University of Houston Athletics
Weekly Football Press Luncheon Quotes
9/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 21, 2004
On the win over Army last week (Sept. 18) and the upcoming game against No. 2 Miami Hurricanes
"We got a much-needed win the other night, as you people know. Any time you can come out with a victory, it's a big victory because they are tough to come by. Like we talked about in the locker room after the game, other teams have players with hearts, and we got them (Army) with pride and proper attitude. Any time you win a game, it's a cheerful event. If there is a downside, I guess the only downside would be that we got to enjoy it for about 15 seconds before we started getting ready for a good task Thursday night (Sept. 23) against Miami.
"That's (Miami) been our total focus since about 11:15 Saturday night, and it will roll all the way until we kick off Thursday night. It's going to be exciting. It's a time we're looking forward to. We would have liked it a little bit more if we had an afternoon game on Saturday and we could have cleaned up everything from that game (Army). But, we had to do it early Sunday morning and get the players in Sunday afternoon and get the Army out of the way and get started with Miami. That's the schedule we are dealt with, so it's the way we'll deal with it.
"We're ready to get out there and get after Miami on Thursday. I'm proud of our players for last Saturday."
What is the best way to counter-act Miami's speed defensively?
"When you think of Miami, they have exceptional talent year-in and year-out. I think everybody knows that upfront. I don't think it's going to surprise Coach (Larry) Coker (Miami head coach) or anyone else to say that if you're going to have a chance to win the football game, you have to be productive on the offensive side of the ball. The downside of that is, the last five years they (Miami) have been either first or second in the nation in total defense, scoring defense and have a great defensive team. Teams have not been real successful against them from the offensive standpoint. As a matter of fact, they (Miami) have yet to give up an offensive touchdown this year. So what we're going to try to do is try to create any type of field position and any type of momentum that we can create. And we'll use that to try to grind out first downs and get a touchdown or two...or three or four, or however many it takes"
With Miami's return ability, do you consider kicking the ball out of bounds, or what is the thought process there?
"Definitely, it alters the way you think about the game. They (Miami) do a good job on their punt team. What you'd like to say is, `okay, we're going to directional kick it either right or left.' But what they do is rush two guys in from the outside hard at you, to where if you turn that way to try to punt that way they're right there to block it, so they force you to punt it down right down the middle of the field, where they have exceptional punt returners. The best thing to do is not punt, make first downs and kick field goals and score touchdowns. You can solve that problem if you do well on offense. Realistically, there are going to be times where we have to line up and punt the football, and we just have to be real sharp Like we've talked about before, every sense that we have has to be at high-alert. I'm talking about sight, feeling, eyes and hearing. Every thing that you have has to be on high alert in games like this. We'll be active and we'll be ready."
What does getting marquee games like this (vs Miami) at home do for your program?
"It's really not at our place. I'd feel a lot better if we were at Robertson Stadium. That is our home stadium, our home field. This is a showcase place for Miami and us. I'll tell you what it does for us. We're at a point right now where we are trying to become the football team that we know we are. I mean, we know we have a good football team and we need to show it, okay. In my opinion, we haven't done that completely yet. Now what we're trying to do is figure out how to make ourselves reach the level that we need to be at. We are going to get there. The problem is, we've got to get there pretty quick, because after Miami, our conference games all fall in and we have three tough opponents on the road. We can't sit around and wait until October 31st and say `okay, we've arrived, we're there.'
"This game allows us to have to play at a high level against one of the best teams in the nation, and see where we stack up. Now I can say that and we had the same thing 10 days ago at OU. We've played four games in 18 days. We have to get out there, we've got to play and we've got to be good, now and early. Two weeks ago at OU, we were ready, but we did what we could not allow to happen against a team in that atmosphere."
Due to the schedule, there isn't a lot of time to get ready for Miami. Are you ready?
"Yes sir. It's time. It's got to happen, and we're there. The thing about sports, and players and coaches alike, this is what you're dealt with so you deal with it. We can't sit around and say, `man, I wish I had another day,' or `shoot, if we just had an open date....' But we don't; we got what we got so we're going to make it work. We're going to be ready. When we line up on Thursday night , we'll be on the field ready to win the football game."
How do you feel about SirVincent Rogers, as a freshman, getting into the game and seeing a lot of action against Army? Do you see him being in the mix the rest of the season?
"He did a great job. He's a really good athlete, and he's a guy that we didn't want to play. It's hard for a true freshman on the offensive line. It's hard for them to play anywhere, but honestly, the offensive line is probably the hardest spot on the football team to play. The (opposing) defenses do so many things that they have to adjust to on the move, where they don't have any time to think about it. He (Rogers) has enough of a feel of it that he is able to make some plays. He will be in the mix the rest of the season, and he will be a great player for us this season and in the future."
Will there be any changes in the return game this week?
"We haven't got all the problems solved yet. We're still in the problem-solving stage right now. We're still in trial-and-error, so we'll see, hopefully, it will work better this week.
"I hate to talk about individual players. We'll end up with some people back there (in punt returns) that we have a lot of confidence. We had confidence in the people we had back there before. If a guy makes a mistake or two, you'd hate to bench him or tell him he's through, as we all make mistakes. We'll just see how they (players) respond after getting other opportunities."
Wade Koehl got hurt in the last game, will he be ready to play in this game?
"Yeah, he's fine. He was good on Sunday. That's a good relief for us, because any time someone gets banged around the head a little bit you worry about them. He's going to be fine and ready to go.
And what about Kendal Briles, who also was hurt against Army?
"We have a few guys that are doubtful, and he's (Briles) one of them. Kendrick Godd is doubtful. Matt Bentley might be doubtful. When you play back-to-back games that fast after guys get banged up a little bit, it's hard to get them back on the field that quick."
Who does that put as your back-up quarterback?
"That's a pretty good question. (Blade) Bassler will probably be the one.
What will a big crowd of Cougar fans at the Miami game mean to you guys?
"It will mean a whole lot. We're in a situation where we have to earn our crowd. We have to do a great job on the field and have a product on the field that people are proud of to support. I think we're on the line to do that; it can happen a lot quicker with the big crowd. It makes a huge difference. It made a big difference in our ballgame the other night when Army came back and tied it at 21-21. All of the sudden, I felt some energy out of the crowd, because they felt some urgency. Next thing I knew, we went seven plays and 151 yards and two scores. So, it would mean a whole lot to us, it really would. I know our people want to get excited. They want to have a lot of hope and they want to see a lot of reality. I am no different."
If it's not raining, is the roof at Reliant Stadium going to be open for the game?
"I think we have four hours prior to kick-off to make that decision. I'm sure Mr. (Dave) Maggard will be involved in that decision-making process. I would think that if it's raining, and if it's not we open it. I mean, that's me. I'll let the people who have the powers that-be decide that. I would prefer a dry field. It wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to leave the roof open and let it rain , in my opinion.
ANTHONY EVANS
On the Cougars playing against the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes on Thursday
"We've got one top team (Oklahoma) under our belts, so now we know what to expect. Now we don't have to compete with 85,000 people cheering against us. Hopefully we'll have 63,000 cheering for us. It will be a great opportunity for us."
On playing at Reliant Stadium
"It is fun. There again, I think we have an advantage because we've played there before and we'll have a home crowd behind us. It will just help us tremendously because we'll be able to have momentum on just the first down, because the crowd brings a lot to you. So if we get a first down and get them (fans) excited, it just builds from there."
