Chad Morris
– Morris kicks off his press conference by thanking the fans, who brought the energy and made things surreal for him, the staff and the players.
– After film review, there's a lot of improving to do, Morris said. There are plenty of mistakes to correct, and he credited Kim Dameron and his players for those. "It's never as good as you think it is, and it's never as bad as you think it is."
– Defensively, he was proud of the relentless pursuit to the football and creating the five turnovers. Morris said it's the most turnovers one of his teams have created in a game.
– Scoota Harris was the defensive player of the game, Morris said. He added Dre Greenlaw was on track to break a record before his injury. TJ Smith and Santos Ramirez were also players of the game on the defensive side of the ball.
– Morris said the defense played too many snaps on Saturday, particularly in the first half. Forty-six snaps is too many.
– Ty Storey was the offensive player of the game. Morris said his entrance to the game was scripted. He was going to go in on the fourth series. Cole Kelley was a great teammate, Morris said, and was encouraging Ty the entire time. Looking at Cole's performance, he did some really good things and he's excited about both of those guys.
– The offensive line didn't get much push on double teams in the run game. That's an area of focus this week. All that said, there were a number of components that went into the running game not getting going. Morris added the offense played behind the sticks too often, and you have to be more efficient.
– Both quarterbacks will play this weekend. Storey has earned the right to get the first team reps in practice to get Week 2 started.
– The snap, the hold and the kick was essentially flawless Saturday. No one thinks about that kind of thing until someone misses a kick, but Morris was pleased with Jordan Silver, Connor Limpert and Jack Lindsey for their play. The punting unit has to improve. One punt downed inside the 10, Morris said, helped set up the defensive touchdown by Briston Guidry.
– On Colorado State: We're going to get their absolute best. Don't let their record fool you. This is a group that we are not going to take lightly. Morris says the Rams have a couple of electric receivers. The defense returns six starters and it has nine guys with "major game experience." We are going into their environment, so we're expecting to get their best. We have great respect for their coaching staff. We have our work cut out for us, but this is about Arkansas, and we have to focus on getting better.
– On playing at altitude: Morris has talked to a number of coaches who have played out there. He's talked with former SMU receiver Courtland Sutton, who is a Denver Bronco. You have to stay hydrated, but we're not going to make too big of a deal of it.
– Injuries: Ryder Lucas, Mike Woods are back. Dre Greenlaw (ankle) is day-to-day, and so is Randy Ramsey. Cheyenne O'Grady (suspension) will be back, too.
– One day one receiver may have a big day, then the next the other will. "That's the glory of this offense," Morris said.
– Secondary play: Ryan Pulley was targeted four times and made each play. It was good to get Myles Mason and Joe Foucha in there. Chevin Calloway gave up a pair of scores and was a bit inconsistent, but he battled back. "We better be on our game this weekend. There's no position that doesn't need to get some work this week."
– Jordan Jones' speed is dynamic and he can take the lid off the defense. We'll look at Dre, but I was pleased with Bumper Pool. He's got a chance to be a good player. There were a few mistakes on his part.
– Morris: I don't know how much of an advantage having played two games is or playing on Friday night and having an extra day to prepare.
John Chavis
– "I'm very excited about the win. It was not perfect. ... We gave up too much yardage in the run game, and gave up six explosive plays. We've got to eliminate those plays from the game."
– Bumper came in and did a good job. It was a growing experience, and he was in on about 39 plays. When your number is called, you've got to be ready. Michael Taylor and Gabe Richardson are young, too, if you take into account how much actual football they've played. Practice reps have to be taken seriously. Young guys played well, and there were young guys all over, but that was exciting.
– I've got tremendous respect for Mike Bobo. They've gone to a little bit of a spread look, and they have two quarterbacks. Quarterbacks coached by Bobo are going to be ready, Chavis said. They've got good receivers - too many to mention - and 3-4 who could play anywhere.
– Our pressure wasn't where it needed to be, for reasons I'm not going to talk about. "We didn't sell the house." We have some young men who have played very little and are learning in the scheme. The players are giving great effort.
– Being in the box is a different atmosphere, and he feels he can do his job best up there because he has guys on the field he trusts.
– Raking the ball out is what every staff coaches, but it takes player buy-in. It's going to be a part of what we do everything. Aside from tackling, it's probably the second-most aspect we pay attention to.
– Chavis then joked that he thought Dre Greenlaw should have had 15 tackles in the first quarter. "That's Dre. It means a lot to him, and I was excited to see him play that way."
– We had some misalignments defensively in the run game Saturday. Colorado State will run some zone read stuff, and they'll throw out some big personnel with tight ends and two backs, or two of each. Their run game is "big boy football." He anticipates seeing more downhill runs from the Rams.
Joe Craddock
– EIU did some things early on that didn't show up on film. There were a lot of firsts, like sitting next to different people in the box. Just a lot of newness, but we did a good job. We've got to be able to run the ball, and it's not all on the offensive line. It's the first game, though, and we'll iron out those issues.
– Craddock is proud of the quarterbacks and did some good things, but needed to hit a couple more throws he wishes he had back. Ty came in and, on third down, stepped up and made a big throw that sparked us. He's proud of the way Cole was there for the team and Ty when the offense took off.
– Craddock talked to Jared Cornelius and said defenses are going to look a certain way and cover up different guys, and it's about taking what the defense gives us. The receptions will come, and they're not going to lock in just on a couple of guys. Sixty-seven plays isn't really what we want, but a couple of defensive turnovers knocked out more plays, which is perfectly fine with him.
– On Colorado State's defense: They saw two different offenses in the first two weeks, and it's kind of a mixture of what we do. Looking at personnel, the year hasn't started off the way they want it to, but that makes them dangerous, he said. They have some big guys who can run, and they do a good job with their scheme. We're going to have to find their adjustments against us.
– I love playing on the road, Craddock said. It's everyone in the stadium versus you on the road. That's what is awesome about the game of football.
– Chad has done a good job talking to a bunch of people about the altitude we'll see Saturday, but it is what it is. We'll hydrate and be ready for that.
– Hjalte did really good at center minus a couple of snaps. He did well hitting the quarterbacks in the chest with balls. He did a nice job up front.