UCF defensive coordinator Travis Williams knows his defense will have their hands full this Saturday in Dallas.
SMU has the American's top offense in terms of scoring (40.1), total offense (484.0) and passing offenses (322.2) which are marks that also rank in the top 10 nationally.
Coach T-Will talks about the challenge and other defensive topics.
Another strong defensive performance against Tulane. What have you liked most about your defense these last few weeks?
"The guys are playing with an edge. That's the main thing we talk about. Just going out there and having fun. Playing for each other and with each other. Playing with an edge. We talk about a knife being dull. The knife can't cut if it's dull. We talk about playing with an edge. Super proud of the guys going by their business as far as playing with an edge. Don't worry about messing up on the play. Go out there, run around, have fun. We'll teach you football as we go."
What do you tell your guys when the offense is struggling?
"Our whole deal is fly your plane. Everyone has an individual plane to fly. So don't worry about what's going on. Just fly your plane. Worry about your technique. Worry about your job assignment. Who's struggling, who's not. We've got to fly our plane and don't even get into all of that. It's a team game. Just very proud of our guys for staying focused on their job. The coaches staying focused on their job as well."
What adjustments did you make since Kalia Davis got hurt?
"Not a lot of adjustments. Guys are stepping up. It's their time to shine and their time to go out there and play. Keeping the standard the standard. Trying to stop the run first. Making sure we stop the run. Super proud of Keenan Hester. He's done an excellent job. Cam Goode. Ricky Barber and all those guys up front. It's kind of like a next man up. Everyone has to step their level of play up. Coach Martin is doing a great job with those guys. Just super proud of how they're progressing throughout the season."
What kind of growth have you seen from Bryson Armstrong these past few weeks? I know he's in his more natural position than he was earlier in the year. He's coming off what might be his best game so far.
"He's a football player. Even when you recruit guys, you're looking for football players. He's a guy that's a definition of a football player. We had him playing Knight which is our nickel. We moved him to linebacker and he was going back and forth. Now he has a home at linebacker. He's making a lot of plays for us. He's just a football player. Super proud of him and happy that we got him."
Gus mentioned after the game that you haven't let a lot of deep balls go over your head. Is that because of the pass rush or something you're doing in the secondary?
"It's both. It's the pass rush. Coach Addison and Coach Gibbs does a good job with those guys on the back end. That's one of our bullet points every week. Keeping the top on the coverage. Doing that in this age of college football with offenses going fast and spreading it out, it's hard to keep the top on the coverage and those guys are doing a great job on the back end."
Coach Malzahn said the team is finally taking on your personality. What do you think that means?
"I don't know. We always talk about an edge. When I was a player, I tried to play with an edge. I try to coach with an edge. I try to coach with passion and excitement. I love the game of football. I love to see those guys making plays. That's why I'm jumping around. I think they're seeing me on the sideline and they're watching me, so they get extra juice out of that. I'm naturally that way. I do see them, they know okay, football is important. The week is so hard. Saturday or Friday or whenever we play, it's showtime. Let your hair down and play football. I always tell those guys, every mistake you make belongs to me except your effort, stupid penalties and being physical. If you mess up on a play, I didn't coach you right. So don't even worry about it. Just go play football. To see those guys flying around is always good."
Big Kat was on the field for every play it seemed like? For a big guy, that's impressive.
"Yes. He didn't leave the field. That was very impressive. He played every snap. Bryson and Tatum Bethune played every snap. Divaad Wilson, Quadric Bullard played every snap. I think D-Brown played every snap. A lot of those guys are playing special teams as well. Proud of those guys. Didn't have anybody tapping their helmet wanting to get out. We're short on bodies, so we need everybody to go the extra mile and a lot of those guys are."
What does it say about those guys to want to do that?
"It says something about them as individuals and their love for the team and university. Wanting to win and doing everything to win. Those guys not complaining. Going out there and doing their job. I'm proud of that. The reps they're getting and also being able to play special teams. Just going out there and playing football."
