Quotes From Football's Weekly Press Conference
Nov 16, 2010 | Football
Nov. 16, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - On last week's win over Rice
"First of all, let me say that was a nice win. It was important that we found a way to win. I thought that was the important thing. It was obviously a very close football game and I think we made it too close. I want to give credit to Rice too, because they kept battling, but I felt we gave them way too many opportunities to make that game close."
On Tulane's special teams' issues against the Owls
"A big problem again was that our kick coverage really put our defense in a bind. We were terrible in our kicking game and we are constantly working to get it better. The kicker had a couple bad kicks, but for the most part they were good kicks. They had good hang time but we are going to do some things to change the way we kick the ball so that is all I will say about that."
On the way his team has played throughout the 2010 season
"I will say that our team is resilient. They have done a great job of being resilient, and the thing I like about those kids is that they never quit. That's something I preach to them all the time. I thought they gave us really good effort, I thought they played hard, I thought they never gave up and that's a real tribute to them. I told them that I thought they played their fannies off. I'm proud of their attitude and I'm proud of their character. A lot of people over the years have said, `Well you lose some games and they're going to give up... Are they going to give up? Are they going to quit?' No. I told you they wouldn't, and they haven't. They're going to keep playing hard, and like I said, that's a real tribute to them."
On overcoming injuries
"We talked Friday night in our team meeting about how some guys need to step up. With Casey Robottom out, some guys were going to have to step up and some people have got to start making some plays, and I thought some guys did, particularly, our receivers. We have two freshmen, and three sophomores that played the other night and they all did a great job. Brent Comardelle, a true freshman, started for Robottom and caught four balls. He really has great hands, like Robottom. I thought we caught the ball well and I thought we blocked well. A couple of times our receivers did a great job, Comardelle in particular, in blocking on those fly sweeps to get D.J. Banks in the endzone. They did a really good job. They just made plays. We caught the ball and that was a concern I had because we really needed our receivers to step up because they has kind of been a problem for us."
On the underclassmen getting so much playing time
"Just an interesting note...we have 20 freshmen playing. I didn't think we would have that many when the season started, but we have 12 true freshmen, and eight redshirt-freshmen. Then again we are redshirting 16 players now, too. If you look at our roster, a bunch of our sophomores are contributing. We have 16 sophomores that are playing almost full time and doing a great job. We are no longer a young, inexperienced team, but we are a young team and these young freshmen are helping us. A guy like Orleans Darkwa, he is having a phenomenal year. I think he is leading the nation in pass efficiency right now. (Laughs) But he is doing a great job, and we have some great young kids and I'm proud of the way they are playing."
On Tulane coming from behind late to win against Rice
"One thing we talked about before the game, prior to taking the field was that we had to win the fourth quarter. We have got to finish the game, and we did, and that made me feel good as well. I constantly talk to them about, during the game, bad things are going to happen but you have to learn to overcome mistakes. You have to keep playing hard and you can never give up. Old Winston Churchill, I refer to him all the time, `Never, never, never give up.' That's what I preach, never give up. You have to play 60 minutes. They have learned that. In the last two years, I think you have seen that. Our football players will never give up, they play hard. They might not always play good, but they do play hard. That's all I can ask for. On offense, I thought we played pretty well. I won't go into all the details but you score 54 points you should win most football games."
More on Tulane special teams
"Our special teams were horrific. We gave up field position again and it just kills our defense. It puts our defense in such a bind. We have some defensive starters on there. Dezman Moses made two tackles on it. He made a great tackle on one of them but then he pulled a groin a little bit and it affected him defensively. We have some guys that we are looking at right now. We are practicing hard and we are going to change some things so we can finish the last two games better."
On Tulane's defensive effort
"Defensively we gave up way too many yards and way too many points. The thing that was nice was that we came through in the end, we finished the game well and we had four big turnovers. We didn't turn the ball over and we took four from them and with that we got 17 points. For the year we have 21 turnovers, 12 fumbles and 9 interceptions, so we are creating turnovers and that is how you win and lose football games."
