It's something different than what we normally see and something difficult to prepare for in one week. You've got to change your focus defensively to cover assignments and put people in the right places.

Marshall had an excellent surface. The artificial surfaces now are as good or better than grass.

Time will tell. Different team. Different makeup. Different setting. Some things you come out of the [Marshall] game feeling good about. I felt good that we were able to run the football. Defensively, I thought we played the run pretty darn well. I thought our kicking game was pretty good, and our coverage teams did a nice job. That's good, but we didn't take advantage of some situations.

You can overdo it. Normally we suggest doing it every other week.

We were a little slow getting going. Normally you prepare for a Friday night game, so it was a little strange. I can't say enough about how great these kids are, every week they step up and make big plays when we need them.

I feel like I'm getting the reps I need to prepare myself for the season. Each week I'm feeling more comfortable and getting better.