WKU Football: Reviewing the Week 3 Press Conference

On Monday afternoon, head coach Tyson Helton held his weekly press conference to recap the win against FIU and preview the Louisville game.

Here’s a quick recap of what he said

• “FIU is a great win for our program. A great confidence builder for us. A testament to staff and players”
• He’s looking forward to the challenge of playing Louisville
• “Seeing our team finish in the last five minutes was huge”
• Kids had the right mindset during the FIU game
• The secondary was outstanding, Coach White called a great game and kept FIU’s QB's confused
• No update on Josh Simon or Gunnar Britton will know later today
• John Haggarty has really impressed him. He has talent but it’s great seeing him with the lights on. He flips the field for us. Being a rugby guy caused some transition but he’s great.
• Cory Munson is still the kicker even with Alex Rinella coming back from academic suspension. Rinella may get a look on kickoffs and it’s good to have as an experienced backup and is a team player
• Was glad Ty Storey got his feet wet on that run even if it the play didn’t work out. Didn’t bring him back due to flow of the game but they’ll continue to keep him ready.
• He wants to continue to develop Steven (Duncan). He has a lot of growth potential, he does some really good things and some bad things. He can’t get any better if he doesn’t continue to play.
• Helton really likes the quarterback unit/room and we have several players that can help them. Only one guy can play at a time and right now it’s Duncan
• Steven has shown enough that we should continue to develop him but he’s going to continue to show that to keep his job
• “I’d love to play Louisville or Kentucky every year. It’s good for football, it’s good for the state.”
• Louisville will be a great challenge for us, it’s a great platform for us to show what we can do.
• Jahcour Pearson is playing good football and is someone we can count on…. He’s a guy we count on.
• The offensive line has done a great job controlling the line of scrimmage the first two games and that has helped the running game.
• He’s been very impressed by Gaej Walker. He never comes off the field or is tired. He does what we ask from him. He had a few really good 2–3 yard runs.
• It’s apparent that he’s the every-down back for us now. Just very impressed by him so far
• Jakairi Moses is going to have knee surgery and will be out for the season
• “I’m more happy for the team getting first win against a tough opponent”
• Louisville is playing their best players on the field and is maximizing their talent
• “They have a lot of team speed on defense”
• “They’re exotic on third down and bring a lot of pressure”
• Our offensive line will do well but it’s up to our quarterback to get rid of the ball
• They’re kind of a zone-read team
• “I see a totally different football team from last year”
• They’re playing with a lot of confidence and doing a lot of good things
• “If you told me I had to be 1–1, I’d rather win a conference game”
• “I don’t think we need to get our team up for this one. We need to control our emotions and not get caught up in outside factors”
• The team needs to get to the last five minutes and find a way to win it

To me, there were a few things to take away from this with the number one thing being the staff’s patient approach to Steven Duncan. We all know he’s been inconsistent thus far and has made some bad mistakes (4 Int’s) but Helton’s comments above show me they want to stick with him and let him grow into the job. I think this is the right call. Juggling quarterbacks isn’t good for development nor team morale. Duncan will need to show growth this week against Louisville but after last season’s revolving door at the most important position, it is refreshing to see a staff give a skilled player some time for everything to come together. Like I stated during the preseason, if Duncan can figure it out, WKU is set for two whole seasons at the most crucial position.

Tune back for a lot more coverage for this big matchup against the in-state Cardinals. Should Helton figure out how to get a win, he’ll already tie Jeff Brohm, Bobby Petrino and Willie Taggart for most P5 wins in WKU history.