2021 UTSA Football
Media Roundtable
Sept. 6, 2021
Head Coach Jeff Traylor
On the message he shared with the team after the win against Illinois …
"The Triangle (of Toughness) traveled. We always start with our defense. We were very physical. When we left the stadium, there was no doubt who the crowd thought was the most physical defense. It was ours. We talked about how we were going to run the ball. Not just our running backs, but our receivers run after catch with the quarterbacks. That showed up as well. Sticks (Sheldon Jones) had some unbelievable catches (on punt returns). I don't want the ball on the one yard line, so we will catch it on the five or six. I have no problem with that. That kicker proved he could put the ball on the one or two yard line, so I don't want the ball with my quarterback's heels in the end zone. I was very proud of Sticks (Jones). Hunter (Duplessis) made some great field goals. The Triangle traveled, and that is why we were in the ball game. It was no fluke. We played the way we always play. We showed up. There was not a play in the game where someone could say that we got lucky. We play a certain style of ball, and our style showed up again. That is 13 games in a row that has happened."
On what he has seen and expects from Lamar …
"Offensively, they are so different. They look like Army in running an option, so you're going to have to defend the midline trap. We just don't do that very much anymore. Army proved to us that we were, I'd say, mildly successful in slowing down Army. But they controlled the tempo and it was such a different style of game. That always has you concerned when you see someone who plays differently. Defensively, they are four down. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Blane) Morgan. He recruited my school when I was a high school coach. He is a high-intelligent, high-character person. I have a lot of respect for that athletic director and the school. My GAs (graduate assistants) and my analysts have been on those guys for a week, and they provide us with all of the information to get up to speed for the next opponent."
On Frank Harris' accuracy and his performance against Illinois …
"I thought the key for him, since I have been coaching him, he is a perfectionist. He is the first in the facility and he is the last to leave. He could be a Navy Seal. He has that kind of mindset. His downfall is that he is a perfectionist. Our greatest strengths are always our greatest weaknesses. The leader has to maintain a look of confidence at all times. Head up, put a smile on your face, and he did that. He came back immediately, never blinked. I was extremely proud on how he handled adversity. Going into the game, I had him speak on mental toughness to our team. That was exactly what he said he was going to do. If he made a mistake, he was going to maintain a very tough mindset. He did that."
On what the local players' mentality on success has been …
"We do have to be careful. It is a lot of pressure to put on young men. We talk about how pressure is a privilege. They feel that. They really want to turn this thing around and leave it a much better place. Each group has done that, whoever has come before us. The first group to come through left it better, it got better with the second group and so on. Each group has left it better for us, and we want to do the same for the group that follows us."
On Illinois' scoring plays in the first half …
"They were great play calls and good answers for our pressure. I don't like to sit back and just take it. I hate playing coverage, I want to go. They had great answers for our blitzes, and we did not match them. It was a different person each time, and we had three of them. That is something we have to get cleared up. We were disappointed in that. I have been saying all week, they are good coaches too. They get paid, and they got us there. I tell our kids all the time, Coach (Jess) Loepp and Coach Rod (Wright) are going to make 10 plays calls a game that are fantastic, and you should sack the quarterback or make an interception. There are going to be 10 plays a game that we are going to blow it and make the wrong call. The other 50, it is the Triangle. It is just mental and physical toughness, who wants it the most. They got us on those three calls, but we have to match that defensively. We know that."
