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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 9, 2014Matt LimegroverCOACH LIMEGROVER: Well, we are definitely going to have our hands full this week. Going to be the best group obviously that we have faced so far this year. So I think those guys understand now and we made that pretty clear on Sunday to them, even though we have not watched a lot of film on them yet as a group. But guys up front, it's definitely going to be a step up for them. So they are looking forward to the challenge. Q. Sounds like you guys are getting two quarterbacks ready, obviously just in case, how much of a challenge is that going into TCU? COACH LIMEGROVER: You always have to have two quarterbacks ready. At this level, you've always got to be prepared for whatever is going to come your way in any given game. So as I've said before, with the young men that we have, it isn't a radical departure. It isn't as though you have any completely different game plan for Quarterback A, Quarterback B and Quarterback C. You put together the best one to go and try and beat TCU and your guys work it all week. That's the way we have done things for quite a while and we will continue to do it that way. Q. You mentioned toughness. Does your gut tell you he'll be ready to go Saturday? COACH LIMEGROVER: Yeah, my gut, the medical report, everything. I mean, I'm a business as usual guy until told otherwise, and so we're business as usual. We're in there preparing right now for practice and expect to be at full force. Q. If at some point you need to go to Chris for an extended time, where is your confidence level in him right now? COACH LIMEGROVER: Well, you know what, I think one of the big things is that any opportunity a young man has to play and go out and do some things and have some success, it's something you build on. I think he's able to build on that. He's a very confident kid. Been successful in everything he's done. In his mind, you know, hey, just let me get out there and let me get under center and let me do my thing, so you always like that from your quarterback for sure. Q. What have you thought of Chris from the time you have seen him on the field? COACH LIMEGROVER: I think there's a little bit there, as with any young player, getting his first chance to get out there and play. There's going to be some jitters and things. He looks at film and says, geez, I could have done this a little bit better and could have done this a little differently. He's no different really in that regard than a fifth‑year senior as far as learning from the film, there isn't as much for a guy like him to draw from. He is able to take what he did and really be able to dive into that, and he has. Right away he came up to me and said, "Oh, I've got to, would on this still." So you like that when a kid has that kind of awareness. Q. How good is David right now? COACH LIMEGROVER: You know what, it's nice having him in maroon and gold, that's for sure. He's a kid that he makes you better as a unit and that's something you really like from a kid at that position for sure. Q. Did you spend a little more time getting Jacques ready? COACH LIMEGROVER: I think you just keep working your plan. You've always got to be‑‑ if you're not ready for option B, C and D, then you haven't done your homework and you haven't done what you're supposed to as a coach. We go into every week saying, okay, how much, what percentage is the starter going to get, what percentage is the backer and what percentage is the No. 3, is it more mental, more physical. We try and keep that pretty standard as we go through. So the nice thing is, you know, Jacques, even though he's a kid that is a true freshman, he's been here through the spring and was at a lot of practices through the spring and was able to observe here in the summer. He's a little bit accelerated in that manner and so that definitely helps in the process. Q. Does his poise seem really exceptional to you given who he is? COACH LIMEGROVER: Oh, yeah. He's a pretty cool customer, which is nice. He just goes out and does his thing and doesn't let a whole lot bother him. Q. What's more difficult when you're coaching a quarterback, the X's and O's of the other team or keeping their confidence up? COACH LIMEGROVER: I think there's a balance between both sides of that. You know, each week, you're going to see what you see on film but at this level with defensive coaches and defensive coordinators, they will have different things each week like we try to offensively.  There's the hey, let's get down what we know, let's take care of the known and let's try and prepare as well as we can and be able to initially survive and then thrive in the unknown. And so that's always that balance. And sometimes a kid's confidence will get a little shook early on in a ballgame or in a season with all the different things they are seeing and then there's kind of that deep breath moment where it's like, okay, I've kind of got this thing figured out and then here we go. Q. Inaudible. COACH LIMEGROVER: I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that you have a lot of confidence in a guy and your turnaround and giving him the ball and he's churning out what he was. That definitely changes how you approach things. So that was important. But you know, as like last non‑conference schedule, we don't want to just be relying on the run. We want to be able to throw the football. But given the way that game worked out and what David was doing, we always talk about when you get a guy sweating when you get a guy going, until that water runs dry, you're going to stomp all the mud out of it. That's kind what have we did with David on Saturday. Q. At the same time, Maxx Williams, how important to get him more involved? COACH LIMEGROVER: That's always‑‑ I've talked a bunch about it since the end of last season. We have more young men we feel are playmakers and so the important thing is, finding ways to get them the football and so there were some things that we had from Maxx that we actually ran, and it was taken away, and so some other reads had to be made and some other throws had to occur. So you know, when you throw it 11 times, we had them targeted a few more times and we probably need to continue to up that percentage because the one time we were able to get him broke free, it was a big play. So that, and getting Donovahn Jones going early, continuing to put Berkeley Edwards in position where he can make plays mand still making sure that a guy like David Cobb is getting the carries and the touches he needs to do his thing. So it's a challenge but it definitely beats the alternative as far as trying to find ways to do that. Q. You've been alternating at fullback from game one to game two. Is that something you expect to keep going throughout the season, or would you like to find that guy? COACH LIMEGROVER: Yeah, I think that eventually maybe one of those guys will jump up, but neither one really has and neither one has fallen off either. So when you have production from two guys and it's very similar and you're in a position where you can alternate them and keep them fresh and let them get out there and get involved, it's something that until one guy either jumps way ahead or one guy falls way off, I don't think that will change necessarily any time soon. Q. No one has ever played quarterback for a series or a package‑‑ COACH LIMEGROVER: No comment. No, you've got KJ Maye, you've got Donovahn, you've got some different things those guys who have been quarterbacks, high school quarterbacks, and now are playing receiver and know our offense. So, you know, those conversations come up quite a bit as you go through the course of a week. Q. Your offensive line, what was your evaluation? COACH LIMEGROVER: You know what, I think that both‑‑ I thought Jonah played better in game two than he did in game one and I think maybe some of that had to do with not playing the entire game, and getting back into it. They played pretty similar. There wasn't one, kind of like in the fullback vein, there wasn't one that jumped out off the charts good or off the charts bad. So I liked our production overall from the right tackle spot over the first game. So you'll see more of the same. I feel like that's getting guys out there and keeping them fresh and keeping them going, as opposed to just trying to get everything you can out of one guy and him dying at the end, wilting at the end. Q. If you had to use option B, c or d at quarterback, would you be more inclined to really ease them into the game or might you go for shock value? COACH LIMEGROVER: Long bomb, first play. Make sure you get that out. No, you know what, we don't look at it as, oh, my goodness. There's a bigger picture game plan that we put together to, like I said, to move the ball and score points against an opponent. This week it happens to be TCU and you don't want to necessarily go, ohm my goodness, we need to really pull back because he can't do this or that or that. I think you continue to run your game plan and do what you need to at whatever point somebody else is coming in to play for you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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