ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry University football team will host the defending NCAA Division III national champions, Mary Hardin-Baylor, on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. in American Southwest Conference play.
On Thursday, McMurry head coach Jordan Neal, junior linebacker Micheas Garibaldi and sophomore runningback Kameron Session each responded to questions regarding this week's opponent and the 2019 season so far.
Video Footage l Game Notes l Gameday Coverage
Below are some of the highlights from the press conference:
Coach Neal's opening statement
I've never played against the No. 1 ranked team in the country. Never gone against a defending national champion. We going to try and win a ball game on Saturday. I've been really proud of our players and the way they've bounced back…excited to talk about what we've done (in practice) and where we are heading.
Coach Neal on the positivity of the team despite an 0-4 start
We've made it a directive of our staff that we're always going to coach extremely hard. We want our players to play unbelievably hard so we need to coach them unbelievably hard every day…give them their time's worth, give them their money's worth. They attack the field every day with a positive attitude.
We haven't backed off of our expectations…the excellence that we're trying to pull out of these guys that they have down within them. To me, that's just coaching. That's the way you approach every single day, regardless of what the result was from the previous game and regardless of who you're playing the next week. It's a show of maturity on our players' part, and I think it's a show of their continual "buy-in" that they have responded to that. They've practiced like a team that's on a mission and a team that has something to gain and something to prove.
Coach Neal on Mary-Hardin Baylor's recent and historic success
I don't know if it's necessarily anything that they're doing this year, because they're a consistent program. I've played against them, coached against them, and I've always been an admirer of the UMHB program, Coach (Pete) Fredenburg and his staff. They've had tremendous continuity over the years with their staff and they have the same people in roles where they can really master their craft.
Coach Neal scouting the UMHB defense
What you're always going to get out of that Mary Hardin-Baylor team is an extremely good run-stopping defense. They really hang their hat on that. It starts with their front guys and what they do on the defensive line. They have a couple of really talented players, but they're also really deep and have the ability to play a lot of people. Collectively, they are always going to do what it takes to stop the run. They know that's a huge key to victory.
Coach Neal scouting the UMHB offense and special teams
On offense, they want to run the football. They have some dynamic athletes and they have some weapons. They're just always going to play sound on the offensive line, they're not going to try and get too cute. They're not going to be fancy with what they do, and they want to control the tempo of the game...control the clock. They add on to that with a quality kicking game. They do a really good job of flipping the field and playing the field position battle well.
The thing that you always see from (UMHB) is that they're opportunistic. If you make a mistake, it has the potential to unravel fast because they capitalize on mistakes. I think that's just them being sound in everything that they do, stopping the run and then being able to run the ball and control it.
Coach Neal on how to approach a game of this caliber
I maintain this each week…we never worry about who we're playing. We consider it to be a faceless opponent. I talk about that with our players constantly. The important thing is that we are introspective and we're focusing on making ourselves better. If you're not wearing maroon and black, it doesn't matter to us.
Micheas Garibaldi on facing UMHB in the past
They are a really physical offensive line. The fact that they just all click in all of the same categories. They run, they're big and their smart…they know what they're doing. But I think this week is the most excited we've been because we are playing the number one team. In our eyes, we have something to gain from this and nothing to lose. That's been my mindset and the defense's mindset heading into this week.
Micheas Garibaldi on the progress of the team this season
I think our communication on defense is way better than it was in that first game. A lot of us (upperclassmen) are playing with freshmen, and getting that game time experience with them really helps out with trust and being able to count on those guys to make sure that they fit in the right spots.
Micheas Garibaldi on moving into the starting middle linebacker role
Josh Smith (former all-conference middle linebacker now turned defensive end) can play both. He can play defensive end and we have it where he can be right by me (at linebacker), too. It's so nice having that guy because he hustles everywhere. There's never a play where he's not busting it hard to get to the ball. It's been really nice.
Kameron Session on quickly adapting to his new kick returner role
The kicking game was something I always wanted to do, but in the past and in high school, I was just focused on being a running back. I just ran the ball and was never put on special teams. But here (at McMurry), I'm just glad to help and want to help us win. I like doing it, and it's worked out.
Kameron Session on the opportunities ahead
We stay positive because we're still a team. We're trusting in Coach Neal, and every week, we continue to get better. This is an opportunity to show everyone in the country what we can do. We're always excited for good competition.
Kameron Session on the progress of the team this season
We're definitely going to continue to fight. Week one, we kind of gave up and layed down (at the end) but now, no matter what the situation is in the game, we're going to continue to fight…no matter what. We'll continue to play hard and try to win.
