Quotes Following Tulane's 12-3 Win Over UConn
Oct 12, 2014 | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Tulane 12, UConn 3
Tulane Game 6
Yulman Stadium
New Orleans, La.
TULANE QUOTES
HEAD COACH Curtis Johnson
Opening Statement
"They tell me pink is my color. My sister had breast cancer and she's good and in remission. So I was a little afraid to wear the pink today, but it worked out good for us. I thought our defense played outstanding. The first time [UConn] got the ball and went down the field on us, we only gave up three points. I thought they were outstanding all night. [Darion] Monroe had one of his best games ever here. He had two fumble recoveries and six tackles. [Lorenzo] Doss had a great interception. You won't see it. You just have to look at it on tape to do it justice. [Royce] LaFrance played one of his better games with two sacks. Nick Montana really managed this football game the way we wanted it to be managed. It was one of those times that was just great."
On the offense
"We just wanted to win the game. You just never know with guys a little bit nicked up. We called it close to the vest. I love the way Nick played today. He played well. Lazedrick and Sherman ran the ball well. We had some timely third downs. We didn't get all of them. We did some stuff in the throwing game that was good. That's how you got to win these games. You see your defense is hot and you just put it on their back."
On Tulane's touchdown
"It was very important. It was the game. When we got the touchdown, I felt very comfortable. Our defense was playing relaxed. After that it was just good play calling. They called the game exactly how we talked about. It was a good game for us."
On Nick Montana's performance
"I thought Nick did a good job. He managed the game and it was just a great job getting us in and out of plays."
On the secondary and coming off a bye week
"I thought Speedy [Lionel Washington] and Jason [Rollins] did an outstanding job this past week with those guys and John [McDonell] with those linebackers, too. Just getting the right calls and communicating...I thought we had a few less calls. Speedy did one thing and once we got going, we stuck to stuff. He dressed some stuff up, but it was a lot of the same calls."
On Andrew DiRocco's field goal
"It was just amazing. It was like we won the World Series or the Super Bowl. One thing I like about our kids, they're really, really behind him. They were jumping up and down. It was one of the best moments that you see. Then [Lorenzo] Doss was struggling and he got the great big interception. You see how those kids respond. I was very, very proud of DiRocco. We opened up the competition again this week, and here he goes again. He beat the guys out with the majority of his kicks, and when it was time to be called upon it was a great job kicking."
On what he told DiRocco after the kick
"I told him he will have many, many more. He will. I think this guy is a really good kicker. He is just a freshman."
On players redeeming themselves
"It goes back to coaching. Aaron [Price] coaches those guys and he coached Nick [Montana] and [Andrew] DiRocco. You've got to tell them, they just never, never know. Those guys never quit. A lot of kids will go and pack it in, and Nick never did. He was always a positive influence, and he got his shot and I thought he played remarkably. DiRocco, the heat was on him more than anybody. I've heated him up. His team heated him up. He's getting texts from people and all of the sudden in a moment like this, he makes one of the outstanding kicks of the year."
On the win against UConn
"It's our first conference win at home. That's one thing we got to do is start taking care of - our home. It was a good place. I thought there wasn't going to be anybody here with the fall break and it was a really good crowd. It was a loud crowd."
On Nick Montana and game strategy
"It was very important. I thought he understood it better than anyone else. He did some stuff that was just getting us in the right place. He had some kill plays that were just outstanding. It was just one of those great games. It's just maturity. Last year, he would take the hits and if it looked bad he just threw it away. He did exactly what he was coached to do."
On Tanner Lee's contribution
"The thing about Tanner, he was really into it. He was helping out, making great suggestions. He is always a calming factor. Tanner is a California cool guy."
On Darion Monroe's performance and his contribution to the team
"If you asked me who was the most vocal leader, Monroe is probably one of them and [Nico] Marley. Sam Scofield is probably one. Monroe is one of those players that is very capable of doing those things. He's getting more and more comfortable in the leadership role. He's leading us. He's thinking beyond thinking. The strip fumble was just fantastic. He just did a great job doing it. He's one of the guys who is being coached, and he's doing exactly what he's being coached to do. He may be our most valuable player."
