Bronco Mendenhall: Opening Statement
“Hard fought game I thought we played hard and more aggressively. We were more assertive in the second half than the first. Game came down to a few plays with a chance to win right at the very end. I think Bryce (Perkins) showed a lot of courage and fortitude and gamesmanship. He gave us a great chance. Our execution was just not consistent enough. I think a tentative first half, a few key penalties mixed in. It was a hard-fought game, just fell short.”
What was the last play, what were you kind of hoping for when you drove?
“Basically, it’s for lack of a better term, big ben. So, there are three players that will go up for the ball and a trailer that will slide in behind in case it’s tipped or knocked forwards. It was a nice throw, there was a bunch of hands that went up and sometimes you come down with it and sometimes you don’t. Bryce gave us a chance.”
What about your own offensive line?
“I think we struggled. Bryce is very active, so he was hard to get on the ground. He created and did a lot of things on his own. Indiana kept our run game going lateral more than downhill for a lot of the night which mitigated some of Jordan Ellis’ effectiveness with 63 yards. We would like him to be over 100 certainly, but they kept him going lateral more than he would have liked.”
How much did number 21 from Indiana, Stevie Scott the running back, surprise you or did you kind of know going in that he might be a threat?
“No, we did not think that they would be able to run the football effectively, and so we learned a lot about our team today. Coach Howell and the defensive coaches made some adjustments the second half, but there is a lot of takeaways there that we are going to have to work on.”
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