Transcript From Tulane's Weekly Football Press Conference
Sep 6, 2011 | Football
Sept. 6, 2011
Watch Tulane's Weekly Football Press Conference
Bob Toledo
Tulane University Head Coach
Opening statement
"Beating Southeastern Louisiana 47-33 was really a good start to our season. Any time you can win, it's great obviously. But it's also easier to correct mistakes when you win. When you lose football games, it's tougher. You have to treat the kids a little differently. I'm one of those guys that when you win you get tougher on them, and when you lose you have to try to handle them with kid gloves a bit and not lose your team. We'll stay after our guys. They know they've got some mistakes that they've got to correct and we'll do that."
On Tulane's special teams performance vs. Southeastern Louisiana
"On kickoff returns Robert Kelley, a young freshman out of New Orleans, ended up being the Conference USA Player of the Week and broke a school record with 213 yards on kickoff returns. He really helped to start the game on the right foot. That was exciting. Our punt returner, Derrick Strozier, had two for 49 yards. Matthew Bailey, another true freshman out of New Orleans, had two blocked (punts) and caused one for a safety. He did a great job. Our punter, Jonathan Ginsburgh, averaged 43.7 and a net of 35.3. He had three kicks inside the 20. Unfortunately, the last one went out of the endzone and if it went out at the one, his net would have been a little better. He kicked well. Our PAT/field goal kicker, Cairo Santos, made all of his extra points and kicked a 36-yard field goal. From a special teams standpoint, those areas were really good.
"The thing that was disappointing was our kickoff coverage, and that is something we're going to continue to work on. Cairo Santos did a great job of kicking it deep with great hangtime, but we didn't cover very well. We had poor coverage on a couple of occasions and we didn't tackle some guys a couple of times. We got blocked and we've got to get off blocks. So we'll continue to work on that."
On Tulane's defensive performance vs. Southeastern Louisiana
"I don't think we adjusted well to the no-huddle offense or to the tempo of the game. Often times, we were lining up late. We weren't lined up correctly and we just weren't ready to play. That's something we need to work on this week. We gave up five explosive plays - three passes and two runs - and that's way too many. We missed some tackles and we didn't cover well in the secondary. We had two big offside penalties in some crucial situations that kept drives alive and they ended up scoring some touchdowns. We did have good pressure on the quarterback. We had seven sacks and that's pretty darn good. Julius Warmsley had three of them, so he did a nice job as a back-up. And we had a nice interception by Derrick Strozier."
On Tulane's offensive performance vs. Southeastern Louisiana
"We didn't have any turnovers. That was impressive, I thought. And we didn't have any delay of games. That first game, you worry about substitutions, signaling in and calling plays. We didn't have any of that. I thought Ryan Griffin managed the game extremely well and threw three touchdowns. We gave up two sacks, one by an offensive guard and one by a fullback. We did fumble a snap. We didn't lose the ball but we fumbled it and that kept us from continuing a drive. The exciting thing is we made some big plays. We had seven explosive plays and that's what we wanted to do. We needed to make some big plays. We were good in the redzone."
On a lot of players seeing action against the Lions
"We played a lot of people and that was exciting. We played 10 true freshmen. That's probably the least amount of freshmen that we've played, but they contributed greatly as the game went on."
Overall thoughts on the game
"Overall, I was pleased with the win. We definitely have a lot of things to work on, but as I mentioned, it's a lot easier to work on things and improve after a win than it is when you lose a football game. As we all know, the opponents are going to get tougher. We know that."
On Tulane's next opponent, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
"This week, Tulsa is coming to town. They lost to the No. 1 team in the nation, 47-14. I can see why Oklahoma is the No. 1 team in the nation. They are very, very good. Obviously it's a home game for us. It's a conference game. It's a division game. It's very important. They've got a lot of players returning. A lot of the preseason magazines have them favored to win our division and possibly win the league. Their quarterback, G.J. Kinne, is outstanding. He's hurt us in the past. He can throw the football, he can run the football, and he's outstanding. Obviously, the last few years they've kind of had their way with us. Hopefully, that will change. There's no question that this is a big, big football game this Saturday for us."
On Tulane's injury situation
"The players who will be out are the same guys as last week: Casey Blum, Cameron DeJean and of course Marc Edwards is out for the season. Doubtful, Taylor Echols still has that concussion. He should be starting at strong safety but didn't play. He's very doubtful for this week, too. He still has some headaches. And questionable, both of our safeties - Shakiel Smith and Kyle Davis - separated their shoulders. Sprained shoulders if you want to call it that. They're not going to practice much this week and we'll have to wait see how it goes. We've got some other guys backing them up, but Echols was one of the safeties. Renaldo Thomas and Sam Scofield are two true freshmen and we're going to have to start coaching them up a little bit more. Of course, Thomas missed a lot of practice time and that set him back. Both of them are going to get some looks and might have to play a little bit more than we thought they would early in the year."
On Tulsa dominating the series in recent years
"The big thing is we've got off to slow starts against them. They're very explosive. They make big plays early. They get off to a big start and then we're playing catch-up. Last year, we threw for a lot of yards but it's because we were trying to catch up. We've got to eliminate the big plays. They've had so many big plays against us, not only offensively but in the kicking game. Of course losing their return specialist obviously hurt them a little bit. He caught some touchdowns on us too. They've got a lot of good players. They've got an awful lot of good players. We just have to kind of control them. I would hope that we're a little better of a football team than we've been in the past. Offensively, we need to be able to do what we did last week. We need to run the ball, take a little time off the clock, not let them be on the field very long and ultimately score some points. Defensively, we've got to pressure Kinne. We've got to pressure him as a passer and contain him as a rusher. He can run with the football and had some good yards on Saturday. Kicking game wise, they've got an outstanding kicking game. We've just got to play well. We've got to play good and we're looking forward to the game. It'll give us a real good gauge as to where we are."
