Middle Tennessee Head Coach Rick Stockstill

Hear the entire press conference:

Below is from MTSU

Opening Statement:
We have a big game this week as we are taking on Old Dominion; they are coming off a big win over the conference champion last year in Rice. We had a good practice yesterday, we'll go again today. It's a short week so we have to cram an extra day in there. Really excited about this opportunity, Old Dominion is a good football team, they're sitting at 3-1 and they're tied with us in the eastern division at 1-0 in the conference. They've sold out their stadium on a consistent basis, the last two or three years every game has been sold out, it's the white out game for them, it's their first home conference game, it's a national television game so there will be a lot of excitement but we can't worry about that; we have to play our game. They have a really good quarterback that has seen a lot of snaps but they do a good job running the ball too. They are experienced on defense, especially on the back end. They've got three seniors and a junior in the secondary.

On the short week:
It does change a little bit, especially with coming back from Memphis so late. We watched film on the bus as coaches on Old Dominion to prepare for them. We went a little longer yesterday, Monday is normally a day off but we are practicing today but more of a Tuesday practice. Where you really lose some time is your meeting time. The players are doing a great job of taking care of their bodies, they are hydrating and getting in the cold tubs and doing the things that they have to do.

On Old Dominion's quick progression:
They've done a good job. For one they've got phenomenal facilities. If you look at their facilities you would have thought they've been around a lot longer. They're in a great recruiting area up in Virginia Beach so they are able to attract some really good players.

On bouncing back from Memphis loss:
Obviously you'd like to win it. The thing is it is always about us. We talk about that all the time. I'm going to give Memphis a ton of credit, they're a really good football team and they played UCLA close and they beat us. We had our chances, we didn't execute and we didn't play well enough to win the game but they had something to do with it. We had a setback but we aren't going to dwell, we are going to pick ourselves up and get ready for Old Dominion this week.

On stopping Old Dominion's quarterback:
I don't know that you do. Not a lot of people have had a lot of success stopping him not only this year but the past couple to three years. He's really talented, he's a good player, he's smart with the football, he's accurate with the football I think he's thrown one interception this year so he's done a good job protecting the ball. The thing we've got to do defensively is that we have to keep the ball in front of us. We can't give up the big play, the explosion plays that they are so capable of making.

On preparing the guys for the crowd:
You don't throw anything out, I always tell them what to expect. I told them yesterday they have a 22,000 seat stadium that's been sold out for three years. I tell them all of that just so they know. We just try to prepare them for everything.

On protecting the ball:
It's hard to control how many turnovers you get defensively but on offense you control that. We've had three very unfortunate ones but at the end of the day they are still turnovers. We've got to do a better job of protecting the ball.

On T.T. Barber:
I think T.T.'s played well. His worst game of the year was probably Minnesota. He didn't play up to his standards but still had a bunch of tackles. T.T. is a really good football player, he's very instinctive, he's smart, he's a good tackler, he's a physical tackler and he understands the game and plays hard.

On value of nationally televised game on Friday:
Those Thursday night games, those Friday night games, there's not a lot else going on so you're at home watching TV unless you are at high school game. Especially for a college player when you play on a Friday night you know that every other college football team in the country is turning on the TV and they are going to watch just because they want to see a football game.

On what he wants the MT brand to show on TV:
How hard we play. You want to win, that's important but to me it's just how hard we play. We play with a tremendous amount of passion, a tremendous amount of competitive spirit. Hopefully they can see a win. To me I take more pride when someone says "Coach, your team plays hard." Or "Your team never gives up."

On the white out:
I think it's cool for the players and the fans. It adds an extra bit of spice to the game. I think it all adds to the pageantry of college football. Once the game starts you don't see it , you aren't focused on that.

On getting the run game started again:
Give Memphis credit because they did a great job and they did a great job last year. We struggled against Memphis, especially the first two and a half to three quarters from a standpoint. They had us backed up the whole time. We've got to stay on blocks better. We've got to give our running back and our offensive line a chance to execute better from a coaching standpoint.

OT Isaiah Anderson
On having one less day to prepare:
I think you just have to be focused. You have that one less day and you have to be more mature as a team. Like coach said, you have to take care of your body, you have to get in the film room and you have to study more. So I think that's the biggest thing is we just have to be more mature players in situations like this.

On getting back on track this week:
I think you just need to lock in, like coach said on the little things. Memphis was a really good team and their defensive front will probably be as good a defense as we'll play all year long. But we just have to focus on the little things and I think we'll be fine.

On playing on national TV on a Friday night
It's fun. You know people watch you because you're the only game on. I think it's going to be a big time game. Old Dominion is a good program, we haven't been there and played so it's going to be fun traveling there so I'm just ready for it.

On facing Old Dominion's defensive front:
Plain and simple, from an offensive line point we have to block better, be more physical and stay on our blocks longer to give our backs seams and we have to protect a little better to give our receivers time to get open.

LB Leighton Gasque
On stopping the ODU high powered offense:
We just have to prepare and go along with our preparation that we do every single week and make sure that we're able to rush the passer and get in his face and play great coverage. Like coach Stock said, we have to keep the ball in front us the entire time and make sure we read our keys and play smart this week.

On preparing with one less day:
Like coach said, we had to make Sunday's practice about 20 minutes longer than what it usually is and today we'll be practicing on our usual day off but today's going to be like a normal Tuesday practice. So we're pretty much back on the same schedule it's just longer practices and we have to go up and meet with our coaches and find out what we need to learn that they can't tell us while we're actually at practice.

On getting back on track after a tough loss:
The goal to get back on track is always win, but we have to focus, prepare ourselves mentally and physically by staying healthy, hydrating, getting in cold tubs and make sure that we're watching film and getting as much time with our coaches that we possibly can.

On playing in front of a sellout crowd:
It's always exciting to be able to go into a new environment that you've never been to before because you get to go on the road and see things that you've never seen before out of a different crowd. The best thing is we're always excited to go play at somebody else's stadium and to show our own brand because you never know who's going to be watching. I'll have friends at different schools always call and say hey good luck the night before or I'll be watching and it's always a great time to be able to go on the road.

On getting pressure on the quarterback:
You always want to do better than you've done before and I mean I wouldn't say I'm disappointed because we're able to get our job done carrying out our assignments, but we're always looking for more pressure and to produce as much as we possibly can.