UTEP’s Sean Kugler on loss to Arkansas, this week’s game against Texas Tech

UTEP head football coach Sean Kugler spoke to the media Monday about the team’s loss to 18th-ranked Arkansas, this week’s game against Texas Tech, and more. Read Kugler’s quotes below.

(On the season-opening loss at Arkansas)
“We had a difficult trip to Arkansas. We played an outstanding team, a very talented and very deep team. They exposed us in a few areas. There are some things we need to clean up moving into this second game. I’m a firm believer that a team makes its biggest jump from its first game to its second game. It learns from its mistakes, it learns their strengths, things they can improve upon, and what they need to work on the most.

“Looking at that game, going in the formula for us was we wanted to control the clock which we did throughout the game. They did have some quick strikes in there. The telling tale of the game was three turnovers. On special teams we had two errant snaps, one that resulted in a touchdown and one resulted in a field goal. We dropped a punt, which also resulted in a field goal. So 13 points and one also eliminates an offensive drive. We gave the defense too many short fields in the second half. I told our team after the game I was proud of the way that the defense responded after giving us some big plays in the first half. By playing on a short field in the second half, especially in the third quarter, and responding and holding them to two field goals on a very short field and gave up one touchdown from the three-yard line, which was a difficult chore. We had some young guys playing in the secondary in the first half that had some eye issues on some of the play action passes and got beat. But I’m encouraged by those guys because if you saw those same guys playing in the second half they’re out there fighting, making tackles and learning from their mistakes. Guys like Michael Lewis and Kalon Beverly, I have absolutely no issue with. They’ve just got to learn from their mistakes, get coached up and get better because they are two very talented young men that have a passion for football.

“We always talk about no pre or post snap penalties. I think we had one pre-snap penalty, the young freshman [Derron] Gatewood jumped offsides and then we had one during the play penalty and really it was a penalty of aggression byNick Usher. He actually buried his guy into the ground after he ripped Usher’s helmet off and kept him buried in the ground. They called him for holding. I always tell the players, I can tolerate penalties of aggression, I just can’t tolerate penalties of stupidity. We weren’t highly penalized, two penalties for 15 yards. The other goal was to play as a team. I really felt the kids did that, I felt they competed throughout the game. The energy on the sidelines, the focus on the sidelines, these kids were fighting every down. We just were just outmatched by a superior football team. I can live with that. As long as we go out and fight every week, and fight every down, I had no issues with their effort whatsoever.

“Offensively we talk about never having any turnovers. We did have one on a batted interception, the guy made an unbelievable play, batted it up in the air and caught it. Mack [Leftwich] caught him at the three-yard line and put the defense in a short field position. They ended up scoring on that drive. We talk about catching the catchables. Really for the first time since our staff has been there, we had no drops in the game. I thought the guys that did handle the football caught the ball cleanly. Mack was 14-of-19, 64 percent. He did not take any sacks. I thought he was poised throughout the game. The other quarterbacks that handled the football, Kavika [Johnson] was 100 percent on two passes and [Ryan] Metz was 100 percent on three passes. I thought those guys were poised when they were in the game.

“The area that we did not do a good job was efficient runs. I take off the negated snaps because that comes off your rushing yardage. But even so, we only averaged 2.5 yards per rush. That’s not our formula. Our formula is four plus four equals third and two. And 2.5 plus 2.5 equals third and five. Those are unmanageable third downs. We had too many negative rushing losses. Some of those came from Kavika making decisions that he’ll learn from. But there’s probably some run reads that he wishes he had back. He tried to bounce outside and I think he learned real quick, in college football you’re not going to outrun these guys like you would in high school. He’ll learn from his mistakes there, but again, too many negative runs. We had 11 in the game and some of those came out of the wildcat formation.

