UTSA postgame quotes and notes

[Kyle M. Stephens]

University of Texas at San Antonio Football Media Conference

Saturday September 8, 2018
Frank Wilson
Q. I know you don't believe in moral victories, but the team played better than week one. What did you say to your team in the locker room?
HEAD COACH FRANK WILSON: Far from being complacent or content; the object is to win the football game, but before the game, here is what I said to our team; that you go out and you compete. You put yourselves in position; we'll put you in position to make plays and when those plays are called upon you to make, you make them, to the best of your ability; and if we go out and play to the best of our ability, we'll live with whatever the results may be.

I thought our team took a step in the right direction. I thought we were vastly improved from a week ago. You know, from a defensive standpoint, we were more stout from a rush defense, but what happens when you do that, you put defensive backs on an island, and for the most part, you know, I thought we did tackle, once the ball was caught underneath.

Balls weren't necessarily going down the field over our head. We gave up some stuff underneath, but they needed to show us that they could be that disciplined, that methodical to go down the field and earn it, as opposed to compromising and allowing balls to be deep down the field.

So we tackled better than we did a week ago and that was evidence from the rush game standpoint. I thought offensively, we took steps in the right direction. Still not quite there yet.

And at the end of the day, here is what I said to our team: When we're good enough, we'll be good enough and right now, we're not good enough to have earned a victory, but we are better today than we were last Saturday.

Q. Keeping along the same lines, with Cordale tonight, compared to last week, it seemed like he felt better, he felt more confident, looked more confident out on the field. Did you see that?
HEAD COACH FRANK WILSON: I did. I thought he tried to compose himself. It wasn't a perfect game by him, but he was a little more precise. Had a few throws that were errant in some regard, but I thought he managed the game well. I thought he showed poise and leadership for our football team and was able to mount together several drives that were double digits and when you're able to do that, it speaks to the discipline of your football team. I thought his day was much him proved.

Q. I know you were talking about defending the dome and all of that, as Matt Rhule was walking back, he turned around to the police officers that he was -- that were escorting him back and he said, you know, it's the loudest place I've ever played in since I played in the Big 12.
HEAD COACH FRANK WILSON: I think he's a stud. Matt Rhule is a good guy. Had a chance to visit with him right before the game, and always very respectful of our football program and what we're doing, and the feelings are mutual. I think his team is much improved from a year ago, as well.

And it takes time. It takes time to do it the right way. But I think it was a tremendous compliment and a testament to our city and our fan base who are loud, who are rowdy, if you will, and felt good to be home and to have that type of support from this city and if we can continue to have; that this team -- I think it was a big part of why we played well at times; that we're able to lean in and to listen to the rally cry from our fans.

Q. Watching the battle between Baylor's receivers and your corners, your guys were playing hard all night but were out-physicaled in some situations. What did you tell your corners? Did you have a message for them?
HEAD COACH FRANK WILSON: No, I did not isolate them and tell them what they did wrong, at all. I spoke to our team as a whole, and spoke about the improvement we've made. We'll go back and watch this film, and throughout, across the board, we'll identify those things that we need to improve upon and will improve on them.

But no, I didn't point anything out to them, what they did wrong on this night post-victory at this point.

Q. What about B.J. Daniels? Seemed like a pretty solid guy.
HEAD COACH FRANK WILSON: I thought he ran with physicality. I thought he made a lot of nice cuts. He ran with ball security, good pad level and showed the reason why we recruited him. I thought his production was really good today. Stepped in, Jalen Rhodes got a little dinged, so he wasn't 100 percent tonight.

You know, our starting left guard was down toward and we had a young Jacob Graner walk-on, left guard, started for us today and I thought he did an admirable job.

But just really proud of the direction that our team is headed in. We'll need to continue. We are a constant work-in-progress, but we'll get there.

Q. What about this quarterback from Baylor? Just two weeks in a row, just really good facing really good quarterbacks. Do you think that's going to help your defensive backfield as you move forward this week?
HEAD COACH FRANK WILSON: Yeah, I thought -- he was a really good high school player, and played in the back end for that team, the last four games I believe he started, and you saw his accuracy and his ability to run and throw.

So really quality quarterback that we faced for the second week in a row. I think certainly iron sharpens iron and when we play the type of teams we're playing, we'll only get better because of it.

Q. What about Jared Sackett? He hit 46 (yard) and 47 (yard) field goals, that's a big deal.
HEAD COACH FRANK WILSON: Yeah, that's a big deal, and he was very confident. He tried to get me to let him go for one that was 52. I said, "Easy, Big Boy." (Laughter).

He's been that way in practice consistently. He's able to hit them for us in practice and it's one of the reasons he was able to go in there, Freshman All-American, Freshman All Conference Honors; is a true freshman. We like his consistency and his approach in the game. There's no moment too big for him, and he actually doubled duty, as well as kickoff tonight.

Thank you guys so much.


B.J. Daniels
Cordale Grundy
Q. Cordale, you looked pretty comfortable in the offense today. Can you describe what you were seeing out there in tonight's game?
CORDALE GRUNDY: Yeah, I'm pretty comfortable, you know, at this point. My job is to lead everybody else on the team, offense and defense, and just execute and be consistent out there. I'm pretty comfortable in the offense.

