Barely any crowd noise or claps as the show begins.
First up, some talk about the bye week.
"It was a good time for the players and coaches have some time off. The coaches had three days off to get refreshed. The players were off the football field, but spent some time in the weight room."
Adds they did UCF vs. UCF on Thursday and got into game plan mode on Friday.
Barrett says you'd rather have a bye week in the middle of the season.
"What hurt us was the way our away games were packaged, each were back-to-back trips."
What do they focus on during the bye week?
"Maintain and getting that strength index up for the guys who have been injured. Coach Ellis and Coach Dorsey do a great job. It was three good days in the weight room."
Do players ask Barrett questions about the future?
"There's been a few guys who have talked about their situations, what they could do differently. When I formed a committee, players at individual positions handle that. We meet once a week. Everybody feels good."
What has the team done better recently?
"Main thing is competing, outside of Cincinnati. I felt we bounced back at Tulsa, showed more competitive spirit. In previous games, with that score, it would have been over. We have to take that into this game on Thursday, focus and energy, which we found in the second half vs. Tulsa."
On the second half at Tulsa:
"There were opportunities we missed in the first half. There were spurts I saw some improvements, we weren't giving up as many big plays and were moving the ball and chewing the clock. At halftime, we said, let's stick with the plan but somebody needs to make a play. Brendin Straubel did and got the sideline going. He made two plays. Not just the interception, but on the ensuing kickoff he caused a fumble. Goes to show, give an opportunity for him to play. They're all rooting for Brendin and he did something."
On how UCF "shut down" the Tulsa passing game:
"They were looking for the quick throws and we went to more of a trap scheme to take that away. They still did run the football and had some big runs, but we made some adjustments from a passing game standpoint. That's attributed to Coach Bresnahan in taking that away."
Commercial break.
First up, some talk about the bye week.
"It was a good time for the players and coaches have some time off. The coaches had three days off to get refreshed. The players were off the football field, but spent some time in the weight room."
Adds they did UCF vs. UCF on Thursday and got into game plan mode on Friday.
Barrett says you'd rather have a bye week in the middle of the season.
"What hurt us was the way our away games were packaged, each were back-to-back trips."
What do they focus on during the bye week?
"Maintain and getting that strength index up for the guys who have been injured. Coach Ellis and Coach Dorsey do a great job. It was three good days in the weight room."
Do players ask Barrett questions about the future?
"There's been a few guys who have talked about their situations, what they could do differently. When I formed a committee, players at individual positions handle that. We meet once a week. Everybody feels good."
What has the team done better recently?
"Main thing is competing, outside of Cincinnati. I felt we bounced back at Tulsa, showed more competitive spirit. In previous games, with that score, it would have been over. We have to take that into this game on Thursday, focus and energy, which we found in the second half vs. Tulsa."
On the second half at Tulsa:
"There were opportunities we missed in the first half. There were spurts I saw some improvements, we weren't giving up as many big plays and were moving the ball and chewing the clock. At halftime, we said, let's stick with the plan but somebody needs to make a play. Brendin Straubel did and got the sideline going. He made two plays. Not just the interception, but on the ensuing kickoff he caused a fumble. Goes to show, give an opportunity for him to play. They're all rooting for Brendin and he did something."
On how UCF "shut down" the Tulsa passing game:
"They were looking for the quick throws and we went to more of a trap scheme to take that away. They still did run the football and had some big runs, but we made some adjustments from a passing game standpoint. That's attributed to Coach Bresnahan in taking that away."
Commercial break.