“I thoughtAaron Joneswas outstanding in the game. We took him out in the fourth quarter and basically in two and a half quarters of play he had 70 yards rushing with a 4.7 average and 83 yards receiving. We’re going to continue to try to get the ball in Aaron Jones’ hands. He is as talented of a receiver and he is a running back. He looked not out of place, [but] in place in the SEC going against those guys. He’s a special player. We talked to the o-line, tight ends and fullbacks about matching their physicality. I felt we did at times. We gave up one sack in the game. That was on a naked which we should never take a sack and Kavika will learn from that mistake. But to give up no sacks against a talented defense like that was a good job. We’ve got to clean up some of the things in the run game. There were several examples of physicality in that game and I did not feel like we were out of place whatsoever versus a very talented d-line.

“We talked about handling the crowd noise. We had no snap or formation issues. I thought all three quarterbacks handled that part of the game. Usually in the first game, that’s glaring. It’s kind of like preseason in the NFL, you see flags and illegal formations. We didn’t have any of that and I attribute that to the quarterbacks. We were 50 percent on third downs, 7-of-14. Some of them were long conversions. I thought the quarterbacks and receivers did a nice job in that situation. We were 3-for-3 in red zone scores but we can’t come up with field goals. To me, field goals are a loss in the red zone. We scored one touchdown and ended up with two field goals. We’ve got to be more efficient in that area.

“Defensively, we always have to talk about stealing two possessions and creating two turnovers. We didn’t get any turnovers in that game. There were some outstanding strip attempts on the ball fumble wise, but we didn’t come up with any plays in the passing game. We talk about clean tackling and leverage. There were some outstanding individual efforts and examples of great tackling and gang tackling in that game, but there was also too many missed tackles in space, one on one situations where the blitzer comes free, they are the ones that got hit home in the hole and we’ll really work hard on that leading up to this game because that probably stood out more than anything. I thought the communication verbally, we can always continue to improve on that especially with some young guys in the secondary. We always talk about eliminating chunks. I thought we did a great job of that in the run game. They only had two +10 yard runs. They had one at the end of the half, which is pretty much a draw. That was a 70-yard run. You take that run out of there, they only average three yards a carry, a team that was averaging close to six yards a carry last year. I was very pleased with the physicality of our defensive line. I think they held the point well against what I feel is the best offensive line in the country. They weren’t outmatched there and did a nice job. We gave up too many chunk plays in the passing game. We gave up five +20 plays before those ended up resulting in touchdowns, all off of heavy run play action where a couple of our young guys lost their eyes and got beat. Those are lessons to be learned and learned quickly as we move on from the first game to the second.

“Special teams, I was pleased withJay Mattox. He was 100 percent on field goals and had a 44-yard field goal. I think he’s good from 52 in. We’ll continue to do that. I felt PAT/field goal block we’re getting close. I thoughtNick Usherwas close to blocking a couple of field goals. I judge a team’s toughness and determination by PAT/field goal block because that’s usually after a touchdown and their demeanor is down. Some teams kind of take the play off, some teams come at you. I felt our defense did that and in particular #36. Punt was an eyesore. I will say this, when we did execute the snap Luna did a great job. He was a 46.7 average and a 42 net. He continues that throughout the year, that’s going to be close to leading the conference. The kid’s got a strong leg, it was his first time in the arena. The snap issues were not his fault.Nick Dooleyhas been one of the most reliable players on our team since I’ve been here. He had two bad snaps. That’s going to happen in a game. Guess what, ifAaron Jonesfumbles twice in a game, I’m not going to fireAaron Jones. I’ve just got to have confidence and faith that he’s going to correct those issues and move on from there. There was an errant snap backed up that resulted in a touchdown. There was an errant snap on a fake that if you see it on film it’s kind of sickening, because we had it set up about as perfectly as we could, it would’ve been a big gainer and possibly a touchdown. It was an errant snap, which again put the defense on a short field which resulted in a field goal. You can’t do that against any opponent, much less a team as talented as Arkansas because they’re going to take advantage of those opportunities. I was disappointed in that.

