University of Houston Athletics
Football Press Conference Quotes
9/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 19, 2006
HEAD COACH Art Briles
Opening Statement:
"The crowd last week was very exciting. It was very rewarding from a coach's and a player's standpoint because our guys deserve to play in front of a full house. It was nice to jog out there (on the field) and have a lot of people out there, a lot of red in the stands. This week, we need a whole lot of red in the stands because there will be some orange in there a little bit, and we need to make sure we understand it's our home field, home court, home advantage. We need to have everything set in our way this weekend. We're ready as a team. Oklahoma State is a good football team, much better than they were a year ago, a much more confident team. They are a much more structured football team on both sides of the ball. They implemented their systems two years ago, and all their players know what's going on. They have good people. They have good people on the field. It's going to be a great atmosphere, a great game and chance for us to measure where we are at as a football team. It's going to be exciting. Show up, put your red on and be ready to holler. "
"The Grambling State game was a good game, which we knew. We knew if they started Larry Kerlegan that they would be a different offense. It helps us on down the road against a scrambling quarterback because we really hadn't faced one yet and now we have. It was a good atmosphere and a good game. We are just glad to get out of it. The one downside of it was Rocky (Schwartz) getting injured. It's a tragedy of coaching and playing. You put all your time and effort, heart and soul into something and, with the snap of an instant, it could be gone. Hopefully, he will be able to rebound and come back and help us in the future. That was really the only downside to the game other than a few snaps on both sides of the ball."
On playing against the run:
"They are a run-first football team. They are a play-action team, a bootleg team and a high-percentage offensive football team. What we have to do is get them into predictable situations. We do have to stop the run. They will take their shots down the field with the couple of good receivers that they have. (Oklahoma State quarterback) Bobby Reid is a guy that can make some plays off his feet. They have some weapons offensively that keep people really low in the box and just concentrating on one thing. They are going to try and run the football. Our guys have to continue to play well up front. We have to be physical up front, and then we have to play downhill to the linebackers position."
On Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid:
"He is going to be excited. We are going to be excited also. We have a lot of good football players on our team. For me it is not a concern. He is an excellent football player. When I watched him in high school, I thought he was one of the top quarterbacks without a doubt in the south, southwest and possibly the nation. As he progresses, he will have an outstanding career. He is coming back home. He gets to play in Houston. That's just part of it."
On the importance of the Oklahoma State game:
"They are all important. I don't think you play a game that's not important. When we line up and play UTEP here in about four weeks, that's an important ball game. That's a conference game, and one of our goals is to win a conference championship. Another goal is to win a bowl game. So we need these wins to help our bowl scenarios. It's a big game. We didn't go into the season saying we wanted to beat Oklahoma State. What we want to do is win a conference championship and win a bowl game. I see it as a chance to see where we are at as a football team. It lets us gauge where we are at, now. That doesn't mean that's where we are going to be at in December, but it lets us gauge where we are at right now. They are a good football team. It allows us to have the opportunity to see what we are good at and what we need to improve on. I am sure they feel the same way. Everybody has good football players; every conference has good teams. We need to be a strong Conference USA football team."
On keeping the team motivated after going 3-0:
"We met a little bit Sunday, and they know what we have to do. We have to keep getting better. We're certainly not where we need to be. We're rolling along there decently, but it's not like we are looking for someone to hug us. We haven't done anything. We've played three football teams. We've won three football games. That's not what we planned to do when we opened up the season. We want to win more than three football games. We don't feel like we have done anything that deserves a pat on the back. We have been steady, fairly consistent. I like our tough mental attitude. We have to be a mentally tough football team. Our players are tough physically, but we have to be tough mentally. We are on that path. We just have to keep grinding, getting better and moving forward. We will see where we end up in November because it's a long season. We have more opportunities in front of us."
ATHLETICS DIRECTOR DAVE MAGGARD
On ticket sales for Saturday's game:
"I know a paper in Stillwater, Oklahoma has indicated that we are out of tickets for Oklahoma State fans but we still have plenty of tickets left, good tickets left on both sides of the field. We look for a big crowd. Obviously, we would love a sell-out. Oklahoma State fans here in Houston are buying tickets but I wanted to make sure everyone knew that we still have tickets available.
