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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 23, 2017

Chris Ash

Piscataway, New Jersey

CHRIS ASH: It looks like the week before, it's a lot better to get a victory when you don't play well, than it is to play very well and lose. So we'll take it any time. I think, a game like that though is a true sign of the character and chemistry and just belief and buy-in that we have from our players. We would not have won that game a year ago, there is no doubt in my mind. Wouldn't have even come close to winning that game like that with the stats the way that they were a year ago.

Reasons for the win: There are a few that really stuck out. It starts with our plan to win, that we talk about all the time with our guys. I thought we played good on defense. We didn't play great. We played good going into the game.

Purdue had a pretty good passing attack. Our focus was to try to limit those yards. I thought we did a pretty good job of that. But we gave up too much rushing yards. They got us on some things that we had not seen before, and they got a lot of offense to defend. They do a good job, and we did not tackle well and fit some plays well and that contributed to the rush yard that's we gave up.

But I did think we played some outstanding situational football between third and fourth down. They were four out of 19, and anytime you can have that, you're going to give yourself a chance to win. They got down in the red zone, only allow one touchdown in the red zone there at the very end of the game, holding them to fields earlier in the game. Obviously that was a huge factor in the game.

We won the turnover/takeaway battle. If we would have turned the ball over in that game, we would not have won the game. We had zero turnovers, first time this year, and we were able to get two huge interceptions. One by K.J. Gray at the end of the first half, and Damon Hayes made an outstanding play in the second half that gave us the two takeaways.

Our special teams was huge in the game Saturday. The battle of the field position was won because of our coverage units. Our ability to go down and get three pin 'ems inside the 20 on the kickoff team was outstanding. The four punts that were down inside the 20-yard line played a big factor in our ability to win that game.

Then, offensively, the stats aren't what any of us would like, but at the end of the day, our job on offense is to score more points than the opponents and we did that. As long as we're able to do that, then that was a success. A lot of things we've got to clean up and get better at, but those are the things that really gave us an opportunity to win the game.

Players of the game offensively, Gus Edwards had a good game. Obviously the big run early. K.J. Gray defensively, had 11 tackles. Had a PBU or two, and then the big interception. On special teams, Dacoven Bailey was our special teams player of the game. Made some tremendous tackles on both the kickoff coverage unit and on the punt team, so he was our special teams player of the game.

Just looking ahead to our next game, Michigan. Going to be a huge challenge. It's a very good football team that we've got to get ready to play on the road. Well-coached, they've got tremendous players on both sides of the ball, and it's going to be -- we're going to need to have our best effort as we try to prepare for their game this Saturday. So with that, I'll go ahead and open it up for questions.

Q. Just because we haven't gotten to ask you this yet, Friday the Yankee Stadium game was moved back here. What was your reaction to that? Are there any positives or negatives for your team?
CHRIS ASH: I've had a lot of time to think about it. I was told about it on Friday. Obviously we're in the middle of game preparation still for Purdue, so I hadn't thought about it a whole lot. A decision that the Yankees and our administration agreed upon that was, at the time, the best decision to make from their standpoint. So I'm really indifferent.

Disappointed, I was looking forward to playing the game at Yankee Stadium for some of our players and their family, but happy that we got another home game back here. For not only our players, we're going to go look at four games away from our stadium, which was going to be tough. But it's good for the community here to be back home. So I'm indifferent.

My thoughts have been just a Purdue game, and turn the page to the Michigan game. So thought about it for a few minutes, the pros and cons, and that's about it.

Q. We've asked you coming off losses what is the mood of the team. What is the mood of the team coming off two straight wins? Is it focused?
CHRIS ASH: Yeah, they're excited. They're all of the things that you would hope the football team would be. They're excited. They're eager to continuing to out and work and keep getting better. I would like to think that we're focused. The last few weeks of preparation that we had has been pretty focused preparation. I think overall it's a pretty positive mood.

I would say honestly even after losses, on Sunday, you come in after a loss and you don't feel really good about yourself, and that is to be expected when you invest a lot. But overall our attitude has been extremely positive from our players every week. They know we're getting better, and that's why anytime you can see improvement, even though you may not get the W, you see improvement, you feel improvement. They've been hungry and eager to come back and keep getting better.

Q. We asked you after the game about Janarion, any update?
CHRIS ASH: No updates. Don't expect any issues with him.

Q. In terms of Blackshear, obviously, it seems like he's having a lot of success in like certain packages or certain play calls. Are you guys doing that with your other true freshmen receivers and linebackers? Do you need to do more out of that?
CHRIS ASH: No, Blackshear is a very talented individual. Our job is to try to get the players that have the skill set to make plays on Saturday involved, and he's one that definitely has a special skillset. I think you guys see that when he does get the ball in his hands. He's different. So we have made an effort to try to find ways to get the ball in his hands.