“Punt returner, we had a turnover by the freshman. That’s one thing I cannot tolerate, the first thing we talk about is catching the punt before we worry about anything and we put one on the ground. There will probably be a change made there. We’ll probably go withJaquan WhiteandWarren Redixas the punt returner. We’ve got to keep in mind too thatNik Needhamplayed every snap on defense and really did a hell of a job. We’ve got to get that substituted out as far as this next game. Our kickoff coverage unit, they had a couple of good returns and a 27-yard average. That’s below our standards, we want to keep teams inside the 20. Our kickoff returns, we had a couple of good returns, one was negated by a penalty on Usher which again, I can tolerate because he was playing hard. We’ve got to create more lanes. We had some issues on the front line maintaining our blocks. We’re going to look at some different personnel up front to try to get the right mix in there because we’ve got a really talented returner that we feel can pop it at any time. So the turnover really killed us on special teams, the snaps, and the dropped punt. It really was the story of the second half. I thought offensively in the first half we kept them off balance and really moved the ball well. We really didn’t get any possessions in the third quarter, when you have a batted pass for an interception you lose that possession, when you drop a punt you lose that possession. We lost and we probably would’ve had a continued drive on the fake punt. So we lost three possessions and ended up giving them three score opportunities. You’re not going to beat anybody doing that. We’ve got to eliminate those types of mistakes. Do I trust these guys are going to do that? Absolutely. Do I trustNick Dooleyis going to come back and have a great game snapping? Absolutely. My main focus was I wanted these guys to fight and compete for four quarters. You turn on the film and they did. I have no issues whatsoever with our team’s effort. Our focus is cleaning up our mistakes and moving on to our next opponent, which is a good one.”

(On Texas Tech)
“They are as explosive and fast-paced of an offense as there is in the country. They have nine returners back on offense. Seventy-eight percent of their offensive production from last year returns intact. They are explosive, they scored 59 points versus Sam Houston. They are a fast strike team, they scored 28 points in the second quarter alone. They will run the ball as well as pass it. They had 611 yards against a very good Sam Houston State team. They were 56 percent on third downs. They were 3-of-4 in red zone touchdowns. All the formula you put in offense, this is an explosive fast-paced offense. They only gave up one sack in 57 attempts. They have a very experienced offensive line. They have four or five returning starters. Three of those guys were nominated for All-Big 12 heading into the season. Two of them are captains, their center and their left tackle are their two best linemen.

“It all starts at quarterback for them. The guy who played last year against us, Webb, is the backup now. I can see why they made the switch to the other guy Mahomes. He is more mobile in the pocket. He gives them the ability to run. He had 48 yards rushing and a 9.6 average in the last game. This guy can escape and create plays and throws well on the move. In the game last week he was 33-of-53, four touchdowns and one interception with a 62 percent completion percentage. This guy is accurate, he gets the ball out quickly and they have some explosive weapons. The running back is very talented. He was the first rusher there since 1998 to have 1,000 yards rushing. He also had 328 yards receiving so he’s a dual threat. In the first game he had 74 yards and a 5.7 average. This guy is an explosive guy, he’s the guy who took the draw at the end of the game last year. He can scoot. They have a stable of receivers. #6, a little bit taller receiver, he was their leading receiver last year with 589 yards, seven touchdowns. In the first game this year he had 150 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions with a long of 64. This guy is explosive. This #11 who was also their kick returner, he’s 5-6, 168 pounds and he’s dynamic as a receiver and kick returner. Last year he had 938 yards and four touchdowns. He returned a 94-yard touchdown in this past game as a kick returner. He also had six receptions for 79 yards. This guy is an explosive football player. And #12 Sadler, a bigger receiver at 200 pounds, he had five receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns against Sam Houston last week. They’ve got some explosive weapons, an experienced offensive line, a dynamic runner and a quarterback that plays in their system perfectly.

