Damien Martinez has picked up where he left off at Oregon State, with a 6.0 yards per carry average and numerous physical runs. He met with reporters to discuss his season and the RB room:
On the running game in the first half v. the second half: Everybody kind of saw it first half. We came out kind of sluggish and hit a wall. Halftime, we knew what we had to do. We went in there. It was kind of quiet. Everybody knew we were better than that. So we came out in the second half with a different mindset, with everybody trying to execute and do their job the way it was supposed to happen.
But this week is a new opponent and a new week to go 1-0. That is what we're focused on.
On how the running game is settling in: We’re keeping everybody fresh. We’ve got a long season, so we’ll continue to feed off each other's energy and make an impact on the game. I feel like the team's coming together. We’re getting reps with each other, more practice, and going out there trying to execute. Whatever team executes the most is going to win. That's all it's about.
On Cam Ward: Every day, same person. Consistent. He wants to come out and be as detailed as he can and make everybody as detailed as they can to execute and play faster. We want to play as fast as we can without having to think. Just doing our job, creating big plays or chunk plays, working down the field. We want to execute every play. Every play is its own play. Cam is making sure we're detailed and know what we're doing so we can all go out, do our job, and be at the right spot.
[The TD dive] shows how much of a competitor he is, how competitive this team is. We go at each other every day, practice like we hate each other, but love each other off the field. It's how we get better. It's how we prepare for each week. We’re trying to go 1-0 every week. It’s a new chance to win and continue what we got going.
On the status of the offense: We’ve got a long season. We’ve got plenty of games to get better and plenty of practices to get better. We don't want to stay where we're at. We always want to continue to get better 1% every day. It's what we're built to do.
This offense can be as explosive as can be. We just have to be detailed and execute. That's really what it comes down to. Sorry I keep saying it, but execution is what wins the game. We just need to execute doing our job and we're going to win.
On Jordan Lyle: Everybody sees he's a bigger freshman, just the way he's built. But it’s how creative he is, how he tries to understand everything, just soaking up all the knowledge he can to be better and more detailed. He looks good running the ball. He's a natural runner. But as long as he stays down the path he is on and tries to get better every day, he's going to be great.
On the running back room: We’ve got depth everywhere. One, two, three. We just want to keep everybody fresh and keep everybody playing. Everybody in the running back room can play. Everybody can see we all got our own game. This is how it goes into the game plan and how it plays out. We’ve just got to execute and everybody in the room needs to feed off each other's energy. We just want to impact the game whenever each one of us is in and be happy for the other that the other made a play.
On the running game in the first half v. the second half: Everybody kind of saw it first half. We came out kind of sluggish and hit a wall. Halftime, we knew what we had to do. We went in there. It was kind of quiet. Everybody knew we were better than that. So we came out in the second half with a different mindset, with everybody trying to execute and do their job the way it was supposed to happen.
But this week is a new opponent and a new week to go 1-0. That is what we're focused on.
On how the running game is settling in: We’re keeping everybody fresh. We’ve got a long season, so we’ll continue to feed off each other's energy and make an impact on the game. I feel like the team's coming together. We’re getting reps with each other, more practice, and going out there trying to execute. Whatever team executes the most is going to win. That's all it's about.
On Cam Ward: Every day, same person. Consistent. He wants to come out and be as detailed as he can and make everybody as detailed as they can to execute and play faster. We want to play as fast as we can without having to think. Just doing our job, creating big plays or chunk plays, working down the field. We want to execute every play. Every play is its own play. Cam is making sure we're detailed and know what we're doing so we can all go out, do our job, and be at the right spot.
[The TD dive] shows how much of a competitor he is, how competitive this team is. We go at each other every day, practice like we hate each other, but love each other off the field. It's how we get better. It's how we prepare for each week. We’re trying to go 1-0 every week. It’s a new chance to win and continue what we got going.
On the status of the offense: We’ve got a long season. We’ve got plenty of games to get better and plenty of practices to get better. We don't want to stay where we're at. We always want to continue to get better 1% every day. It's what we're built to do.
This offense can be as explosive as can be. We just have to be detailed and execute. That's really what it comes down to. Sorry I keep saying it, but execution is what wins the game. We just need to execute doing our job and we're going to win.
On Jordan Lyle: Everybody sees he's a bigger freshman, just the way he's built. But it’s how creative he is, how he tries to understand everything, just soaking up all the knowledge he can to be better and more detailed. He looks good running the ball. He's a natural runner. But as long as he stays down the path he is on and tries to get better every day, he's going to be great.
On the running back room: We’ve got depth everywhere. One, two, three. We just want to keep everybody fresh and keep everybody playing. Everybody in the running back room can play. Everybody can see we all got our own game. This is how it goes into the game plan and how it plays out. We’ve just got to execute and everybody in the room needs to feed off each other's energy. We just want to impact the game whenever each one of us is in and be happy for the other that the other made a play.
