George O'Leary's Concerns Voiced in C-USA Weekly Teleconference

George O'Leary met with the media today via the weekly Conference USA Football teleconference.

Answering questions about the Southern Miss game and the upcoming match between the Knights at home versus University at Buffalo, O'Leary was noticeably preoccupied and frustrated, signaling that the conference loss versus Southern Miss last weekend has affected UCF's morale.

Examiner.com's Jessica Reuter was also able to hear Southern Miss football's head coach Larry Fedora comment on their win over the Knights:

Coach O'Leary on defensive concerns

"I'd like to see more from the defense. There were too many opportunities that we passed up. Southern Miss did a great job of mixing it up (running and passing). We have to continue to work on opportunities that we have to make the tackle. I expect more from them and they understand that."

Coach O'Leary on his offense versus the Buffalo Bulls this upcoming Saturday

"We need to move the chains and get first downs, and obviously keep good field position throughout the game. We need to limit the amount of three and outs."

Coach O'Leary on the weak running game thus far

"The things we're seeing are correctable. It's a matter of consistency in some of the areas more than anything else."

Coach O'Leary on defensive keys vs. Buffalo

"We need to play good fundamental defense. Our defense is very efficient in what they do. The Bulls limit their mistakes and they're good. We must make sure that when we have the opportunities to make plays, we make them."

Coach O'Leary on Buffalo's quarterback Zach Maynard

"He's efficient; he keeps his poise back there. I think he's very accurate. I've been very impressed with him on tape."

Coach O'Leary on the importance of Houston's win over Oklahoma

"I think it's great when we (C-USA) win these non-conference games. You have to win if you want respect for your conference. We all need to do that, and I congratulate Houston on that."

Coach Larry Fedora on Southern Miss's defense

"I'm very pleased with how our defense played. We shut out the run and made it a one-dimensional game. We created a couple turnovers which we were proud of, and offensively we did enough to get the job done, but we weren't satisfied by any means with how we played on offense. You have to give UCF credit. They have a very good defensive team."

Coach Larry Fedora on Southern Miss's special teams

"Special teams really shot themselves in the foot. They had a big return at the end of the night, but we also had three punts and fumbled one. So we have a lot of work to do there."

If the Knights expect to win against Buffalo this week at Bright House, they will serve well to take heed of Coach Fedora's comments. The Knights' running game needs to improve immensely over the week this week in order to create a win for UCF.

View Jessica's article at Examiner.com