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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 29, 2018

Chris Ash

Piscataway, New Jersey

HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: Missed you guys last week, I absolutely did. You're bringing some new energy to the room. Love it. Hope everyone's great. We'll go ahead and get started.

Obviously coming off a bye week, it was a much needed bye week after eight straight weeks of games. Gave us a chance to rest and recover a little bit. We were kind of banged up. Hopefully we get some extra guys back for this next game that we hadn't had.

A chance for us to go back and review and reflect on the first eight games, both as coaches and as players. We went back through, did a very thorough self-scout evaluation of us on offense, defense and special teams.

Then we had our players go back and study themselves with a point of attack plays that they were in in the first eight games and base fly give their evaluation of what they saw, and I thought it was a really good exercise for everybody in the program.

Had a chance to practice three times last week. The focus was on some fundamentals and situation work, as well as some developmental work for some of the younger players. I thought we had good energy, good spirit at the practices and got a lot of good work done and now obviously got an opportunity to recruit a little bit, too.

Northwestern, just a couple thoughts after that game. We haven't really talked since then. I thought there were a lot of positives to take away from that football game, and it started just with our attitude and our effort and our preparation. I thought we continued to stay focused and we continued to work. Guys stayed together and they had a really good week of preparation as we led up to that game, and I thought it carried over into the game. I thought we had good energy, good focus and a lot better execution on Saturday against Northwestern.

When we talk about our plan to win, when I evaluate that game, there are really three of the four things that we felt like we did that gave us a chance in that game.

First and foremost, turnovers. We didn't have any turnovers in that game, and that gave us a chance to be in that game and be a few plays away from potentially getting a victory. We played good defense and we played good special teams. If you can put those things together, typically you have a chance for some success.

Where we really struggled were the critical situations: Third and fourth down defensively in some critical situations in that game; and then in the red zone on offense, we've got to be able to get some touchdowns instead of field goals and put points on the board and we were unable to do that.

But if our attitude and effort towards our preparation for games continues, we'll have a chance to continue to improve and be in games as we go down the stretch.

Just looking ahead to our next opponent, Wisconsin is a very good football team. They are a big, strong, physical football team. They have got good coaches and they have got good players. They have a winning culture that they have had for a long, long time.

Camp Randall is a tough environment, one of the toughest game day environments in all of college football. It's going to be a tremendous challenge, but one that we're looking forward to.

And we had a practice yesterday, we had a really good spirited practice yesterday, and looking forward to watching this team continue to grow and try to improve as we move forward.

So with that, I'll go ahead and open up to any questions that you guys may have.

Q. What specifically do you want to see over the final four weeks what do you feel that you have to see to end the year knowing there's been progress made?
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: Yeah, I'm not worried about the next four weeks. I'm worried about this week and what we have to do to try to compete with Wisconsin and have a chance to win a game against Wisconsin.

It's all about ourselves, just like I mentioned and our plan to win for Northwestern. I want to see some of those same things. I want to see us win the turnover battle. We've got to be able to take care of the football. We have not done that consistently enough. When we have done it, we've had a chance to be in games, and when we don't, obviously it gets ugly in a hurry.

I want to continue to see us play improved defense. I want to continue to see us play good on special teams.

We've got to score some points. That's really one area that we have not obviously done very good here recently, and we've got to score some points.

But I want to see the attitude, the effort, the toughness of our football team continue to improve, and I want to see our plan to win show up on film.

Q. When you evaluated the offense, spent the week, what types of things did you see that went wrong and then looking forward, how do you get it better going from 1:30 nationally to where it is and try to improve over the next four weeks?
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: When you look at us offensively, there's a lot of different issues, there's not just one. And it's not the same player. It's not the same unit. It's not the same call.

It would be really easy if it was just one problem, and it's not. That's usually what happens when things don't go the way you want.

Starting up front on the offensive line, we have to be more consistent both in the running game and in the passing game with our protection. It typically starts with fundamentals and that's where we have to improve. That's where we put our focus here on the bye week are the fundamentals up front on the offensive line; both for the running game and the passing game.

We have to be able to run the ball better offensively to take some of the stress off the quarterback. We have not been able to do that consistently enough and that's an area that we have to improve with our offense, and I want to see that as we go forward here into this week.

At the wide receiver position, just the details of what we're doing, both in the running game and the passing game. We need to block more consistently. We need to be more physical with our wide receivers at the point of attack. We have to detail out our routes in the passing game because one guy; his route is not detailed, it's not the right depth, it's not the right cut and it messes up a lot of things. So we've got to detail that out.

