Louisville OL Caleb Chandler, WR Justin Marshall Preview UCF
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It might not have been pretty, but Louisville (1-0, 0-0 ACC) was able to crack the win column for the first time this season, overcoming a slow start to take down Eastern Kentucky (1-1, 0-0 ASUN), 30-3, in their home opener.
Next up, the Cardinals will play under the lights of Cardinal Stadium, and welcome UCF for a primetime matchup. Kickoff against the Knights is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Prior to their upcoming matchup, offensive guard Caleb Chandler and wide receiver Justin Marshall took time to meet with the media. They discussed the previous game against EKU, previewed the upcoming game against the UCF, and more.
Below is the transcript from Chandler and Marshall's press conference, as well as the video:
Offensive Guard Caleb Chandler
(On the heavy day of practice on Tuesday)
Today went pretty good, intensity was really good, that sense of urgency was really good - by both sides of the ball today. We worked on our fundamentals, and making sure we were all on the same page as a unit. That's what was our big focus for the day.
(On the disappointing start to the season by the offensive line)
We know we're not living up to our expectations, and that some things aren't going our way. But we just got to stay on the ground. We know what we have in this offensive line room, the team knows what we have, we just got to be consistent and all on the same page. It's been hard looking at film the last couple of games, because we're literally just a couple guys away from breaking things open. It hurts looking at that on film, but we got to get everybody committed, and on their jobs. We're going to be just fine.
(On the early play from true freshman Michael Gonzalez)
It's been great. Mike's been stepping up, stepping in for guys. He's not your typical true freshman. I don't know too many freshmen O-linemen that come in, and can play and get things right away like Mike is. He's smart, he's physical and he's been a huge, huge addition to this O-line. He's only going to get better from here.
(On what he sees on film that the offensive line is able to clear up on a week-by-week basis)
It's really our technique. If we do our right fundamentals and techniques, and not crossover on the back side, or not reach our play-side landmark - It's just. we're literally two inches away from a two yard gain that should be a 25 yard gain. That's the part that hurts the most, and it hurts because there's so many plays like that too. Even when guys aren't doing the right technique, guys are out there straining their butts off, and that's one thing the coaches have mentioned, is that we're out there fighting our butts off. We just got to do the right technique, so things can be clearer for the running back, can be clearer for Malik (Cunningham) if he needs to pull it or not. It's just those things like that.
(On if there is still room for growth amongst the offensive linemen)
There's always room for improvement for everybody, even for myself. I still got to improve on a lot of things. The guys did a bunch of growing up over fall camp and over the spring, and we had to learn with a whole new coach, and the style of play that he wants. We've all grown into that. Everybody's ready, we just got to have that mental part, and then remember our techniques, remember the step with this foot, keep a base and things like that.
(On what stands out on film of UCF's front seven)
They love to come off the ball. Especially their two interior guys, I'm not even talking about Big Kat (Bryant). Their two interior guys love to come off the ball, so we got to match their physicality, their pad levels. That D-Line, they're legit, but we're we are also legit, and we're gonna be ready for them/
(On what stands out about edge rusher Big Kat Bryant, and what he is telling the Louisville tackles to get ready for him)
His football awareness, he's a good football player. I don't know him as a person, but I can tell that he's a really good football player. I tell Renato (Brown) and Trevor (Reid), you got to go match his physicality. You got to be in his head, think what he's thinking, and try to beat them to the point. But also at the same time, do your technique as well. That's our big thing right there: stay in our training, and what we trained over this summer for. I love them boys, and them boys are gonna be just fine.
(On what the line can do to help on third down and short yardage situations)
Play on the defensive side of the ball. We have to drive the guys off the ball. If we drive the guys off the ball, it will make that read easier for the running back, so that they can have their holes to hit. It will also make it easier on Malik, he knows if he needs to pull it or not, because that's gonna leave that defensive guy on an island. We have to get push off the ball, and we haven't been doing too well at that the first two games. But we're ready.
(On how difficult it is to get push knowing they will play their third game in 12 days)
Man, it is a push, it is a little stretch, but we trained for this. I don't believe anybody has worked as hard as we did this offseason, and trained for moments like this. This is unusual, I don't think I've ever done this in my college career while being here - playing three guys in 12 days. But the guys are amped up in there, they're ready to go. You can't really tell anybody's tired. We're fresh and ready to go.