On Saturday's opponent, the UCF Knights
"Central Florida is 7-3, 5-1 in the conference, last week they lost to Southern Miss. It's interesting, and I believe I'm right, every game we have played, with the exception of maybe the first game, the opponent lost the week before so we are always getting everyone's best shot. They are always mad and angry and they want to take it out on us. We've got another team coming to town and they are going to be mad and angry and we are going to have to play good. But I honestly believe they are the most talented team we have played this year. I know we played Rutgers and some other people, but these guys are really talented, they have a lot of great players. They have a lot of great defensive players, a great freshman quarterback, an outstanding running back, they are really good. They are No. 1 in nine statistical categories. They are ranked first in this conference. They are No. 2 in five other statistical categories so they rank either first or second in 14 statistical categories. They are really a good football team."
On Tulane's game captain
"Our captain is going to be a fifth0year senior from Louisiana that played at John Curtis, Oscar Ponce de Leon. It is his last game, he has been here five years and he has always been a nice leader for us. He has had some injuries and has not started of late but he will start this last game at home."
On Tulane's injury situation
"Injury wise, Darryl Farley sprained his ankle. He was in a boot yesterday and he is questionable, but I think he will probably play. Alex Lauricella still has a groin pull. He did not play in the game. It is getting better, but he is questionable. Casey Robottom with a hamstring, he went out and ran around a little bit yesterday. He didn't really practice. As the week goes on, we will see but he is questionable. Cody Sparks had a head injury. He had a great game though. He did not practice yesterday but he will be out there today and he is probable. And the one that I think everyone is asking about is Ryan Griffin and he has a right wrist sprain, which is his throwing arm. He is in a splint. He had an MRI yesterday, there are no breaks, so we will just see what happens. He had a hand doctor check it and it appears that there is some ligament problems so he will be in a splint. I would say he is very doubtful to play. If he doesn't play, then obviously Kevin Moore is back. His finger is not 100 percent healthy from breaking it against Houston, but he has been practicing a little bit. I think he will be able to go in and do a good job for us."
On controlling their own destiny to become bowl eligible
"There are a lot of big games but I am not too concerned with the bowl thing. I talked to our team and said let's not even worry about that. lets worry about beating these guys because if we don't then it's a moot point. I think let's just go out and play this game and play as good as we can. As far as the biggest game, there are so many big games so I would not say it's the biggest game, but it is a big game."
On if he will stick with Jonathan Ginsburgh at punter and if it too much to ask Cairo Santos to kick and punt
"No, it's probably not too much. The only other guy that could probably do it right now would be Cairo, but yes we are looking for guys to compete and right now (Ginsburgh) is not kicking the ball very well. Not punting the ball very well, let's put it that way. The one thing he is doing is that he is getting rid of the ball in under two seconds. He is not getting any blocked, but he is not kicking very good. He does not kick spirals. Not good."
On what Kevin Moore brings to the team in comparison to Ryan Griffin
"I do not think you can compare the two. They are two different people completely. The one thing about Griffin last week, he became very excitable. He finally, in the tenth game of the season, became a vocal leader. He was a madman on the sideline. He was yelling at his linemen. He was yelling at the special teams guys. He was yelling at the defense. He was going wacko and he was doing a great job in that sense. He now feels confident that he can voice his opinion and so he was very vocal. Kevin is a good leader as well. Kevin has a lot of respect from his teammates. He is so unselfish. Here is a guy who is a senior and waited for the last play of the game to take the snap to down the ball. He is just a great kid and a great person. He is going to be very successful in life. The thing he is going to give us is he has been there and he has done that. He has played, he has started and he was playing well against Houston until he broke his finger and then he threw two interceptions. I would say he gives us a guy who can manage the game well and hopefully make some plays for us and keep us out of bad plays."
On how Moore's performance against Houston helped his confidence
"I think it was big for his confidence in himself, and for our confidence in him. It was only a shame that he broke his finger because then he could not throw the ball anymore and he ended up throwing a couple of interceptions. But I think he will do a nice job for us."
