Complete Transcript Of Football's Weekly Press Conference
Sep 25, 2007 | Football
Sept. 25, 2007
HEAD COACH Bob Toledo
Recapping Saturday's 35-27victory over Southeastern Louisiana
"Obviously, it is my first win and it is exciting to get my first win. I think my first win at UCLA was against the Raging Cajun, and Zaunbrecker was there and that was my first win there. My first two wins have been against Louisiana teams.
"The biggest thing for me is that I am happy for the kids. They have worked so hard and it was kind of a situation where they needed to have some dividends shown and so I think it paid off that they worked hard and we won. They feel good about themselves. I thought we showed great resiliency, and we didn't quit at all. Again it was the third game in a row where we were down and we have to come back. I think that speaks volumes about the character of this football team.
On what kept Southeastern Louisiana in Saturday's ballgame
"In my opinion, our own errors kept it a close game. We had the punt block return for a touchdown, we would blow our covers and they threw a touchdown. We fumbled twice and threw two interceptions. We kept it closer than it should have been, but the key thing is that we found a way to win and that is the most important thing. We kept battling and fighting and ending up winning at the end."
On the gameplan going into last Saturday's game
"Our game plan was, as you saw, was to run and run and run. That is what we did and we stuck with our game plan even when we were behind. We did what we had to do. Matt Forté was phenomenal, what more can I say. He broke all the school and Conference USA records, and he was the Walter Camp Player of the Week. He is so deserving of what he got Saturday night."
On this weekend's game against LSU
"They are big, they are strong, and they are physical, athletic and extremely well coached. They have all kinds of weapons. Basically they are loaded. They are the best football team that I have seen in a long, long time. Offensively, they are very explosive. Defensively, well, people don't move the ball on them. You look at Virginia Tech. I don't think they had a first down in the first half. South Carolina had 17 yards rushing. They make it extremely difficult to move the football on them. In my opinion, their defensive is even better than last year and last year it was fantastic. I mentioned to a reporter earlier this week that they could possibly be one of the new franchise teams in the NFL because that is how good they are."
On what Tulane hopes to accomplish in the week leading up to the game
"Basically, our goal this week is we want to play hard and we want to get better. We are going to practice to try and get better for the rest of this season. We want to continue to improve in everything that we are doing."
On the injury report
"Ade Tuyo sprained his ankle and knee on that kickoff return. He didn't practice yesterday, so he is questionable, but hopefully he will be able to return. Travis Burks still has a bad shoulder that he hurt a few weeks ago that is questionable. Sean Carney, we tried to go yesterday, he has that calf pull so he is questionable. David Kirksey, he hurt his shoulder yesterday with a slight separation so he is questionable."
On Tulane's Players of the Week
"Matt Forté was our offensive player of the game for obvious reasons. Antonio Harris was our defensive player of the game with 11 tackles and four tackles for loss. He had a forced fumble, three sacks, and he blocked the pass early in the game. David Skehan was our special teams player of the game. We talk about guys playing a lot of plays, he played over 105 plays. Not only does he play on the defense, but he is on the punt team, the punt return team, the kickoff team, and the kickoff return team. He made a super play on the fake that stopped him on fourth down.
On Tulane's captains for the LSU game
"Captains this week once again, Forté and Antonio Harris are the game captains for the year. Avery Williams and Troy Kropog will be the game captains this week."
On who will start at quarterback Saturday vs. LSU
"We are going to start with Anthony Scelfo and we are going to give him every opportunity to see what he can do in the game. We have not finalized the plan with either Scott Elliott or Kevin Moore. We will go through the week and see how they both practice and then will decide on something later on in the week. The next two games are non-league games and if I have the opportunity to get all three of them in the game I would like to do that, particularly Kevin Moore. He was going to get in the last few minutes but then they scored and we didn't get him some snaps, which I wanted to do. So we would like to give him the ball in the game as well. I think we will play two possibly all three."
On if he feels LSU deserves to be No. 1
"Well let's put it this way, I am on that committee that pick them and I voted them No. 1 the whole year ahead of USC in the coaches' poll. I think they are a fantastic football team. I don't see any weaknesses, I really don't. They are so good, they have two outstanding quarterbacks and receivers all over the place with speed. Their defense is phenomenal. They don't have to punt much or kick many field goals."
On the LSU team
"I think they are well coached. Yes they have players, but a lot of people have good players and they don't coach them well. These guys are well coached. I have a lot of respect for Les Miles, of course I know (offensive coordinator) Gary Crowton real well when he was at BYU and he went to Oregon. They are just very, very well coached. You look at what they are doing and they have right fits on defense. They are not out of position. They just do everything right. They have a heck of a thing going on right now.
"You look at their facilities. They have a beautiful indoor facility and a big weight room. Their facilities are phenomenal. Their fan base is phenomenal. Their stadium, well I have played in that stadium when I was at Texas A&M, and they have it all going on. They are doing it right. You just have to respect them and to have 75 guys benching over 400 pounds that tells you something right there. Glenn Dorsey is going to line up against (Michael) Parenton and (Andrew) Nierman, and they are both 6-1, 280 pounds. I look at (Dorsey) and he is throwing guys around from Virginia Tech and South Carolina like they are rag dolls. People just have to realize that this is not going to be easy."
