Jedd Fisch breaks down Jayden de Laura's play after frustrating Mississippi State loss
In the immediate aftermath of Arizona’s 39-17 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday night, one of the primary talking points was the play of Jayden de Laura.
The first-year Arizona quarterback was strong in Week 1, earning the Pac-12’s Offensive Player of the Week honor for his part in the UA’s 38-20 win over San Diego State. He wasn’t as crisp against the Bulldogs. De Laura finished 23-for-45 passing with 220 yards and a touchdown, but three interceptions.
A good deal of the time spent during coach Jedd Fisch’s press conference on Monday was focused on de Laura — where he can grow, how his relationship is through two games with both his coach and his wideouts, and where he can best help the team going forward.
Arizona is back on the field this upcoming Saturday against North Dakota State, with kickoff slated for 8 p.m. PT on FS1.
Here’s everything Fisch said on Monday ahead of the new game week, with video of the entire press conference at the bottom.
Opening statement
“Looking at the film, I thought there were a lot of good things that our team did. I thought we were in a good spot opening drive, we were very sharp, crisp. Really, second drive we were in a good spot, we wound up hitting that screen that got called back where Jayden kinda… I guess his butt hit the ground while the ball was coming out. We were in a good spot there, good spot throughout most of the game, I thought.
Defensively, first drive we had to figure out how often they were going to run the ball, and then I thought there was a really good stretch in the third quarter that our defense played really good.
“Schematically, we looked at a bunch of things. We’re continuing to evolve, get to know our players, get to see what our young players can do. Without a doubt, we’re playing a lot of young players. I think we had a few hundred reps of true freshmen in the game. That’s pretty cool to see. Certainly trying to figure out exactly what they do best and put our guys in position there.
“The last thing I would say: without question the environment was awesome. It was a fun environment to coach in, I’m sure it was a fun environment for our players to play in, and I thank our fans for that. If we can continue to build that out, it will be a very special, special place for us.
“We’ve got a great challenge ahead of us this week.”
On de Laura running when the opportunity presents itself
“He didn’t run at all. He didn’t scramble at all. So there would have been about three or four opportunities, I think. What happens is that he scrambles around so often and makes plays, then all of a sudden it’s like there are some times when it’s okay to know when to say when, and also know when to use your feet to your advantage. At the end of the half is a great example of knowing when to say when, just throw it away. You’ve got a shot at the end zone, you’ve got a shot at two guys in the flat, you have nine seconds and a timeout. You’ve just got to know when to say when. You have plenty of time to do whatever you want, other than take a sack. There were a couple of third downs that we could have scrambled forward and we didn’t. We talked about it and we’ll get better there.”
On the offensive line
“We didn’t run the ball well enough, clearly. We were very disappointed in the fact that we couldn’t get some of the runs off that we wanted to. The quarterback had I think it like 11 pressures out of the 50 pass attempts, which is really the same percentage that we had the week before, about 20%. It just didn’t feel the same. We weren’t in as good of a rhythm. So we will just improve in all areas — coaching, playing, the whole thing.
“I hope every day we get better. The plan is that we take the last game and use it to our advantage. Losing gives you a lot of lessons. What do they say, ‘You win or you learn.’ I think the fact of the matter is that it was a situation where we played against a good team and we played against a good defensive front. We’re a good team and we’re a good offensive front and we have to continue to improve and get better in that regard.”
On using Jamarye Joiner as a Wildcat quarterback
“We were in a great situation on a first-and-10 on the plus-28. We said that the first time we crossed the 30 — after we scored a touchdown going fast — that we were going to get to that. That was the plan throughout the week. Had a great shot of hitting Jamarye right up the A-gap, wound up having a mental mistake up front and leaving the 3-technique. Should have never left the 3-technique, and I think Jamarye probably would have had a great chance to hit his head on the goalpost there.”
On the snapping issues
“I think what happened was there was a couple of times that Josh (Baker) was over the ball for a long time, and I think when that happens sometimes your arm starts shaking a little bit. The one that went over (de Laura’s) head was after waiting on a TV timeout and (Baker) was holding the ball for I think it was like 11 seconds before the ball got snapped. There were a couple other snaps that were just a little bit skewed. We just have to get better at that. We can’t have snaps that can cause negative plays.”
On how snapping issues can impact timing
“It can mess up a run because of how quickly you have to exchange the ball. I think for the most part Jayden was able to handle any snap when it came down to the passing game. The one that was super high, the one that went from a first-and-10 to a second-and-19, was certainly a situation where that was a run that was called, instead he had to cover it up.”
On the relationship between himself and de Laura
“Well, Jayden and I have been together all of two games. As we’re continuing to learn one another, we had many conversations the week before prior, the week before as well. There’s going to be times in between every series that I’m going to talk to Jayden about what he likes, what he doesn’t like, where he’s comfortable. The defense that Mississippi State presents is an interesting challenge because of all the cloud coverages that they present and how they kind of, for lack of a better term, run an umbrella-like defense so there’s no real shots down the field based upon how they cloud the corners. Because of that, we had to talk about what intermediate routes we felt most comfortable with at each possession.
“And then talk about (those) times you get frustrated. It’s 25-17, you’re driving down and you have a 65-yard drive and you’re on the 30-yard line going in and the ball gets tipped up in the air and picked. How do you handle that? How do you come back and now it’s 32-17? Or how do you handle three possessions in a row where we got a field goal only? We’re always going to talk.”
