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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2016

Bronco Mendenhall

Greensboro, North Carolina

BRONCO MENDENHALL: We're looking forward to playing another football game. Continuing to learn and improve and grow. The two players mentioned, I like our team and I like the leadership that we have and the resiliency these kids are showing as we continue to grow our program. So I'll be glad to take questions.

Q. I just wanted to clarify one thing. Have you named Matt Johns the starter for your final two games, or is this a one week and then wait and see kind deal?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: We've named Matt the starter going into the Georgia Tech game, and then at that point we'll reassess after this game. My hope though is he would be the starter for the remaining two.

Q. You obviously had a chance to work with him in the spring and the preseason. You know his skillset pretty well. Does your offense have to change anything dramatically with this move or can Matt run basically what you were doing with Kurt?
There will be a slight change. The skillset isn't identical to what Kurt has but it's not a complete transformation. So we'll tailor the skillset to Matt as much as possible. At Brigham Young University we had a number of different styles of quarterbacks so the offense can be adjusted fairly easily and the existing things in the package we know how to run. So there will be a slight tailoring to Matt's skillset, but not a complete overhaul.

Q. Hey, Coach, I was curious when scouting Georgia Tech's defense, the difference you saw in the VA Tech game, the difference from North Carolina and Duke for example?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Well, I think the easiest thing and what usually controls outcome more than anything is just consistency. So consistency and execution, those two things going together was the biggest change is what I saw.

Q. If you could, share your thoughts on the fullback, Marcus Marshall. He started against Virginia Tech.
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Oh, man. I think it's just the value of the fullback to Paul Johnson's offense is huge. So when that player plays well and that position is staffed well, it's much, much more difficult. It's already difficult to stop, but it's much more difficult when that player really plays well, which he did.

Q. Another question about Matt. He became the number two quarterback, I guess a couple weeks ago?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yes.

Q. I know that he had been running the scout team up until then. Did he stop running the scout team at that point?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Uh-huh.

Q. And how much time has he had with the regulars?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: He stopped running the scout team at that time. Connor Brewer then came over as running the scout team in addition to De'Vante Cross. So based on the offenses we were playing, we were matching skillsets of who would be the best scout team quarterback.

I have a pretty unique philosophy though. A lot of times we think our back-up quarterback is learn, grow and develop every bit, if not more, by taking snaps every down against our defense, even though the systems are different.

So Matt was actually growing, developing and improving. I was watching it happen throughout the season, and I think that had a lot to do with the move that he made and the jump that he made before he went back to our offense.

Q. In your dealings with defending the option, whether it be Air Force or Georgia Tech, from year to year, did you see -- how much improvement did you see from young players defending it for the first time to the second time? And I ask that because obviously you have a lot of young guys in this defense, that as long as Johnson's there they're going to continue to face the same option for the next couple years being in the Coastal Division. How much of it is a learning experience for them to help them later on too?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Oh, it's been like that for each of these first exposures to each conference team that these kids have played because a lot of them haven't played before. So if you would take that reference point or baseline, and then magnify that two or three times, that's really what playing the option is.

So they'll get better each play throughout the game, and the game and the plays will become slower and they'll get better every year. So, for instance, this week in preparation it's no surprise that the experienced players like Micah and Quin, the game is much slower to them in practice, whereas even in practice some of the newer players, the practice reps seem even too fast for them. That's not even including the game.

So the critical factor is can you design practice and provide as much experience as possible during the week knowing that that will get you close but not fully prepared, and then sometimes just time and experience is what's necessary.

Q. You talked about it, but in your experience, anything that stands out from one year to the next with younger guys in your experience that have played this?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Sure, yeah. Usually what happens is just the number of big plays goes down. So the more that you have the same number or the same group of players playing an option team, usually it doesn't mean the ball can't be moved against you, but it usually requires a more methodical approach, and there aren't the giant plays that are mixed in either with the fullback that goes up the middle or the quarterback runs the ally and no one's there, or defensive back is beat on play action. So with experience, usually comes less volatility against the option, especially.

If you're not exactly right and exactly experienced and your eyes aren't perfect, the ball can go over you or around you so fast and repeatedly, and that usually is what happens as players are gaining experience.

Q. I was curious if you heard Zach Bradshaw informed us the other day that Micah was coming back, and is he your spokesman now?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: You know, he's not my official spokesman, nor did I know that announcement has been made. Makes me smile, and I don't know if I ought to be cheering or this is a practical joke on me. Maybe I ought to talk to Zach to see if he'd like to be my spokesman since he has more information than I have.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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