Houston-Southern Miss Football Postgame Quotes
11/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
HOUSTON - 2005 Houston Cougars Football Postgame Quotes
Southern Miss Golden Eagles (5-4, 4-2 C-USA) at Houston Cougars (5-4, 3-3 C-USA) Sunday, November 13, 2005 * Robertson Stadium * Houston, Texas
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Art Briles
Opening Statement
"We are very happy with this win. Obviously, it was a good character win for us. We still control our own destiny and that's the best part. We still have two tough games ahead of us, but a big win for us tonight. We need to regroup and get focused for next week against SMU."
On the fourth quarter ...
"We are not making it easy on ourselves. We have been in some battles this year. We have lost tough ones as well as won tough ones. We dug down deep and showed what a tough, experienced football team we are late in the game. We made yards when we needed to."
"Our long touchdown should have been a back-breaker. Give them a lot of credit, they didn't fold it up and go away. We beat a good football team tonight"
On the crowd support ...
"I appreciate the fans coming out for a Sunday ballgame. I thought it was a great atmosphere tonight and a great crowd."
HOUSTON JUNIOR QUARTERBACK Kevin Kolb
General Comments ...
"We didn't play well or play great, but we played good enough to win. We have not beaten these guys in a long time. We had them last year and it slipped away. This team and these people wanted to win this one. You had that feeling in the locker room before the game and it happened."
On the last 2 minutes of the game ...
"We were so close last year and that's what was hurting the most. We did not want to let it happen again. We beat them for the first three quarters and almost gave it away at the end. The ball rolled our way a few times."
HOUSTON SENIOR TIGHT END Blade Bassler
General Comments ...
"We executed our game plan and did things well. Our defense helped us out a lot. They kept holding on and made a lot of big plays. We got in there and made a few big plays on our side of the ball."
"It was a real important win for us, especially for the seniors. We had no doubt in our mind we were going to win. We came in here determined and committed."
HOUSTON SENIOR RUNNING BACK Ryan Gilbert
General Comments ...
"Our offensive line was really good tonight. It's a big win for us. We feel pretty good about having our last two games at home."
HOUSTON SENIOR DEFENSIVE END Kade Lane
General Comments ...
"This is a huge win for this program and it gets us one step closer to being bowl eligible. I don't think we put enough pressure on the quarterback. I think we are better rusher's than it showed tonight.
SOUTHERN MISS HEAD COACH JEFF BOWER
Opening Statement
"There were so many missed opportunities and things we did not do well. We missed a lot of chances early on to get points and we didn't do that. We gave up some big plays. That has been a thing that has happened to us throughout the year. We will look at the tape and find a lot of places where the game could have changed. Give Houston credit but we didn't play well enough to win."
"We did a great job of scrapping tonight. We scored pretty quickly after the fumble and made a really nice play on the onside kick. Things we looking good, but that play on the interception was just a weird bounce."
On the running game ...
"We didn't do anything running the football tonight. They did a good job of taking the run away from us. We just could never get anything going.:
On the shortened week ...
"Even if it hurt us, I would not say so. We knew coming in what we would have to do."
On missed opportunities ...
"We had some incredible penalties and two big drops in the game. Our major pass drops could have changed the game and obviously if we make one or two field goals early, it's a different game. Third downs killed us defensively."
On playing shorthanded ...
"We came in and did the best we could with what we had. It's something you have to prepare for. We had some guys step up and help us out the best they could."
On Houston's defense ...
"It's tough to get pressure on the quarterback. They get you into man coverage and you saw what can happen to you. I think we tried to do everything we could. We really wanted to mix it up there, but they run a lot of motion and create a lot of mismatches."
On the rest of the season ...
"Who knows what can happen. We obviously need some help. We still have to take care of our business though. We are playing for a lot of things: a winning season and a bowl bid."
