What Brian Newberry said ahead of Navy’s game at UAB

Navy head coach Brian Newberry had extensive praise for UAB heading into Friday night's American Conference game at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. Newberry called the Blazers "extremely well-coached on both sides of the football" and said they did not look out of place against Illinois in the season opener.

"When you go back and you watch the Illinois game, especially for the first half of that game, they really didn't look out of place with Illinois — a solid Big Ten team," Newberry said. "They're good. I think they've gotten better each week on both sides of the football."

The Midshipmen (1-1, 0-1 American) are coming off a bye week after losing their conference opener 38-30 at Florida Atlantic, where they trailed 38-7 in the third quarter. Newberry said the loss was a humbling experience and his players have responded with a renewed sense of urgency. He noted that many current players were not on the roster during Navy's 5-7 and 4-8 seasons and need to understand how small the margin for error is.

Newberry confirmed that quarterback Braxton Woodson is day-to-day with a high ankle sprain and that Jackson Gutierrez is the starter. He called Gutierrez "the guy" and said Maverick Chance is developing as the third quarterback.

Full transcript

On UAB's offense and overall impressions:

Brian Newberry: "I think this past weekend they struggled a little bit offensively. I think Louisiana's pretty good on defense. That's one thing that stands out on film. But overall, just impressed with their team really all three games this year. When you go back and you watch the Illinois game, especially for the first half of that game, they really didn't look out of place with Illinois — a solid Big Ten team. They're good. I think they've gotten better each week on both sides of the football, and I think schematically what they do on both sides of the ball is really good. I think they're doing exactly what they need to be doing with their personnel. I think they're extremely well-coached on both sides of the football. Alex does a great job with the program, with the offense. And then you look at the other side of the ball with Coach Grantham, who's a veteran coach, really sharp coach. I think they've got good personnel. You look at them defensively, they've got a lot of length, particularly in the back end. The two safeties are really good players. So impressed with a lot of things with these guys on both sides of the football. We're certainly going to have our hands full."

On UAB's defense under Todd Grantham:

Brian Newberry: "I got a ton of respect for Coach Grantham. He's been around, and they've played really good defense over the course of the season. I give him a lot of credit. Been good on third down. They're pretty multiple. I don't remember what they did defensively last year, to be honest with you. My memory is not that great. But I do know that they're multiple. They're well-coached, they're sound. They'll bring pressure. They'll give you an odd front and they'll give you an even front. They're multiple. He's got them playing hard and they're fundamentally sound."

On UAB's run-heavy offense against Navy's rushing defense:

Brian Newberry: "I don't really look at it that way. I think they're a big 11- and 12-personnel team. Obviously when they're getting two tight ends in, they want to establish a run game, and they've done a really good job of it. You look at the Illinois game, and they dominated time of possession. I think that's the kind of football they want to play. So yeah, it always starts with us being able to stop the run. The thing we have not been able to do is keep the football in front of us. We got to do a much better job of that. Going into the game, we got to stop the run game and we got to control the pass game — meaning you can't give up explosive pass plays. But if we can stop the run, which is going to be a real challenge this week, you feel pretty good about your chances."

On UAB quarterback Ryder Burton:

Brian Newberry: "I've been impressed with him too. He's an athletic quarterback. He can make plays with his feet. When they give him time, he makes some really good throws. Has a big arm. Impressed with him and his ability to run the offense and make good decisions. He's a good quarterback."

On the bye-week response after the FAU loss:

Brian Newberry: "I thought we responded well last week. We had three practices and got a couple of lifts in, and it's a good mix of getting some work that we need to get done but also letting them get their legs back a little bit, letting them recover a little bit. You got to take advantage of that in the bye week. But they responded well. I think there's a little bit more of a sense of urgency. I said maybe that was something that we may have needed at the time, and so was pleased with the approach last week and with the work that we were able to get done."

On responding to the first September loss since his first season as head coach:

Brian Newberry: "I talked to the team about after the game. We got a lot of guys in the program that are playing snaps for us now that weren't here in the 5-7 and the 4-8 years. I think it's important for our guys to understand the sense of urgency that we have to have, the margin for error being so small for us and just the way that we approach everything — the way that we prepare and the edge that we have to play with on Saturdays. The truth is everybody on our schedule can beat us, and our guys need to understand that. I think they do. I think it was a humbling experience for a lot of us, coaches included. But I think our guys know how much better we can play and how much different we need to approach things. In retrospect, you can say maybe that was a good thing for this team, hopefully, depending on how we actually respond moving forward. But I've been pleased with the response since the game and the work that we put in last week. Just a renewed sense of urgency and the way that we approach our preparation."

