. They say the most progress you make is from game one to game two, that's why we're really going to have to make some huge strides in the kicking game." 

On how playing Stony Brook leads into playing the Florida Gators...
"This was a great opening game for us, Stony Brook. Stony Brook is a quality team, I have a lot of respect for Chuck [Priore] and the job that he's done for building that program. They won the conference championship a year ago. They're players; they play hard, they play physical, they ran the ball, they did what we thought they would do coming in.  They got in the red zone, they ran the hitch and go's and the wheels and the trick plays and they execute them.  I thought it was a great opportunity for a first game because it's not only starters get an opportunity to play an awful lot, but all of our backups played almost the entire second half and that experience is invaluable. You cannot duplicate people in the stands being out there on that field and playing in a game like environment. I would much rather Bobby Eveld, Bravo-Brown, Marcus Shaw, Mark Joyce and those guys have an opportunity to get their feet wet here at home then get baptized into college football in Gainesville at Florida Field next weekend. I think this was a great opportunity to get a lot of people in the game and play a lot of guys. Then, with how they competed, they just kept making plays. The young guys really stepped up. There is a lot of talent in that freshman class."

On if he was happy with the attendance of 40,201...
"I'd like to see it sold out. That's the goal, I want to see it sold out. I'm really excited and grateful to the people that came out here. It was a great environment, it was a great night for college football, it was beautiful, the support that we get. I'm very grateful and I say thank you. I think the dream and the vision that we all have in this program is the day that we sell this stadium out on season tickets."

On scoring on the first play from scrimmage...
"It makes it easy. It makes it easy, sometimes too easy. It was [Dontavia] Bogan; we just threw that ball out there and Bogan made a great play. B.J. threw a strike, put it in his hands and made it easy for him to run with it. He made the corner miss and went the distance.  I say this all the time, 'it's not how you play, it's how you react to a play.' You start out seven nothing and next thing you know you're losing.   Sometimes it's not bad to have to work for it and just drive the ball and go down the field but I'll always take a big play. I'll never give those back. I like those big plays. I liked Marcus Shaw's big play, the pass down the middle that B.J. Daniels threw to Evan Landi, Bogan's long screen pass. Those are positive things and if you're going to score a lot of points you have to make big plays. You're not going to methodically move the ball down the field all night.  I thought that one bright spot offensively was that we weren't littered with penalties, on offense or defense. I thought the penalty situation was pretty good outside of special teams."

On B.J. Daniels' performance...
"I thought B.J. was really in it. I thought he was really focused and I thought he made some great reads.    He turned and made a couple checks on the line of scrimmage where he turned and checked plays and got us out of a bad play and into a good play.  For the most part he did a nice job of taking what the defense gave him. He didn't try and force the ball, he never put the ball in danger tonight. He protected it and that is what we harp, protecting the football and he did it.  I don't know about the whole offense. I think we might have had three or even four times, the ball was on the ground but I thought B.J. did a great job of protecting it and running the offensive play within the system. I'm just really proud of these players and the way they competed."

On mistakes that need to be corrected...
"We have to get better. That is the goal each and every week, to continue to improve. I think all the players will be excited with what happened tonight but I think that they all understand that we need to get better. A season is a work in progress. This is a journey of twelve weeks and we have to keep getting better each and every week. We have to look at what we did positive, we have to correct some of the mistakes and we have to get better next week. That's why we're going to go to practice and those are the things we're going to try and do. Those mistakes are going to be things that are going to cost you, not only in just a [University of] Florida game but they are going to cost you in any close football game.    Those are mistakes that get you beat. You find a way to lose making those mistakes instead of just returning and just playing solid, fundamental, hard-nosed, discipline football. Our special teams have to get better."

On who he feels most comfortable with at punt returner...
"Right now I would say Terrence Mitchell. He's the only one who hasn't dropped one. Jonny Sitton did a nice job going in there, caught that one ball, took it around the edge and then put the next one on the ground. I talked to Terrence Mitchell this week, talked to his father about our desire to play him this year rather than redshirt him. That was the plan coming in. I told him I'd try to work him into punt returns. It just worked out that he probably got his opportunity just a little earlier then we would have all liked."

