Quotes From Football's Weekly Press Conference
Oct 19, 2010 | Football
Oct. 19, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - On the loss at Tulsa
"We lost to a really explosive football team in Tulsa. They've got a lot of playmakers. By all rights, if you think about it, they should probably be 6-1. They lost on a Hail Mary to East Carolina. Against SMU, they had two field goals blocked. They were fourth-and-one inside field goal range, faked it and didn't get it. They dropped a touchdown pass in the endzone and they had two long balls dropped that would have been inside the five-yard line. Really, the only team that should have beat them was Oklahoma State. We lost to a good football team. That doesn't make it any easier.
On Tulane's defensive effort at Tulsa
"There's not really much good you can say about 538 yards and 52 points - plus they scored quickly and often. That's what made it more difficult. They had a season-high 332 yards rushing. Their quarterback really accounted for 75 net yards. He had quarterback draws and scrambles, and that's one of the things that I said going into the game that I was really concerned with. He hurt us last year running with the football and he hurt us once again running with the football. The running backs really had about 150 yards. They didn't really run inside. Our linebackers didn't make a lot of tackles inside, they had to run sideways. They didn't challenge our defensive line in that sense. They tried to challenge us on the perimeter and the secondary. That's what hurt us. Their receivers basically ran fly sweeps and reverses and isolated us in the open field. We really played tentatively. We were worried about deep balls, reverses, bubble screens and those kinds of things that we were tentative tackling. We did a very poor job tackling. That's what happened defensively.
On Tulane's special teams play at Tulsa
"Our kickoff coverage team was not good. We tried to kick it away from their returner and the kicks weren't very good. The coverage for the most part wasn't good. Our kickoff return wasn't very good and that hurt us field-position wise. And of course we had a big penalty on one of the kickoff returns as well which put them on the 49 yard line."
On Tulane's offensive performance at Tulsa
"We had some players who had some career-best performances, but obviously it wasn't enough. We threw the ball really well. We had 446 yards passing, 8.0 yards per attempt and anything over seven is really good. I was happy with that. We threw two touchdown passes, but like I said, it wasn't enough. We had the ball for 36 minutes and time of possession really doesn't mean that much. We had 91 plays and 28 first downs. A big reason for that was they scored quickly so we got the ball back quickly. We had 527 yards but we only had 24 points. As I talked about last week, the scoreboard at the end of the game is the No. 1 stat and turnovers is the next-most important stat."
On what he thought the offense needs to improve on
"We didn't run the ball very well. We averaged 2.3 yards an attempt and had 81 yards net. Our running backs were nicked up so they didn't play very much, and we weren't very good in the redzone. We got down there four times. We threw a touchdown, kicked a field goal, an interception and we turned it over on downs at the end of the game. We had one fumble which resulted in a field goal just prior to half to make the score 24-7. Then we're in the redzone on first down we threw an interception which was kind of a backbreaker. They ran it back close to 40 yards and soon after that they scored."
On Tulane being 2-4 at the midpoint of the 2010 season
"We're at the halfway point. We're in a position now where we're kind of behind the eight ball. As I've told our players, we've still got a lot of football left. There's plenty of football to be played. We just have to start playing better the next six games. The one thing I'm extremely pleased with is the attitude of our football team. We went out yesterday and had a very good practice. Right after the game, they were very upset with themselves, and it's good to see. From a work-ethic and an attitude standpoint, I think we're going to be fine. We just have to win a football game and that's the thing holding us back right now."
On Saturday's opponent, the UTEP Miners
"We're on the road again against UTEP. They're 5-2, 2-2 in the conference and they lost a tough one last week to UAB, 21-6 Offensively, they have 10 senior starters returning. Their quarterback, Trevor Vittatoe, has started the last four years. He's a heck of a player. The running back, Donald Buckram, has been injured most of the year. He's starting to play a little bit more the last three games and he had a career day against us last year. Hopefully, we can stop him. The wide receiver, Kris Adams, is off to a great start. He's got 27 catches and eight touchdowns. Three of their offensive linemen - the center, right guard and right tackle - all made honorable-mention all-league. They've got a lot of experience on offense. Defensively, they've got a new defensive coordinator. They're running a 4-3 again, like (UTEP head coach) Mike's (Price) always run. They're giving up only 22 points a game and their second in redzone defense. On special teams, Marlon McClure is first in punt returns and second in kick returns. Again, he's a dangerous guy."
