University of Houston Athletics
Football Press Conference Quotes
10/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
Opening Statement
"We want to encourage everyone to come Thursday. It's been a week and a half since we played. The last week and a half gave us a change, considering the course of the last month with travel and the Hurricane, to try and get back to a normal routine. Going to Air Force and then going to East Carolina and winning a big game on the road was really good to come into the break. The break was good. It helped us to recharge ourselves, mentally and physically. We had some guys that were pretty nicked up after the East Carolina game and a couple of them barely finished the game. It (the break) gave them a chance to heal up, mentally and physically. I liked our energy level going into that game."
This break has really helped us. We took advantage last week, early in the week, to work on ourselves more than anything else. We took care of some ball security issues, our tackling and our fundamentals. We moved on to preparation later in the week for UAB. Our schedule was pretty good. We are back into a normal schedule. These guys getting back into a routine, with school and everything, has helped our practice and intensity level this week."
On Thursday's game against UAB
"We are excited about Thursday, first for playing at home and then playing in front of a national TV audience. When you watch them (UAB) on tape you see they are a young team, a big athletic team and they have played some good teams. If you look at their schedule they lost to Tulsa, Tennessee, South Carolina and Memphis. They have had a tough road but they have played some pretty good teams."
On UAB quarterback Joe Webb
"Their quarterback is the key to how they do things offensively. (Joe) Webb is big, strong man. He is not a kid. He is a 6-4, 220 lb. guy who is second in the country in rushing offense (at quarterback). He runs about 80 yards a game and then he throws 220 yards a game. He is right at 300 yards of total offense just coming out of him. He makes them go. He dictates play for them and we need to contain him. I don't think anybody has completely stopped him and he has played some pretty good defenses. We need to contain him and be physical and limit his opportunities."
The guy gets 300 yards of offense himself so we better know where he is. With that being said there have been five other game and he has already put up 1,500 yards of offense on those guys and they knew he was coming too. He is a pretty good player."
On the UAB defense
"They have been extremely aggressive. They show a whole bunch of different styles of defense, they switch from 3-4 to 4-3 and they have different blitz attacks. Their defensive end (Turner) is really a good player. He has 5.5 sacks, which is in the tops of the league. They are led by a linebacker, (Joe Henderson) who makes plays all over the field. He has a bunch of tackles for a loss so they are going to blitz him and get him involved. They have some older guys in the back but, they have a bunch of young, talented guys who are a little bit like us. They are figuring it out week to week and have made some critical mistakes.
On the UAB special teams
"They have a real good punter and kicker. He is on all the national award lists and he has done a good job for them. They have been pretty good on special teams. The difference for us has been we have had some pretty good performances, especially last week, on special teams. Chase Turner came in and did a great job and assumed the kickoff duties in the second quarter. Our kicking game has gone pretty well."
On the emergence of freshman running back Bryce Beall
"The week before that (the East Carolina game) when he had 91 yards we thought he was coming on. He held the football a lot better at East Carolina. His running style has helped but our offensive line has done a great job, particularly against East Carolina. Conditioning was a factor too. In the game plan and the tempo that we played at really helped our running. The offensive line helped by moving up and down the field, getting on the ball quickly and not allowing those guys to get set. He has gotten batter every week and you can see it in his confidence. You go from back-up to starter and now things get a lot more difficult. It's a lot different as a freshman, when they send you into the game you play off instinct and when you know you are going to start on Monday all that builds up and there is a lot more to worry, about but there is more time to practice. He is getting better and is going to continue to get better.
This probably goes unnoticed but Justin Johnson came into the game and really did a good job in protection. It is going to take two or three running backs over the course of the year and we are happy that either this week or next week we will have Andre (Kohn) back at 100 percent."
On being on national television on Thursday
"It's great and our guys are excited. We are happy to be back home. The guys are excited about it, more so than being on TV. TV always helps, but as a coach and player you don't always recognize that. You can't hear the camera but you can hear the people cheering for you and that's important. The familiarity of being at home and the team can only help us."
On playing the game on a Thursday
"That is part of the landscape of college football. As programs get better television starts to dictate game times and that's just the way it is. Exposure, nationally, for recruiting it's extremely important. Just looking back a week ago, from an exposure standpoint and a highlight situation, you can imagine what they can do for recruiting and the perception of a program nationally. There are some pluses and minuses but fans are going to come. What you want to do is develop fans that are miles away so they can see you.
On the team's confidence
"It's been pretty good. Before the game last week I thought our energy level was extremely high. Our challenge will be to continue (that). We talked after that game about maturity and how you handle things like that. We have a week and a half off, you had a good win over a ranked opponent on the road, now lets see how good we are from a maturity standpoint, how we approach practice and how we continue from here. We will know more about that Thursday."
On the boost the win over East Carolina gave the team
You see guys with more resolve. In a football game there are so many things and one play doesn't dictate the outcome of the game. We talked not about the opponent but what each guy had to do for us to get better. That was the whole theme this week. It is the man in the mirror thing. If you can look at yourself and say you are doing the best that you can and be responsible, then we are going to be fine. This team has been fairly confident after the first game. There have been a couple breakdowns and not being consistent but we still haven't played our best football yet and the team knows that. We can be a lot better. There is a lot to play for.
Injury Report
"As of today and based on practice, Ell Ash will be questionable and Andre Kohn will be probable. Both of those guys practiced this week. Jackie Hinton, Jr. is out for the year. He had shoulder surgery a week ago after tearing his labrum against Air Force. Jordan Mannisto, about three days before the (ECU) game, was kicking and subluxed his kneecap but he is back and doing ok. He is ready to go.
SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK Case Keenum
On Houston offense leading the nation
"It is a tribute to this offense and the players that we have on the team and what we are doing on the field together. It is complimentary to our team as a whole."
On how much better the offense can be
"We could be a lot better. We put a lot out there at East Carolina, but we still have a lot of room to grow and mature. There are still some key components we need to put together that we didn't do against East Carolina. We are looking to do it this Thursday against UAB."
On the game against East Carolina
"We showed everybody else what we had been believing this whole time; that we could play really well and we are a good team, but the wins just weren't there. It finally all came together on Saturday. There is still plenty of room to get better. It was a good game, but we have room to improve."
The defense played incredibly. It seemed like every third down or every big play we needed, they came through and got it. I think East Carolina was 1-for-12 on third downs. This Saturday is going to be a great game and I am excited."
SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN SirVincent Rogers
On how much better the offense can be
"We definitely could put up more points if we eliminate our turnovers and execute a little bit more. People have yet to see all of our offense. Hopefully, we can get it together on Thursday."
On the offensive line
"As a whole, I think we have been playing pretty well. Some of us may have given up a play or two, but as a unit, I think we are playing as well as anyone in the nation. The five of us play as a unit; we play as one."
On having a home game again
"We have been anticipating and waiting for our next home game. We were supposed to have one and it got moved to Dallas. To be back at home, everyone is excited and we are ready for our fans to cheer for us and not get into an environment where we have no fans. Hopefully, we get fans at the game. The fans have to be there."