On the defensive line
"They played better. The pass rush was really, really critical. You saw Royce [LaFrance] had a couple sacks. Sean Wilson, a true freshman, had a sack. I thought they played their best game."
On this potentially being the best defensive performance of the season
"This one was just outstanding. You look at last week, [UConn] made some big plays against Temple. I thought we really, really controlled them. The calls were great but I thought the way they executed the defense, it was just magnificent to watch."
On the performance of his special teams
"The thing about Peter is he can do that. He can catch it. I was telling him we know that [Matt] Marfisi is a little bit slower, so I was just telling him catch it and kick it. I thought he did that. He made some great punts. And then on the whole, I mean it was a great catch. Peter is a leader. He does everything with them and he does a fantastic job."
On the holding calls in the beginning of the game
"If you look at this game and take away some of those penalties, we've got to get better at that. Every time we got a positive play, there was a negative. We've just got to get rid of those penalties. If we can do that, we'll be a much better football team."
On turnovers and field position
"I think our field position flipped with those penalties. Our game plan was to call it like that and then all of the sudden, we got some turnovers to help that. I thought the clock execution was excellent. Coach Price did a great job, and the offensive staff did great. It was an outstanding win."
On the payoff after the bye week
"The thing I'm most proud of is the kids. They played with vigor. They never quit. They never quit on us. They're always positive and that's the type of program we have. Just to get a big reward like this in our first conference game. We're at home and we win this one and it's just one of those things where you're beginning to see some fruit of your labor."
QB Nick Montana
On getting the start and the win
"It was so much fun to be back out there. We may have struggled a little bit, but we were able to move the ball and come up with a big win."
On what it means for the Tulane program to get a win in the American Athletic Conference
"We really needed one. We needed to get back on the winning track. A conference win is big for us, and a win in general is big for us as well."
On how he is feeling
"I am feeling good. I am just happy to be out there honestly. I had good protection, our backs and receivers ran great routes, and I had everything going for me tonight."
On what it means to get this win
"It means a lot. It is our first conference win, and we know that it is one of many."
On how the offense was able to function effectively tonight
"We ran our no-huddle package and they weren't able to keep up with us. They are still a good football team, but we overcame them."
On the double-headed running attack of himself and Sherman Badie
"It is more than a double attack. We have myself, Sherman [Badie], Dante [Butler] and Dontrell [Hillard]. All of us are very talented, and we can just break it at any time."
CB Lorenzo Doss
On what it means to get this win
"It is great. It is a team win. We played well on both sides of the ball and in all facets of the game - on offense, defense and special teams."
On Tulane's dominance on defense
"Our coaches told us in the meeting room, before the game, to just come out there and get takeaways. Takeaways are a big part of this team, and we just had to go out there and get them."
On his interception and Darion Monroe's two fumble recoveries
"We were just getting to the ball and making something happen. We had to trust in what the coaches were telling us all week."
UCONN QUOTES
HEAD COACH BOB DIACO
Opening statement
"Credit to Tulane and to their coaching staff and their players. They fought hard for four quarters. Their coaches did a nice job for four quarters. They're a class outfit and a bunch that plays hard. [They have] a couple of talented ball carriers. Hard to tackle guys. Break tackles, talented guys. Credit to them. They fought hard and made less mistakes with the ball. They produced points when they needed to. and that was the difference in the game. We squandered away scoring opportunities with turnovers. Turning the ball over on the plus-30 yard line, the 24 yard line, and the 24 yard line ended up producing on the back half of that with the safety. As we got the stop, and they pooched us down their tight. That was at a minimum a-five point swing, and maybe even a nine-point swing. In a game like that, it ended up however it ended up - 12-3 or whatever the final was. You cannot make mistakes like that."
"I'm not surprised with anything. We are playing so many young players, and they have a maturing process; a cooking process that needs to happen. They need to play in the games. There's no other way to simulate it. No other way to simulate the game, except to play in the games. So they have to play in the games. You know what? They're doing a fine job. They're just creating at the point of attack of some game-changing plays."
