Week 11 Football Presser - UTEP - Western Kentucky University Athletics

Head Coach MIKE SANFORD (Full Video)

Opening statement:
"UTEP week, most importantly though it's Senior Night for that group of 10 players and a couple more who will be honored. The most important thing is that we are fully focused on UTEP and that's it. That's all that matters right now is preparing for a team that's playing better football. For us, clearly we can't take anybody lightly, but we're going to go into this game preparing for the best version of any team we've played all year. That's our focus, solely focused on beating UTEP and winning this football game. I'm excited about this opportunity for these guys to get their last opportunity at The Houch, to play on Feix Field. I'm excited to watch those guys get their last crack at playing here in a place that means so much to so many of them. We're excited to get this ball rolling and it can't come soon enough."

On naming a starting quarterback:
"We'll start Steven Duncan. I thought a couple factors, I think he has shown some growth and has done some really good things, he threw some good balls. But also the growth that he'll have from one week to the next in red zone situations and identifying coverages, being in those situations again [and again]. He'll be better because of that, no doubt. The other thing too about him is he's durably-built, he has proven to be the quarterback that played the majority of the snaps this year that can play week-in and week-out physically. And that plays huge, just the durability of who he is."

On preparing for UTEP:
"You watch them on film, there are some really good things they do, schematically. Mike Cox, their defensive coordinator, has been around a long time. He has a great background having been around some great defensive coaches and he runs a good scheme, there's a lot of variety to what he does. Offensively, with Kai Locksley, you have to be ready to stop the quarterback run game. They always are trying to get a numbers advantage in the run game and nowadays it's tough, so you have to use your quarterback to get one more number by using a running back to be a lead blocker."

Defensive Coordinator CLAYTON WHITE (Full Video)

On Saturday's game at FAU:
"I felt like we got very active in the second quarter and that was good to see. Guys like DeAngelo Malone and Ben Holt, those guys stepped up. Ta'Corian Darden had a nice pick, Evan Sayner almost picked up the fumble. We saw in the second quarter guys fighting and guys being very active. In the third and fourth quarters, they kind of took hold, but our guys were still fighting. Obviously, you hate giving up that run at the end that hurts you to put the game away. But guys were still fighting and they wanted it bad, definitely saw that from our guys."

On preparing for UTEP's offense:
"Watching at the beginning of the year, they weren't putting as many points up. The past couple games they've been in the 20's and 30's, which is a big improvement obviously from last year and from this year. They have some athletes on the field, the quarterback Locksley is a smooth, athletic guy who can throw. But his strength is definitely being able to read the defense and the coverage and read the run game as a quarterback. He's able to put the ball down the field as well."

On the 10 WKU seniors:
"These guys have been here for a long time. Obviously they've seen some ups and downs, unfortunately now it's one of those down times. But we feel like them being seniors playing for sure their last game here, their last chance to showcase their talents in front of Bowling Green people. We're going to put all of our eggs in the basket for those guys to go out strong and go out victorious. That's the goal."

Week 11 Football Presser - UTEP

Players Mentioned

Ta'Corian Darden

Steven Duncan

Ben Holt

DeAngelo Malone

Evan Sayner

Related Videos