We just got off the phone with Clay Helton. Here's what he said ...
Opening comments
"I think everyone will want to talk about the skill kids and I'll get those questions, but really for me it was our big men that led the way, after watching the tape. This game vs. Stanford usually comes down to who controls the line of scrimmage, and I was extremely proud of both our O-line and D-line on the night. Defensively, to hold Stanford to just 98 yards rushing, to get 3 sacks and multiple hurries I thought was huge on the night. You know, they never got an opportunity to get in the third-and-short situations where they've been so good at. If you look up and [we hold them to] 4/11 on third down defensively and come up with two fourth-down stops, which are just as valuable as turnovers in our mind.
"Offensively line, I thought for the second game in a row they played not only very consistent but also I think they're really becoming the rock of our offense and our team. They controlled the line of scrimmage in the run game -- 3 rushing touchdowns on the night down in the red zone -- and then when you look at the protection they gave Kedon all night, themselves and the running back, it allowed us to be 5/9 on third down and 1/1 on a fourth down pass. It just felt like a ton of time for the kid to be able to operate."
Injuries ...
"Really no major injuries. We pulled Christian Rector for [a minor ankle injury] in the fourth, but besides that just a bunch of bumps and bruises -- nothing we feel will hold anybody out for the next game."
On the growth of the offensive line ...
"You're not seeing a ton of negative yardage plays right now. Obviously being a passing team right now that's throwing the ball, last night 33 times, I think it was in the low 40s the first game, they're protecting the quarterback extremely well in my opinion. We talked about going into the game it being team protections. We knew we were going to get pressures, and that was the offensive line holding up, the backs doing their responsibility, but the wide receivers getting open in a hurry and the quarterback releasing the ball on time. And everybody held up to their role and their responsibility. And I'm just proud of what the kids are doing in the red zone run game. To have three rushing touchdowns in the red zone last night, you saw what they were able to do in the red zone in game 1 also. Part of this offense is to be able to finish drives in the red zone when you need it, and it was great to see last night. Right now they're just playing really consistent football together and you could tell they're having a lot of fun doing it. It's been neat watching this tape all day today, seeing those kids celebrate in the end zone and how much fun the big men are having doing it."
On takeaways from watching Kedon Slovis' performance again on film ...
"What I was really proud of that not a lot of young people have or a lot of young quarterbacks have is just his ability to keep his eyes up when he's moving in the pocket. His eyes never came down and looked at the rush. He kept his eyes up moving around and found open targets. And then when it wasn't there and he didn't have anybody open, he was able to acquire 3, 4, 5 yards and get down and not take sacks and not force balls. I thought his decision-making was really good, but usually with a young kid you see their eyes come down in the pass rush when they feel flushed or something's not in rhythm, and he didn't do that. He stayed poised and really kept his eyes downfield, looking through his targets, looking at the next progression. It was really impressive to see."
On this team's personality and the fun they seem to be having ...
"I think it started in the offseason. We did a lot of things together in the strength and conditioning program, and sometimes that shared suffering together and you're going through it with your brother, you look up and you're rooting for each other so hard. That's what I felt on the sideline last night -- a whole team pulling for each other and pushing each other. Even when things weren't going exactly right in the first quarter and we're down 17-3, I must have heard a dozen times, 'Hey, so what? Now what?' That saying that we've been saying this season. Bad things are going to happen, let's don't get down, let's lean on each other and raise each other up. And sometimes it's going to have to be the offense, sometimes it's going to have to be the defense, sometimes it's going to have to be a big special teams play. But this team really likes each other, they're playing for each other, they're having a blast together. As a coaching staff, we're having a blast with them. We almost got about three or four celebration penalties last night trying to keep guys on the sideline. We were just having a blast together and it's fun to see. We're having a lot of fun right now and that fun comes from the execution the kids are doing on the field."
On JT Daniels' role in helping Kedon Slovis this last week ...
"I got to credit JT. As much success as Kedon had, a lot of it came from JT and being right there under his wing, giving him his weekly format of things he goes through as a guy that had to go through that last season and kind of his weekly routine that Kedon followed. And then just being there for him. We brought JT on the travel squad with us. He roomed with Kedon the night before, just calming him down and making sure he stayed poised. He was just a real friend and a true teammate this past week. I give him as much credit as Kedon for being right there for a good teammate."
On when Graham Harrell first expressed to Helton what he thought of Slovis ..
"I think it was going through spring ball. We got fortunate that Kedon was a mid-term graduate like a lot of quarterbacks have been here, and you could see this spring that he'd picked up the offense well, that he was making plays and he was making enough plays to warrant being in the competition in the fall and deserving reps. So it was evident early. We had seen that arm talent in high school as well as him attending our summer camp, so there's never been a question about arm talent. It's just getting in the system and seeing how fast you pick it up. He picked it up really fast and definitely warranted the opportunity to compete in the fall and he stepped it up a notch in the fall and he earned the spot that he's given. Those reps and the amount of reps he got, that investment has really paid off from what you saw the other night."