On a possible new face playing for Tulane this weekend
"Because of the injuries that we've had to a couple of our running backs, we've decided to bring Jamar Thomas out of his redshirt. Not that we redshirt a guy until the season is over, and that's one of the things that we mention to them - `Until the last play of the last game, you can still be playing so be ready.' Jamar is a good running back. He's out of University Lab in Baton Rouge. He'll return kickoffs for us, he'll play some running back, and he will help us on other special teams."
On Tulane's injury status
"Guys that are questionable, Orleans Darkwa has a concussion. He was not out there yesterday and will not do much today. Hopefully by tomorrow or Thursday, he can get some reps. But like I said, he's questionable. Payten Jason has a hip flexor. He went into the second half for one more play and he couldn't play at the end. Cody Sparks has plantar flascia problem with his foot. If you've ever had that, you know how painful that is. He didn't practice yesterday and probably won't do much today. He's having a heck of a year and hopefully we can get him back. Those are the three new guys. Guys who are probably, Kevin Moore threw the ball yesterday for the first time and actually threw it pretty well. He's probably ready to step in if something happens to Ryan (Griffin). Dezman Moses injured his knee a little bit last week but played in the game and did fine. Ankle injuries, Zach Morgan is hobbling along as is (Oscar) Ponce de Leon and Cedric Wilson. Cedric is probably the worst of the group, the defensive lineman, but those guys are all probably. Then Kris Rhymes has a hamstring. He looks like he'll be able to make the trip this week. He's a back-up linebacker and plays on special teams. The last one is Derrick Strozier, who has a quad strain. He came out of the Rutgers game and hasn't played since. Hopefully, he'll be ready to start making a contribution as well."
On if it's frustrating to see his offense catch fire only to have his defense falter at Tulsa
"That's hard. I told someone yesterday, I feel like the little guy with his fingers in the dyke. I plug up this hole, something pops up there. I plug up this one, something pops up there. Eventually, we've got to put it all together. I think we've shown signs that we can put it all together. All facets have had success. All three facets have to have success and if they do, we can win some games down the stretch here. But yes, it's very frustrating."
On if Saturday's game was the most tentative he's seen the defense play this season
"No question, and part of it was because of what they do. It's (Gus) Malzahn's offense. I tell you, it's tough. Just ask the guys who had to give up 65 points last week at Auburn. First of all, they throw the ball deep. They're going to throw it deep, so the DBs are scared to death of getting beat deep. So they're hanging back. They've got reverses and they have reverse passes, so you don't want to come up too fast. Then the defensive line and the linebackers, with all the motion and the crossing actions, you just freeze. It makes you tentative. It makes you not cut loose, turn and run to the ball. It's too much. It's like a magician. It's a very difficult offense to defend. There's a reason why Auburn is having success. It's a reason why (Tulsa is) having success. We're doing some of those things. Dan Dodd has copied some of those things this year from Tulsa. We've gone back and looked at it, and because it has created so many problems for us that we've actually implemented some of the things that they do."
On what the defense has to do to get better
"Not play against that kind of offense. They need to be more aggressive. You can't worry about things. You've got to react That's the big thing about defense. It's read and react. We read but we didn't want to believe what we saw and we didn't react. We were tentative. The offense made it that way. We needed to be more aggressive and we weren't. We were lunging at people. We weren't running through people to tackle. We were kind of leaving our feet too early and missing tackles."
On if injuries makes Albert Williams the No. 1 weapon at running back
"I would say that he is the most healthy, let's put it that way. He would have to be the main guy. That's one of the reasons we're bringing Jamar (Thomas) up. Of course, Steve Barnett is going to have to contribute a little bit more, too. We have to go in assuming that these two guys (Jason and Darkwa) aren't healthy and aren't going to be able to play too much. If they can, it'll be a bonus for us."
On if Tulane is missing a big back offensively
"It would be nice to have a big back. We need a healthy back. Payten is a good back. Orleans Darkwa is a good back. They fit our needs. They just are not healthy right now. Barnett is a pretty good back. I don't know about a big back. I don't know about a big back. We need a healthy back. That's what we need. We need some playmakers. We need some guys who can get it and go."