On him getting angry before calling a timeout towards the end of the first half...
"I lost my headsets. It was fourth and one and you're on the deal and I lost my headsets. They couldn't hear me and I couldn't hear them and what we were trying to get in. I got upset, not at the coaching, I just got upset with the situation. My headsets kind of went out, nobody could communicate and its fourth and one. You'd like to be able to talk the guys in the box whether you're going to go for it or rather you're going to kick the field goal. You're up ten points, a smart thing to do would have been to take the points but its fourth and one, you're playing at home, go for it. Our defense ended up stopping them and we got the ball back for the two minute drive. Then B.J. ended up throwing a great play there on the last play of the half right down the seam to Joel Miller.  I certainly would have liked to have it on fourth down.    That's why I got upset over the situation with the headsets."

On RB Demetris Murray's performance...
"I thought Murray did an excellent job in the second half.  I thought he did a much better job in the second half. I thought he ran hard. He ran hard but in the second half he ran with a purpose. He ran determined, he broke tackles, he spun, he turned his legs, he looked determined to make someone miss and make things happen.  I thought he did a great job. Mo Plancher, I thought it was great to get him in there and to get him some work, especially with some of the injuries that he's had. I thought Mo ran hard, I thought Murray did an excellent job and like I said I thought Shaw did a pretty nice job. We said it at the beginning, we were going to play all four, we played by committee, they will all four play again next week, the way we are."

On Joel Miller's TD...
"I thought it was huge because its 14-10 and you're in a ten-point ball game. He turned and we had called the play. B.J. said he liked a different formation and a different protection but he loved the route.  He's the guy that's out there on the field and has to turn and make the reads and the plays, so we're going to give him what he wants. He wanted to turn and change the formation and protection and he hit Joel Miller right down the seam. Joel is doing a lot of solid things as we talked about, I didn't give him that scholarship, he earned it. He's on every special team, he's playing inside receiver. He made a couple nice catches. I know if you ask Joel, he will tell you all he wants to do is contribute to this team and he has.  I was really proud of him tonight. Those are the positive things that you like to see come and happen to the people that work hard and make good things happen and then get out there in the stadium and have positive things happen to them."

On the wide receiver's performance as a whole...
"Yeah, I thought Bogan played very well. I thought Evan Landi did a really nice job, I thought we did a pretty decent job of catching the ball. We got a lot of people involved, Bravo-Brown, it was nice to get him a little bit of that experience.  I thought there were some guys that did a good thing. Right now Evan Landi has proven to me that he's a player in there. Same thing, I think Bravo-Brown has put himself into that mix. Lindsey Lamar took a shot, got up, came off the field and ran back in later in the game. He showed some toughness in that. Joel Miller has come along at the H position. I thought there were a lot of positive things. I think those five guys right now are starting to do some good things for us." 

On if he is surprised that the three players he mentioned a lot during camp: Mike Lanaris, George Baker, and Mark Joyce, all having interceptions...
"No, I'm really not and there were a lot of other guys that if given the opportunity to get their hands on one could have.  I thought Mistral Raymond made a couple great deflections down the field. Quenton Washington made one. I thought our defensive backs played really well. I thought they played the ball really well in the air. Some guys have really stepped up for us. Defensively we had one turnover at halftime; I believe we ended up with four. Those guys really did a nice job.  I keep saying this, I'm proud of this team, it's a team win, a lot of guys played, a lot of guys stepped up, a lot of things that we can do better and improve on.  But for the first game the goal was to be 1-0. We're going to watch the film and correct it and we're going to try and get better from here. Again thank you for the student body, the crowd, it's great to be 1-0. Thank you."