On MarcAnthony Parker:

Brian Newberry: "I can't say enough good things about MarcAnthony Parker, as a player and as a person. He's one of the most consistent guys in our program. Been outstanding at linebacker for us, is a really smart football player. Plays our style of football. Shows up to work every day. Doesn't say a whole lot, but goes about his business the right way. He's one of those guys that if you could define a Navy football player — what you're looking for — he fits that profile to a tee."

On Braxton Woodson's high ankle sprain status:

Brian Newberry: "He's doing much better right now than he was. I think the weekend was really good for him. It's going to be day-to-day. We're going to warm up, do some individual today and see how he feels. I think today will tell us a lot, but it's going to be day-to-day for Braxton. But encouraged about what I'm hearing from Jim Berry."

On the quarterback situation with Jackson Gutierrez:

Brian Newberry: "Like I said, practice day to day. We kind of see where he's at and have some other guys ready to roll, but right now Jackson's the guy. Excited for him."

On Maverick Chance as the third quarterback:

Brian Newberry: "Mav's doing some really good stuff. He's coming along. Really excited about the young quarterbacks in our program right now, but they're young and so we're bringing them along as fast as we can."

On Christian Johnson's development:

Brian Newberry: "Incredibly important. And not just to stack practices but to stack games. You want to see a lot of progress between game one and game two for him. Last year, his last time out was his first time playing in a college football game. We're excited to see just the progress that he makes. He may not have quite the nerves that he had in game one. There's a lot of really good things to teach off of in his first game. He's a young man we're really excited about. Did some really good things in fall camp. Moved him from Will to Raider. Really athletic, really sudden. Strong, explosive. But he's learning the game, learning the system, and the hamstring set him back a little while. I truthfully didn't know if he was going to be able to play against FAU. But I certainly think he's got a chance to be a really good player. He's one of those guys that just has to continue to get better and better each practice that we have and each game."

On Marcus Bleazard's versatility at linebacker:

Brian Newberry: "Been really pleased with Bleazard when he's gone into games. He probably hasn't played as many snaps as he wanted to up to this point, but his versatility — been able to play Mike and Will. You don't feel like there's a huge dropoff when Blaz goes in the game. He's done some really good things. He's another one that's just going to get better and better week to week as we continue throughout the season. He's a guy that we need to be able to rely on and give MarcAnthony and give Coleman a blow from time to time and not have a second thought about putting him in the game."

On forcing turnovers:

Brian Newberry: "They're game-changers. That's something that we emphasize a lot, we work on a lot. Turnovers are a funny thing. Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn't. I think hopefully we're due for a few of them coming up, but it's something we work on a lot, something that we emphasize a ton. In the first game, you played 42 snaps — there's not a ton of opportunities. We punched one out against FAU. We had a ball tipped into a crowd, and so we just haven't been able to take advantage of those opportunities yet. But they're coming. I do know that. There's some skill involved in that. There's also some luck, and hopefully we're due."

On structuring the week for a Friday game:

Brian Newberry: "I think it's important to stay in a routine as much as you possibly can. So basically we just back everything up a day. Today it would be like our Tuesday practice, and we'll proceed like we normally do during the course of the week."

On in-season strength and conditioning:

Brian Newberry: "It's really important. Jim has such a great feel for the players, kind of where we're at physically, and week to week it can be different — what we're doing in the weight room based on the health of our football team. His and his staff's ability to work with guys that are injured or are coming back is really exceptional. They're in cahoots with Jim Berry and his staff, making sure that our guys are doing the right thing. I think we've done a really good job of maintaining our strength and our weight during the course of the season. That's the priority right there — are we maintaining our strength and getting a little bit stronger, and are we able to gain or retain our weight. You got guys that naturally lose weight during the season, but we try not to let that happen as much as we can."

On whether starting 0-2 in conference play is a must-win situation:

Brian Newberry: "I feel like every week's must-win for us. I don't really think about it in those terms, to be honest. I just worry about the next game, and I try not to get too far ahead of ourselves and what we're projecting or big-picture things. It's just, what do we got to do to win this football game in regards to our preparation, the process, and can we go out on Saturday and be the best version of ourselves? That's the important thing."