What Major Applewhite said before South Alabama's game at Louisiana

South Alabama lost to Louisiana Tech 35-20 at home last week, and Major Applewhite had no interest in softening the diagnosis. Twelve penalties and two turnovers against a team with four penalties and zero turnovers. "Those are usually the symptoms of a loss," Applewhite said. He pointed to experience — Louisiana Tech's quarterback has been there, its backs have played, nine of 11 defenders returned. South Alabama does not have that kind of experience yet. "It's not that kind of excuse," Applewhite said, "but it's just the facts of the matter."

Applewhite told his team to skip the emotional processing. "Forget that," he told them. "Who cares about feelings? Nobody cares. Lafayette doesn't care about my feelings. They don't care about your feelings. They're a great ball club." He pointed to the broader reality of modern college football — everybody eats at the same money trough, players are everywhere, and even the best programs absorb losses. Texas lost two in a row. Alabama went through it. "That's going to happen now," Applewhite said, "and we need to get used to it." What matters, he said, is the response — and that response would start behind closed doors. "We're going to get inside the house, close the door, shut the blinds and have a family meeting and explain this is what we really need to fix."

On Louisiana, Applewhite praised defensive coordinator Jim Salgado, whom he worked with at Syracuse in 2005. "Jimmy Salgado has done a great job with that defense over the last few years," Applewhite said. He described the Ragin' Cajuns' defense as multiple — man, Cover 2, three-deep, quarters, all-out pressure — with strong corner play and no drop-off despite injuries at linebacker and safety. "You see those 11 guys playing sound football and playing hard," Applewhite said.

Applewhite also detailed how the Louisiana Tech loss slipped away in the second half. The defense held serve repeatedly, giving the offense field position in plus territory, but South Alabama could not convert. "You move to plus territory, but you don't convert on third down. Then you punt them dead at the 10. Then you hold again, then you move and you don't get a fourth and two." He said the team needs to get comfortable in crunch time — to keep hitting the rock into the third and fourth quarters instead of expecting to score on the first drive out of halftime. "Sometimes it doesn't happen fast," Applewhite said. "Sometimes it happens slow."

Full transcript

On what he saw from the Louisiana Tech loss:

Major Applewhite: "What I saw from the game Saturday was 12 penalties and two turnovers against a team that's leading your side of the league. A very experienced team — quarterback that's been there, backs that have played, experienced wide receivers, nine of 11 guys on defense. And when you have 12 penalties and they have four and you have two turnovers and they have zero, those are usually the symptoms of a loss. And we've got to learn how to continue to grow. We don't have that kind of playing experience. It's not that kind of excuse, but it's just the facts of the matter. We haven't — we don't have that type of playing experience right now. We've got to grow that as coaches and grow that as a program to be able to win those kind of games against what I think can be a championship-style team."

On Louisiana's defense and DC Jim Salgado:

Major Applewhite: "They've got a great coordinator. I worked with Jimmy back at Syracuse back in 2005. Jimmy Salgado has done a great job with that defense over the last few years and tweaked it year in and year out.

"But it starts up front. They've got great length. They play with twitch. They obviously all 11 of them play hard. They've had some injuries, but you haven't seen much drop-off at those positions in terms of the production there. But they're multiple. You'll see multiple coverages. You'll see man, you'll see Cover 2, you'll see versions of three-deep, you'll see versions of two-deep, you'll see quarters. You'll see all-out pressure. They're going to be multiple in what they do.

"And that's usually what defensive coordinators do to try to simplify you in terms of your play call sheet. Their back end does a great job of getting lined up, making sure they keep things in front of them. I think they've got really good corner play. They had a loss at a really good linebacker that they lost about midyear. But again, like I said, you don't really — and same thing at safety — but you don't really see a drop-off. You see those 11 guys playing sound football and playing hard."

On how the team has responded to two straight losses:

Major Applewhite: "I think good and bad. I think there's an understanding of why we've lost the ball game. And I think people can look at it and go, 'Okay, well, yeah, that's what happened. We had these kind of penalties. We turned the ball over inside of our own 10-yard line. We didn't convert on fourth down in plus territory. We didn't score there in the third quarter. We stalled out. We didn't play complementary football.'

