Coach Speak: Ball State's Mike Neu this week on Georgia

Georgia-Ball State is a matchup that comes with great opportunity for the visiting Cardinals. After the Bulldogs were forced to cancel their game against Oklahoma, originally set for this Saturday in Norman before being called off by the SEC with the Sooners coming into the conference before the end date of the home-and-home agreement, Ball State got the call, and it’s one Mike Neu was happy to take.

In his eighth season as head coach, Neu has taken his teams to the likes of Indiana, Illinois, Notre Dame and Penn State. Last year, the Cardinals opened against Tennessee before facing another SEC foe of Georgia’s in the opener this year, Kentucky. While the outcomes haven’t necessarily been friendly, he knows the kind of opportunity a game like this presents his program.

Here’s everything Neu had to say this week about the challenge of taking on the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs…

Mike Neu Opening Statement…

“Obviously excited to start our preparation, or I should say we’re well underway with our preparation, for the Georgia game this weekend.

Reflecting back real quick on the Kentucky game, really feel like, man if there was any way to just remove the second quarter. Certainly felt like there were a lot of positives going on, and then when you fumble the ball twice in the second quarter, especially the first one when we’re right on the fringe of scoring position doing some good things, that shifted the momentum of the football game.

Don’t want to focus on the negatives, there were a lot of positives when you look at the tape. Some guys did some really good things that we can build on. Our number one goal as we get to the week of practice is getting back out here on the practice field and continuing to work on us. There were details that came up at every single position where we can certainly get better. We’ve got to continue to do that facing a great challenge this week in Georgia. Back to back national champs, had a great win to get their season started Saturday night. It’s a great challenge, great opportunity, but we’re going to focus on having a great week of preparation with our guys, continuing to get better and focus on a one day at a time approach.”

Neu on what kind of opportunity this is for Ball State to play the back-to-back defending champs…

“This is what you want when you’re a kid growing up and playing the game of football and you fall in love with it. This is the type of stage you dreamed about, playing in an atmosphere like this. You dream about playing in the NFL when you’re a kid.

When I turn on the tape and watch this football team, it speaks for itself. They’re incredibly talented, get some of the top talent in the country year in and year out. Really what’s more impressive to me though when I turn on the tape is the effort that they play with. For four quarters, the effort and consistency in that effort is awesome. I love that when every play is over, they get right back up, they don’t get involved in any post-snap activity. They get right back to the huddle, get their eyes to the sideline and get the next call. Have not met Kirby Smart but I have the utmost respect for how his team plays because its one thing to have a team with that kind of talent, but it’s another thing when you put that on tape week in and week out the effort. They give it everything they’ve got. Every guy on that roster, whoever’s taking the field for them, they give you the best effort. When you throw the talent in there on top of that, that’s a pretty good combination.”

Mike Neu on Georgia’s strengths on both sides of the ball…

“I don’t know if I’ve seen a weakness. That’s a credit to them. They’re a good football team. If you want, we could sit here and talk for 30 minutes about every position, but they really just reload. They lose draft picks every year, but they’ve got another man ready to roll. They’ve got incredible depth, an d you give them credit because it’s a who’s who in the recruiting battles every year against them. Certainly when you’re back-to-back national champions young men want to be a part of that, and they do a phenomenal job of playing high level football week in and week out no matter who the opponent is. You’re going to get their best shot always, and that’s certainly a credit to their program and Coach Smart and his staff.”

Neu on what Ball State learned from playing Georgia’s SEC foe Kentucky to use against the Bulldogs…

“The message more than anything is taking care of us. You’ve got to execute and play at a high level. Certainly can’t have the self-inflicted wounds that took place in the second quarter. You can’t have those any week, but certainly when you’re playing against a team in the SEC which is the best conference in the country. You’ve got to play high level football for four quarters to give yourself a chance. I think our guys believe that we can compete coming out of that football game against Kentucky, but when you get yourself behind like that, it’s tough to be able to climb back from a deficit, they way we had it the other day. Our guys know that. I loved the attitude in here yesterday after we got back and met as a team. They attacked the weight room and are handling their business with the recovery. The attitude was great yesterday. They’ll take advantage of a much needed day off to rest, but the good thing for them not having class today is being able to attack film for Georgia and do a little more today in terms of recovery and taking care of their bodies.”

Mike Neu on if playing the No. 1 team in the country brings about a different attitude…

“Always. Anytime, if you’re a competitor like our guys are, man, this is a great challenge. You look out there and say, ‘Hey, this football team, this program has won back-to-back national championships. They haven’t lost a game in a while. They’re doing things the right way, and they continue to produce year in and year out.’ If you’re a competitor man, what more could you want than an opportunity to go play on this stage against a team like that.”

For full video of Ball State coach Mike Neu, along with a pair of Cardinals players, click here.