On what his team has to show to prove to the fans that it is getting better
"I think without saying win or lose we have to show progress. We have to show that we got better. We have let a couple games slip away in my opinion and maybe not should have won, but could have won. You hate to say should have because those other teams have players too but we could have won a couple more games and maybe been in a position right now to be bowl eligible but we didn't. But I think we have shown progress this year. I made the comment a long time ago that when you take over a program you lose big, then you lose by a little, then all of a sudden you win by a little then you win big. We are right there. I think if you watched our games, you see that we have gotten better. I just mentioned the young football team that we have and that's not to make an excuse because we have some older guys that are playing well too, but we have got a good young football team that is very competitive right now and we are barely losing. There is only one team, in my opinion, that really beat us, and that was Tulsa. Tulsa really beat us, and they were a lot better than us on that day. They might be the best team in the conference right now. But aside from that, we have had a chance to win every game we have been in and we didn't, but I think we are showing progress and that is what we have to do in these last few games. We have to show that we are getting better so that when we go into recruiting and we go into next year, we can feel like we have arrived. Now we are no longer a freshmen and sophomore team, we are a sophomore and junior team with a lot of experience and a lot more quality depth."
On how Tulane matches up with UCF
"I think they are very physical. Defensively, they are the best in the league. Their defensive front seven is very good. They have a corner and safety who are both outstanding so their defense is really good. We have to create some plays and make some plays and score some points somehow. Offensively, they run the ball really well. They are very physical. They play with two tight ends, one back, and they pound you. Their quarterback is an outstanding athlete, he can run and he is very efficient throwing the football. They just don't throw it very much. They have a good kicker and their kick returner is a great player. We have to do a good job there, too. It is a tough matchup. They're good. You look at their team, and I remember last year when I saw them running out of the tunnel I asked George (O'Leary), `How many guys do you have?' He said they suited up 130. I look at their facilities, beautiful facilities. I look at their enrollment, they have the (highest) enrollment in the country. I think they are over 56,000 people. They have a huge university. I know there are some people in Florida who do not want to play them, let's put it that way. They are up-and-coming and with the exception of this last game I would have said hands down they are the best team in this conference but they did get beat so there is always a chance."
On the possibility of just kicking the ball straight out of bounds
"Yeah, we did and we have talked about skying it and we did not even do that good. Here is an interesting thing. We practice on our field and I say kick the ball to the 25 yard line on the numbers. Well those pro numbers in the Dome are different. So we get to the Dome and our kids are kicking it to the 25 yard line where those pro numbers are and that is way too far in the middle of the field to kick it. It struck me to say, `Hey, do you realize the slashes out there are the numbers, not the number themselves?' So we had a horrible sky kick, we had a horrible squib kick, right to the guy on a line drive. We did not kick the ball well in those two cases, but we did kick the ball well enough in the other cases. We just didn't do a good enough job of running down there in our lanes, getting off blocks, breaking down and making the tackle. There were several times we should have had them inside the 25 and we missed tackles. We missed nine tackles on kickoffs. We are going to do some things to change that. We spent 15 minutes on kickoff yesterday alone."
On missing open field tackles
"We probably haven't played as many players as we probably should have. We've played eight linemen. I think we should have played 10 linemen. We've played two linebackers, so those guys are worn down. They are beat up pretty good. We need to play more guys. We have toned down practice now. We did not do any conditioning yesterday. It's a shorter practice today, so we are trying to cut down the time.
On sophomore wide receiver Ryan Grant
"We knew he had talent. There are a lot of ways to motivate people. You bench them, you don't play them, you do a lot of things, and we motivated him and he responded to motivation. He wanted to play and he kept working hard in practice and showed the things he can do in that football game. He has a lot of ability and he is a young sophomore. He got his first opportunity to start and he just needs to keep taking advantage of it. He has size, he has speed and he has good hands but he just has to continue to grow."
