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ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 14, 2015

Mike Bercovici

Tempe, Arizona

Q. Are you surprised as much as you guys prepare ball security that you guys kind of struggled with that a little bit? You haven't lost a lot over the last two weeks. Does that surprise you a little bit?
MIKE BERCOVICI: I wouldn't say it surprised us. We know it's our identity. It's something we focus on day-in and day-out. It's the sole purpose of our program. It's the reason why we stretch every day and we warm up with holding water balls. It's just something that the growth moving forward. It's something that happened early on in the season, and it's something that we're going to put an extreme emphasis on moving on next week.

As we know, you can't always win games turning the football over, so from here on out, we shouldn't have anymore balls in jeopardy. Ball security shouldn't be an issue.

Q. I want to get your thoughts: Did you think the game on Saturday was a little reminder that you can't overlook any opponents?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Absolutely. I think every day you've just got to come with the same approach, understanding that we've got to focus on ourselves. The only team we feel that can beat us is ourselves. So going into this week the most important focus for this week is the people that are in this team room. It's exciting to know there are a lot of mistakes that we see on film that are correctible and going into this next week if we do what we have to do we can take care of business.

It's exciting to see that because we have guys that really care -- you don't have to worry about motivating every player on this football team because the motivation comes from within. That's what's going to be exciting. You will see Friday night we're going to have an exciting team.

Q. How much have game plans been affected or limited by some late-developing things like Kalen not being available or Gump Hayes getting hurt and the fact that those are versatile pieces with how you guys play them?
MIKE BERCOVICI: I mean, we have so much talent on this football team, more than I've ever been around. So when you do have adversity like that, guys just have to step up. A perfect example is a guy like D.J. Foster who is ready to step up at any position. If he had to play quarterback, he could probably play quarterback. It really is the next man up mentality. That hasn't been affected.

At the end of the day if we do what we have to do, we align right, we do our assignments up front at receiver, at running back, at quarterback. This offense will get going as we all know. So it's hopefully those guys will come back as soon as possible, but in the meantime we're going to do what we do and create an identity for our football team.

Q. Last week was the first week Mike Norvell was in the coaches' box. How different was the feeling on game day due to that adjustment?
MIKE BERCOVICI: I thought it was great. Obviously not a huge adjustment for Coach Norvell. I think it was extremely positive for him. Is the communication between him and me was great, just being on the headset in between the series. So it's exciting moving forward that he's the eye in the sky now being able to see everything as a quarterback that you see.

So I think it's great for our football team and great for our offense specifically. I thought the communication went great. We have some amazing position coaches that communicate well. But at the end of the day, it's the leaders on our football team, myself, D.J. Nick Kelly who are going to get the guys going on the sidelines, not necessarily the coaches.

So thought we did that great, we had a little adversity late in the game and we responded really well.

Q. You and Kody Kohl have been effective in the red zone. Can you describe the chemistry you two have developed?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Yeah, no surprise that Kody has gotten off to a fast start. He had an unbelievable camp. The kid is tough as nails. He's just one of those kids that you've just got to put it in the spot where he's the only guy that can catch it, he's going to come down with that ball. I think he showed that late in the game on that corner at the back pylon. He just made an incredible catch with the guy all over him.

I think moving forward he'll be a guy that's getting better week to week to week. He's his own hardest critic. He'll be the first person to stay late after practice and throw balls. That's just how he is.

Q. You mentioned how happy you are with the number of pieces that you have to work with offensively. With D.J. moving to receiver, no Jaelen Strong or Kam Smith, do you feel like you guys are still settling into your identity on the offensive side of the ball?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Oh, absolutely. I think what's creative about our offense is that we do have guys that can move inside, outside, running back to receiver. It's fun. I know it's fun for Coach Norvell to put together a game plan week to week. But there are guys that are stepping up, Ellis Jefferson, Devin Lucien is doing great. Gary had a really good game. Tim White is going to be a spectacular player for us.

I think it's just going to be fun to put these game plans together and let players make plays at the end of the day. I think on Saturday night we did have some play-making ability, and there was so much room for improvement going into the week that our best football is yet to come.

And those guys are awesome and all of that, but that offensive line is really starting to bear down. We had great practice today, great communication, and the big players are on the way.

Q. You talked about trying to find an identity. What kind of identity are you hoping this team eventually gets to?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Well, I think we've established the identity in January and in fall camp that we're a physical football team. There is no doubt what we want to do. We want to run the football. With what we have outside with the speed and playmaking ability, we want to be a team that plays fast, that plays 90 snaps a game. That's something we're practicing every single day to reach that goal.

