Oct. 5, 2004

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Below is a transcript of a question-and-answer session with Samford head football coach Bill Gray on Tuesday. Samford practiced for two and a half hours on the practice fields on campus Tuesday afternoon. The team will practice again on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. at the Samford practice fields.

TALK ABOUT THE TEAM COMING BACK AFTER TWO DOUBLE-DIGIT DEFICITS IN SATURDAY'S GAME.
"I think that is a sign we are getting better, because I don't know that I have seen that on our football team in the past. Not only did they come back from one double-digit deficit, but they did it twice. The second time, obviously, was big, it was 17 points in a nine-minute span. In order for something like that to happen, you have to be playing well in all three phases of the game. I thought the defense began to get the ball back for us, and offensively we began to make some plays to get the ball in the end zone. And then, we stopped them and got the ball back with 45 seconds left to play and we went almost the length of the field. Then we were able to kick the field goal on special teams to send the game into overtime. It shows it can be done. We just have to find a way to do it consistently and not wait until the last minute to get it done. There was a lot to be proud of about the way our team continued to fight last Saturday."

WHAT DOES THE TEAM HAVE TO DO TO REFOCUS AFTER TWO-STRAIGHT OVERTIME LOSSES?
"This is definitely new territory for us. What we have to do is keep our hands to the plow and try to stress the fact that we are 0-2 in the conference, but the conference race is not over with. We have another conference game this week. We are a couple of plays from being 2-0 in the conference, and we are six points from being 2-0 in the conference. We are very close. To play SEMO on the road tough, and to play a pretty good Eastern Kentucky team, wire-to-wire, shows that our team is not far. What we have to do is be more consistent. And, I think consistency in games comes with being consistent in practice. We cut down on penalties this week, we had untimely penalties, but we did cut back on the number. One thing we have got to do is look at what made us not be successful Saturday. One thing that jumps out at us is we gave up 178 yards after contact. That tells you that we didn't tackle very well on Saturday. We had a guy in position to make the play and had our hands on an EKU player and they still got 178 yards of offense after contact. That is something you can see on the film, you can point out to the players and you can stress in practice. Another area is special teams. You don't get many opportunities and you have to make them count when you get them. It's not just the blocked field goal or bobbled snap, but also we cut the lead to three with three minutes left in the game and momentum is on our side and we are going to try to kick it deep, and we kick it out of bounds. It was a total team effort that got us back in the game, but it was a total team let down that cost us the victory."

TALK ABOUT THE PLAY OF SOPHOMORE Calvin Hodge AND FRESHMAN Jeff Moore IN SATURDAY'S GAME.
"Calvin had missed practice the week of the SEMO game and didn't have his best game, and he was challenged this past week to have a good ball game. We have to practice in order to have a good game, and he was healthy this week, had a good week of practice and it showed. This defense is designed for our linebackers to make plays, so we have to get more plays out of all of our linebackers, but Calvin did have an exceptional game. Jeff Moore is someone we have been high on ever since he first set foot on campus. We felt like we had a good recruit when we signed him. He has shown tremendous promise for the future. I thought he showed a lot of maturity to make some of the catches and runs he made, especially the big one on the last drive of regulation. The ball was almost stripped out of his hands, but he showed a lot of strength to hold onto the football and continue down the field. I have been very pleased with his attitude, he has fun playing the game. He is a pleasure to be around, and there is still so much about the game he is learning. He is definitely enabling us, along with some others, to throw the ball to someone other than number 11, and that makes us a better football team."

WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF MURRAY STATE?
"What I have seen on film is they pride themselves on being physical. They have a strong offensive line and a stable of running backs. Their quarterback does not make many mistakes. They have a couple of big receivers they can throw to on the play-action pass to get the ball down the field. They are very balanced on offense, so it will be a challenge for us defensively. On the defensive side of the ball, they have a lot of transfers that are lining up this year for the first time. They are solid in what they do. I thought last year in the secondary they were about as good as anybody we played. Their corners are big and physical, and they did a great job of re-routing our receivers and putting their hands on us. We remember those things and we are going to have to do a good job of getting releases and getting down field and blocking down field as well. So, they pose a lot of problems for us defensively, they are a big physical team up front. And then in the kicking game, especially when you play on artificial turf, anything can happen, the ball can bounce a lot of different ways. They play on the turf every other week, and we play on it once a year. So, the special teams area is a concern going into a game on the artificial surface when you don't play a lot on it. But, on the upside, if we can go up there and get the job done, all of a sudden, we are tied with them in the conference. So, that is the way we have to look at it, they are a team that is above us in the rankings and we have a chance to pull even with them. It'll be a good test for our kids."

WHAT, OTHER THAN A WIN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE OUT OF THIS GAME?
"A win would be nice, but I do also want to see us continue to improve and make some plays. And I'd like to see us not make the mistakes that have been costly to us in the past. I'd like to see us protect the football and not give up so many big plays on defense. That is something, looking back at the EKU game, we gave up five big plays of 25 or more yards, and on all five of those drives they scored. On our side, there were two times when we had big plays and didn't score. You want to continue to improve in every area of your team, but ultimately, you are in it to win, and we need to try to get the job done and win a football game, that is the biggest thing that will help us right now."