On the communication between de Laura and his receivers on the field
“It seems pretty good to me. We don’t have many mental mistakes. He does a very good job of, if we’re at the line of scrimmage and going no-huddle, he does a great job communicating what he wants. If we’re huddling, he’s done a great job of getting them all up in the huddle and breaking the huddle pretty quickly. As I said on Saturday evening, the one illegal formation when we were down 15-10 and we hit Dorian Singer over the middle, which would have been a first down on the 36-yard line, that was on me. Other than that I think he’s done a good job there with the receivers and continuing to build that relationship up knowing that he’s only played with them for two games as well.”
On Michael Wiley
“First I’d give credit to our strength program. I know he’s gotten a lot stronger in the offseason, and he’s gotten a lot faster in the offseason. I also think that Coach (Scottie) Graham is feeling more comfortable in his second year of coaching, that he’s done a great job of really getting Michael to feel (comfortable) using the stiff arm more. He’s certainly running more powerfully. He’s able to stick his foot in the ground and stay in bounds. That first run, that 34-yard run, as well as the screen, were both great (examples of) balance, and he’s working really hard at that. Credit to Coach Graham and Coach Owens on making sure he gets stronger every day.
On the status of defensive lineman Tia Savea
“Right now, he’s gonna probably take it all the way to gametime, like we had to do last Saturday — work him out two hours prior and make a decision on whether he could play.”
On the cut block that caused his injury and whether he thinks it’s a legal or ethical play
“I think it is a legal play. As long as you get cut within the tackle box, you can do that. I’ve certainly coached that for a lot of years, so I’m not going to comment on that.”
On Jacob Cowing’s drops
“A couple of drops were unfortunate, the timing. I don’t know necessarily why. He doesn’t drop the ball. I’m not worried about Jacob dropping the ball. So, we just have to move past it and chalk it up as an anomaly.”
On being better at taking the ball away this year
“A huge point of emphasis was made (on) taking the ball away. We have to protect the ball better as well on offense. Unfortunately, we’ve taken it away five times and given it away five times. Defensively, our players have done a great job embracing the mentality that Coach (Johnny) Nansen and the defensive staff have put in, really through our culture and through our rules and through our football goals of attack and protect the ball. They’ve done a great job of attacking the ball at every moment. There’s times that we’ve looked to try to get the ball out that we haven’t but you can see great strip attempts and opportunities there. We’re going to continue to emphasize that and hopefully continue to take the ball away.”
On the turnover sword
“I think it’s fun. I guess whenever it started, four years ago maybe with the turnover chain and then it turned into the turnover throne and then the turnover crown. It’s a fun gimmick that seems as if a lot of teams have started to incorporate. I appreciate that our guys find something to get excited about. And it’s a way for them to celebrate with the fans, and celebrate with themselves and I think it’s fun. It seems to have worked so far. So hopefully we can continue that tradition of getting the ball away.”
On the play of Christian Roland-Wallace
“I thought he did very well. There’s going to be plays that are made in a situation where you’re going against a really good receiver (and) probably a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback — someone that certainly people are talking about in that conversation. He’s going to challenge you, he’s going to put the ball in a great location. There’s the back shoulder throw, there’s the over-the-top row, there’s the comeback, and when you go against a team like Mississippi State who’s probably I think ranked No. 1 nationally throwing the ball, you’re gonna have some challenges. I thought he did a very nice job.”
On what Mississippi State did to disrupt de Laura
“They did a good job. Mississippi State’s a very good defense. We had opportunities. Jayden extended plays and found guys. Jayden extended plays and probably could have ran or thrown it away and then we wouldn’t be having much of a conversation about the turnovers, because really the only one that occurred — let’s call it by the football gods — was a tipped ball. The defensive end that tipped the ball up, and that’s just the way it works sometimes. The other two were scramble plays that I think if he looked back on both he would throw the ball away on one of them and run on the other. The one to T-Mac on the sideline he could have easily scrambled ahead for 8 or 9 yards and we would have been right there on the 28-yard-line again. And then the one on the second-and-19 where it was like the longest play of all time, just throw it away and live another down.”
On his reaction to those kinds of unscripted plays
“Sometimes it’s a, ‘No, no, yes,’ and sometimes it’s a, ‘Yes, yes, no,’ and it’s everything in between. There’s times that he goes out there and scrambles and we’re backed up on third-and-10 on the 6-yard-line and he’s in the middle of the endzone, they bring the corner (in) and he spins around and makes a play and converts a 16-yard gain. You live with those plays because of the fact that he’s so gifted as an athlete.
“It’s our job to continue to help him to play within the parameters of the system and help him understand there’s times you don’t have to do that. There’s times you can just hit a guy in rhythm. You don’t have to worry about skipping the first or second read. And then there’s also times that you can use your legs to your advantage. You’re a 200-pound guy that’s fast. So, take advantage of that as well.”
On allowing only one play of 20 yards or more through the first two games
“Well, I love it, first of all. One of the biggest points of winning and losing is explosive play differential. If our defense can continue to play with keeping everything in front of them, rallying, and tackling, it shows me that we’re playing great team defense. Our goal has been to have 11 guys swarm the ball at every opportunity and that’s what kind of prevents the explosive plays from occurring. Our players, our coaches have certainly bought into that part of our culture and that part of our football goals.”