Everything SC State head coach Chennis Berry said previewing South Carolina

SC State head coach Chennis Berry spoke to the media on Monday to preview the Bulldogs’ Week 2 matchup with South Carolina. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Saturday and will be streaming on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.

Here’s everything Berry had to say.

Opening statement

“It’s a great day to be a bulldog. First and foremost, go Dawgs. It’s a great day find a way to go 1-0. As we sit in here on Monday, you know Labor Day, 50 percent of the teams in America are 0-1, but there’s another 50% of the teams in America that are 1-0. We’re just grateful to be 1-0. Hard fought football game versus a really good Southern Conference football team, Wofford and they had their team ready to go. They competed very well for 60 minutes. We found a way to come up with a win and found a way to come out of there 1-0. And that’s our ultimate mission at the end of the day. Super proud of our young men. They showed resilience throughout the whole entire game. One thing about our Bulldog football team is that we’re going to play hard for 60 minutes. And with so many unknowns for an opening game, you just didn’t know how they were going to respond, but we believed in them wholeheartedly.

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“I thought our defense played lights out. Couldn’t have played any better. Thought they played really, really good football. Held them out of the end zone, as a matter of fact, they never even reached the red zone, which is really good for our defense. Unfortunately, we gave them some points in the kicking game. That will get fixed, and we’ll clean them up. I thought we did some good things offensively. We moved the ball up and down the field pretty much the whole entire game. Long drive, 19-play drive, 17-play drive, 15-play drives. We dominated the time of possession.

“But at the end of the day, we had a lot of what we call seeing self-inflicted negatives. When I went back and looked at the 91 plays that we ran on offense, and we had the ball for 34 minutes, I had 18 miscues that had nothing to do with the opponent. It was 100 percent us, and most of it was footwork and fundamentals that we’ll clean up. So the big emphasis this week, as we prepare for a really, really good University of South Carolina football team, we’ve got to focus on the fundamentals. We’ve still got to focus on us. Yes, we’re going to respect Coach (Shane) Beamer’s team, which is going to do an outstanding job. They got some of the top players in the United States of America, no question about it. But our young men will compete. They’ll be excited about the opportunity to go down to Columbia, South Carolina, compete against a really good South Carolina Gamecock football team.”

What can a win like the one this past Saturday do for your team?

“Huge. It’s huge for me to come in and make corrections because there are corrections to be made in all three phases, O, D and special teams. But it brings your team together. When they go through adverse moments like that, because there was a lot of ebb and flow in that game, a lot of adversity and things happen in that game. But our young men always stayed the course, and we talked about holding the rope. That’s our thing, really, for the season. Holding the rope. So I held that rope, and I showed them guys before the game, and I asked, ‘Who got my back?’ They said, ‘We got your back.’ And they fought to the end 60 minutes, and that brought our team closer together. You can see some of the messages through our teamwork. They were encouraging each other, ‘Man, way to stay the course, way to believe.’ We gave guys opportunities that typically are down the line in the depth chart, and they took advantage of their opportunity. So it really brings us closer and gets the young men believing, especially with so many newcomers, so many unknowns, and it’s going to really help us time to stretch as we prepare to go 1-0 each and every week.”

Looking at your offense being able to go on a game-winning drive, how much confidence does that give you, knowing that’s where their composure was in game one in a situation like that?

“More than anything, I was so proud of the team at that moment, because they never ever, you see teams sometimes that really are just teams and not programs. They start pointing fingers. They stayed the course the whole time. So I tell our offense all the time, the pressure is not on us. The pressure is on the defense to stop us. So that’s the mindset. We put our guys in so many situations in practice. That’s all we practice more than anything. A lot of people just run plays, but we practice situational football. So we’ve been in those situations before.

“I tell them guys all the time, the only difference between practice and game day is just more people watching. So if you train yourself, the separation is in the preparation. If you train yourself day in and day out for those moments, when you get in those moments, it really, really helps. But we started that drive on the minus 26-yard line, and took the ball down the field, and we converted some really big third and fourth down conversions on that drive. To see those guys stay positive throughout, and believe me, I’m very, very proud of them and their resilience through an adverse situation to find a way to come out victorious.”

As you prepare for South Carolina, your first game here against a Power Four opponent, how does the mindset change? If it does at all, going into this week.

