Quotes Following Tulane's 7-3 Loss vs. UConn
Nov 7, 2015 | Football
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Tulane head coach Curtis Johnson
Opening Statement:
"Early on I thought we had a real good chance but we had a miscommunication on the route and they got a pick six, which was the extent of their score. I thought our defense played outstanding. Every time they just came up big. Our defense gave us our best chance of winning the game. You know this one was wet and both teams played really good defense. My hats go off to them. I thought they played really good defensively and offensively. The offense never could get going. We struggled and mishandled the ball throwing it. We didn't throw it well and we made some drops. You know we didn't do much on offense, as it was probably the most disappointing outing offensively. Even in the rain it was disappointing. Parry's (Nickerson) blocked kick was big along with Sean Wilson's sacks. I thought them and Monroe (Darrion) played outstanding as that defense really came to play even though the offense didn't do much."
On the offense:
"I think you just got to continue to work with those guys. Sherman (Badie), Dontrell (Hilliard) and all those guys are good players. We'd hoped we would have Lazedrick (Thompson) back, this is the kind of game Lazedrick would have been good at, but he wasn't able to do as much as we thought he'd be able to do. Probably you have to get the ball to those tight ends a little more, on a wet field. Other than that the conditions were bad and you've got to run the football."
On changing players:
"Right now I've got to go back and watch all the tapes and do that. You know we've been having a lot of ideas and thoughts, but before I do anything I want to sit back and watch the tapes and see what we've got going on."
On the defense:
"You know they're going to play. I think Lionel (Washington) and Jason (Rollins) are doing a fantastic job with them. You know they always play, they always come to play, and you know that's one thing we've talked about ever since we've been here, is that we want to play good defense. Our offense will hopefully catch up."
On the post-season:
"You know it's disappointing and it's tough for us. We'd hoped to make it to a bowl but were not going to be able to do that this year, so we just have to continue to play and I know our kids will. We've got good kids."
On Tanner Lee:
"It's tough for me to assess his play right now. I know the extent of the injury and I know the conditions of the weather but I'd have to look at it more this week."
Darion Monroe
On the loss despite a defensive shutout:
"Yes, it's very disappointing when you play one of the best games of this year and still come out with a loss."
On areas of improvement:
"On defense, we only had one turnover, and that was on the hail mary interception. We have to create more turnovers to flip the field position. It's really tough to be on your side of the field the whole game so we have to flip the field position for the offense and keep them on the other side of the field."
On avoiding a drop in effort defensively:
"That's one thing we're not going to do. That's the type of defense we have. We're going to keep playing hard and keep playing until the whistle, and we're going to play fast and try to create turnovers and keep doing what we do best. One thing we aren't going to do is fold and just give up on the season."
On today's larger crowd:
"It was homecoming and we wanted to put on a show for all the people here and it was the Katrina reunion, so we wanted to get a win for all those guys. We are disappointed, but we were happy they all came out and travelled this far. We're just disappointed that we couldn't get the win."
Tanzel Smart
On the loss despite a defensive shutout:
"Very disappointing."
On the team's overall record:
"Well, it's pretty frustrating, but we have to keep working and just pray and keep fighting until next season."
On having a larger crowd:
"We really appreciate the crowd. It makes us play harder, so we really appreciate all the fans and supporters out there because it means a lot to us."
On the impact of the weather conditions:
"It's just an obstacle we have to overcome. Both teams had to play through it and we didn't make enough plays. It's tough to wins games when you're not playing football for a full four quarters. We have to be able to put drives together and finish drives with points. We're just searching right now for answers, so tonight was tough."
On the miscommunication leading to the turnover:
"It was a little bit of a miscommunication between Rickey and me. It was my fault and it's too late in the season for that."
On how to improve offensively:
"Man, it's tough to say right now since this game is so fresh, but one thing we know is the guys on this team aren't going to quit. We've worked too hard for that all summer long and with the sacrifices we had to make, it's still a blessing to be able to go out on the field and play. We have an unbelievable opportunity. I love football and it's just nice to be back out there. We got that seventh loss, but we're going to continue to play hard for ourselves, our teammates, families, and the school."
On the impact of the finger injury:
"No, it didn't affect me. I didn't think about it once when I was out there."
On whether this is the most difficult loss of his college career:
"I'd say so. It's tough for the defense to play the way they did, because they didn't deserve a loss, so it really hurts."
UConn Head Coach Bob Diaco
Opening Statement:
"The team fought and persevered. They busted their butts. They played hard for four quarters and they believed. They prepared well, and in all three phases, there were positive things to talk about."
On being happy to get out of here with a win:
"Very happy. This is an adverse environment, and the fact of the matter is that an interception that was returned for a touchdown was the difference in the game. You have that interception at the end of the half, which was no harm, no foul, so I don't put that on Bryant's [Shirreffs] ledger. He was very ball secure, the special teams were ball secure. Justin [Wain] did a beautiful job in inclement weather, so there are a lot of things to be pleased about."
On what happened on the blocked field goal:
"They came off of the short edge, and I was wondering if anyone had seen the spot. Maybe we hadn't slid the hole over to the appropriate spot. That's the only thing I could guess."
Punter Justin Wain
On 11 punts today:
"My leg is actually pretty tired right now. I don't really prepare anything differently. I just keep going with it. Nothing really changes."
On some of the special teams rushes by Tulane:
"I don't get to see them till the very last second, so for me I'm just kind of focused on kicking it. Usually, if I have a sense that they are coming, I can get it off a little bit quicker, which is what I ended up having to do. I asked what our blocking was like, because it felt like the same guy was coming through every time. The first half was a bit rough, and, in the second half, I don't know if we started blocking him more or he wasn't rushing, but for me it worked out well."
Tight End Alec Bloom
On drops today:
"A few drops today, but we got the win and that's all I really care about and all that really matters. I'm just going to forget about them, and just move on to next week."
On if it's easier to move on after the first drop or tougher:
"It's tough to move on whenever you drop a touchdown pass like that, but all my teammates picked me up, and we came out with the win, which is all that really matters."
Defensive End Luke Carrezola
On sack and forced fumble today:
"I told Coach on the sideline that I knew that their tackle was drop stepping pretty deep. I said that we should run one of our plays where I cut inside, and he listened. That just shows the trust he had in me, and he listened to me. I was just able to make a play when we needed one."
On defense as whole:
"It was an awesome overall performance today by our defense. Whether we were in bad field position or good field position, we just held strong together. Jamar Summers, obviously, had a great game. Graham Stewart had a great game. Up front, I just thought we beat them pretty good, and it was just an awesome game all around."
Defensive End Kenton Adeyemi
On solid defensive performance and his sack today:
"Honestly, we just had a great week of practice all around, so I think we were really prepared for what they had to offer. They are a really good team. When you watch their games, you can see their offensive line playing well. They can run the ball well, and they have great running backs. We've been working on that all week. We worked on tackling, rushing the passer, and just getting after them, and it showed up today."
On being more aggressive rushing the passer:
"We knew we could get after the quarterback, and we know we had some good rushers, so we thought we might as well unleash them, and we just tried to do as much as we could."
Cornerback Jamar Summers
On interception today:
"Within the confines of the defense, we talk about this post route, and there is no post route in our defense. I saw the post, I denied it, and I took it in for a touchdown."
On defensive performance overall:
"We have a great defense. We all support each other and love each other."