Wide Receiver Justin Marshall
(On playing against UCF's man coverage)
Me personally, I love man coverage. I like to display matchups using my size and my speed to get open, and then makes plays for my team to create wins. But I feel like as a whole, as a group, what we have to offer, we have size, we have speed, and we have some very talented guys in our room. I feel like we can definitely use man press to our advantage.
It's mostly man press. There's some pretty physical guys who like to play a lot with their hands after the line, and even down the field as well too. But they have a young secondary, and I feel like we can use some of what we have to kind of exploit those matchups.
(On how much of a confidence boost his touchdown reception vs. EKU was, and if he wants to see more short yardage plays ran)
Most definitely, I feel like that's always been a part of my game: just give me the ball is short spaces, and let me work and do my thing, even before I was here at the University of Louisville.
Most definitely it was a confidence boost, because it kind of showed me that I can do this, and all the hard work is finally playing off. Slowly but surely, everything is adding up, and those good days that I've been stacking up are finally coming to light. Just keep working and keep pushing, day in and day out.
(On the play of the wide receiver room through the first two games of the season, and what the conversations have been like)
Just knowing that we got to make plays, man. Everybody's got a scope on us, to try to make sure that we're handling our business. We got some big shoes to fill. Everybody keeps bringing up how Tutu (Atwell) and Dez (Fitzpatrick) have left, and who's gonna be our guy next, but we definitely have talent in our room to make that happen, and fill those shoes that were left. We just got to execute the play call, man. Whether it a run, pass, anything, we just got to execute and make sure we're on top of our game, and doing our business, and being where we need to be for the quarterback. Just playing for our other ten guys out there. Also, if you do make a mistake, short term memory. Keep it moving. We talk it up in the film, and move on. No need to ponder and dwell on anything, just keep moving forward, because once you get into those ruts - say for instance, you drop a ball. Now you're thinking about not dropping the ball, or not messing up on this and messing up on that. You got to stay consistent, man. Don't get too high, don't get too low.
(On the competition in the wide receiver room to became "the" guy in the offense)
I wouldn't say it a big competition between each other, but we are very, very competitive. It was one of those things where we push each other. If you're having a good day, and I'm lacking, we got the type of guys that will pick each other up. We encourage each other to do better, encourage them to put in the extra work, so when the time comes, it shows. It's just one of those things where we got to stay, like I said, even keeled. Never get too high, never getting too low, because everybody has those days where you're down, or you got this going on, that going on, even outside of football. You just gotta come with it every day, and we kind of push each other to do that. I agree that there is some competition in the room, but we don't feel competitive tension or anything like that. It's just one of those things where we all want to see each other succeed, and whatever we got to do to push you to that point, so be it.
(On what things they can learn from the Ole Miss game, that they can help against UCF)
I'll say this: with Ole Miss game I feel like we kind of got caught up in the hype of it all a little bit, and kind of got away from playing our football just a little bit. You see when we came out in the second half, we are putting up scoring drives, whether its three points or six points on the board, we're moving as soon as we come out of halftime. But I feel like we should start fast, and stay consistent. No ups and down, we got to be consistent and play Louisville football. I feel like Louisville football is hard nosed football, executing the calls, making plays when our numbers are called, and just having fun while doing so, man. We kind of got caught up in the hype of things a little bit, and when things don't go the right way, you got to respond immediately, not when it's too late.
(On how the guys in the wide receiver room have responded to calls from Scott Satterfield to improve blocking)
It's going back to the fundamentals and working on technique. Coach (Gunter) Brewer always preaches how important blocking is, and how important the run game is for the pass game to develop. Just going back to technique things, fundamentals, working on little stuff like footwork, hand placement, hand re-placement, shooting our hands - little stuff you learn throughout the process of camp and up to now. Just going back to those fundamentals, and implementing them back again, and mind tapping yourself to make sure that you're going through them on a daily basis, and putting that into our game.
(On Malik Cunningham's progression, and what he is doing to help other guys get involved in the offense)
I admire how Malik is becoming more of a leader when it comes to being a field general. Say for instance, something goes wrong, we go three and out, we come to the sideline. First guy to talk, first got to encourage, first guy to give constructive criticism for improvement, everything. Also, with us getting more people involved, the more people you get involved, the more successful we can be for the win, and less predictable we are as an offense. I feel like he does a great job of spreading the ball around, and just using himself as an asset as well too. I feel like I thought he's doing pretty good job with that, but most importantly, I admire how much of a leader he's become. I admire the fact that his maturity is starting to show within like all of our groups on offense.
(Photo of Justin Marshall: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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