On handling the possibility of LSU having more fans than Tulane when we are at home
"That is one of the things we talked about, is that there is going to be more noise in that stadium for our game then it would be our normal games. It is going to be difficult to hear things and to communicate, but that's a tribute to LSU and their fans. They are very supportive and they love football. I remember when they weren't winning, (the fans) were out there supporting them, and that is a real tribute to LSU."
On if Anthony Scelfo's mobility factored into the staff's decision to start him this weekend
"Well that helps, let's put it that way. He has the ability to avoid maybe some sacks and be mobile in the pocket. So yes that was a consideration."
On his personal record against LSU
"Well, I was telling someone earlier. When I was at Texas A&M, my first year there with R.C. Slocum, I don't believe they had beat (LSU) in like 25 years and they had Harvey Williams and those guys, and we knocked them off. And then the next year we went there and, of course, their fans were wild and raved. I remember we had a player named Darren Lewis and he got knocked out of bounds and there was a flag for a late hit. Then all of a sudden he hit the guy back in the head and they ejected him from the game. We lost that football game, but what a great atmosphere. I have always said, and I am not just saying this right now, that LSU's stadium is the most exciting stadium to play a football game I have ever been to. And I have been to a lot of them. I've been to Tennessee, Notre Dame, Michigan, Alabama, you name it, I've been everywhere and LSU is the best atmosphere to play a football game in that I have been involved and I am not just saying that because we are playing them this week."
On his goals for the team Saturday vs. LSU
"We want to get better. We want to improve on the things that we are doing and let then game take care of itself. Coaches are always crazy. As the week goes on you start to see a thing here and a thing there where maybe you could attack. We always think we have a chance. We think we have a chance and we will tell our players that we think that we have a chance. That is all you can do is go out and compete. That is why you play the games. It is going to be very difficult. It's obviously a huge, huge challenge for us. When I look at Mississippi State, (LSU) won 45-0. Mississippi State got after us pretty good and so I mean it is going to be very difficult."
On if he considers Saturday's contest a rivalry game
"Well I think the old timers consider it a rivalry, when we were in the Southeastern Conference and we were comparable in scholarships money and all those things. But there is not a Tulane Stadium here anymore, it is a different era and we got out of the Southeastern Conference. We are not a BCS conference and there is a big difference. For people to think it is comparable it is ridiculous."
On if Matt Forté's performance Saturday exceeded even his expectations
"I think what he did in this game showed me what he is capable of. He made some runs that were fantastic. He made guys miss in a three-foot spot. He made the offensive line look better than it is. He is a great football player. We are not good enough right now to give him the opportunity for him to be as good as he could be, because we don't have the surrounding people. I don't mean that as a knock, but that is just a fact."
On the difference between Tulane and LSU in this weekend's ballgame
"This weekend is going to be a hard football game, but I think we need to try to do the things that we have been doing. We have a system and we need to try to execute the system. You can get away from your game plan, and you can get all the plays I diagram go for touchdowns. But it's like when you draw it on a chalk board. You draw an X and an O. Well our X's aren't as big as their O's and that is the difference."
On if he thinks his team will be excited to play LSU
"I guarantee you that we will get them fired up for this game. I think that it is a great challenge. If you want to play against great competition, this is your opportunity to play and show them what you are all about. It is a TV game and it will be a packed house. That is why you play the game. I love big games, I really do. I just know it is going to be a difficult game to play. I told them if you are afraid then don't show up. I am hoping to be competitive. I want to be competitive."
On if he can ever recall his team being such an underdog in the point spread
"I was telling our players that last night. When I was at Pacific, we played Iowa State and we had to bus from Stockton to San Francisco to catch a commercial plane. We had to leave at 4:00 in the morning, and I only had 50 guys. I told our players that if you are afraid, don't show up, so our starting tailback missed the bus and didn't show up at four. So we left, and I was going to start this little guy about 5-7 you know John Moorehouse from Tracy (Calif.) and sure enough, my tailback gets in his car and meets us at the airport. `Coach I am sorry I'm late' (he says) and then I say, no you are too late, you're not playing and you're staying home. Well we go with 49 players and Donny Duncan, who used to be the head coach of Oklahoma, he was there and they come out. They have like five strings and they run plays in pregame warm-up and we just keep backing up and up. We are about at our 15-yard line running plays and so the game starts. It is really windy and they kick off to us. We move the ball down the field and kick a field goal. So then we kick off to them and their first play, they fumble. We kick another field goal. Then all of a sudden things start happening. We are up 6-0 and then we score a touchdown and they score a touchdown.
"Moral of the story is with 49 guys and a little tailback name John Moorehouse (spelling?) and a quarterback who emailed me yesterday, who by the way was the freshman leading passer in the nation that year, No. 2 was Dan Marino. The point is, is that we won the football game and nobody gave us the chance to do that. I have had some of those things.
"I was talking to (Tulane Vice President) Debbie Grant earlier who went to South Carolina. We went to Columbia, S.C. at Pacific and of course they had George Rogers the Heisman Trophy winner, Jim Carlen was the head coach and they had just opened up stadium that sat 77,000. I remember a sign at the corner or their stadium that said `Pacific, a little puddle in the ocean.' Well, we ended up beating South Carolina. We had 105 offensive plays, and we just nickeled them to death and beat them. So, to say you can't beat somebody, no. I mean Appalachian State beat Michigan. It has happened."
