University of Houston Athletics
Football Press Conference Quotes
12/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 20, 2003
HONOLULU - "We are very excited to be over here in Honolulu and represent the University of Houston in the Hawai'i Bowl. It is a great thrill for us and a great chance for us to showcase our University, our city and our football team to the nation. We are in a situation where we are over here to enjoy the island and to make every attempt that we can to win the football game.
The University of Hawai'i has a very fine football team. June Jones has been as good a coach as there has been around the country for the last 20 years. This is a great opportunity for us and one that we are really looking forward to."
"We just got in here yesterday around 5 p.m. Hawaiian time, which is 9 p.m. to us. We had a pretty full day on the plane. Our guys had last night off, had this morning off and we will start working out this (Saturday) afternoon, getting ready for the Warriors."
ON CONCERNS OF BOWL ATMOSPHERE AND ACTIVITIES
"That is something that we really haven't concerned ourselves with in the last couple of weeks once we figured out that we were coming here. We're going to try to make our players aware of how they need to be mentally. They need to be mature and understand why we got over here and how we got over here, and that's by performing on the football field, taking care of business. Hopefully, they will continue that over the next few days. That's going to be tougher over here in paradise. But tougher times create tougher people, so maybe we'll get tougher out of it and be a better football team."
ON COMING TO HAWAI'I
"We finished saying yes before they finished asking the question. It was a no-brainer. It's a great place to go. You probably don't realize it as much as we do in Texas, but going to Hawai'i is like going to the moon. It's just on the other side of the Earth. It's a great trip for our people. I am 48 years old, and this is the first time that I have been here. Out of all the people that we brought, about 95 percent of them are first-timers."
ON HOUSTON'S TYPE OF FOOTBALL
"We try to play a pretty fast-paced style of offense, pretty aggressive. We will be pretty equal run-pass ratio. Defensively, we try to be a physical team. We have a sound kicking game, so we feel like we are a team on the rise. We got better as the season went on. Our staff and people were fresh and new this year. We had to get to know each other. We started out pretty well. Our schedule was good to us and we got off to a good start. Then we hit a little lull in the middle and finished winning two of our last three. We think we are peaking at the right time. We finally have known each other well enough to know what each of us can do."
ON SIMILIARITIES TO HAWAI'I
"We won some close games, which you have to do. We let a couple slip away that we felt like we might have a shot at. If you can mess around, get to a bowl game and finish with a winning record, that is something that you can't exactly hang your hat on but at least you can toss it over in that direction and make a catch every now and then. We feel like we have had a good season, not a great season, but we are on the right path. We have taken a step. Hopefully, we will take another one with the bowl game and then next year."
ON HAWAI'I OFFENSE
"That (passing) is the No. 1 thing that jumps out at you. That is what June has done all his life and that is what they have done a great job of doing here also. They play good defense, really good defense. They have four All-WAC players, the Player of the Year. They are aggressive, they play tough, and they have some depth.
"On the flip of the ball, when you are going up against them on defense, you have to stop the pass and you have to tackle them once the catch the football. They are going to throw it. If they have 80 plays, they are going to throw it 63. That's the way that it goes, that's what you have to prepare for and that's what they believe in. They do a great job of. It's a great challenge for us. It should be a great game."
ON TIME CHANGE AND PRACTICE SCHEDULE
"The main reason for practicing this afternoon was that our schedule is pretty full throughout the week. The Bowl Committee has done a great job showing us the island, letting us go see things. We wanted to give them (players) a little time off to bounce around, do a few things, because most of our afternoons are full. We will start practice again (Sunday) morning. I feel pretty good today (with the time change). Last night at 8:30 p.m., I was ready to hit the sack and go to bed. Today, I am getting back and I jumped up at 4 a.m., thinking that I had slept in. It may take us two or three days, but we will get there and adjust."
ON HAWAI'I QUARTERBACK SITUATION
"They are both great quarterbacks. They both do a great job of running the system that June has. They are in a system, so they have guys that can run the system. They both do a great job of doing that. We have prepared for both of them. Each one of them has characteristics that are different from the other. They both sling it down the field and are accurate with the ball."
ON HIS FEELINGS AS A FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH
"I may be not real smart or old school, but to me, this is our job. This is what we do. We get out and do the best that we can do on the field, and then we go to the next week and do it again. Every week is a different adventure and a different game. This is a just a chance to get out there and do the best we can do against a great opponent. This just happens to be on Christmas Day with a little more of a showcase atmosphere. It all comes down to 60 minutes on the field."
ON RECRUITING IN HAWAI'I
"We do have two athletes that I would hope that we made contact with this morning. Today is actually a contact period. We were supposed to be in contact with them this morning. Hopefully, they will be at practice a couple of times."
ON HAWAI'I HAVING A HOME GAME
"It is a home game for them and that certainly is a concern. Any time that you catch a team on their home turf, they are usually a little bit tougher. Something that we have prided ourselves on from August is being a tough road team. It is going to come down to who plays the best at the proper times and makes the plays. They are a very physical football team. They play at a high pace. We like to think of ourselves that way also. It will be a great match."
ON IT NOT BEING A TRUE HOME GAME FOR HAWAI'I
"Keep printing that, because that is the way that we see it. They can see home game, but they checked into the hotel at 11 a.m. yesterday. We checked in at 5:30 p.m. It is a different environment for them. They are in a different place, doing different things. It's a little different for them. They do the same activities that we do. They are going to be busy also."
ON TWO HIGH-POWERED OFFENSES
"We just to try to get out and do the best that we can do. I don't think we can predict how it will turn out. We know that they are going to throw it 60-plus times. What we do offensively determines what we have success with. It has the makings of being a very exciting game. If we wallow around in the rain and win 3-2, I will be happy. I can promise you that."
