Gus Malzahn Press Conference - Boise State Week
UCF head coach Gus Malzahn and his Knights are heading to the Northwest this Saturday to face Boise State on the Blue Turf. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. EST on FS1.
Opening statement:
"First of all, we're going to Boise State. One of the best home records in all of college football since 2000. You look and it's real impressive. We're playing a team that has a lot of pride. They're very well coached. They're used to winning, had a tough loss (at Washington). Their back's against the wall. They're gonna give it their best. We know that. We've gotta play good football.
"I look back at our last victory and we're happy to be 1-0, but after you look at the film, the execution level really needs to raise up from week one to week two. And like I told our team, good teams, they improve more from week one to week two than they do any other time of the year. We're gonna need to do that.
"We'll have our hands full. We know exactly what we're getting into. We have to play really good sound football on both sides of the football. It'll be a physical game, which is always good.
"We have a lot of respect for them and their head coach (Andy Avalos). I've went against him numerous times. He's as good as it gets. We'll have to play good football will have to execute better than we did last week to have a chance to get a victory."
I think this is one of the furthest games UCF will play in the continental United States. What are some of the logistical things you've got to do for a game like this? Does the equipment truck leave soon? Do you take a different plane, adjust your travel schedules?
"Yeah, we'll try to get there just a little earlier than normal. From a coach's standpoint, you do your best to have a routine as best you can. Obviously, when you got a five-plus hour flight, that's not your normal deal. But it's early in the season. We'll get there a little bit early and play on that blue field, which will be a little different. We're gonna try to practice here locally on a blue field one time before we leave. We'll see if that will help.
"But it is what it is, it's a long road game. This happens to be one of the toughest places to play in all of college football. We're looking forward to it. It'll be a good test to see where we're at."
One of those logistical challenges you face is altitude. Do you do anything differently to prepare players for that?
"No. We'll just have to adjust and adapt. We're in good shape as far as the heat goes. Obviously, it's gonna be a different deal with the altitude. But I think we're in solid shape and we'll just have to adjust once we get there."
It was a little bit later in the season last year when you had your first road game. Is there a positive long term for getting into the road schedule sooner in the season?
"I think we travel more than any team in college football. So this is just the first step in that. We talked about this from day one with our team. That's just part of the hand that was dealt us this year. Anytime you go on the road, you got a chance to be closer. You got a chance to feel what it feels like to be us against everybody else. So I think it's a great thing before we get into conference to go to a place like Boise.
"Obviously we had a big game with them two years ago and went down to the very end. We know we're gonna get there best. They'll get our best. And it's one of those good non-conference games.
Following Thursday's game, you talked about the need to have a conversation with John Rhys Plumlee about not putting his body in harm's way. How did that conversation go? And at this point in his career, how do you change his instinct to try and make a play?
"It's just part of growing. It's what that is. And being wise. If he's gonna have a chance to play at the next level... Cam Newton's the only guy that I've ever seen that can run over everybody and not get hurt. But he's not that way. He's gonna have to get what he can get and get out of bounds or slide. He's just gonna have to grow. We talked about it. I'm confident he will. And he's got to protect the football. We talked about that last year. His two errant throws, we've got to correct that. I'm confident that he'll do that."
You coached against Andy Avalos in his debut as head coach at Boise State. What have you seen from him since then?
"Well first of all, he's an excellent coach. Even when he was a defensive coordinator when I faced him. Everybody around college football knows his reputation. He came up in that system. He's a really good coach. You're gonna get a hard nosed physical brand of football. You turn on the film, I got a lot of respect for the way they play. They're very physical and hard nosed. It's fun to watch them on film. We're gonna have to execute. That's what I told our guys. I mean, we out-athleted that group (Kent State) last week. We're gonna have to execute. And really, it starts up front. We're gonna have do a better job of executing and create some seams and some space."
Last week, 10 different players were involved in the passing game. Are you expecting that to be something that continues going forward or was that just a product of the first game?
"No, I hope so. I think we got a lot of guys that have the ability to affect the game in a positive way, getting the ball, spreading the ball around. I think it starts in our running back room. We've got five guys that all can play.
"So, spreading the ball around, keeping those guys fresh. And then the receivers. We have a little more depth than we've had since I've been here. Hopefully that'll keep carrying over."
You talked about Boise State's impressive home record for the past two decades. They've obviously had some great teams. When it comes to the blue turf, is that a psychological edge? Is there a psychological advantage to that at all?
"I don't know. We got a couple guys on our team that played there, a couple coaches and all that. The fact that we're considering going on a blue turf here before we leave, I mean, it's a new deal. You're not used to it. But at the end of the day, you got to play football.
Against Washington, Boise State gave up a lot of explosive plays in the passing games. Did you use this as a chance to evaluate the progress of your own passing game?
