Transcript From Football's Weekly Press Conference
Oct 14, 2014 | Football
Video of Tulane Football's Weekly Press Conference
NEW ORLEANS - With his team fresh off a 12-3 win over American Athletic Conference foe UConn, Tulane University head football coach Curtis Johnson was all smiles when he took the podium to address the local media during his weekly press conference on Tuesday afternoon in the multi-purpose room of Yulman Stadium.
Johnson reviewed his team's performance against the Huskies - which saw the defense tallied season-high marks with four sacks among 10 tackles for losses, forced three turnovers and recorded a safety - before moving on to the upcoming road trip to UCF. A complete transcript of Tuesday's presser is below.
Kickoff for the Tulane/UCF contest is slated for Saturday, Oct. 18, at 11 a.m. (CDT) in Bright House Networks Stadium and will be televised live nationally on ESPNU. In addition to the television coverage, Saturday's contest will be broadcast on the flagship radio station for Green Wave football - WMTI 106.1 FM "The Ticket" - and the radio call is available on the web at www.TulaneGreenWave.com via the All-Access Pass. Live game stats are also available on the official website of Tulane Athletics for free courtesy of GameTracker.
Following the trip to The Sunshine State, the Green Wave will enjoy their second bye of the season before playing host to Cincinnati for a Halloween contest at 7 p.m. in Yulman Stadium. For tickets to that game, as well as future Green Wave events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE (9283). The Tulane Ticket Office is located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center and is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased on-line at the official website of Tulane Athletics - www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
TULANE HEAD COACH Curtis Johnson
Opening Statement
"I thought our defense came out and really, really set the tone. Besides the opening drive, they played really well. The special teams played well. I thought Nick Montana managed the game really, really well. Sherman [Badie] and Lazedrick [Thompson] had awesome games. We still had the problems with the penalties, so we have to get those cleaned up. I can't say enough about Darion Monroe, and then Royce LaFrance probably had his best game with two sacks and a couple of tackles for loss. I thought he played outstanding. Brandon LeBeau had the best game of his career. He had seven tackles. We really played well. UConn was big and they were physical. We didn't know if we could manhandle them, but I thought the defense just took it to them most of the night"
On what they saw in LeBeau to warrant his playing time
"We always felt that LeBeau is a physical player. We kind of have a two-headed monster with LeBeau and Taureen Nixon. Taurean Nixon is more of cover guy where LeBeau is more of a physical guy. He showed his physicality that game. We had him in a down-safety role. I thought he just played outstanding. One of the things he can do is he can really run and he's a physical-looking kid. He reminds me of me 20 years ago {laughing}. He played outstanding."
On last time Tulane played UCF and how much this game is a Litmus test
"This is a team that is probably the most notable team in the conference. Just go back to last year and they have a lot of guys coming back from that team that went to the Fiesta Bowl and beat Baylor. This is a very, very good football team. They remind me of how we were at the University of Miami. They have a great defensive front, some linebackers that can run, safeties that hit and run like corners and corners that can cover well defensively. It's going to be a huge challenge for us. Again, we have to run the ball. Offensively, you look at the quarterback and he's outstanding. They have a great returner similar to what we had at Miami with Devin Hester and those guys. They are kind of a blueprint of what we aspire to be and what we'd like to do. It's going to be a big test for us, but we just need to go in there and play well. I told the team the other day, it's not about how many points we score or give up, it's just playing well. If we play well, I think we have a chance in every game."
On his team's quarterback situation
"Tanner [Lee] threw the ball early in practice again and he's going to throw it more tomorrow. He's going through more of the individuals and get all the way up to routes on air. If he feels good doing that, he'll do a little bit more and maybe some seven-on-seven. I thought [Nick] Montana did a great job managing the game. I don't know who the best guy is for this one. This one is going to be a little different. UCF is going to come after you so we have to get Tanner ready, we have to get Montana ready and we have to get Devin Powell ready. It looked like Tanner could be the guy last week, but we have to be careful because this one here is going to be a little bit different breed."
