University of Houston Athletics
Football Press Luncheon Quotes
9/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 28, 2004
On the game against Miami and the upcoming game at Memphis
"Thank you all for being here. I guess to clean up the Miami game, it was a good effort, good intensity and good meaning. We went into the game expecting to win and played to win, but had a bad result. We just didn't go what we wanted to do and that's win the football game, and that's the most frustrating part. We felt like we were a good enough team to come away with a victory and we didn't do it. You don't need to let those kind of things get away from you. We're in a moving-on business, and we've got to move on and get ready for the Memphis Tigers and continue our quest for the conference championship."
Did anything surprise you (about Memphis) in watching the film from the Memphis-UAB game last weekend, and is Memphis going to be a different team without their regular starting quarterback?
"Not really. Of course, UAB has beaten them (Memphis) five years in a row, believe it or not, which is kind of surprising. Both of them are explosive offensive football teams, so the numbers that each team had put on the other was not a surprising fact. It was a good ball game, a great game with some really good athletes on the field on both sides. It was a deal where going into the game, you figured it would be a seven-point game either way and not really sure who was going to win it. And UAB has Hackney, and when Hackney's on they are a really good football team."
What did you learn from playing Memphis last year?
"I guess we're going to find out, and I hope (learned) a lot. If you all were on the same date, same time and same field that we were on last year as a football team, then we're not feeling like did a whole lot to earn respect. We've been granted another opportunity (against Memphis), so we'll see what we can do with it."
How are the Cougars from a health standpoint?
"We're okay. We've got a few guys that are banged up a little bit. We're going to have three or four miss the game, and then we might get a couple back the next week. I don't think Anthony (Evans) is going to play, Kendrick Goss won't play and neither will (Matt) Schirmer.
"The deal with Anthony was unnerving, because it happened in pre-game (before the Miami game last week). We were just getting ready to go and the next thing I know someone comes up to me and says, "Anthony's out," and I thought he meant out of Gatordade or what's he out of? I just got through watching him run down the field and catch a pass. So we had to do some quick adjusting right before the game, and I was really proud of Ryan (Gilbert) and Jackie (Battle) did during the game. They will be suited up and ready to go this week, and hopefully we'll get Anthony back in a couple weeks."
Do you think it was a confidence boost for the Cougars in how they were able to run the ball in the second half against Miami last week (Sept. 23)?
"When you sit back and look at it, and of course we're not at liberty to do that because we're continually grinding forward, but when you look at our football team on Sept. 5 and then on Sept. 23, I would say that the most improved area of our football team is our offensive line, without a doubt. And I'm not saying that we weren't that good to begin with, just that we have gotten that much better. Those guys have really learned to cohesively work together as a unit and have developed a mentally tough attitude. And if they (the offensive line) continue to do that, then we'll continue to be able to get some yards against some people on the ground. We feel it's imperative tio give you an opportunity to win."
Do you think the Kevin (Kolb, quarterback) has enough confidence in the deep threat this year with the wide receivers, or do you think he is still searching for it?
"Well, it hasn't happened as quick as what we would have liked so far. We're not where we are going to be, but the bad part is that we don't have any time to get there. We have to get there - now. For those things to happen, we can't sit around and wait and say `well, it's going to happen.' It's got to happen now. We have to become, at certain times in a game, explosive from an offensive standpoint to be able to have big plays on people. It's been a little lacking, but we've played some pretty good combination. And it's hard to do that against some of the folks we've been against, but that's no excuse. We've got good people on the field, and we've got to go out and make plays and we've (coaches) got to call good plays."
Memphis' running back D'Angelo Williams is a big part of their offense - how are you going to combat him in the game?
"He's (Williams) one of the premier backs in the country, honestly. He's a dual threat, he can catch and run the football. He's got great hands and great feet. He's a stocky and good, strong runner. Like I said, we have respect for them, and we need to earn some respect for ourselves. We haven't done anything since last year to do it. Now I realize in 2002 UH beat them (in Memphis), but last year we didn't do anything to continue on the respect that we had going for us."
Coming out of this tough stretch of four games in 19 days, what have you learned about the squad this year?
"Characteristics that you would want in your child,in yourself and your spouse and in your dog - tough, mean, determined, intense and full of pride. We've got a good, tough group of guys. If we didn't, then someone could have got us down and slapped us on the right cheek, then turn us over and slap us on the left. We have no choice but to fight and grind, and that's what we're going to do. Now what we have to do is fight, grind and win. We've proven that we can fight, that we're tough, now we have to win."
What do you think about Memphis' offense?
"They are averaging 36 points a game, I think, and they've actually thrown the ball 160 times in the first four games and have only been sacked twice. They're doing a really good schematically, plus they've got good people they are doing it with. They are very explosive and very good on both sides of the ball. They are a good football team. They won nine games last year and won a bowl game."
Can you build more chemistry on the road than at home? Do you feel that you take more of a `us against the world' mentality when you have road trips like this upcoming three-game stint?
"I don't know. We're going to ride it together all the time. Once the ball is kicked off, if you're really concentrating on your job as a player and as a coach, all that matters is what happens between those lines (on the field). You kind of block out everything out. It comes down to making plays and doing what you're supposed to do. The crowd can definitely become a factor, as I thought it was last week in the Miami game (at Reliant). To me, the bad part about that game was that we never got to use our momentum. We finally created some momentum when we scored with 12 seconds left in the first half and our crowd was very excited. The crowd wa the most excited that I've seen a UH crowd since I've been here. There were a bunch of people in the stands that wanted us to win, including the people on the sidelines."
Giving the number of holes you had to fill in the offensive line, did you go in with the understanding that it was going to take a while for them to gel?,br> "Not really. We felt really good about the people we have, and still do. We didn't expect to miss a beat, and we expected to be better right now than what we were at any time last year. That's just the way you coach and the way your players are. We've got guys that can play and know what to do and are going to play hard and play intelligent. As long as you've got that going, you have a chance to have good things happen."
