Mike Norvell Weekly Press Conference Highlights – September 10

Opening Statement…
"I was glad we have a short week this week because it is good to get back on the field here on Monday. Our guys came out with great energy and great focus. Saturday we got knocked on our but a little bit. Like I told you after the game, that was on me. There were a lot of things that went on in that game and there were some mistakes that were made, some detail things that are going to show up and cost you in big games. It really was kind of like a perfect storm in all senses in that game. Navy had the ball for 42 minutes and had 79 plays. We had some explosive drives on offense to where we only had the ball for 30 seconds on two of them. Then we had the three fumbles, that were all on first down carries or catches, that really cost us. At the end of the day we have to respond, we have to learn from the experience. I hate it for these guys and for everybody a part of the organization and our community but I can tell you these guys will respond in the right way. This has not been foreign to us. Unfortunately we have been here before. We know what it takes to be able to move forward and continue to climb on our journey to where we want to go and what we believe we can do."

What the loss to Navy says about the defense…
"I think our football team, offense, defense and special teams, has a lot of heart. They play with passion and they play physical. That was a very physical game and we knew it was going to be. The thing that we have to clean up is some of the discipline. The discipline didn't necessarily show up in the penalties but when you turn the ball over and have some of the assignment things that we have to get cleaned up, that's where it shows up. We have to make sure we are focused on the tiny details of who we are. I thought our defense did a nice job, I thought we got a little tired late in the fourth quarter. We had some missed opportunities, some missed tackles and we have to continue to work to get the ball out and create those possessions. I thought all-in-all they played their tails off."

On the number of fumbles…
"That was a physical game. When you look at it, there are some things that we need to do technically better. One of them was really bad, the ball totally separated from our body. The other one came out on heavy contact and so there are things that we teach that we need to make sure that we utilize. We spend more time on ball security and tackling as a program than any place I have ever been. That is a big time emphasis for us, but if its not showing up on game day then it doesn't really matter. That's something that we have to make sure gets done."

On Brady White…
"I thought Brady started off really well, I think he went 12-of-14 to start the game. He distributed the ball well in the third quarter. He had a bit of a break, because they ended the first half with a pretty good drive, and then they started the second half with the ball. It wasn't a really long drive, but that break got us off a little bit, and we just missed some things we're not used to missing. I thought he did a good job of owning the football, we had the one interception, but that was on a Hail Mary. I think he's had 50-plus passes this season, so he's making good decisions on where to go with the ball, we just didn't execute. I think there are some things to work on fundamentally, he missed a little bit of practice last week. Not to say that affected him a ton, but I do think there are some things, driving the ball, that we'll be better at. But he is without a doubt putting work into it, without a doubt he has full confidence in every person on this football team. Not just coaches, but everyone here, and we know that he's going to respond."

On Tony Pollard being out…
"I think Kenny Gainwell has really done a nice job. Kenny's a true freshman, but he had a couple of huge third down conversions, which I was really pleased with. We're excited, we think this week we'll be able to get Tony back in full capacity, he looked great today. He did play last week, but when you don't practice throughout the week, it's hard to be a real active part of the game plan."

On the circumstances and the setbacks from the weekend…
"You have to control what you can control. From flying up there and the power being out at the hotel, to changing hotels, getting to bed late, weather conditions, obviously playing a good road opponent in a good atmosphere, those are all things you can't control. You can control your mindset, we can control our fundamentals, our focus. Those are things we're going to have to improve upon, and I believe in these guys, I know they'll do that, and we're going to continue to work and push."

Preparing for a short week…
"We have had a fair share of Friday night games since we have been here so we are sticking with the same schedule. Basically, guys were off yesterday and so they came on got treatment. We had not meetings, which is essentially how our Monday's are. Today was a normal Tuesday practice, it was great to see and I was really proud of our guys approach today. It was a physical practice, you saw guys flying around and pads were popping. It's really a testament to what Coach (Josh) Storms and the work he has put in this summer with his staff because our guys bodies bounce back really well. I thought today they felt good, they were confident and today was a good day of work."

Thoughts on Georgia State…
"Georgia State is a good football team. You look defensively, they are a very sound defense. They are going to attack in some areas and they have good personnel. You look at the improvement on defense from last year and what they have started even this year. It's impressive to see the guys they have. The NC State game was 27-7 late, going against a really good opponent. Offensively they probably didn't move the ball as well as they would have liked, but the defense held strong. It is a team that you can tell they are well coached and they have an athletic quarterback, some really good receivers and some running backs that I think are going to be really good players. It is going to take a great effort for us."

Mike Norvell Weekly Press Conference Highlights – September 10

Players Mentioned

Kenneth Gainwell

Tony Pollard

Brady White