Ryan Barry
NEFJ Correspondent

UMass Head Coach Don Brown took the podium at his Week 2 press conference to discuss Saturday’s 28-14 loss to Eastern Michigan, as well as take a look ahead to the upcoming road game at Toledo.

Brown on any thoughts after watching the tape against Eastern Michigan

“We had ten team penalties. We had two pass interferences, one holding, two offsides, those hurt. Now, here’s the deal, in the first three scoring drives, I’m just talking that they scored on, we had two penalties in the first drive, one penalty in the second drive, and one penalty in the third drive. That part of it is on me. It’s on the players too, but it’s on me as well, it’s disappointing. We also had a similar scenario on the offensive side. We had an unsportsmanlike conduct, three holdings, and a delay of game, so those end up hurting. We can’t have it. That, plus the six sacks allowed, it’s not the actual play itself, it’s what it does to you that creates long yardage situations that you have to overcome. Disappointed by that for sure, and we’re going to work hard to correct it for sure.”

 

Brown on if he saw anything he thought they did better than they thought Saturday

“I thought we defended the run pretty well. We gave up one explosive run in the fourth quarter, so I thought we were in pretty good shape there. I thought we tackled well, that’s always an issue in the opener, but we got around the ball and converged to do a good job on that. When we were not self-destructing, we were able to move the ball pretty darn well. You look at Taisun (Phommachanh), he’s got 90 yards rushing. Obviously there’s some loss there with penalties, but he ended up throwing the ball for 177-yards. You have to eliminate the sacks and eliminate the penalties.”

Brown on the new Toledo quarterback (Tucker Gleason) versus former quarterback Dequan Finn

“He’s a bigger, strong guy. He has movement skills, but it looks like they’re trying to get him to hand the ball off. They’re very typical in terms of the spread run, they have the long zone, tight zone, the slash plays, so it’s things that we’ll end up preparing for all year long. He’s a strong armed guy who can throw the ball down the field. He’s got a number of guys he’s handing the ball off to. The guy Peny Boone (former running back) is gone as well, and he was the complement to the quarterback, and he was a good back.”

Brown on how they’ll defend wide receiver Jerjuan Newton

“He’s just a guy that’s got movement skills. He’s got some shake, and obviously he can catch it. That’s the biggest piece. He’s got movement skills but he can catch it as well. We have to be at our best in terms of coverage. I expected a better turnout from our back end last week and I’m not saying it was brutal, but I expected us to be better than that. I’m hoping after getting challenged this week, our guys will adjust and be ready to play.”

Brown on how they’ll adjust offensively that plays some cover one, press

“We have to make sure we’re challenging him with our guys. (Anthony) Simpson) should be the leader in that area. That’s the goal, to get him going, his numbers have got to be good if we’re going to have any success on offense in the throwing game.”

Brown on if Simpson being zeroed in on impacts the rest of the wide receiver room

“It’s all those guys, they’ve got to share the workload. He’s kind of the kingpin and he has to take care of his business and lead the guys as well.”

Brown on if any of the new transfers stood out in the game

“I don’t really want to comment. You win as a team, you lose as a team, you’re successful as a team, so I don’t really want to single anyone out at this point. There’s a lot of guys that I’m happy with. There’s a lot of guys that are working at it. We’ve just got to go ahead and play the game. The focus has to be on the unit, on the team. The one thing that kind of gets lost in the translation is when you’ve got all these new players you’re excited about, they still have to play together to develop some continuity. I do think there were moments that we had that continuity, but at the same time, you can’t be talking moments, you have to talk consistent performance throughout the entire game, and that’s what we’re going to be looking for this current moment.”

Brown on the role of and performance of Derrieon Craig

“It is what it is. What you see is what you get. He’s electric, he can fly, he can really run, his understanding of the defense is having a positive impact for him, and the learning curve has been something that’s at times been difficult, but not anymore.”

Brown on Jacob Lurie’s response after his tough kicking performance Saturday

“He’s a good guy, he’s a hard working guy. I have a lot of confidence in his abilities. Obviously it was not the performance we were hoping from him, but we didn’t help him on one of those opportunities. We get the unsportsmanlike penalty that backs up the whole process of the mark on the kick, now it’s 15 yards deeper, and it makes what I consider what I consider a solid kick a difficult kick. Disappointed for him, but like we talked, it’s time to move on, new week, and take on the challenge.”

Brown on how important it is when you pin them (Eastern Michigan) deep on a punt

“You’ve got to be able to do that. The problem is, when one of them is on third down and we get the stop, the flag flies. Do I agree with it? If I’m bringing it up you know I don’t agree with it. Some of those flags were just difficult, but not only for us, but for them too. There were 18 penalties called in the game. Not happy about that.”

Brown on Toledo coach Jason Candle

“His guys are tough. They have an understanding of what he wants to do, and that’s the beauty. When you’re able to stay at one place for a long time, that’s a good thing, because everyone else tends to stay with you too. I think the portal is going to impact us all in a similar way, but the nice thing is he’s been there a long time, he can get the guys there to play in a style that he wants to play.”