QUOTES FOLLOWING TULANE'S 42-7 LOSS VS. HOUSTON
Oct 17, 2015 | Football
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Tulane – Houston Quotes
Tulane Head Coach Curtis Johnson
Opening Statement …
They're ranked 24th in the country and Greg Ward is just an outstanding player, the defense played very, very well. You know, we were playing our second-string quarterback, we had a week to get him prepared. I thought we did the best we could, but we got into a lot of long yardage situations and the penalties didn't help. We just struggled tonight, the coverage has got to do better. You know, it was a physical game and we got a bunch of guys out. I'm waiting to see who we're going to have next week against Navy, hopefully we're going to get some guys back and we play better.
On all of the the penalties and errors…
It was just the worst struggle you could possibly have. I thought last week we had a fast start, this week we started poorly. We knew the situation, we knew Tanner Lee was out and we had to get Devin [Powell] some momentum, get Devin going like we did against East Carolina a couple of years ago, but we didn't do that at all.
On the play of Houston quarterback Greg Ward…
His speed was outstanding and he has a great arm. He is just one of those rare athletes that you see every once in a while, especially in this conference that is just astounding. Every time we thought we had him we didn't really have him.
Senior Safety Darion Monroe
On discipline being a factor…
That's all us. It doesn't have anything to do with the coaches. We play with a lot of emotion, that's the type of defense and offense we have. We're pretty down, but we let our emotions get the best of us today and last week. We get too many personal fouls after the play. It just can't happen. That set us back. We have players that barely talk that had a flag today for personal fouls. That's just players in the heat of the moment. It's all players.
On the self-inflicted penalties…
With a team like this, they're No. 24 in the nation. They're doing something right. We've got to play every play like it means something. It's just hard to go out there and make so many mistakes and know that this game could have been different. We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of dumb penalties and fouls.
On the speed of Houston's QB…
"He's good. That's why he's getting votes right now for the Heisman. He's a great player. He does things with his legs that other quarterbacks can't do. If you've got a sitting duck back there, you can blitz him all day. With him, if you blitz him and you miss him, he can go for seventy or eighty yards. You force your defense to do certain things differently. I thought we played fairly well on him, but he hit us on a lot of third downs. He got out and he made plays with his feet."
On the defense sticking together…
"That's all our parts. The leaders of the team have to pull our guys together, especially the young guys. You can't ever get used to losing as a human being, at anything, playing checkers – I don't want to lose."
Quarterback Devin Powell
On the offense's performance tonight…
They had pretty good defense, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. We just had to execute. I had a little bruise on my arm, but I was alright. I did what I could.
On the lack of first downs in the first four possessions..
We had a hard time, but our coaches told us to stay in it and do what we can, so we just kept fighting.
Running Back Dontrell Hilliard
On looking ahead …
We just need to come out and practice more, get rid of and learn from our mistakes and then execute.
On whether the running game was more of challenge tonight due to starter Tanner Lee being out …
We figured Houston would concentrate on the run, but we wanted to stay to what we're use to and stay true to our identity.
On the post-game locker room speech from the players …
That's our biggest thing, trying to stay together, no matter what, and staying on point.
HOUSTON QUOTES
Houston Head Coach Tom Herman
Opening Statement …
We knew going in our defense was going to have to carry us, as banged up as we were on the offensive line. I don't know if you all saw upstairs, but after the first series we were down our center too. I had to take the redshirt off of true freshman Will Nobel. He played center that entire game and did an admirable job for us. Our offense was hit-or-miss, but we came through when we needed to. We threw the ball well, not great. We got to get our patchwork offensive line protecting better. We were perfect in the red zone. I know the stats will tell you that we let that last drive run out in the red zone, but as far as we're concerned we were four-for-four for touchdowns in the red zone, which was big. Obviously we came out swinging on the first drive. We've now scored touchdowns six straight games on the first drive, but the second and third drive has not been very good. After six weeks, it's no longer just a coincidence. It's a pattern. We have to figure out what's going on there. Hats off to the defense, I think Tulane had under 300 yards of total offense, one touchdown. Great game by them.
On if he has any theories on the second drives …
No, I don't. We're sure going to spend tomorrow and Sunday figuring it out. When you go six games, it's more than just a coincidence. It's a pattern. We play in the most penalized league in American, so we have to adapt to that as well. We've got to cut down on penalties. We had nine in the first half. We came back in the second half and only had one, but at some point that's going to come up and bite us. It could be the difference between winning or losing.
On the play of Greg Ward…
I had a tough time. Tulane did a good job. This was the best defensive front four that we've played all year including Louisville, and with the makeshift offensive line they had good push. We were getting guys open. When he scrambles, good things do usually happen, but we've got to be firmer up front and help him see the field a little better.
On the play of Demarcus Ayers
"That's a collective effort. Demarcus made some good individual plays on returns, but last I checked there's ten other guys blocking on those things too. We worked really hard the last couple of weeks to try to spring him and we did that pretty well tonight.
Linebacker Elandon Roberts
Our defense wanted to come out and make a statement to our whole conference and all of college football. We're trying to finish games off. This game, we showed a lot. We showed the growth. We showed that we can be a dominant defense on the field. We have to get back, watch the film, and clean some stuff up, but our whole defense played well especially the defensive line.
On playing against Tulane's backup quarterback …
We knew it was going to be a new quarterback coming into the game so we knew that it was going to be a bunch of quick passes. His reading wasn't going to be all the way through. We prepared like he was the starter though, because second-string guys have to step up. I felt like he did a great job tonight. Like I said, the front seven of ours is playing a great game.
Quarterback Greg Ward
On struggling to score on the second and third drives…
Things like penalties hurt us, but we just have to correct those and we'll be better. Whenever we get into the schedule, we have to clean up mistakes. Really we have to clean them up next week, and just prepare hard.
On scrambling in the game
Those guys have a great defensive line. I was getting pushed out of the pocket a lot. I was having to make a play on my feet or through the air. They [Tulane] weren't doing anything special, it was just something we need to clean up.
"Just being a leader to those guys. Just telling them to go out and have fun, and don't think so much. Those guys did a good job, and we'll get better next week."
