Houston-Oklahoma State Postgame Quotes
9/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 24, 2006
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- 2006 Houston Cougars Football Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-1) at Houston Cougars (4-0)
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2006 * Robertson Stadium * Houston, Texas
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Art Briles
Opening Statement
"Tonight was a process that we as a coaching staff have been working to come together for over three years now. Everything came together from the crowd, the student body and the way our players played tonight. It's nice to see it finally happen. Everyone on our team made plays to win the football game tonight from the offense to the defense and the special teams. We made two critical defensive stops in the fourth quarter on the goal line in addition to the turnover on special team to close out the game. It was a total university and city effort."
On Overcoming the Loss of Offensive Tackle SirVincent Rogers
"The offensive line was fantastic tonight overcoming the loss of SirVincent Rogers early in the game. He's been our most dominating lineman. Our guys just came back and responded. It's unfortunate to loss people like that in those types of situations. I feel bad for him. We'll have to wait and see how he comes out with the doctors."
On Red Zone Defense
"The red zone defense saved us tonight. They played really tough in critical situations. From an offensive standpoint when you get down into the red zone, it's really tough to score. It's the hardest place on the field to score because the field gets really small. Our guys did an outstanding defensively of making big plays when they had to. That's what won us the game."
On the Win Gaining the Program National Recognition
"The way I see it is that the win validates what we've been saying. There has always been that question mark out there of can we win the big game. Are we this good, I wonder about these things. Right now you can throw all of questions away. It doesn't mean it's going to stay that way because you have to prove yourself each week. For these 60 minutes this week we were a pretty good football team.
On Taking OSU Running Back Mike Hamilton Out of the Game
"I felt really good about our run-stop defense going into the game because our defense will game up when they know who they have to stop. The things that worried us were what came to fact about their quarterback (Bobby Reid) bootlegging and making plays with his feet. He's a good athlete and we made them work for everything they got minus the deep pass at the end of the first quarter."
On the Challenge and Touchdown at the End of the First Half
"I got the word from our coaching upstairs. We did not challenge the fumble. We challenge that his (Jeron Harvey) forward progress was stopped. Fortunately the guy in the booth saw it that way. That's the good thing about instant replay. It can make a wrong play right. The Hail Mary is a play that we work on four or five times a week in practice. Vincent (Marshall) has a choice to go hot in or out. He told the guys to tip it up, and he would dive in to catch it. You have to have plays that to win games."
HOUSTON QUARTERBACK Kevin Kolb
On Tonight's Game Plan
"We liked out match-ups down the field. We felt like their linebackers could not cover us in space. If we could protect, we felt like we could take advantage of that and get into open spaces and make some moves. We did, and made some pretty big plays. In the first half, it was pretty easy moving the ball down the field, but we couldn't get it in the end zone every time. If we execute the way we are supposed to, things will work out."
On the Impact of Tonight's Game
"I am happy for coach Briles and our entire squad that's been here for four years. I wanted to cry when I walked off the field tonight. It was everything we've been waiting for. It was here tonight, it was a big-time crowd and we didn't want to let them down and we didn't."
On the Offense's Ability to Hit the Big Play
"We hit a few runs first and they started easing up a little bit. Their linebackers started playing off a little bit, crouching down and when they start doing that, we had the chance to get outside and make some big plays and we did. We're a dual-threat team right now. That's a good scenario."
On The Team's Ability To Focus Tonight
"I play better calm. It was hard with this atmosphere. We lost SirVincent (Rogers) tonight but we were able to get back into a rhythm and never missed a beat. I was very proud of us."
On The Big Picture
"We always said the only thing stopping us was ourselves. We have taken care of the ball, and I think this is the best we have played in my four years. We have been executing and spreading the ball around like we always knew we should. We expected to be here. There's no limits to what we can do the rest of the year. I think it's huge. Tonight was the first time that we had hype going into a game and we produced. To have everybody here to see this win was huge for our program."
HOUSTON LINEBACKER Wade Koehl
On the Defense's Performance
"We gave them a lot more yards then we should have. They converted a lot of third downs they shouldn't have, but in the end we came out victorious and got the stops when we had to get it done. We can be proud of that."