And at the running back position, again, just being able to hit the holes that are there. We missed some against Northwestern. We've misread some stuff. They have got to get better in the pass protection, also. And then the quarterback protecting the football and just getting better at that position overall.

There are a lot of things that we looked at offensively, and that we need to improve upon as we go forward.

Q. Last time we were in here, you talked about taking more of an upgraded role in the defensive play calling. Where does that stand now? Is it going to continue and how did that turnout for you?
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: Well, it's not necessarily defensive play calling. It's more about defensive preparation. The calls are the calls. I don't care who makes the call. It's about the preparation. It's about the attitude and the energy that we bring defensively.

And that's my focus to help us defensively. It's my job to help the players and the staff prepare, be detailed and do the things that we can do with the players that we have, and then get our players to play really, really hard and execute the calls.

The call on Saturday is just a call. It's the play and the attitude and the effort that we have that bring that call to life, and that's really my focus is how do we get the calls to come to life with our effort, our attitude and our execution.

Q. Have you made any substantial changes with the open week?
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: No, we're just trying to do it better. That's it.

Q. You said on the radio show that you plan to recruit junior college players. The history of Rutgers getting JuCos to step in and play right away has not been good. It's been spotty at best. Is that the plan going forward? Can you talk more in-depth on that? And what makes you think that's a good way to replenish the talent for 2019?
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: Well, the plan isn't necessarily to go recruit junior college. I think I was asked about junior college recruiting here at Rutgers and the challenges that may be different compared to another university, because every university is different.

I look at junior college recruiting for this program and places that I've been as a need-based option. If you have a need and you can fulfill that need through a potential junior college transfer; an older kids that fits your culture, fits your university, fits your style, then great.

We are not just going to go sign a junior college player just because he's a junior college player. It has to, one, fill a need that we may have, which we have some, especially on the offensive side of the ball, but he's also got to fit the culture of our program and he's got to fit our university academically. There's a lot that goes into it.

Have we looked at junior college players in the past? Yes. We'll continue to do that. If we find someone that fills a need with what we're looking for, probably more so in the lines than anything else, then we'll take a look at him.

Q. On that same subject, the grad transfer route, is that a route that you're going to look to take more a little bit this year, as well?
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: The transfer route, period, whether it's a junior college or grad transfer route, we'll always look at if it's a position of need.

Just because we want to do it doesn't mean the right player is available for us to take. We're never going to sacrifice what we want long-term for what we need to do right now.

So we want to build a program and we want to do it with players that are in our program for four or five years. That's really important. But we are not going to sacrifice certain things just to win right now.

We need to get better. I understand that. We all understand that. And we're going to look at all options to try to help us get better. But that doesn't necessarily mean we are going to go out and get grad transfers and junior college transfers because they may not fit. There may not be the right player available. But we will look at all of that stuff as we go forward in our recruiting.

Q. When you look at what Northwestern was able to do against Wisconsin on Saturday, and the fact that you guys played Northwestern tougher four quarters, are you led to believe that you're not that far away from a major breakthrough?
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: I've said probably over and over and over, and nobody really wants to probably believe me, is I don't think we're that far away. We are details away from where we need to be, but we're not light years away from where we need to be.

We are details away from where we need to be. I don't get into score comparisons a whole lot because the situations are completely different. That is a rivalry game between Northwestern and Wisconsin.

If you look at the history of that game, especially in Evanston, that has been a game that Northwestern has played well in quite a bit. They are a well-coached football team. They have got good players, and they play Wisconsin every single year. They know their style. They know what they need to do to try to defend them and try to move the ball, and they did a very good job of that last Saturday.

The team that we will face this Saturday in Camp Randall Stadium will be a completely different football team. It's a different environment, different attitude, when you play that football team at home.

They lost a game, and I'm sure they are going to go back to work and they are hungry to get back in the win column, also. I expect a completely different football team.

Q. Just Wisconsin this week, is that a rallying cry for you guys? Like this team is in the Big Ten title hunt, let's beat them.
HEAD COACH CHRIS ASH: Our focus isn't just going to beat someone. Our focus is to get better on ourselves, get our execution better. If I'm just focused on beating somebody, we're missing the point. We need to get better at our fundamentals, our execution, our effort. That's our focus. And if we do those things, then we'll have a chance to win a game and get the results that we want.

We want to get the type of behaviors and play that are consistent with the results that we want, and that's what we're missing right now and we need to get that done.

Thank you, guys. Take care.

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