Stony Brook Head Coach Chuck Priore
On getting off to a 14-7 start...
"Certainly we knew we had to do that to be successful and play our part and try and create things on their part. We played really poised coming out of the block, all they had in the first quarter and a half was that one big play, in the first play of the game. I think we possessed, confident and caused some mistakes. We played physical and at the speed of the game in the third level of the wide receiver position. I think we held up inside in the first half and then we made a couple mistakes. I don't care if your playing up a game or your playing the same opponent, if you make mistakes, you know put yourself in a bind. I would have liked to say that first half should have ended 17-14, then we go in the locker room. We don't know what the outcome of the game would have been, it's the mental part of it would have been a little better. We gave up the late score and the botched punt, where we probably should have taken the safety and you're out of their with a better score. I'm really proud of how we competed. I think they were a little shocked early."

On the pressure on QB Michael Coulter and his interceptions...
"Yes, I think on two of them he was trying to get the ball out of bounds. He was on the edge running away and it was just the speed of the guy chasing him, he couldn't get his shoulders around him and get the ball where he wanted it to be. He knew what he wanted to do. And the one tipped ball. I think their was one bad interception. The other three were ones were caused by difference in talent level."

On if it was a success just to put the ball in the end zone being a FBS school...
"No, the research I've done is most of these games are fairly close in the first quarter and at the half. You put a little scare in them and you wake up the sleeping giant. Their offense and defense, I think they saw the game being close. They did a couple different things, they blitzed us a little bit more, after we started moving the ball on them. Those types of pressures are tough to handle. I did the research and most of these games start off sorta like that and you try and maintain it.  You try to shrink the game. The time of possession was fine but it was because they scored some quick scores. We didn't shrink the game. I think we had four turnovers, four interceptions and they probably had three but we couldn't afford to have any."

On what the players can learn from the game...
"We certainly faced adversity and I think you gotta grow from it.  Hopefully, we handled this game correctly. We prepared in preseason for the opportunity to play here but we prepared for an eleven game schedule. We have to take this and we have to put it in the back of our heads as soon as we leave this locker room. When we get the next opportunity to play in this type of setting, some of those nervous energies are gone and some of those big eyes are gone.  I think that is an important thing. The score of the game is really irrelevant at the end of the day. I don't know what the percentage of I-AA's that beat Division I but I'm sure it's one percent in any given year."

USF QB BJ Daniels
On getting the kinks worked out this week...
"It was very important for us to get off on a good start. Our receivers have shown what we have been working on all summer. I didn't doubt for a second where we're at. I have confidence in the teammates we have and they made some plays. I was real happy with them."

On if he feels comfortable in the new offense...
"Definitely, I like our style of offense. It takes some of the pain and hits off of me. It gives us an opportunity to show what athletes we have on our team. They did a good job today."

On scoring a TD the first play of the game...
"I didn't expect it [laughter]. You know for [Dontavia] Bogan, it's quick for him to get a first down. I was really happy for him."

On the play of WR Evan Landi...
"I've been saying for the longest, [he is] "Mr. Sure-hands." He did a good job today. He made some difficult catches and made me look good. I'm proud of him."

On the importance of scoring 59 points before the Bulls face Florida next week...
"It wasn't necessarily about the points. We just wanted to execute our offense, be consistent and just get ready for each game. I was definitely happy and proud of how we handled ourselves on offense. We put drives together and showed our explosiveness."

On if he ever felt the urge to run more during this game...
"No, our receivers were getting open. They were doing a good job, so it's just my job to hit them."

On if any play during the game stood out...
"Still the first one. I can't get over that. That was pretty exciting."

On his 68.2 completion percentage...
"It was alright-not bad. Still could get better. Work to be perfect."

On staying relaxed after being down 14-7 after the first quarter...
"The only team that can beat us is us, in our minds. That's our mindset every game. We just have to get ourselves together. Like the penalties-that was just us. Those are things that we can control. Our main focus is on what we can control and just go out there and play."

On if this was the opening game he needed...
"Yes, this was definitely a confidence builder. Coming in with a new offense, new team, new coaches-things like that. Just to come out the way we did was big."

On if he is looking forward to next week...
"I am. You've got to treat every game just like the other, but Florida is a great team. They're athletic and they're fast. It will definitely be exciting to go down to Gainesville next week."

USF S Mark Joyce
On scoring in his first college game...
"It was really amazing. My family came and that was really exciting. My mom-she loves football-ever since I was young. To help give her that joy felt really good."

