Quotes Following Tulane Football's 54-49 Win Over Rice
Nov 13, 2010 | Football
Nov. 13, 2010
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Tulane 54, Rice 49
Louisiana Superdome
New Orleans, La.
TULANE QUOTES
HEAD COACH Bob Toledo
Opening Statement
"I'm happy for these guys. It was a very exciting game. Both teams went in with very similar statistics and it shows how equal we really were. I was not very pleased with our kickers, kicking the ball and getting it downfield, and that put us in a real bind especially late in the game. Defensively, we gave up a lot of yards and a lot of big plays but we came through when we needed it. Offensively, we had receivers running for touchdowns, tailbacks throwing for touchdowns which made for a very exciting game. We tried to create things that gave us big plays, and that is what helped us win the game today."
On the play call for the last touchdown
"We were in our two minute drill, and we were surprised Ryan Grant got in behind the secondary. When Griffin saw that, he let it fly. We told Ryan, going into it, that he had time and he didn't have to force anything. He is supposed to look deep real quick and then look short. When he looked deep he saw it and threw it. We were very surprised they would let us get behind them in that type of situation, and it was a well executed play."
On the turnovers
"Exactly, turnovers as I mentioned before are the key statistic outside of the final score and they proved to be huge today. I don't believe that we had a turnover which also helped. Shakiel (Smith) had a tremendous game. He missed a couple plays but he made a lot of tackles and made two big interceptions."
On winning the turnover battle and the game
"All the players just keep growing up, if you look at all the receivers Brent Comardelle is a true freshman, he caught 4 balls for 36 yards. Cody Sparks caught two touchdowns today and became the leader for touchdowns by a tight end in school history. I thought he was going to be done when he got hit, but he is alright. DJ Banks made a lot of plays, he had three huge touchdowns. Then Darkwa, Darkwa rushed for over one hundred yards and threw for two touchdowns."
On how it feels to win a game similar to this
"This was a very difficult game for me, I don't know what I would of done had we lost this game. We have had to deal with a lot of things, and for us to win a game like that, it gives me a good feeling. Especially for the players, I want them to go out winners and I know a lot of people keep saying the same things. We're not the same as before, we are a much better football team than before. We have lost a couple close football games, but we are better and we continue to improve every week."
On his reaction to Ryan Grant's final touchdown catch
"I was extremely excited. I asked myself, are you kidding me? I couldn't believe we had actually done it. It was almost like a tennis match with both teams scoring as many times up and down the field."
SAFETY Shakiel Smith
On his performance
"I've just been getting better in practice. I haven't played my best all season and I have been trying to get better each day. The coaches were telling me to take things one play at a time, and I messed up on some plays, but I was able to put them behind me and make some plays for us today."
On his pass break-up on the last drive
"In that coverage, if the receiver runs a post he is my man. So when he ran the post at me and I kind of grabbed a hold to him and got my head around at the last second and was able to get a hand on the ball."
On the last home game
"UCF lost today but they are really good team with a good quarterback, so we are going to have to contain him."
WIDE RECEIVER DJ BANKS
On his ability to get into the endzone
"It feels really good right now. I had a day where I was able to do a lot of different things and I have been telling myself that I wanted to have a break through game and I was glad to have that today."
On his ability to get the ball in different ways today
"It was part of the game plan. The coaches do a good job of trying to get me the ball in different ways because they think I am able to make some plays in the open field. The offensive line blocked great, and the receivers were blocking downfield on the runs, and the quarterback had a good day so it made my job easy."
On the offense's effectiveness
"Every week we know we have things to work on, and so we get to practice and we things corrected and it showed today."
RUNNING BACK Orleans Darkwa
On his touchdown passes
"It was just great play calling. The offensive line definitely stepped up again. At the beginning of the year I was begging them to let me throw the ball and today they gave me those opportunities and we made the most of them. It was really nice to come out with the win today."
On his ability to rush for over 100 yards in another game this season
"The second half of the season they have been pushing everybody off the ball and creating big seams for me to run through. The offensive line and the tight ends have been doing a great job and I know we can keep it up for the rest of the season."
RICE QUOTES
HEAD COACH DAVID BALIFF
Opening Statement
"I was proud of these young men in so many different ways. They just kept battling back. We overcame a lot of mistakes from the first half with the penalties and the turnovers. We responded in the third quarter with two touchdown drives, no turnovers in the second half. We put ourselves in the opportunity to win that game at the end and we just came up a play short. I am proud of these kids because of what they have been through this season and they just keep showing up, playing hard, and trying to get better."
On the end of the game
"With two minutes left in the game is when we went up. We kicked off and knew the deep balls were coming. They had thrown them all day. We had deep ball security until that point. We need to make plays, rely on technique, and we didn't do it. We got the ball and drove right back down field. A lot o these young players grew up tonight. They saw what we can do when we do things together, and they saw what happens when we don't."
On the defensive coverage on the final Tulane touchdown
"It was quarters. It was zone coverage."
On the changes between the first and second half
"We started running the ball more. When we threw the ball, it was more of a shorter passing game, and we didn't turn the ball over."
On Taylor Cook's performance in the second half
"I thought he managed the offense very well. He did some things where you can't do that and win. That's probably because he hasn't played as much as Nick (Fanuzzi)."
On Nick Fanuzzi's performance
"He had the interceptions, he had the fumble. That's just uncharacteristic of him. He prepared really well this week which is why we gave him the start. Because of the way he practiced."
On the rest of the season
"We have two left. We need to finish hard. We need to keep trying to get better as the season ends."
