Notes from Rhett Lashlee's show

[PonyPride]

Some of these are quotes, some are paraphrased ... but you'll get the gist:

Head coach RHETT LASHLEE
• (On his first game as head coach) "We turned it over twice, went three-and-out to start the game. There’s plenty of things to be better but when you think about Game 1, there’s usually a lot of adversity, hiccups … I think probably the thing I was most proud of was we didn’t have any offsides penalties, the offense wasn’t false-starting, delay of games … all the undisciplined things that show up in Game 1 didn’t, and we’re really happy with how the game went."

• "I really think our defense set the tone. We came out and went three-and-out, kicked the ball to them, (the defense) stopped them right away and got it right back to us. When you have a drive (and) you go three-and-out, you want to get right back on the field, and they got us right back out there."

• "We like to throw it deep — we’re not real patient. Explosive plays is what separates teams in college football, and when we can be explosive … anybody, not just us … the better we play."

• "I knew (Tanner Mordecai) was a competitor, just from being around him the last nine months, (and) he’s been that consistent since we got here, but boy, he played really well. He threw the deep ball really well. I thought his leadership was really good on the sidelines. We went three-and-out, there was no bad body language or anything — you couldn’t tell anything was wrong. He was really upbeat on the sideline — he just loves to compete. There’s nothing better than seeing him rip one of those long touchdown passes, and you look back, seeing him celebrate, because that’s what you do it for, man. They love to compete and play hard."

• (On SMU tight ends) "As Casey (Woods) said, I think our tight ends have been a really a bright spot, when you think about who we’ve lost, and maybe the lack of experience, other than Ben (Redding). Of those catches … I know Gage (Haskin) had the explosive catch, but I know R.J. (Maryland), Gage and Ben all had third-down conversion catches. So if those guys can be consistent like that, really be ‘glue guys,’ that will really open up the rest of the offense. We’ve had some really good ones come through. I look at a guy like Ben Redding — he has been here a long time. He was actually the first player, when I was hired as the OC, I sat in his living room first — that was the first one I went to see. To see him still here … he’s an incredible special teams player — he has become the leader of that room … and then to have Gage step up, and you look at a guy like R.J. Maryland … I mean, I think can see the future is going to look like some of those other guys (Kylen Granson and Grant Calcaterra), potentially."

• (On Camar Wheaton) "We had a plan to play him, probably … we had a two- or three-play package for him, really. It wasn’t until about a week before the game that he could maybe, you know, dip his toe in the water. We ended up not even having to use that package, per se, but as the game went, I don’t think we were going to keep him on the sidelines. He went in there, and it was good for him, too, I think. You look at a young man who went to school last year and didn’t really play much, so he hasn’t played football in almost two years, either, so to knock that rust off and get that confidence that he’s healthy, he can do it, I think was big for him."

• (On Nick Roberts) "He’s a guy that’s played a lot of football. That’s what you get sometimes with those older grad transfers: they’ve been there, they’ve played. It’s new, with a new team, and he played a different position than he’ll probably play when (Bryan) Massey comes back, but you wouldn’t have known it."

• (On defensive line) "Those guys did a great job of playing physical. We didn’t lose the line of scrimmage. They ran it 47 times, and averaged about 4 yards per carry. You’re not going to have a lot of sacks when they don’t throw the ball a lot. That’s what good teams do: try to take away what they do best, and I think we did a good job neutralizing the run except for one or two runs, and I felt like that was key."

• "(Lamar quarterback Mike Chandler) can hurt you with his feet, which is always scary for a defense."

• "Who we play matters, because we’re going to play some really good teams, but nothing matters if we don’t play well."

Offensive coordinator/tight ends coach CASEY WOODS
• "Tanner (Mordecai) was 'fantastic.' When coaching staff took over the team, 'Coach Lashlee did an unbelievable job holding this team together … We’re excited to have … two starting(-caliber) quarterbacks' on the roster."

• (On the hit Mordecai took in the second quarter … and the fact that he didn’t acknowledge how much it might have hurt) “If it did (phase Mordecai), Tanner wouldn’t let you know it. He’s one of the toughest guys on our team — arguably the toughest guy on our team. He battled nicks and bruises all the way through spring and summer, and he didn’t miss a workout, didn’t miss a practice, didn’t miss an opportunity to stand in front of our team. He is a warrior in every sense, and we’re sure glad he’s leading our team.”

• (On Mordecai's 51-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Kerley, which he threw away from his body while running from defenders) “I don’t know who coaches the tight ends (hint: it’s Woods), but he kind of didn’t do a very good job on protection, so (Mordecai) was running away from him and managed to step up … he made a fabulous throw.”

• (On Rashee Rice) “I’m really excited to watch Rashee go. I could say a lot of things about these older guys that have been in a leadership position … Rashee has not missed a practice since we’ve been here, has not missed a workout since we’ve ben here. He’s a guy that very easily could have used the crutch of being a great player to take breaks, and he has not done that. He has been a great leader, a great example for our young guys."

• (On the offensive line) “I thought that they were incredibly physical — that’s one of the hallmarks that we waned to be when we got here: we talked about our tempo, we talked about our physicality. The third part being execution… I think that you’ll continue to see it be a little bit fluid — I think we feel like we’ve got six starters, for sure, and probably got a seventh and eighth guy that can go in and play and finish games for us. We really like those eight guys. Obviously you’ve got to have some continuity at the center position, which we think we’ve got in Branson (Hickman), and then building around him: we’ve got three starting guards — and three starting guards that played in the SEC or ACC — and we’ve got two starting tackles and another guy that we feel good about, so … cautiously optimistic about where we are right now.”

• (On improving from UNT game) "If we sit around patting ourselves on the back, we’re going to end up not doing that in three or four weeks. We had some success, (but) it was not a clean game — there are some things we’ve got to improve on. We hit on some explosive plays that got us out in front early. (We) didn’t have to battle back, so that’s something we haven’t been tested on."