How would you grade Quadric Bullard's takeout of Coach Malzahn?
"I don't know how much he weights. I'm glad he's not 220. It would have been worse. It was different."
Did Quadric feel pretty bad about that?
"Coach and Quad kind of joked about it. Coach was joking with him, you bumped me right? Quad was like I barely touched you... They were joking about it in the team meeting. It was all fun and games."
How's coach doing?
"He's good. He's tough. You have nothing to worry about with Coach."
Quadric got his first sack. How was the rest of his night?
"He had a good overall game. He really did. I thought that was one of his best games. He did a really good job. The whole back end did a good job communicating. A lot of different shifts and things going on. We did some checks and different things where they had to communicate. I'm proud of his communication and the way he played."
Quadric Bullard, Coach Malzahn has said he's something like 157 pounds soaking wet. I know he's on the smaller side in terms of weight. Looking forward to the offseason, is he a guy that you'd like to put some pounds on and bulk up?
"We definitely don't want him 157. In the offseason we'll put weight on him. He got up to whatever he was and he lost it. He's a natural small guy like myself. I'm naturally skinny. We've got to work hard at gaining weight. Different milkshakes and things like that. It'll come. Just go find the ball, hit the ball, communicate on the back end. Let's focus on what's going on now and if the offseason we'll figure it out from there."
Back on the road, what's the challenge SMU presents your defense?
"Offensively, they've got it all. They've got a tailback that's the real deal. The quarterback is a real deal. They've got five receivers. They've got an offensive line that's really good. It's not just coach-speak. They're a really good offensive unit. The coach does a great job of calling plays. They've got real speed. It's going to be a real challenge for us. I respect their offense. You see them putting up a bunch of points and yardage. We've got to do our best to slow them down. They're a really good offense."
SMU was undefeated, but they've lost two in a row now. Is that worrisome?
"I don't think about that. I watch their film and I watch a really good offense. Whether they won a game or lost a game, those offensive players will still be out there on the field. That quarterback, offensive line and that tailback will be on the field. Whether they lost two games or all their games, I know offensively they are a really good offense. We respect everything they have going on. Shoot, we've got to come ready to play."
Coach Malzahn says not many teams get better in the second half of the season. Why is your defense getting better in the second half?
"Hats off to those players buying in and knowing it's a process. When we go make corrections, showing how much meat we left on the bone. We always talk to them about finishing the play. Look at this angle. Look at this fit. If you would fit right here or be in this alignment. Those small things. I think we've gotten better at the little things. We still have a lot of football left, but those guys are buying in and getting better. It's fun to come to work and coach those guys because they want to get better. The last couple weeks have been good. We've got to get focused on this game."
What are your weekends like when you wrap up one game and get ready for the next? The Tulane game got over around 7. Do you take that night off, then get in early on Sunday? What's the turnaround like?
"When I break from the game, I'm locked in on my family. I keep the main thing the main thing. On Sunday when we come in, we get ready for the next opponent. When I get home, it's all about my wife and those girls. Point, blank, period. It's always good to have a win and you can kind of kick back. I stay consistent. When I walk in that house, my daughters don't know if we won or lost. I'm not emotionally inconsistent. I go in there and I'm going to hung them. When I break, it's about my family. When I come into work, it's about work. That's how I am."
Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste didn't play against Tulane. What's his status?
"He'll be ready to roll. We just wanted to be cautious and not put him out there. That's the best thing for him. We'll be ready to roll this Saturday."
Tackling is a big thing. You've seen improvement there?
"We've improved. Then we had a couple plays out there where we didn't look how we wanted to look. We've still got to get better at tackling. If you get your hands on him, you get your body on him, he has to get on the ground. One thing a lot of players all over the country, their tackling with their arms instead of their legs. You have to tackle with your legs. You have to run your feet. Those are the small details. We tackled well for the most part, but we still have a standard that we want to be at. The standard that we have. If you get your hands on him, get him on the ground. We did have a few missed tackles. We still have to work towards getting better at that."