On if Lee provides the offense with more of a vertical passing threat
"You look at Tanner and what he can do overall and some of the stuff he did against Georgia Tech, he just has to get more consistent. Without the turnovers, he's been playing very, very well. [UCF] is a team that you have to get it off very, very quick because these guys are going to come after you. If he can't, Nick will be fine. Nick will figure out how to manage this thing and get it in our favor. And Devin can take a couple of long shots and see if he can connect. We kind of have a plan for all of them, but you'd like to have your starter back."
On if a starting quarterback can be in jeopardy of losing his job while sitting out injured and the backup plays well
"I don't think a starter can ever lose his job. It's no different than last year. Devin went 2-0 and then we came back and started Nick. In our meeting rooms and what we talk about, Tanner is our starter. He's proven. He's the best. He out-played those other guys. It's just a blessing to have two other guys who can go into games and win games. I don't know if there's another college football program that can do that. What we're going to do is see if Tanner can go. Nick proved he can win games, and if we need to play Devin, we'll play Devin because Devin did it last year."
On Sherman Badie and Lazedrick Thompson providing a one-two punch in the backfield
"Sherman is a speed guy as you can see. One thing he's beginning to do is he's learning to speed through the hole, he can hit it and he can go the distance. When he comes into games, teams have a lot of stuff to worry about. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. He's shown that he's a good screen-route runner. He's shown that he can run it in between the tackles and he can bust it outside. He's got good vision with cutback ability. You've got to be very leery about what you do when Sherman is in the game. If you come after him like Southeastern did, we threw the ball to him and he scored a touchdown. There's a lot of things Sherman can do. Lazedrick, I'm telling you, is a powerful, powerful young man. He's big. He's not going to run around you. Big guys are going to run over you. He's shown he can catch it some and he can protect. You've got two different kinds of animals - a guy that can take it the distance every play and a guy that is just a battering ram."
On if the running game is where he wants it to be at this point of the season
"We've got some young kids playing and we need to stay ahead of the chains. We're not good enough. We don't have 10-star recruits where that's what our offensive line is made up of or our running backs or our defense. We just have a lot of very good football players. If we could just make it even, don't get negative plays whether it's penalties take sacks or any of those things and keep the game close, I think our running game is where it needs to be. Then our passing game will come alive. I don't want to pass first and then run. There's too much risk. There's more risk than reward. We want to run it, grind it out, hit a big play here and pass it when we need to."
On the penalties against UConn and if he felt they were all warranted
"With Leondre (James)', we turned it in [to the conference office] and they said it wasn't holding. Some of it was technique. We just have to move our feet. When we're blocking a guy and the guy is breaking away from it, if we move our feet we'll be fine. Sometimes we get a little bit lazy. I'm not saying the ref was right or wrong, but I didn't see it. I just didn't see the penalty. Then we have the [personal foul] on [Darion] Monroe. Here we go again. Monroe gets a penalty and on Monday, they didn't see it. The league didn't see it. Some of those penalties with go for you and they'll go against you. I'm sure there was some stuff that we did that they didn't call. We just have to be more technique sound, be aggressive and continue to play."
On the challenge UCF presents in the trenches
"It will be a challenge, especially if we continue to get holding penalties. That's what football is all about. If I was them, I'd be feeling good. Their team is very, very physical. Their team is very aggressive. What our team has to do is we have to continue to play our game. We'll run it and pass it. We'll continue to get our short-passing game going, use the vertical routes when we need to hit them and just keep running it on them. If we play defense like we played the other night, we have a chance in this game."
On the difficulty playing a solid UCF team in their home stadium
"It's a big challenge for us. When you look at where they're located, it's a great football place. It's one of the larger schools in the country. There are a lot of students in Orlando, Fla., and it's a wonderful place to go. Coach [George] O'Leary is one of those guys who brought Georgia Tech back to what it was. He's helped build this thing and each year they've gotten better and better. He's a pretty good friend of mine and we talked about it when we were at Media Day together. They won 10 games, 10 games. All of these kids have won 10 games. They are winners. That's what they are and that's what they do. What we have to do is concentrate on us, not make these silly mistakes and play well. Like I told the team, if you play well - just play well and don't make mistakes - you have a chance to win in any game. The crowd will be there and you love play in a place with a big-time crowd because it's big-time college football."