"I think that's a good thing that you can understand that so you can go correct your problems. And that's really what I talked about yesterday — here's why we lost. Let's go ahead and get that out on the table. It's not because we fumbled the ball. That's one guy. There's these penalties that extended these drives in the first half when we were playing really well offensively and we weren't playing as well on defense. And here's where we were playing really well on defense and weren't playing well on offense. And this is the complementary type football that you have to play to be able to beat a great program. And that's where we want to be and that's the kind of intensity that we have to have for three, four hours — not an hour and 45 minutes — and that's where we need to grow.

"So I think number one, just identifying what we need to do to get better. In terms of the feelings, just told the guys forget that. I mean, who cares about feelings? Nobody cares. Lafayette doesn't care about my feelings. They don't care about your feelings. They're a great ball club. This is the new age of college football. There's going to be losses. Everybody can eat at the same money trough. There's players everywhere, and there's teams that are really, really good that have lost two games in a row. My alma mater went through it a couple weeks ago. Alabama went through it. Everybody — that's going to happen now and we need to get used to it.

"And that's the modern era of college football. But what doesn't change is how you respond to it, what our response needs to be. What our response will be as a coaching staff, the level of urgency that we're going to continue to have, the demands that we'll continue to have. And if you've got competitive pride and competitive maturity, you understand where you need to grow as a competitor. We always as coaches are always going to take the fall and take the blame and the old cliches after the game — it's all on me, it's all on me. But we're also going to get inside the house, close the door, shut the blinds and have a family meeting and explain this is what we really need to fix and this is where we need to fix it and this is where we need to get better."

On extending complementary football for a full game at Louisiana:

Major Applewhite: "Well, I think there's some early momentum early in the ball game — just thinking from a defensive standpoint, when you are playing well and you're getting people off the field or getting yourself in a position to get off the field, we can't keep them on the field. We get them in third and long, we need to make sure that ends and they punt the football. We get them in third and long, we don't need to cut it to third and half with a penalty. We get them in a situation where they're going to have to punt, we've got to lay off of people. Special teams wise, we get in a situation where we've already run into the punter — we have to be cognizant of that and not do it again and extend a drive. That way, it establishes more momentum when you understand when you're deferring the football and you're going to get the football in the second half.

"We didn't have to give up 28. We could have gave up 14 if we just eliminate two of those mistakes. And so now you're getting the ball in the second half with a totally different feel, a totally different level of momentum and confidence going into the second half. And then from an offensive standpoint in the second half, I've got to show up and then we've got to show up. There's plays to be made and we have to make those plays as players. There's calls to be made and we have to make those calls as a coach. I wish there was something new to it, but the reality is that's usually what happens when you go through a loss.

"And then when you're holding serve as a defense and you get a stop, you move to plus territory, but you don't convert on third down. Then you punt them dead at the 10. Then you hold again, then you move and you don't get a fourth and two. Then you hold them again and then you move to plus territory and you have to punt, you hold them, and then you get the ball inside the 10. You have to get comfortable in those crunch time situations. And sometimes it's not as simple as, all right, we're down 28-20 at halftime, let's just go out and score on the first drive and go for two and everybody will feel good and it's 28-28. Sometimes you have to keep hitting the rock well into the third, maybe even the fourth quarter before you get your break. And as that time is ticking, as a competitor, you have to be comfortable in those situations. You have to build that within your team.

"That's what we have to do as a staff is build that within our team — you may not just come out of halftime and go on a 16-0 run. It may happen late in the third quarter. It may happen late in the fourth quarter, but you got to keep playing and keep trusting the fundamentals and those things that you need to do that you've done in the first half to go throw up three touchdown drives. I mean, we scored on three of our five drives in the first half. So those are the same fundamentals and the same disciplines that we have to take into the second half and then not get frustrated when it doesn't happen right off the bat and maintain our poise as competitors. And that's what I was just talking to guys about yesterday — what do you learn from this? What do you learn from this as a competitor? Sometimes it doesn't happen fast. Sometimes it happens slow. Sometimes it happens later in the third. Sometimes it happens in the fourth. And we've got to get more comfortable as a team in crunch time, and I think that's where we need to grow as a program — finishing those type of ball games or keeping ourselves in those kind of ball games."