Opening comments
"I think everyone will want to talk about the skill kids and I'll get those questions, but really for me it was our big men that led the way, after watching the tape. This game vs. Stanford usually comes down to who controls the line of scrimmage, and I was extremely proud of both our O-line and D-line on the night. Defensively, to hold Stanford to just 98 yards rushing, to get 3 sacks and multiple hurries I thought was huge on the night. You know, they never got an opportunity to get in the third-and-short situations where they've been so good at. If you look up and [we hold them to] 4/11 on third down defensively and come up with two fourth-down stops, which are just as valuable as turnovers in our mind.
"Offensively line, I thought for the second game in a row they played not only very consistent but also I think they're really becoming the rock of our offense and our team. They controlled the line of scrimmage in the run game -- 3 rushing touchdowns on the night down in the red zone -- and then when you look at the protection they gave Kedon all night, themselves and the running back, it allowed us to be 5/9 on third down and 1/1 on a fourth down pass. It just felt like a ton of time for the kid to be able to operate."
Injuries ...
"Really no major injuries. We pulled Christian Rector for [a minor ankle injury] in the fourth, but besides that just a bunch of bumps and bruises -- nothing we feel will hold anybody out for the next game."
On the growth of the offensive line ...
"You're not seeing a ton of negative yardage plays right now. Obviously being a passing team right now that's throwing the ball, last night 33 times, I think it was in the low 40s the first game, they're protecting the quarterback extremely well in my opinion. We talked about going into the game it being team protections. We knew we were going to get pressures, and that was the offensive line holding up, the backs doing their responsibility, but the wide receivers getting open in a hurry and the quarterback releasing the ball on time. And everybody held up to their role and their responsibility. And I'm just proud of what the kids are doing in the red zone run game. To have three rushing touchdowns in the red zone last night, you saw what they were able to do in the red zone in game 1 also. Part of this offense is to be able to finish drives in the red zone when you need it, and it was great to see last night. Right now they're just playing really consistent football together and you could tell they're having a lot of fun doing it. It's been neat watching this tape all day today, seeing those kids celebrate in the end zone and how much fun the big men are having doing it."
On takeaways from watching Kedon Slovis' performance again on film ...
"What I was really proud of that not a lot of young people have or a lot of young quarterbacks have is just his ability to keep his eyes up when he's moving in the pocket. His eyes never came down and looked at the rush. He kept his eyes up moving around and found open targets. And then when it wasn't there and he didn't have anybody open, he was able to acquire 3, 4, 5 yards and get down and not take sacks and not force balls. I thought his decision-making was really good, but usually with a young kid you see their eyes come down in the pass rush when they feel flushed or something's not in rhythm, and he didn't do that. He stayed poised and really kept his eyes downfield, looking through his targets, looking at the next progression. It was really impressive to see."
On this team's personality and the fun they seem to be having ...
"I think it started in the offseason. We did a lot of things together in the strength and conditioning program, and sometimes that shared suffering together and you're going through it with your brother, you look up and you're rooting for each other so hard. That's what I felt on the sideline last night -- a whole team pulling for each other and pushing each other. Even when things weren't going exactly right in the first quarter and we're down 17-3, I must have heard a dozen times, 'Hey, so what? Now what?' That saying that we've been saying this season. Bad things are going to happen, let's don't get down, let's lean on each other and raise each other up. And sometimes it's going to have to be the offense, sometimes it's going to have to be the defense, sometimes it's going to have to be a big special teams play. But this team really likes each other, they're playing for each other, they're having a blast together. As a coaching staff, we're having a blast with them. We almost got about three or four celebration penalties last night trying to keep guys on the sideline. We were just having a blast together and it's fun to see. We're having a lot of fun right now and that fun comes from the execution the kids are doing on the field."
On JT Daniels' role in helping Kedon Slovis this last week ...
"I got to credit JT. As much success as Kedon had, a lot of it came from JT and being right there under his wing, giving him his weekly format of things he goes through as a guy that had to go through that last season and kind of his weekly routine that Kedon followed. And then just being there for him. We brought JT on the travel squad with us. He roomed with Kedon the night before, just calming him down and making sure he stayed poised. He was just a real friend and a true teammate this past week. I give him as much credit as Kedon for being right there for a good teammate."
On when Graham Harrell first expressed to Helton what he thought of Slovis ..
"I think it was going through spring ball. We got fortunate that Kedon was a mid-term graduate like a lot of quarterbacks have been here, and you could see this spring that he'd picked up the offense well, that he was making plays and he was making enough plays to warrant being in the competition in the fall and deserving reps. So it was evident early. We had seen that arm talent in high school as well as him attending our summer camp, so there's never been a question about arm talent. It's just getting in the system and seeing how fast you pick it up. He picked it up really fast and definitely warranted the opportunity to compete in the fall and he stepped it up a notch in the fall and he earned the spot that he's given. Those reps and the amount of reps he got, that investment has really paid off from what you saw the other night."