On if he has a timeline for officially naming his starting quarterback
"I've said it before Saturday. We just have to watch both of those guys practice. If Tanner can throw, Tanner is our starter. We just have to figure out when that is and how much he can do. If not, it'll be Nick. If not Nick, it'll be Devin. We'll just keep playing. Like I said, I thought Nick played outstanding."
On if there is a rush to bring Lee back into the starting lineup
"He's going to play when he's capable of playing - when he can throw it enough to execute our offense.
On reopening the kicking competition prior to the UConn game
"The kicking situation is simple. We opened it up, and [Andrew] DiRocco made a big field goal for us. It practically put the game on ice. For a freshman, that was a big-time achievement. We all know his struggles. They've been very, very chronicled. The other kicker, I like [Trevor] Simms also. We tried him out today. He made some but he missed badly on some of them. We just have to get his accuracy down and his operation."
On if he feels Simms is game ready
"I hope not. I will give credit to him. He can kick it a long ways now. If there's a long one and it's for the win, I'll bring him in."
On the continued improvement shown by linebacker Edward Williams
"I thought he played really, really well. He's one of the guys who, after the game, I was very proud of. He reminds me a lot of D.J. Williams, one of the guys I had at Miami. It took D.J. about two years to hit somebody and all of a sudden he got one of those classic hits where everything went perfect. He hit a guy, the light came on and I think he's still playing in the NFL. This kid has a lot of potential. He's just learning and he's playing a new position. He's playing MIKE. He's always played an outside linebacking position. I'm very pleased with him and I'm very pleased with Eric Thomas, also. I thought those guys played really, really well."
On the overall health of his team to date
"We are pretty much healthy, the same as everyone else. When you look around the country, there are guys that are out for the year. We don't have anyone like that. I'm waiting for my long snapper to come back. He should be about ready to come back. For the most part, we have all of our troops and they'll be ready to go. We have a few nicks here and there, but I don't think there's anything major."
On Michael Lizanich snapping during Tuesday's practice
"He did some snapping, but he didn't snap with the ones or anything like that. [Matt] Marfisi did most of the snapping. We're going to see him tomorrow."
On watching DiRocco's fourth-quarter field goal against UConn
"I'm always praying. I wanted some success for him. He's been getting some texts, this, that and the other. He's a true freshman and the competition was opened up. I was glad for him to come back from the bye week. I thought he might go back to Florida and just stay home. But he came back. To make that and go through some of the things that he had to go through, I'm proud of the kid."
On assistant coach Kwahn Drake dancing on sideline with Lorenzo Doss following an interception
"That was the highest I've ever seek Drake jump. I didn't think that a big guy could jump that high. I don't know if you saw the play live. It was the most fantastic interception because he kind of just threw his hand out and the ball just stuck to his hand. It was amazing. Lorenzo is a former receiver, but it was one of those plays that you can't do justice to unless you see it up close."
On his defense's effort in the red zone this season
"It's one of the things we do. If you go back to last year, we had some goal-line stands. When Speedy [co-defensive coordinator Lionel Washington] got here, we kind of practice like the NFL. The first day is basic. The next day is third down. The third day is red zone. Most people don't really practice a lot of red zone, but we devote probably a whole practice to red zone. I think they understand the parameters of red zone. The field shrinks. It's not really a vertical game anymore. It's a horizontal game. Speedy calls it like the NFL, and so the execution by the kids in the red zone is really good."
On if he feels forcing turnovers as the team did against UConn can be habit forming
"That's what you hope for. This year, like last, we're always trying to turn it over in practice. We're always trying to figure out ways to get a turnover. Now we're starting to get some. It'll come. We've got guys who can create turnovers. Those corners can pick it off anytime. The safeties do a great job. You could see what [Darion] Monroe did. He just played awesome. It was fantastic. I think we will get turnovers. One thing we're doing better now than earlier in the year is we're flying to the ball."