On the performance of Ryan Grant last week at Tulsa
"It was nice Ryan Grant come alive a little bit. He made some nice plays in the game. That's what we anticipated him doing early in the year, and he finally did it. Robottom is just steady. He doesn't make mistakes. I was surprised he fumbled the ball to be honest with you. He caught the ball and made a first down. But he's been steady. Joe Kemp is having a good offensive showing, and Cody Sparks has made some plays. We've got some guys who are starting to come alive. That's what I asked of them. I challenged them before the game. I told them, `Hey, there's one guy here making plays - that's Casey Robottom. We need some of you other guys to step up and make play.' And they did. I challenged them and they did. A lot of guys had career days, so I was pleased with that. We have to continue that and get better."
On UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe
"No. 1, he's got a lot of experience. He's been playing for four years now and has had some unbelievable games. He's primarily a passer, but he also has the ability to run and beat you with his legs as well. He's not a guy who is just going to stand back there, throw the ball and get sacked. He's got some mobility and he can run the football. Just his experience and knowledge of what defenses are trying to do, being in that system for four years now, he's a proven guy."
On if he thinks Tulane will have an easier time trying to stop UTEP's offense than it did last week at Tulsa
"Let's put it this way, it's something we're more familiar with. Hopefully, we match up better with it than we did last week. We still have to take on blocks, we have to tackle people, put pressure on the quarterback and cover receivers."
On if the key to the game is stopping UTEP running back Donald Buckram
"Well, he's been hurt. Last year, he had a career day against us. If he's playing and he's healthy, we've got to stop him first. The other two guys who have been playing aren't bad either. Mike is pretty balanced. Mike is doing a lot of things that he's done in the past. He went a little bit into the spread two years ago and kind of got away from it, but he's gotten back to what he's been doing. He's playing with two tight ends, h-backs, motion, running ball, bootlegs and throwing the football."
On if he feels Tulane has won the games it was supposed to win and should be 2-4 at this point
"When I say behind the eight ball, I'm talking about the goals we set for ourselves. A lot of people thought that we would only win two of the first six games. We had higher expectations than that. We expected to win more. If you take away a couple of handfuls of plays, we maybe win more games. We felt that the second half of the season, if we had three wins going into that, it would be a lot easier to reach our goal. Right now, it's going to be tough. We've got to win four of the next six to get to a bowl and they're all pretty good football teams."
On Ryan Griffin's breakout game last weekend
"If you look at Tulsa's defense, they've been giving up a lot of yards throwing the football so they were vulnerable. I thought our no-huddle approach presented some problems. They couldn't change their defense as much as they wanted and substitute. I think that hurt them a little bit. And again, we had the ball 91 plays because they scored pretty quick. By having the ball 91 plays, you ought to have 500-something yards, but you'd hope to score more points. He's an accurate passer. He made one big mistake in the game that he'd like to have back. That's inexperience. But he's getting better."
On if Cody Sparks has added an extra dimension to the offense
"Well, his forte is catching the football. He's a big wide receiver playing tight end. That's what he is. It helps to open up other players when he's being as efficient as he was the other night. But he's playing really well."
On what makes him think the team can turn things around after dropping the last two games
"I would answer by saying this. First of all, with the few injuries that I mentioned, we're relatively healthy. We're actually in pretty good shape because as I've mentioned earlier in the year, we've got more quality back-up depth than we've had in the past. Two years ago, it would be over. We lost 17 guys to season-ending injuries. Last year was difficult. This year, we're much better. We have much more quality depth. I feel from an injury standpoint, we're as good off as we've been since I've been here. From an attitude standpoint, this is the best attitude of any team that we've had. Like I said, we had a great practice yesterday. Our players are not quitting. They're not getting up. I think the TV announcer in the game said, `This is not a typical Tulane team. They're down 38-to-whatever and they having given up.' That's kind of our mantra. We're not going to give up and quit. And if you do that, you have a chance to win. Our players believe we can win. Our coaching staff believes we can win. I honestly believe it'll be different than it was a year ago."