“It honestly doesn’t change. We’re trying to come out of there 1-0. That’s the mission. When you play against a team like that, we know the challenges that we face. At the end of the day, it’s football, though, right? Football is football, right? They’re gonna play cover three. They’re gonna play cover two. They’re gonna play cover one, they’re gonna play four down. They’re gonna play three down. They’re gonna bring pressures. It’s football, right? They’re gonna run curl flat, they’re gonna run full vertical, they’re gonna run inside. They’re gonna run outside zone, they run power, they run counter. But guess what? They have a 6-foot-4, 250-pound quarterback back there. So at the end of the day, it’s not about plays, it’s about the players. And they have some really good players.

“I mean, that showed (Sunday) when they played against a really good Virginia Tech football team. It was a really good football game, really, if you really watch that game. But all of our young men, we prepare for football. Like I tell them at the end of the day, you have to really focus on your fundamentals when you play against a team that’s talented the way they are. I mean, they’ve probably got the number one defense here in the United States of America. But guess what? You’d better make sure your technique is right. If your fundamentals are not in order, you’re not going to give yourself a chance. So we’re going to focus again on us working on fundamentals. Really, really drive it home. I told our coaching staff, let’s go compete, man. It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be an outstanding atmosphere. It’s the home opener for them. There’s gonna be a lot of people in the stands. Now the Gamecocks will be there, but trust and believe the Bulldogs are gonna be in the building too, no doubt about it. So Bulldog Nation will be there representing. It should be fun. Great opportunity for our young men to compete against a really good top 15 in the country football program.”

Do you have anybody on the roster that you can use as a LaNorris Sellers clone to practice against this week?

“There’s not many of those people in America. When God was creating people, he didn’t create many 6-foot-4, 250-pound quarterbacks. So all in all, we’re going to help our young men. I’m sure Coach (Jordan) Odaffer, the defensive staff will come up with a good plan to try to slow that team down. I mean, they got so many explosive players all over the place. We respect all our opponents. I know Shane Beamer and know him well, and he’ll have his team ready to go and prepare. But Chennis Berry will have his team ready to go and prepared as well.

“So I’m super excited about the moment we have to go up against a really good football team, and our guys, you know, you gotta think about this is great for the state of South Carolina. When you really think about a lot of these young men that I have on my team, they probably played with some of those guys, and they dream of playing SEC P4 football. So they’re excited, they’ll be grateful for the opportunity to go out and compete against those guys, but I think it’s great for the state. We open it up against the in-state FCS program and find a way to go 1-0. Now we get an opportunity to go against another in-state SEC program, and we will see if we can find a way to go 1-0.”

What is the relationship like between you and Shane Beamer?

“Oh, Coach Beamer and I are cool, man. At the end of the day, like you say, I got a chance to speak at the South Carolina high school deal at the University of South Carolina. It was a really good deal, well attended. I was one of the four speakers that they invited over. So they understand what we’re doing over here at South Carolina State University, and I respect what they’re doing over there at the University of South Carolina. So we talk, you know, he and I talk, and I respect what he does with his program. I’m sure he respects what we do with our program over here as well.”

Columbia has been a big part of your journey. What’s it going to be like bringing your team back up to Columbia and getting to play in Williams-Brice Stadium?

“It’s gonna be pretty cool, actually. We were just at the little stadium down the street a little bit. But, you know, obviously being right there, SEC town, University of South Carolina, it’ll be fun. It’ll be a great experience. We’re excited about it. Our young men, they’ll be fired up and ready to go. So at the end of the day, getting back to Columbia with some of the people, man, you know, all the media that you guys have been awesome with my time in Columbia.

“Man, if you get a chance to bring our football team over here from Orangeburg, South Carolina, we’re gonna take that 45-minute drive down to Williams-Brice Stadium in front of probably about 80, 85, 90,000 people. It should be fun. It should be exciting. They’re gonna have towels waving. But guess what? The garnet and blue will be in the building. We’ll be ready to go compete for 60 Minutes.”

Have you in your coaching career, ever faced a Power Four opponent before? Have you ever had this challenge before, either as an assistant?

“Absolutely, I have. A couple of times. The most recent I probably remember is when I coached as the offensive coordinator at Southern University a few years back, and we played against the University of Georgia Bulldogs. I believe Mark Richt was still there as their head coach, but it was fun. It was an opportunity for our guys. Our guys went out and competed, no question about it. We had an opportunity to do that at that time. And so I’m used to playing against, playing up. At the end of the day, our young men will be prepared. So I tell them at the end of the day, guys, it’s football. Football is football. I don’t think there’s a special coverage that they run, or a special front that they run, or a special route concept. It’s ball. So we’ve got to go out and execute for 60 minutes and make sure our young men are positioned to make plays.”

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