On if he saw himself scoring in the first game back on signing day...
"First game? No sir. But, [I saw] my coaches trust. They trust me from [my play in] practice. They taught me what to do. I just happened to be in the right place."

On playing so well this early...
"I didn't really think I would be playing this much. I played in the first game and that was a shock to me. But my coaches trust me. I guess I learned, picked up the plays really fast and [the coaches] helped me out."

On if this game will help him the rest of the season...
"Yes sir. It gave me a lot of confidence, it gave my teammates confidence-they know they can trust in me-and hopefully we'll have a great season."

On if the game was good preparation for Florida...
"Yes sir. We just take it one game at a time. We try to finish every game 1-0 and it's going be really amazing playing in The Swamp."

On the contributions of the true freshmen...
"Yeah, all the true freshmen really contributed: Bravo-Brown, Bobby (Eveld), Marcus Shaw and I. I guess we had a great class. The coaches really taught us well in practice and in summer camp. We had a really good camp."

On the bond between true freshmen...
"We all got real tight over the summer. We all stayed in the same dorms, all on the same floor, so we got to know each other well. We worked together, we slept together, we would just hang around each other all day and we got real tight."

USF QB Bobby Eveld
On the wide receivers and true freshmen stepping up...
"Coming in over the summer, the freshmen really bonded well. We have a really good friendship between all of us. So when Mark Joyce had the interception, you saw all the freshmen on the sideline, like "Yeah, that's our friend!" [They also said it] when Steve [Bravo-Brown] was in there making good catches and when Marcus [Shaw] took off on that good run. True freshmen stick together. It was just good to see our friends out there and play like they did."

On getting the first win for Skip Holtz...
"Everyone was pretty pumped up. I think we came out pretty good. We have had more intensity, but I think overall it was a great game and we finished very well."

Stony Brook RB Brock Jackolski
On how Stony Brook handled exposure to higher level of competition...
 "I think we handled it really well. In the beginning of the game it was 14- 7 and we were all up and making progress, moving the ball and the defense was stopping their offense. I think we played really well for our first appearance in an FBS game. Unfortunately we just let it get away from us. I think we did very well."

On his touchdown reception from QB Michael Coulter...
 "Mike had a good play and a good throw. Out of the backfield, we set it up as a play action, I faked like I was blocking and went up the back side. We had a good connection."

On being ahead 14-7...
"It's unbelievable. For a Big East team and were up 14- 7, it's a great feeling. The fans from Stony Brook were so excited. It's just a really good feeling"

On learning from this level of competition and applying it to remainder of season...
 "It lets us know that we can play. We just need to play smarter. Our effort was definitely there. We just need to focus up and not make as many mistakes."

Stony Brook QB Michael Coulter

On taking advantage of mistakes early...
"We took advantage of good field position. We had some good plays scripted, the coaches took advantage of misdirection plays. Keeping mistakes down on my part, they had a couple big mistakes and just to learn from it."

On forced interceptions...
"Two of them I forced, I was really trying to throw it away. There was no one open on the play. Instead of throwing it to the ground, I have to throw it out of bounds. That's something that I need to learn from. I'm out of the pocket, so I can't throw it into the stands, I can't throw it near anybody. It wasn't smart and something easy to learn from. The other plays I don't think I could have done much about, there was pressure, it was tipped, but those two were sent out to me, I have to learn to throw those away from the stands."

On the difference in speed and pressure from USF...
"They're big and can move. [They are a] step faster and about twenty pounds heavier than were used to.  It's still my fault, I have to see that and it's still a good learning experience from here. We can take this on and go from there."

On how this game will affect the remainder of the season...
"How we have our attitudes, it's up to us.  We have to stay positive. I look at the scoreboard too much. This season is a whole new season and that game is over. We just have to learn from it and keep moving on. Stay positive."

On what Stony Brook learned from this game... 
"I can't say for sure. We might have gotten a little pounded and had a few injuries but I think we learned a lot from it. Just playing at this high level with speed and size, I think will benefit us later in the year."