Tuberville speaks, 10/24

*"Defensively, we never matched up with them very well. That's one of those that you always dread having. We've got to find some answers there. They have to be in there somewhere."

• "It's like the second game of the season for this offense."
  
  
• "We've been a first-half football team all year long."
  
  
• "We're a team that's trying to find somehow, someway to put four quarters together. We just ran out of steam. Coming out of an open date, we hoped we'd be able to get those four quarters. We didn't."
  
  
• "It's just been one of those years."
  
  
• No "significant" injuries reported.
  
  
• On second-half problems: "It's like you start looking at it after eight games. It's after three, four, five, six, seven games. We just don't play reckless. We're playing a lot of guys for the first time. A lot of the older guys are trying to do more than their share."
  
  
• "We got out-quicked on the corners and things like that."
  
  
• "We're starting to move along on offense, but we're taking steps back on defense. These are problems we've never had before. The effort is there. We've got to get back and play as a group. We have to believe in each other."
  
  
• On Jerraud Powers: "He was struggling last night. We had nobody to put in his place. He was playing on one wheel for most of the second half."
  
  
• What is your best offensive attribute?: "We don't have a big-play guy on offense. We tried to take the pressure off (Burns) so he doesn't have to execute on every play. I think it helped."
  
  
• Tough time for you?: "My job here is to win football games and be a positive example to 120 young guys. It's tough. It hurts. You know how many people are counting on you. When you can't find the answers and you know they're there, that's what gets to you as a coach. We're going to keep working on this offensive scheme and make it better."
  
  
• Is it hard for these kids to believe in each other?: Sometimes you have to question yourself. That's what we've talked about as a team: Can I give more? Everybody has to ask that question of themselves."

END OF TELECONFERENCE

Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University

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