On the Impact of Tonight's Win
"We planned on this the whole time. Obviously, this was a big win as you could see by the crowd reaction. We'll celebrate tonight, but tomorrow we will start thinking about next week. One game at a time and this one's over now."
On Tonight's Crowd and its Impact on the Game
"The crowd was fantastic. Could not have been any better. I don't know that we;ve ever had a crowd like that. I was loving it. As long as the fans are out there, we're going to win games like this. The crowd played a big factor in tonight's game. The more fans that come out, the more it will help us."
HOUSTON DEFENSIVE BACK Ernest Miller
On 4th & Goal Pass Break-Up and Forcing OSU Turnover at 8:02 mark
"It was a play-action pass with the quarterback rolling out and we've always been told to contain the quarterback by our coaches. You don't know whether or not the quarterback is going to run or pass in that situation. That play was huge because it held the nine-point lead and got the ball back for our offense. Our defenses' motto has been to bend and not break all season. We had to make stops in the fourth quarter and that's what won the game for us."
OKLAHOMA STATE HEAD COACH MIKE GUNDY
Opening Statement
"(It was a) tough game tonight. We lost to a team that played better than us in the fourth quarter. We talked about being a physical team and they hit us hard in the fourth quarter. They forced Julius (Crosslin) into a fumble on the goal line and then on the return they hit Perrish Cox and forced another fumble. I give them a lot of credit. They had a good game plan. Their quarterback is a very good player and I wish him the best. I think they are a good football team. We have to continue to be a better team, play better on the road and win big games."
On Going for it in the Fourth Quarter
"We had a two score game. My thought at that time was that we hadn't slowed them down on offense yet so we tried to get it in and score but if we didn't we had them backed up where they had to be a little tentative. Because we had not slowed them down I felt we should try and score and get the points when we could."
On Oklahoma State Being a Physical Team
"I don't think we wore down I think they played better than we did. We never stopped them. You have to give them credit. They run a very unique style of offense. They are well coached in it and their quarterback is a very good operator. Our defense has to play better. They were a tougher team tonight at the end of the game and that made the difference. We were just fine throughout the game even though we weren't slowing them down."
On the Referees Overturning the Fumble in the Second Quarter
"I thought it was a fumble. The guy was standing straight up and the ball coughed out. It's the referee's decision. I don't have any say so on a replay. I didn't think there was any question but obviously they saw something that it wasn't a fumble."
On the Effect Playing Smaller Programs Early in the Season Had on the Game
"I just think they played better then we did. We had the missed field goal, then we went for it and didn't get any points and then we had the fumble. It was a pretty evenly matched game but they made the plays in the end. I don't think it had anything to do with the schedule."
On the Play of Quarterback Bobby Reid
"I think he played pretty well. I thought he played decent. We had to run the ball better. I don't think we were any good up front. I don't think we blocked them well enough to establish a running game. We need to block well and establish the running game to get everything else going on offense. We have a lot to practice on next week. We missed to many tackles in space tonight. Part of what their offense is is to put you into situations where you miss tackles. We need a lot of practice. We had a lot of young players make a lot of mistakes. "I don't have any problem with it."
OKLAHOMA STATE SAFETY ANDRE SEXTON
"They just seemed to execute more than we did. We had the keys during the week. I guess we just couldn't stop them. They just played a little bit better than us. They did everything we saw in practice but we just didn't stop them.
"The defense was a little bit winded, but that was no excuse. We should have made plays. The loss is already in the past. We just need to work hard in practice Monday and during the bye week to improve our fundamentals."
"(Kevin) Kolb's a real talented guy. He made some great passes and his receivers made some great catches and made us miss a lot."
OKLAHOMA STATE QUARTERBACK BOBBY REID
"I want to tip my hat off to UH. They are a nice team that's put together. Their offense is real strong. I kept telling my guys to give the ball back and went down to the wire and they won."
"I'm pretty happy with my performance, but today I don't think it was enough because in my opinion we should've won that game. Especially if I had the ball more we could won."
