Quotes From Football's Weekly Press Conference
Nov 9, 2010 | Football
Nov. 9, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - On last week's game against Southern Miss
"You look at last week I really believe our players were very physical and gave a great effort until the end of the game. I don't think you can fault them for that. The problem is that some of our players just didn't perform well enough and that's what it really got down to. Of course the biggest problem, and I mentioned it after the game, was our kicking game was disastrous. It really did us in."
On what Tulane is doing to correct the issues on special teams
"I know people realize this but we work extremely hard in the kicking game meeting wise, practice wise and we're doing everything we possibly can to rectify the situation. We're evaluating schemes, we're evaluating players, we're evaluating our coaching, we're doing everything."
On Tulane's special teams' mistakes last week against the Golden Eagles
"When you look at it, our kicks were bad, our punts were bad, our coverage was terrible on kickoffs - we didn't say in lanes and didn't contain guys. One of the first kickoffs we had a chance that if we make a tackle and keep them contained to keep them inside the 25 and they run it back to the 40. We just didn't do a very good job with that. And our kickoff return wasn't performed very well either. We didn't do a good job of blocking. It doesn't matter how well you run the ball, if you don't block you can't run. And of course, we missed the extra points. We had a bad hold, he started his kick a little too early and it threw him off rhythm. Then we committed a cardinal sin. Thomas Woods does our punt returns and I see him daily talking to guys to stay at the 10-yard line and never back up, and yet we fumble the punt. That kind of did us in right there. It would have been 20-13 (at the half) instead of 20-20."
On Southern Miss pulling off an on-sides kick in the first half
"The on-side kick thing is something I want to talk about. They scored the field goal and came back and on-side kicked. I think there ought to be a rule put in place because you talk about defenseless players. That ball hit and went up in the air. Joe (Kemp) was waiting for it and the guy drilled him. That is a penalty. It wasn't called but that is a penalty. It's helmet-to-helmet and should have been called. I've said enough about that, but I really believe there's got to be something done about that on-side kick where it hits and goes up in the air against a defenseless player. Joe's got a concussion and probably won't play this week, and didn't play the whole game last week. Something is wrong with that."
On Tulane being put in bad field position defensively throughout the Southern Miss game
"Field position killed us. The kicking game, we keep emphasizing this to our players, really put us in a bind. They get the one kickoff return and go down to the eight. Our defensive linemen are offsides, they get the ball at the four and score the touchdown. We fumbled the ball on the four. Then we had a receiver catch the ball, they pick it out of his hands and run it for a touchdown. And then the one trick play - we were in man coverage they throw a double pass and hit a touchdown. That's hard because you've got a man and you're supposed to cover your man. When they throw the ball, your reaction is to come off and go tackle somebody. When you look at it, that's 28 points. When you take away those 28 points, it's a heck of a different football game."
On Saturday's opponent, the Rice Owls
"Rice is 2-7. They're 1-4 in conference. They beat Houston 34-31. If you look at these two schools, we're probably more similar than anybody in the conference. I know last week they talked about us and Southern Miss being a rivalry game. Well when it's all said and done, I think Rice and us are probably the biggest rivalry in that everything is kind of equal - the same amount of students, the same kind of facilities, academic reputations, so on and so forth. Anyway, this feels more like a rivalry game to me than any of the ones we've played previously, plus we play them every year. We don't play Southern Miss but every two years."
On the Tulane/Rice match-up
"Statistically, you look at it and both teams are very close. We might be ahead of them in some and they're ahead of us in others, but it's right there for each one of us. The only exception is their punter, Kyle Martins, averages 47 yards a punt and a 40 net. He's the No. 1 punter in the conference. That is the only thing that is really different between our two teams in my opinion."
On Tulane's game captain
"Our captain this week is going to be Chris Asumnu, our starting defensive tackle. He's from Texas and he's a good, young leader."
On Tulane's injury status
"Injury wise, (linebacker) Darryl Farley has a quad contusion and a hamstring pull that happened in the game, but he's probable. He's going to be able to practice hopefully a little bit. (Right tackle) Eric Jones is still doubtful with the ankle. He tried to go yesterday and couldn't push off on it. He's probably not going to play. (Wide receiver) Casey Robottom has a hamstring, didn't play the whole second half. He's doubtful. (Tight end) Brock Sanders had a concussion. He practiced a little bit yesterday so he's probably. (Tight end) Tyler Helm had a concussion and so did (wide receiver) Joe Kemp. The doctors are testing both of them today. Hopefully, they'll be able to play, but they're both questionable at this point. (Cornerback) Kendrick Washington has a turf toe. He played nine plays (last week) and didn't play the rest of the game. He's questionable. (Running back) Stephen Barnett still has a hamstring. He's out. And (cornerback) Alex Lauricella has a hip and a groin, so he's probable."
On if Ryan Rome may assume kickoff duties after Tulane's struggles in recent games
"We talked about that. There is a real possibility that Rome may get a chance to kick again. We're doing punt and punt return today, and then tomorrow we're doing kickoff and kickoff return. There's a possibility that we may make some changes. Plus, we're going to make some changes probably in some personnel."
On why Dezman Moses did not start at defensive end on Saturday
"He had a little bit of a problem. It was an internal thing that we decided not to start him. I just wanted to show him some discipline. Maybe he won't jump offsides if he has more discipline. Anyway, he just needs a little more discipline and that's why he didn't start."
On the non-call when Kemp was injured on the on-sides kick
"I'm not supposed to comment on that. That's the major thing about officiating. You turn in these plays and the supervisor returns it to you and either agrees or disagrees. Of course, when they agree with you, it really upsets you because it should have been called and nothing happens."
On how he keeps the team positive after back-to-back disappointing losses
"We as coaches try to be positive and continue to coach the same way, win or lose. I think they appreciate that and respect that. They know it's up to them to go make the play. We can't catch the ball. We can't catch punts. We can't block. We can't tackle. We can give them direction and give them guidance. But when it gets into the game, they are the ones who have to perform. I hate to put it that way, but we can only do so much. If there's someone to blame, blame me. I'm the head coach and I'll take the blame. I've got big shoulders. But we've got to perform and that's the point I'm trying to make. You see the game just like everyone else. We make some mistakes that shouldn't be made."
On Robottom's injury
"It's a hamstring and he couldn't play the second half. It was pretty significant, otherwise he would have been back there to catch the punt. Right now he's very doubtful. He's seeing the doctor this afternoon as a matter of fact."
On what Robottom's injury does to the receiving corps
"One of the things we're doing is we're putting Jordan Sullen back on offense. He'll back up Ryan Grant at flanker. Wilson Van Hooser will still backup D.J. Banks in the slot. And we moved (Brent) Comardelle to the split end position and he'll compete with Devin Figaro this week. We'll evaluate them at the end of the week to decide who will start."
On Devin Figaro
"He's got a lot of ability but he's dropped some balls. He's got to be a little more focused and do a better job."
On Tulane receivers dropping passes
"We dropped three balls. If you looked at the game, it looked like more. Thomas Woods, Dan Dodd and myself watched the game on Sunday and we said the same thing. It looked like we dropped 10 balls, but we really only dropped three. But they were three crucial ones. As I told them, blocker block and receivers catch. They've got to make the catches."