On overcoming the inexperience in the rest of the season
"Practice. We need to keep practicing. We're getting better in a lot of areas. Things are improving in every single area. We continue to focus on ball security. It needs to be a priority. It has been a priority and is a priority. Just young guys doing young guy stuff."
On the frustration on having a good defensive performance, but not the offense to support it
"We are sick that we lost this football game, that we lost those other games and what the record is. The guys are in [the locker room] and they're crushed because we lost the game. We're going to mourn this loss for 24 hours, and then we're going to get better as a football team. And, we're not going to let anyone splinter us apart. We're not going to let anyone drive a wedge between the offense and the defense or create a frustration between one group or the next. We're going to love each other, we're going to care about each other and we're going to practice the plays and get better. That's all we're going to do. They've all been trying as hard as they can, and we're going to keep getting better and better. Eventually, we're going to stop doing the game-changing, altering, mind-boggling mistakes. The points will show on the scoreboard. It will absolutely happen. I've got a great offensive staff. They've got a plan. They're doing fine."
On the team's reaction to the adversity in the game
"Our culture is strong and we covet perseverance, persistence and strength. We have a belief that in pain there will be strength. And, there's a lesson in every part of it. We can absolutely use this moment, though it may be painful, hard and gut-wrenching for strength. And, we will."
On Arkeel Newsome's two fumbles
"He's going to play. He wasn't ready to go back in. If he was ready to go back in, I would've put him back in. He's going to play. He's a great player. He's eventually going to carry that ball high and tight. He's a young guy right now. He's just trying to find his way. He's doing a hell of a job. He makes some beautiful plays for us. He's going to be a spectacular player. Right now, he's just a really talented player. He just doesn't have a complete game because he's got to protect that football. But, he's not the reason that we lost the game."
On the late field goal
"It looked a little low. I think we got it on the ground. I think Blake got it down, but it was a little low."
QB CHANDLER WHITMER
On the fumbles
"In low scoring games, it's hard to overcome this type of thing. We put together some good drives, but it's all about finishing."
On the performance of Arkeel Newsome
"It's football. He's fighting, he's trying to make plays, fighting for extra yards. It's something he'll learn as a young guy. You have to learn sometimes to go down instead of fighting but it's honest, it's honest mistakes and he's fighting hard and we love him. He was on the end of a lot of positive plays as opposed to some of those negative plays. We're going to keep giving him the ball and just keep working."
On the team's turnovers
"It stinks. You don't want to turn the ball over. That's something we try to work on this week and in practice and during the bye week is protecting the ball. We did a good job, we've just got to carry it over into the game."
On the team's morale
"As it would be, after any loss, it's not good. Looking back, you can't get focused on that because then you dig yourself a hole that you can't get out of. You've just got to get better each game, keep working, and stay positive."
WR GEREMY DAVIS
On being disappointed with the loss
"I'm just frustrated with the loss in general, I feel like we do work so hard during the week and to come out and not really display the hard work and effort we do in practice, we've got to stress that a lot more in practice and try to turn it around. We've got a bye week coming up and we just need to get ready for East Carolina now."
On being 1-5
"The faith is still there, it's just frustrating to keep coming out with the losses. The faith is still there, these guys want to get the corrections down and they want to move on to the next game and they want to win. It's not like we're just going by and passing through the games - we all want to win. We've just got to face the mistakes and stop shooting ourselves in the foot."
WR DHAMEER BRADLEY
On personal performance
"Just getting the ball out quick and trying to make some plays. I fell on one of them, but other than that I'm just not coming out there and making good plays."
On team performance
"We're just defeating ourselves with turnovers. As a team, we just have to come together and put all the pieces together."
On the team's morale
"We're still together. We're still a family. Everybody's sad, but we've got to come back this week and get ready for next week."
K BOBBY PUYOL
On missing the 36-yard attempt
"During the week, I was just having problems with part of my form and it just came to fruition. I didn't put this one through the goal as well as I wanted to."
On the low snap and if it affected his timing
"Not at all. Blake and Dom, the whole operation was fine. It was all me."