On if playing Tulsa following their loss to Oklahoma makes it more difficult to scout the Hurricane
"Oklahoma is No. 1 in the nation and it's obvious. We're watching the film and we're watching their players. Players make plays, and they've got a lot of players. They've got some great players. They had the ball a lot. They had the ball over 100 snaps against Tulsa and you could see that they wore them down. I don't know what kind of effect it'll have for this upcoming game, but they beat on them pretty good for a long time. They did the no huddle, went up and down the field and were pretty good. We'll just have to wait and see."
On if he feels Tulsa will come to town with a chip on their shoulders
"If you read between the lines, they've made comments about how those are great opportunity games because now they also have to play two other outstanding opponents. But our game means a championship. Our game means a bowl game - the Liberty Bowl. This game is important for them too. Regardless of what happened, this game this week is bigger than life for them and us."
On the injury status of Ryan Grant
"Sorry, we left that out. He is very questionable. He's got a groin pull and is very questionable for the game. I'm sorry, I left that out."
On if playing a hurry-up SLU team will help prepare Tulane's defense for Tulsa's offense
"What helps us prepare is they are a no-huddle, fast-tempo team. They're a different offense, yes. Tulsa is spread out, but they run a power running game and their quarterback is a threat to run. Southeastern didn't have the power running game and the quarterback being a threat. They present a different problem to our defense, but having played that type of tempo - that fast tempo - will help us get into the rhythm of the game."
On if the key to Saturday's game is stopping Tulsa's rushing effort
"If we don't stop the run game, it could be a long day. But what's hurt us has been on the perimeter and in the secondary. They've made big perimeter runs on us with fly sweeps and play-action going deep and beating us. Those are the explosive plays that have killed us. We've got to stop the run game, control the run game. But we can't give up the big plays that we've given up in the past."
On if the performance vs. Southeastern Louisiana shows that Tulane is an improved team
"First of all, we think we're a better football team than we were a year ago. How much better remains to be seen. I believe that the tempo of the game really got us and caught us off guard so to speak. We don't have that kind of tempo in practice. We're not a no-huddle, fast-tempo team. Our guys had to adjust to that and that's part of playing the game. Once you play the game, you get used to it. And we got better as the game went on. We gave up too many plays again, and we've got to cut that out."
On the performance of Robert Kelley last week against Southeastern Louisiana
"First of all, I think he's outstanding. That's one of the reasons I put him back there to return kicks. We saw something special in him. He's big, he's physical, he's got really good speed, he's got really good quickness and change of direction, he's got great vision, and he's a very mature guy for a freshman. I thought he would do well. As far as carries, he carried the one time, bounced off a few people and took it to the house. As he does that and as he learns more, he'll probably get more carries. It's hard because we've got some other good backs, too. We're trying to keep them all happy. Give them a few carries here and a few catches there. You could ask Albert Williams and Orleans Darka, and they probably wish those other guys had less carries so they could have more. We're going to try and keep it where we have packages and we do certain things with certain people. We're going to change the packages around a little bit so nobody zeroes in on what we're doing. He's outstanding. As far as being the best one I ever had, I can't recall. We've had some pretty good ones in the past, but I think he's a very talented freshman. He's an outstanding kick returner. I think he's an outstanding running back. He's got size. He definitely can run the ball and he's got really good hands to catch the football."
On the depth questions in the secondary, especially at safety
"Those are real concerns. There are three safeties that (could be) out. Our top three, and I don't know if they're going to be back. They're really questionable. I don't know. We have to prepare those other two freshmen. Renaldo Thomas is a real talent, but he missed a lot of practice and doesn't quite know everything we're doing. Sam Scofield had a great camp. He's a very athletic guy. He's fast. He had more interceptions in fall camp than anybody we've had since we've been here. He's kind of a ball hawk, kind of a guy who makes plays. I told Steve Stanard, our (defensive) coordinator, somehow we've got to get those guys in the game. I think offensively, we played more young guys and more people than we did defensively and that was disappointing to me. I wanted us to play more defensive guys. What happened was the game was close and guys get nervous. You've got to force yourself to do it. If guys are good football players, you've got to coach them up and get them in the game."
On if the Tulsa contest is the kind of game that can be a benchmark for the season
"That's a good question and I've had a hard time dealing with that. I think the best way to answer that is this game will give us a pretty good indication of how far we've come. That's about all I can say. We all know how important it is. We can win the game and it would be great. But the big question is how far have we come and where we're at. This would be a great gauge for us."
On what the defense did in the second half against SLU to get better vs. the no-huddle
"What happened is when they started the game with the no-huddle and not really practicing (against) it, the temp is so fast that we were signaling in sometimes three times the same defense and certain guys were looking over. So it was getting used to that tempo of the game to when the play is over, quickly look over, get the signal, and then go get lined up. Guys were doing things and all of the sudden looking over. We had to signal like three times. That's why I mentioned that we didn't line up correctly a lot of times and we weren't ready to play football. When you don't line up and you're not ready to play, they're going to knock you off the ball. That's what happened. We were misaligned. We didn't line up quickly enough. I don't think it was simplifying as much as it was getting used to the tempo, looking for the signal, and going to get lined up."
On if Tulane will try and use more players to win this weekend against Tulsa
"We're going to try to win the football game, and we're going to do what we've got to do to win the football game. I felt last week was a great opportunity to get some young guys in and get some experience. That's why I said that offensively I was pleased that we got a lot of players in. Defensively, we didn't get as many in and that was disappointing to me. That was a game that if we're ever going to get some young guys in, evaluate them, look at them and still win the game, that was it. We're going to play the guys that can help us win the football game."
