Football Postgame Quotes
9/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
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2008 Houston Air Force Football Postgame Quotes Air Force Falcons (3-0, 0-0 SWAC) at Houston Cougars (1-2, 0-0 C-USA) Saturday, Sep. 13, 2008 * Gerald J Ford Stadium * Dallas, Texas
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On facing the Air Force Offense "They are good at what they do. They executed and you can see that our two turnovers were obviously key. We had a fumble and an interception, but they did not turn the ball over. As poorly as we played in the first half, and they had a lot to do with that, I think the difference was how we responded in the fourth quarter. That was an improvement from last week, but we have got to be able to play right from the game's start and play for 60 minutes.
On the Cougars mistakes and miscues "Those are still happening. We both had 10 penalties today. It was a sloppy game early, but we have got to improve and do better. Those things are part of the discipline this team needs and it was bad on both sides today. Obviously they had a lot to do with our lack of success in the first half, so you have got to give them credit for that. They had a good plan, which was to execute and run the ball. They did a good job running the ball and we were not able to get them off the field in the first half or at the start of the third quarter. We dug ourselves a hole and couldn't get out of it."
On the late interception in the fourth quarter "It was (under-thrown) and I think Case will tell you that. It just came at a bad time. He has thrown about 150 balls this year with only one interception. That is probably about as good as you're going to be. Everybody wants to be perfect, but as much as we put it in the air, timing is everything and I think like any other quarterback he would want that one back."
On playing conditions "Both teams played in it (the conditions). The weather was not any different on their sideline than it was one ours. The game time got changed yesterday and they found out the same time that we did. There are no excuses for things like that. We are all concerned on what's going on back home, but you have to be able to focus. "
On the team's return plans "We don't know when we are going back, I have not addressed that with the team. We will go back and assess what is going on with (Director of Athletics) Dave Maggard and our administration. We'll take a look at what's going on there and work from there. Nobody should be better at adapting and changing on the run than coaches or athletes, but like I told the team after today, we could let this effect us for the rest of the year or we could let this bring us closer together as a team. I'm disappointed but I'd be a lot more concerned if I didn't see how we ended the game in the fourth quarter. As bad as it is right now, I think there is still some good to come from this."
On the team's senior leadership "It's been pretty good. You look up and the guys who play for us, not just the seniors, it seems like we are losing one or two of those guys a week. The guys that are out there playing are trying to lead, but we've got so many new guys."
SOPHOMORE QUARERBACK Case Keenum On the conditions effecting the game "As far as throwing the ball, it wasn't much different. You just have to ignore it. It was a little wet, but there's no excuse for how we played."
On the win effecting the deep passes "The wind held up the ball a little. It was slowing it down, but there are no excuses. It was a badly thrown ball on that interception. The weather is not an excuse for how we played. "
On the offensive struggles in the first half "We couldn't score. We couldn't move the ball or make first downs. That's something we are going to have to look at film and come out stronger next Saturday. The goal of our offense is making first downs is the goal of our offense. We just couldn't do that today.
On the uncertainty facing the team following Hurricane Ike "I'm not worried, I know we are taken care of. If we make it back to Houston, that's great. But if not, I know Coach [Kevin] Sumlin has a plan. We're going to have food, we're going to have a bed and we're going to have air conditioning. I'm not worrying about that right now."
On Hurricane Ike causing any distractions for his team "I think some of the guys have family back there. As far as that effecting us, I can't really say. You just have to adapt to everything that happens, on and off the field. We came out and didn't get off to a great start and we just ran out of time at the end. Air Force came out hard, and we didn't. You can't afford to do that against a team with that offense - the way they can hold the ball and take time off the clock.
SOPHOMORE TIGHT END Mark Hafner On the conditions effecting the game ""I didn't see anything really different; it was just like a normal game. There was just a little rain, nothing we couldn't overcome."
