When you go up against a defense that looks as sound as Duke's defense looks, where do you go?

Like it doesn't seem like they have any obvious weaknesses, how do you approach it?

Yeah, well, I've been with, I was with Coach Fuller at Chattanooga, who actually is a descendant of that Elko type of defense, the 4-25, very sound. But, no, man, this is what we expect college football defenses to look like. I mean, you know, when you play against good D.C.s and good players who tackle well and run to the ball and know how to leverage the ball and understand containing and things of that sort, that's what, I mean, should look like, you know. And, you you know Duke gets a lot of credit for that because of the head coach and

and the coordinator is in a position coach is in that on the defense but I mean

we've seen some good sound defenses here you know other than Duke but Duke is

actually you know they top in every category so I mean we got to be on point and make sure we're not making mistakes. I mean, they keep everything in front of them. They tackle well. They're not giving up a lot of big plays. So, I mean, those are the things that come to mind as we're preparing for it and we're just kind of starting that preparation. talking about the red zone for them they have the second best red zone defense in the country

you guys have the eighth best reds and offense in the country i guess what kind of a battle

what kind of Talk about the red zone for them. They have the second best red zone defense in the country. You guys have the eighth best Reds and offense in the country.

I guess what kind of a battle, what kind of situation are you preparing for for that game when it comes into the Red Zone? Well, it goes hand-in-hand. Like, you know, referring back to our last game, where that was the first time we actually did it stopped in the Red Zone. I thought they had a good plan for us, so we got to build off that and make sure we have answers for what was shown in that game.

But I mean, you know, it goes back to being top in non-red zone. I mean, when you're a good defense, you're going to be good in pretty much all those categories. We got to make sure we convert points. We got to make sure we find in ways to create extra gaps. Most defense start pressure a little bit more in the red zone. You know, with them, I think it just goes back to tackling and keeping things in front of them and capitalize on opportunities. I mean, they've actually created a lot of turnovers in the red zone too, which is kind of up that percentage of stops and non-touchdowns. So we've got to go back to doing our job protecting the football. if we do have a long drive because they're not giving up big play, so it usually takes 10 to 12 drives to get down there and they're rotating guys. They got a good mixture of 8 to 10 guys they play a D-Line. So they're probably going to get a little fresher. And some of those guys have been out there for 14 plays, so we got to lock in and be able to execute the zone all that takes a part of it so not only just the plan but the execution of the plan

coach and our bill mentioned you guys had a few misassignments on offense

had a few drive stall out in enemy territory what how much are you guys

harp on this week even though like you know you guys scored 41 points but how do you guys keep the players, like, you know, focused on the mis-cues instead of, like, just celebrating success? Like, how do you do that balance? The result, I mean, of course, this is a result-based business, but we try to harp on being processed based of, are you playing your best? And are you executed at a a high level are you doing the best you absolutely can do and

When I came into the offensive meeting, you know we meet as an offense after the game and and we pointed out every miss assignment by position group

And we did a total amount just to show that you know

You know not even talk about the score or the result or the yard is but are we executing what we're asked asked to be executed? And that's what creates the competition within the room. We got some good players. And we've got players making mistakes. We got, you know, other people they won't. So it's just more challenging the room to understand that we can't make those mistakes because, you know, they'll hurt you in closed games and no matter the circumstance. But I don't feel like we can, we can't make those kind of mistakes anymore and expect to have any kind of success. So the message was clear, they understood it. You know, they, when I walked in, they knew it was kind of trending in that vibe because they, a lot of our guys, they've watched the film before we even go in there. So, you know, that's the good thing about the coach of the room is they know the mistakes when they come. It's when you walk in, they kind of look at you, and it gets quiet when you walk in. They understand that we didn't reach the internal expectation that we have, and we've got to do a better job of it. Talked before about maybe not being surprised when you see some guys perform on Saturdays, based on what you see at practice. Was there anything about Hakeem's touchdown run that was, or catch and run after that was surprising to you, speed or anything like that? No, I mean, Hakeem's confidence has been growing. I mean, it's that natural, you know, recruiting and everything is so accelerated now where everybody looks for these young guys so early, man, but I mean,

they got to go through a little bit. And I think as he's improved his conditioning, his confidence,

his understanding of the offense, he's really, really accelerated where now he can showcase his ability.

But, you know, you can't be a good player to, number one, you're not tired. When you fatigue, nobody's good. And also, you're always a step slower when you're thinking and processing information. So as a young, talented player, we all know what he can do, as he's starting to come out of that process of, okay, now I know what to do, now I'm not as tired, now I can showcase myself. So now I wasn't surprised. I mean, we've seen

how he can't make a bunch of plays in practice and he's been progressing. So I was just glad,

you know, he's getting to showcase his ability and play confident and hopefully that he builds

upon that as we keep going. And then, like you said, that creates more competition in the room.

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