We feel we're the most in-shape football team in the entire country, and that's something we take pride in. From those big boys who are 300 pounds to our skinny guys outside to our tough running backs, our identity is that we play fast, we run the football, and we don't have to trick everybody. We're just going to go out and make plays.

Q. Talk about playing fast. Todd talked quite a bit about that when he was in here and wanted to get the tempo going again. What are the key things to really getting the tempo to where you wanted it to be?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Establishing identity is huge. I think that's something that over the last two weeks we're excited about where we are moving into this third week, moving on a Friday night is that we are creating an identity. We have an incredible offensive line that is tough, that's physical. We've got guys that can catch and run with the football, and we have an incredible running back in Demario, D.J., and obviously Kalen who hasn't been a part of the season so far.

Like I said, we want to play fast. We want to play 90 snaps a game. We don't have to trick everybody. Because when we get rolling, we get rolling, and I think we showed that on Saturday night is that we have play making abilities to get ten yards a carry. As a quarterback and the offensive line, you love that. The big plays will happen once we start establishing the identity and get teams on their heels.

Q. You brought up Tim White. We kind of saw glimpses of him in the fourth quarter. Just how much more can he do with -- I mean, even with the cast, I guess, on?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Well, since Tim obviously he's new, so he's still fresh in the program. But since he's been here he's caught my attention and a lot of the leadership's attention about how attentive he is to detail and how much he truly cares about this football team in the limited amount of time that he's been here.

When you look at Tim, you know how much he cares. He wants to win as bad as any senior on this football team does because he understands the investment that's been into this program. What he has to come is his -- his ability to catch and run with the football is one of a kind and his speed and route running, he's going to be a serious threat for us. So cast or not, he's tough as nails. When someone has invested in the program, you don't have to worry about something as small as a little injury, because those things go away.

Q. Before you came in here, Todd was talking about an emphasis on trying to hurry things up offensively. I noticed you're always trying to do that on the field. What are the actual limitations? I know getting more first downs helps speed it up. What do you see or what is the vibe you have on the field in that regard?
MIKE BERCOVICI: The vibe on the field is pretty simple is that our preparation changed a little bit. We felt it today. We had a serious emphasis on moving the ball. We were outside today. It was a beautiful day outside, and we really got those big -- if you get those front five guys going, the rest of the guys will set the -- really the pace setters of the tempo are the offensive line, just scurrying to the ball.

At the end of the day it's tempo, but it's controlled tempo. You don't want to run bad plays into bad looks or whatever. But it really is a mindset. Coach Griswold is the best trainer that -- I've only been around two, but I know he's the best in the entire country. It really is a mindset.

So we're not trying to play tempo. We're trying to create an identity of having tempo be who we are, and I think that says everything.

Q. Want to get your thoughts on New Mexico Friday, and how big is the game being that it's the final conference warm-up?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Yeah, I think it's exciting. I think we have a football team now that just can't wait to get back on the football field on Friday. I think from the little pep talks that we had out there at practice, guys are excited. Guys are starting to play with their eyes more. Going into the third game, the rust is off now. We're ready to go. You really start to get into that seasoned groove where you understand you have three practices, a walk through, and now it's game day. Go perform. Guys are really watching film. Like Coach said, we have a smart football team first more than anything else talent-wise.

So it's going to be fun to see what we have in store Friday with our opponent because we have another great opponent coming in here. But it's time to play some Sun Devil football and start dominating on that football field.

Q. Coach kind of talked about it to open up his press conference, but what kind of affect do you think the new double student sections in the end zones have on the game on Saturday, and how do you expect it to affect you moving forward?
MIKE BERCOVICI: Going into my fifth-year at Sun Devils stadium I've pretty much seen everything. I've seen the devil walks before. They were fun. I've done the walk throughs and stretch throughs, but I genuinely got chills when I walked out there coming out of Tillman tunnel for pregame and all the students were right there going crazy. Because, obviously, like myself and a lot of other people on this team, we have a pretty big passion for what the Inferno does because you get to know some of the guys in there and girls in there and you see how much it means to them.

The capability that that has, especially in the red zone on both sides, it is pretty spectacular. As an offense, it makes you want to score more because you want to see them celebrate. As a defense, you can just turn around and lift your hands a little bit and those guys are going nuts. So if we can get them engaged.

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