“Defensively they return seven starters. They do have a new defensive coordinator so we’re going to be facing a new scheme. Their coordinator came from the University of Houston, we have studied a lot of their schemes. A lot of that has translated into what they showed against Sam Houston. They’ll give you a mixture of four and three down looks. They have the talent to do that. They did have some disruptive plays. They had two sacks, five tackles for losses versus Sam Houston. They forced two interceptions and two fumbles. They’re doing a little bit more movement, a little bit more pressure. They play a single safety middle and load up the box to stop the run. They did give up some points versus an outstanding Sam Houston offense. They were 40 percent on third downs and 56 percent in red zone scores. They’ve got some talent on defense, a lot of the same faces we saw last year. #9 Jackson, defensive end is a two-year starter. He had a sack last week for them. Their captain, the MIKE linebacker is their best linebacker. This guy has a motor. He’s a sideline to sideline player. Last week he had 10 tackles and a tackle for loss. Probably their best end was suspended for the first game, #10 Robertson. He is going to be back against us. We faced him last year. Very good player, he was second team All-Big 12 and led the Big 12 in sacks. I’m sure they’re excited about having him for our game. They’ve got an outstanding corner in Gaines. He had seven tackles and one interception for 47 yards last week. Their free safety Ward is an all-conference candidate. He had seven tackles versus Sam Houston. They have a lot of talent on their defense. Working with a new scheme, we’re certain their focus is going to be on stopping #29 because he had an outstanding game against them last year.

“The formula is going to be the same. We have to control the clock versus this team, we have to have efficient drives, and for us to do that we have to be efficient in our run game and we have to be efficient in our play action passes off the run game because they are such a quick strike scoring offense. Special teams, I already mentioned the wide receiver Grant. Three returns, 136 yards and a 94-yard touchdown that looked like a Madden play with a joystick. He was all over the place. He made that touchdown on his own. Unbelievable play. Their punt returner had three returns for 18 yards, long of nine. He is a good returner. Their kicker had a 27-yard field goal last week. Their punter is outstanding, 47 yard average with a long of 60. He booted one inside the 20, and their coverage units were strong in this past game. Kickoff cover had one return for nine yards and punt cover, Sam Houston only had two returns for -3 yards. So outstanding coverage units, a dynamic kick returner and punt returner. It’s going to be a challenge for us on special teams. Our main focus right now is getting better from our first game to our second game, eliminating the mistakes that we made and correcting them. I really feel strongly about our coaching staff being great teachers and teaching these young guys to learn from their mistakes. I can live with mistakes. I really can. I want guys that can learn from mistakes. If it’s the same guys repeatedly making mistakes over and over again, then you’ve got to think about making a switch. But I’ll always give a guy a second chance when it comes to mistakes. These young men that made some of those mistakes, I have no doubt that they’re going to work their tails off to correct it.”

(Do you do anything different schematically to get the defensive backs help?)
“To be honest with you, they did a lot more play action passing than we anticipated going into the game. They were a heavy, heavy run-oriented team and they had a great game plan. They went hard play action. We’re facing a little bit different cat this week, where you just line up and know they’re throwing and their run game is based off their pass game. It’s a little bit different when you know the passes are coming at you. You’re in man coverage, schematically yes, we can mix in man and zone to alleviate that and give guys help at different times and try not to show pressures. When you do it against a team that you bear down for in the run game and they do heavy play action, sometimes your eyes get lost, especially when you’re a younger guy and a little less experienced. But Arkansas to Texas Tech, it’s like going from a tank to a Ferrari really. It’s just two totally opposite teams.”

(On defending Texas Tech)
“When you say protecting the scheme, they’ve got concepts that they do out of their passing game and run game, and we’ve got to be really on top of those concepts. But as far as the players within those concepts, they’ve got playmakers all over the field. So you do have to take away their top guys, but it’s kind of pick your poison. They’ve got a running back that can take it to the house at any time. They’ve got four or five wideouts that are explosive. That’s how they’re built. And they’re a fast paced team. We’re going to have to really work hard in practice to simulate that speed. We’re actually going to run two huddles at our defense whenever we get in a live setting period to simulate the fast tempo. Because it’s different when you go from a slow paced team like Arkansas that runs the clock down much like we do, and then all of a sudden you’re playing Texas Tech and they’re up on the ball and getting their calls from the sideline and they’re going and going. You have to simulate that in practice, which we’ll do.”