The good thing and the bad thing is we have a crowded back field, so we've got to be a little more creative with doing that. Because every time you get the ball to Blackshear, Gus Edwards or Rob Martin's not getting it. So that's a good problem to have. But Raheem has, again, earned the right to get more touches and have an opportunity to effect the outcome of the game on Saturday. So we have to continue to make that happen.

Q. When you're recruiting players for special teams, what kind of factors are you looking for? Because new guys like Anderson, Taylor, Davidovicz have all had an impact on improving the unit?
CHRIS ASH: Those are specialists that you've got to have really outstanding specialists. You've got to have a great snapper, you've got to have a holder. Michael Cintron does a great job with the holds. Harte and Anderson have done a great job as new guys coming in. There are a lot of things that go into it. One, do they have the ability, and two, do they have the mental toughness and discipline to go out and perform in front of a crowd on television? A lot of that you don't know until you actually get a chance to see them do it.

We didn't start off great at those positions, but, again, like we've mentioned, Harte and Anderson have just continued to gain confidence as the season has gone on, and they've had opportunities to get out on the field. I think both of them, and then Billy Taylor, too, as a freshman. We were really nervous about Billy Taylor going out as a freshman, having issues with snaps, all might not have been perfect, but he's been pretty darn good. Actually had a tackle on the punt coverage the other day too.

Anytime you can get a snapper that can snap and run down the field and actually make a tackle, that's pretty good. That's a pretty good skill set to have. So that's where it all starts. To have the talent to do what we need them to do, and then do they have the mental makeup to be able to perform out on game day for those limited opportunities?

Q. From what you've seen coaching at Wisconsin, Ohio State, how tough is the atmosphere at Michigan compared to the rest of the league?
CHRIS ASH: I just think there's a lot of tough environments in this league. There's a lot of them. This is just another one of them. I think it's a unique league from that standpoint. Being in the Big 12, SEC, and in the Big Ten, and I think the Big Ten venues are as good as it gets.

Q. In the second half Zack Heeman went in there for Kamaal Seymour, what went into that change, and what is the status of that position moving forward?
CHRIS ASH: Kamaal had a little injury.

Q. Is he all right for this week?
CHRIS ASH: We're not going to talk about the injuries, but he had an injury that came up in the game.

Q. Is this game more important based on what happened last year, margin-wise?
CHRIS ASH: No, we're not worried about last year. That's not even in our thoughts or our conversations. Our focus is on our football team right now. We're not the same team as last year, they're not the same team as last year. I'm worried about this game, this team, and their offense, their defense, their special teams, and our match-ups this year. Last year is what it is. It was not a good game, and it happened. Can't change it. Not going to talk about it.

Q. 87 passing yards last week and 89 this past game, or vice versa, actually, can you win games consistently throwing for 88 yards?
CHRIS ASH: At the end of the day, the offensive job, like I mentioned, is to put points on the board. There are going to be some games you can run the ball or have to run the ball. There are going to be certain games you have to pass the ball. There is no magic formula that says, well, you've got to rush for this number of yards or pass for this number of yards to win games.

At the end of the day, the offense has to put points on the board. How they do that doesn't really matter. Would every coach like to say they have balance? Yeah, that would be cool to say you had that, but is that necessary? No. You've got to do one, what your offensive strengths are and what the defense allows you to do or what they take away or what they give you.

So that's all that really matters. Do we have to score more points? Yeah. That's what we need to do. How we do that, it's based on our personnel and the match-up of who we're playing. At the end of the day, to say we've got to pass for a certain number of yards, no, we don't have to do that. To say we have to rush for a certain number of yards, no, we don't have to do that. We have to do what our team and our players allow us to do.

Q. That being said, are you satisfied with Gio's performance?
CHRIS ASH: I'm not satisfied with -- it's not just Gio. I'm not satisfied with the overall offensive production.

Again, where we're at right now, like I just mentioned, we outscored our opponent the last two weeks. Job well done. That's what we need to do. Do we want it to look better? Yeah, absolutely. We want to execute better. We need to run the ball better. We need to protect the quarterback better, we need to create space at the wide receiver position better. We need to throw the ball better. We've got to do all those things better.

Same thing on defense. We've got to tackle better, we've got to fit better, we've got to get better. But at the end of the day, the job is to score more points than the opponent, and we've done that the last two weeks.

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