Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Louisiana-Monroe

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army West Point football head coach Jeff Monken met virtually with members of the local media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference inside Nowak Auditorium.

The Black Knights will look to build off of their season-opening 42-0 win over Middle Tennessee State when they host Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Michie Stadium. The game will be aired on CBS Sports Network.

Army West Point Football Head Coach Jeff Monken

(ref: Opening Statement)
"We are once again thrilled for the opportunity to play this weekend. With (the state of) college football and college sports and the state of our nation, we are thrilled to be playing this game and have an opportunity for our players. I thought last weekend our guys played really well. As I anticipated, we found a hundred things wrong that we have to fix, and we are going to work on those this week. I am very pleased with the effort that our guys put into it. I thought for a team that hadn't had a chance to be together for spring practice and particularly for our defense who really only had the benefit of walkthroughs and a few weeks of practice leading up to the game, I thought we played really well. I am happy with the opening game, but there is a tremendous amount that we need to improve on, and we are going to need to this week.

This team that we are playing is a very athletic team and a very well-coached team. I am very impressed with them as a program and the job coach Viator has done. They create some issues for defenses with what they do on offense. It is really good and really creative. Defensively they are very athletic. They have a defensive coordinator now who has experience with playing against the option and that is always a concern because I think one of the advantages of running this offense is the fact that it is not seen by other teams as often as a traditional offense. He has some experience with it, so I know that they are going to have their team ready and I'm sure because it is their opening game that they will be sky high about playing just as our guys were on Saturday."

(ref: on Tyrell Robinson's performance vs. MTSU)
"That kid is a lightning bolt. He is fast and quick, and I think a really good player. Hopefully he will improve and he will continue to get better. I think he's got a great future ahead of him. We certainly had the thought that we were going to have the chance to help us win the football game and he did. From his opening run on the first play that he took with that reverse where he made that guy miss. That player from Middle Tennessee was in great position and Tyrell just made a great move and made him miss and got positive yards. He really had some great plays on Saturday. I'm excited he is on our team. There are things he can improve on for sure, but it was a great start."

(ref: on ULM's Offense)
"They are very athletic. We have some coaches on our staff that coached against them a year ago from two different schools and they have great respect for their program and their coaching staff. They do a great job on offense. They are very imaginative, and they spread the ball around. They have a number of running backs that are very talented and are good players. Just overall, watching them on special teams and how well they run and cover kicks, they are a very athletic and fast football team."

(ref: on Connor Bishop's performance and how the offensive line played as a whole on Saturday)
"I thought the offensive line really played a good game and he wasn't the only one. He just really stood out because it was his first start and he's playing a new position. A year ago as a freshman, we practiced him some with the travel squad. He may have gotten a rep or two on PAT/field goal protection, but he was playing offensive guard. We felt in assessing who we had, the personnel, that he was one of the best players that we have at this point and that we wanted to get him on the field. The most logical place to put him, based on the experience of the other guys that we have, is center. And so he learned the new position. He learned to snap the ball which isn't easy. He really did a good job this preseason camp. He's got a lot of improvements to make as you'd expect out of a guy playing a brand new position, but I thought he did a nice job. He had 20 knock downs, which is a lot in one game, but Mike Johnson who played right next to him at left guard also had 20 knock downs. Peyton Reeder and JB Hunter they both had double-digit knock downs. So, I thought the offensive line really played a good game. It was just a really solid performance overall for a first game, not just the offensive line but for everybody. I'm always glad to see those guys play well and be recognized for the job they do because often it's a thankless job that doesn't go noticed until something bad happens. Usually if they're doing their job and they're blocking people, there's a whole bunch of other people getting credit for scoring touchdowns and making plays."

(ref: on if there were any surprising performances on Saturday and what he learned about the team)
"I don't know that I would call it a surprise, but there were some performances by guys that we were really pleased with. To see some of the young guys that had never started before, to be playing for the first time in their career at their positions I was very encouraged. To see Julian McDuffie and Caleb John, who have been around the program, those guys got their first starts at corner. Connor Bishop, who we mentioned, the freshmen like Isaiah Alston and Tyrell Robinson (they all played well). I was thrilled to see Amadeo West out there playing again and see how much he means to this team with the leadership he's provided for this program over the last eight months or so. He's just an incredible guy and I'm glad he's on our team. I thought Christian Anderson and Jemel Jones both played really well at quarterback. There's some young running backs like Anthony Adkins and Jakobi Buchanan -- those guys were both freshmen a year ago and the maturity they have, will get them a little more playing time. Cedrick Cunningham Jr. I thought played a great football game. He's really been a backup since he's been here. It's nice to see him coming into his own there. Jon Rhattigan making a great play. That was his first start there -- he's a senior. I could go on about a lot of guys. I don't know if there were surprises. We kind of recognized that those guys were developing and that they were going to have a chance to help us and I'm just glad they played well. And I thought we played as well as we could have expected in an opening game. As I've said there's a hundred things that need fixing and we're going to work on them this week. I think that's the case often in an opening game and I'm pleased that we were able to win the game and still make some of the mistakes that we made."

Army West Point Athletics

Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Louisiana-Monroe

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Adkins

Isaiah Alston

Christian Anderson

Connor Bishop

Jakobi Buchanan

Cedrick Cunningham Jr.

JB Hunter

Caleb John

Mike Johnson

Jemel Jones

Julian McDuffie

Peyton Reeder

Jon Rhattigan

Tyrell Robinson

Amadeo West

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