(On Mack Leftwich’s performance at Arkansas)
“[On the interception] he had the right read, he had the right signal on. It probably would’ve been about a five yard gain. I think he timed up his stroke, the guy was just a long guy and made an outstanding play. I can live with that. I thought he was outstanding in the game managing the throws. One thing he can work on and we’re going to work on hard this week is making a quicker decision on the play action nakeds and getting the ball in the flat and not always worrying about the home run. Getting the ball in the flat and taking your read. But accuracy, I really felt he only had one bad throw. A couple of balls he threw out of bounds and were the right decisions because it was covered down one time on a jail break. They kind of grabbed our guy. It would’ve been scary to throw it in there. I think from a decision-making standpoint, overall our quarterbacks were 74 percent, which is the highest since I have been here. So I was very pleased with all of them overall. Kavika has got some runs reads that he needs to iron out, but again that’s a growing process for a guy that was in his first arena playing against Arkansas.”

(On coaching at his alma mater, like Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury)
“I don’t view it as pressure. I enjoy going to work every single day. I love it here. I played here, coached here for nine years as an assistant, this is a second home to me. Really it is my home, you know what I mean? I’m sure he feels the same way about his school. There is extra pride. You may take a loss a little bit harder than somebody who’s not attached to that school. But I enjoy every day I get up and go to work here and I’m sure Kliff Kingsbury does the same thing. It’s just something special when you’re coaching your alma mater. When you step out on that field and you’ve been out there 100 times, when you go in the Sun Bowl and you’ve run every stadium because coach Stull disciplined you when you were a player, it’s a little bit more important to you.”

(On the importance of controlling the clock against Texas Tech)
“I think it’s even more important this game because this team can score points quickly. They’ve done it against everybody. They’re built that way. That’s their formula. Our formula is a little bit opposite. You’re probably going to see two complete opposite philosophies this week. And that’s OK. They do what they do and we do what we do. We’re going to have to do a great job defending it and we’re going to have to do a great job on offense executing our game plan and not having any turnovers. That’s going to be the key to this game. We cannot have any turnovers. We’re -3 on the year and that’s not the formula for us to win.”

(On Garrett Simpson’s injury status)
“Garrett is still hobbled up. He had a real high ankle sprain and sometimes those take two or three weeks. We’re going into the week with Metz as the no. 2 and hoping that Garrett progresses. And I’m comfortable with Metz. I thought he went in there and did a really good job.”

(On Kavika Johnson)
“It comes down to decision making for Kavika. I trust he can make any throw or any run, he just has to make the right decisions. He saw those things on film. He’s a very conscious young man. I think he’s going to bounce back and make even better decisions. He’ll be a part of this game plan moving forward. He’ll be a part of every game plan moving forward. I love having his athleticism on the field. He’s a competitive kid.”

(On Terry Juniel’s injury status)
“I hope we get him back next week for New Mexico State. I don’t think it’s a realistic thing. He actually had to go through a time frame before he could have his next doctor’s appointment, which will be at the end of this week. If they clear him, hopefully we’ll have him back. He can be another added weapon offensively. The thing I’m most excited about is why we brought him here. He’s a dynamic punt returner.”

(On the starting corners for this week)
“We’re going to monitor Traun [Roberson]. He did run yesterday and he looked pretty good. I hope we have Traun back in the game. There are going to be so many different personnel packages. When they go four wide receivers, we’re essentially going to be in dime. The outside guys could be Da’Carlos [Renfro], could be Traun, could be Kalon Beverly and Needham. One or two of those guys is bumped inside. It will be a mixture of those guys along with [Trent] Trammell. I haven’t lost any confidence in those young guys, they just need to play, they need experience, and they need to learn from their mistakes.”

(On playing Texas Tech close last year)
“I don’t think I have to remind [our players]. They remember it. Each year is a different year, each year is a different team. We’re going to approach this as a different game. We’re going on the road in a hostile environment, and we’re going against a quality Big 12 team and one of the most explosive offenses in the country. We’ve got to prepare for that. I don’t have rear view mirrors. I don’t look backwards. I look forwards and I want my team to have the same mentality.”

(On the West Texas rivalry with Texas Tech)
“I love it. It would be great to have them in the future. Our fans can get to the games. Last year they brought a large contingent of fans when they came to our game. Just recruiting a lot of the same areas of players, it would be a great rivalry for us, much like playing New Mexico State and New Mexico. Those types of rivalries are healthy.”

Source: UTEP Athletics