Q. How do you feel y'all did out there overall? You got behind the 8-ball a little bit early. They got ten quick ones on you, but you all hung in there pretty tough. How do you think you did overall as a team?
CORDALE GRUNDY: Overall as a team, I love our fight that we had. We kept -- even though we were down, we kept fighting. Never gave up. We didn't get off to the start offensively that we wanted but they did a good job of fighting, I think on both sides of the ball. Love the way we fought and we kept competing, and we definitely progressed today in this game and definitely got better. I definitely believe that.

Q. Tonight was the second-largest crowd in history. What did that mean for you guys and what did it do for you in the game?
CORDALE GRUNDY: It meant everything for the players and the coaching staff. It's great to see this football team grow nationally and thankful for the fans coming out. It's important to us. Love to see all them back. First conference game is in two weeks. Thankful for the fans. Thank all of them for being here. Even for the Fan Walk, there was a lot of people. It was a great atmosphere, and I love playing in front of them.

B.J. DANIELS: Just looking at the crowd, it was beautiful. Even the top row had a bunch of people. It was great. Made everyone play a little bit harder and get one for the fans.

Q. Cordale, did the game count slow? Last week it was like rush hour. Did it slow down a little bit for you? Do you feel maybe things slowed down a little bit?
CORDALE GRUNDY: Most definitely. Things start to slow down and I was able to get more comfortable, and just go out there and play my game and do what I was coached to do.

So yeah, I agree with you, things most definitely slowed down. More comfortable.



UTSA Postgame Notes

• With a crowd of 42,071, it marked the second-largest crowd in UTSA program history and the largest since 56,743 for the program debut in 2011.

• The Roadrunners are 4-4 in home openers and entered Saturday having won two consecutive home openers.

• UTSA is 22-20 all-time at home and 7-5 under Coach Frank Wilson.

• The Roadrunners are 0-1 in its blue/white unfirom combination with white helmets and 3-3 all-time.

• UTSA won the previous meeting with Baylor in 2017 in Waco, Texas.

• Sophomore Jared Sackett booted a career-long 47-yard field goal in the first quarter. It ties Sean Ianno (Sept. 1, 2012) for the fourth-longest kick in UTSA history.

• Sackett connected from 46 yards in the second quarter, tying him for the fifth-longest in program annals.

• Sackett is 3-for-3 in 2018 and 22-for-25 in his career. He is 7-for-9 from 40-49 yards in his career.

• Sacket tis 26 of 27 in his career in PAT attempts.

• Sophomore DL Jaylon Haynes recorded his first career sack.

• Senior RB Jalen Rhodes had a season-best 27-yard rush. Rhodes rushed twice for 31 yards.

• Sophomore RB B.J. Daniels had a career-long 36-yard rush. Daniels set career highs with 16 rushes for 90 yards, including his second touchdown of the year.

• Senior S C.J. Levine notched four tackles, including one for a loss. He has four career tackles for a loss. Levine also had his first career quarterback hurry.

• Junior DE Jarod Carter-McLin recorded his fourth career tackle for a loss.

• Junior S Andrew Martel tied his career high with five tackles.

• Senior DT Kevin Strong Jr. totaled his first tackle for a loss of 2018 and the 21st of his career.

• Senior WR Greg Campbell Jr. caught a team-high four balls for 62 yards.

• Senior S Darryl Godfrey finished with six tackles, one shy of his career best.

• Sophomore S Brenndan Johnson broke up his first pass of the year and the second of his career. Johnson also had a tackle for a loss, giving him a team-best 2.5 in 2018 and 3.5 in his career.

• Junior QB Cordale Grundy connected on his first touchdown pass in his second career start. He was 18-for-33 for 150 yards.

• Junior CB Clayton Johnson had seven tackles, a career-high, and broke up his first career pass.

• Senior LB Les Marauo broke up his first career pass.

• Senior Yannis Routsas booted a career-long 63 yard punt. Routsas has 26 career punts of at least 50 yards.

• Junior WR Blaze Moorhead hauled in his first career touchdown catch. He now has nine catches for 92 yards in his career.

Junior DT King Newton recovered his first fumble of the year and the second of his career.

• Sophomore DE Lorenzo Dantzler recorded his first career sack and forced fumble in the second quarter. Dantzler finished with three tackles and two for a loss.

• Broadcast on Facebook through CBS Sports Network, UTSA has been broadcast in 62 consecutive games.

• Saturday marked UTSA’s 85h all-time game with the Roadrunners owning a 38-46 record.

• UTSA captains were seniors Greg Campbell Jr. and Larry Stephens and junior Josiah Tauefa.

• UTSA will return to action on Saturday, traveling to face Kansas State at 3 p.m. CT with the game televised live on Fox Sports.






Kyle Stephens
Associate AD/Communications
UTSA Athletics
One UTSA Circle
San Antonio, Texas 78249
o: 210-458-4551
m: 210-887-3636
w: http://goUTSA.com

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