On any distractions caused by Hurricane Ike this week "I don't believe so. I didn't see anything in anyone's eyes. Everyone wanted badly to win this game."
On his family back home "Personally I didn't think about them while I was on the field."
On the second half comeback "We came off strong in the second half, but just a little too late. It was a total team loss."
On the offensive struggles in the first half "We didn't score enough points. It didn't look too good for us."
On the team's plans for accommodations "Waiting for the power to get cut back on in Houston before we head back."
SENIOR SAFETY Kenneth Fontenette On the team playing on the road "We talk about it all the time. You're going to be faced with diversity and that's all this was. A game is a game, whether or not it's at home, but it's just a game. We came out flat, we came out and got a stop on defense and we got satisfied and we knew they were going to come back on every snap. That's how they play and we stayed at the same level while they elevated. You can't do that against Air Force."
On the Air Force offense "It's difficult, like our offense, they have so many options every play. They have so many options, triple options, lead option every play, quarterback keepers, give a dive, pitch it; they executed and we didn't. They have a good offense and they did exactly what they wanted to and kept the ball out of our offense's hands. We needed to keep them off the field, especially in the first half."
On the Cougar fans who came to support the team "Thank you. There's not much more you can say."
AIR FORCE HEAD COACH TROY CALHOUN On Houston closing the lead late in the game We're going to find a bunch of different ways to win. I think whenever we play really good football teams, and we played one today, rarely are we going to look up and see a sizable difference, and they played better in the fourth quarter, that is true
On beating Houston "Every time you win at the Air Force Academy it's a heck of a win, especially when you play a bowl team. I look at us right now, I don't know ability-wise where we are, but I have a pretty good sense of the type of makeup, character-wise, on our squad. There are so many plays to be made that we just don't quite get there."
On the game being relocated "My heart goes out to the people of Houston and Galveston, for what they're experiencing. You think of those players and those coaches, and how many of them are in that area, for them to play the way they did and the way they hung in there. I think that's one heck of a tribute to the people of the University of Houston, they're just remarkable."
SENIOR QUARTERBACK SHEA SMITH On the Air Force's last drive of the game "It was in a position where it was in our hands, and we said just move the rock and hold on to it. We had a chance to finish it, and the whole line did a great job."
On the weather conditions "It was a little slick, but not too bad. I think the wind had more of an effect than the rain. We were expecting bad conditions, so we were ready to run the ball."
On the offense's use of the run today "We were confident in the run because we ran the ball very well today. That's what we stuck with. It was a team win today with all three phases. Special teams had a big punt return, the hands team, Spencer making that play. The defense had a few big stops, and the offense put it in the end zone a few times. It was a team win."
On the team's poise "Two weeks in a row, they had great poise. Nobody panicked when they (Houston) were coming back. I'm just so proud of our team."
On last year's winning record building confidence "I think we're a team that expects to win right now, and that changed during last year. Nobody panicked. Nobody was surprised when it was a close game."
Senior defensive end Jake Paulson On Air Force's defense "I think we came out a little flat. That happens every once in a while. We got a chance to really take the momentum, and we took it and ran with it."
On the defensive gameplan "It was a lot of the scheme called. Coach did an awesome job calling the game, and he put us in a great position to make some easy plays. Getting pressure on the quarterback makes all the difference in the world, and he relies on three- and four-man rushes to do that sometimes. There's a lot of pressure on us to get the plays out and get it home. Thankfully he did a great job calling some good stunts on three- and four-man rushing, and we had the opportunity to make some great plays."
On Houston "We knew coming in that Houston was going to be a very explosive team. We had the confidence, and it's a team game. We had faith that the offense was going to take care of business, and they were going to have faith in what we were doing."
On facing adversity going into today's game "It was definitely strange. I think the biggest thing was the crowd. It was kind of like a small high school football game, but at the same time, it was fun. Going through adversity, these are the kinds of situations you're going to remember. Not many people can say they've played football in a football game. That's a funny experience."
