Notes From Mike Gundy’s South Alabama Press Confernece

Posted on September 3, 2018

By Michael Doutey

Mike Gundy met with the media Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference. Even with another subpar opponent this week, there are still lots of questions about this team. The biggest question coming out of week one is quarterback.

Just a refresher, Taylor Cornelius threw for 300 yards, five touchdowns and one pick on 25-34 passing in his first career start. Still, there were some signs to be worried about. He missed some throws, didn’t look comfortable and was pretty inaccurate. Some fans have hit the panic button and are calling for backup, Dru Brown. Gundy does not share the same sentiment.

“Like most games, there’s things that happened that I didn’t see on the field that made me feel better after the game,” Gundy said. “What I would like for him to do is to go play and go play fearless. That’s what our quarterbacks have done here in the past and don’t worry about making a mistake. There’s times we are going to throw interceptions. I don’t know what to tell you. We throw the ball a bunch, we throw it down the field, we take a lot of chances. It is what it is. He was eight-year-old kid pitch ball and was just trying to throw a strike instead of throwing the baseball. I think once he gets out of that phase that he’ll get back to what he was and what we’ve seen in practice. I’m confident that he’ll improve each week.”

Gundy is continuing to preach patience, even to himself.

“Everybody is going to have to be a little patient with him, even myself,” Gundy said. “We’ve been spoiled here for a long time with fantastic offense and terrific quarterback play over the last six or eight years. It’s new to him. I guess it the first game he’s started in about four or five years. It’s a little different for him. I’m going to guess he’ll feel a lot better.” 

For those hoping Gundy and his coaching staff will move on, not so fast.

“But we are going to let him [Cornelius] go. He’s gonna go and he’s gonna play and he’s gonna make some mistakes and then we are gonna keep in there and let him play.” “We think that he gives us the best chance to be successful.”

Gundy did see some bright spots from Cornelius on Thursday.

“Mentally he was good. He missed two corner routes. He under threw a deep ball. That is rare for him. And then he missed a throw across the middle. But that didn’t have anything to do with his approach mentally. That’s why I am encouraged because he is in the right spot. We just got to get him to where he’ll cut it loose and go play.”

You might still be interested in Dru Brown or Spencer Sanders and Gundy gave his thoughts on when he might be comfortable playing them.

“As soon as we feel they can grasp it at fast tempo,” Gundy said. “It just doesn’t happen that fast. Both guys are doing fantastic, but we would prefer to not put them in until we think they can handle it. It just takes those guys some time.”

Gundy went on to say that the practice reps are split 60 percent with TC, 10 to15 each for Sanders and Brown and 10 for Wudtee. He admitted that his math might be off, but it’s close.

Gundy on the offensive line.

“There were times they played really good as a group and then there were times they turned guys loose. With the skill we have at running back position, it is important to get guys covered up. I think we’ll get a little bit better each week at it. I felt like October 1 was a good mark for us to say these guy are really starting to play better. Like some of the other positions, hopefully they’ll minimize those missed assignments in Saturday’s game.”

Gundy on his defense.

“I felt that we were in position the majority of the time. Obviously we got out of position on a quarterback power and a quarterback draw. But for the most part, I thought we were in the right spot. It was a little bit like the offensive line. They were really good a lot and then when they were bad they were bad for two big plays. We’ve had some issues over the years with that. We need to try to minimize that the best we can. I thought for the first game that it went really smooth. This team is more athletic than the team we just played so it’ll be a better challenge.”

Gundy on depth of the cornerback position.

“I’m always concerned in this league that if you don’t have four corners that can play, it’s difficult to slow down the other team. But I know that we are further along now than when we were this time last year.”

Gundy also said he expects Tanner McCalister, a reserve corner, to be back soon, possibly even as soon as this week.

Other injury news. It appears that punter, Zac Sinor, isn’t expected to punt this week, but is working out again.

Chuba Hubbard was awarded Co-Newcomer of the Week by the Big 12. Hubbard totalled 149 yards with 65 receiving yards, 42 rushing yards, 42 return yards (that came on one return) and a receiving touchdown. Pretty great debut for Hubbard.

Gundy was asked if he could tell the impact the new video board had on the atmosphere. The video board wasn’t used until right before kickoff when the intro video played to debut the new accessory inside BPS. However, Gundy was worried the board wasn’t working.

“I thought it didn’t work when we came out to warm up. And then I realized when you guys cranked it on then I heard it, then I figured [Mike] Holder was just saving money.”    

When asked about Boone Pickens statement he tweeted out before last weeks game, Gundy agreed with Boone about the green bananas.

“You know, the better one was that he’s not buying green bananas because I don’t like to buy green bananas, myself. You can buy them when they are ripe and then if they start to get a little brown they are still good. And what else can you do with them? You  make banana bread or banana pudding. So, I’m with him on that.”

But Gundy did talk to Boone this weekend wishing that he had been able to see the new board for himself. Said that it has been a 15 year process and this is like completing what they all set out to do with the Boone Pickens Stadium renovations and wished he was there for it.

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