"For us to be successful, we're going to be balanced. Washington, you look at them, they're impressive. They may be the best offense in college football. They spread people out. Their quarterback is phenomenal. They got those receivers. They really stretch the field vertically, do a lot of empty. So we're a little bit different than that. For us to be successful against anyone, we're going to have to be balanced.
"That'll be a big key. And that's kind of why I went back to the execution piece. We're going to have to really raise our level from week one to week two and execute."
What did you see from your defense last Thursday that can carry over?
"We were very simple on defense. Last game that was by design. We talked about execution too. There's still a few things on defense. We held them at 200-something (yards), but there was a couple of things on defense that we've got to correct. I know Addison really worked on that. Each game unfolds differently. But we do have some talent on the defensive side of the football."
Some new starters on the offensive line. How do you think those guys did for the first time?
"I think they all played hard. I think that was the number one thing. But anytime you got three new starters, there's going to be growing pains, communication pains and everything that goes with that. And that's the group that really from week one to week two, I really feel like, we'll need to raise our level. But I'm confident they will. They're hard-nosed guys. They're smart guys.
"In their defense last week, we didn't know exactly what we were going to get. We have a better idea I think this week."
Let's go back to defense. The secondary used a lot of different rotations and brought on a lot of different guys. What did you see from that group?
"We have some depth there. That was by design too. We have depth. We have a bunch of young guys and we need to get them out there and play and get that experience. So you saw that. That'll help us, especially once we get into our conference season and create that depth. That way, if you have an injury or two, you won't miss a lick. That's really by design and that was the plan."
On the UCF defensive line:
"Our defensive line, they did about what I thought they would do. We had an outmatched team we played. I think everybody knows that. But we did what we had to do. And we were very, very simple up front, very simple on defense. That was by design. We'll be more game-plan oriented because you got to keep in mind we didn't have a clue what (Kent State) were going to do offensively. Y'all probably knew as much as we did. We had to adapt as we went. So that was the plan by design.
"Boise creates a lot of different things too. They do a lot of shifting and a lot of movement. They do a lot of different schemes up front. Their quarterback is a really solid guy. I think he's 8-3 as a starter or something. He can really throw it. He can create things with his feet when he wants to. So they present a lot of different kinds of challenges than what we saw last week."
Back to the o-line. You debuted a new center (Drake Metcalf). How would you evaluate what you saw from him?
"The center's the leader up front and he's not a real experienced guy. It was good for him to have that experience. He's a real smart guy, he's a very competitive guy too. You'll see him grow up really I believe each week."
What stood out about Boise State's offense after watching them against Washington?
"The running backs first of all. They hit a couple big screens. That was real impressive. They were able to run the football up the middle. Like I said, their quarterback, we watched them all last year too. We're very impressed with him."
How difficult is it to evaluate yourselves when you said you "outmatched" your opponent last week?
"I think this week will give us a lot better idea where we're truly at. I was proud of our team from the standpoint, anytime you play a lesser opponent and you put them away and not play down to their level, I think that's first of all, a sign of a good team. So that's the positive. Now we'll really figure out exactly where we're at. We're playing a very formidable opponent. So it'll be a good test for us and playing on the road.
"And I'm telling you in college football, it's hard to play on the road. You look at their record. Like I said in the opening statement, I think they either have the best record or the second best record in college football since 2000. They're used to winning. It's a hard place to play. We're going to have to play good football."
What are your impressions of Boise State as a program over these past 20, 25 years? Everybody remembers the Fiesta Bowl. As you were coming up as a coach, what did you think about Boise State under Chris Petersen and those teams?
"I got a chance to meet Chris Petersen when I was back at Tulsa. He came to visit us and he talked football. I always had respect. You're exactly right. Everybody remembers that Fiesta Bowl play and how creative they were. When I went to Arkansas State, my goal for our program was to be the Boise State of the South.
"They're Boise State. They're a national brand. They're a winning program. One of the winningest programs since 2000. They're used to winning. They've had a lot of great coaches come through there, a lot of great players. They've got the culture of winning. So anytime you schedule a road game with those guys, you gotta buckle up. You gotta play good football to have a chance to win. That's just the facts of the matter."
On Saturday, there were four former UCF quarterbacks that threw a touchdown for other programs. I was curious to see if you saw any of those games and what you thought.
"No, but that didn't surprise me at all. Those are four talented young men. They're all a little bit different, but they're all really fine young men. And they're talented in their own right. I didn't get a chance to watch them play, but I did see a couple highlights on Twitter. Doesn't surprise me at all. We're rooting for those guys. I mean, obviously we're going to play one, all right, besides that. But we'll cross that bridge when it gets here."