University of Houston Athletics
Football Press Conference Quotes
10/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
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HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
Opening Statement:
"Last week, it was very encouraging to win while playing a number of different people, who we haven't played, to get out there and take care of business. We talked as a team about different goals we wanted to accomplish in that game.
"We were playing a lot of young guys in the defensive front. The bottom line is we held them to 15 points, had three turnovers and they were 0-10 on the third down. That's called getting off the field and being opportunistic.
"Like I said the week before, when you're young on defense, it's important to be opportunistic meaning getting off the field on third down and creating turnovers. That's what we did last week and, by being opportunistic, you have to do something with those turnovers.
"Obviously we cut down on penalties. We're third or fourth in the country as the least-penalized team in the nation. As coaches, we're encouraged because that tells us that these guys are listening. You say it all you want, and you can do a lot of things in practice, but when you play game, there's a leadership on the team, and they're playing at a very high level.
"Offensively, we didn't turn the ball over which is good. We were 56 percent on third down and 5-5 in the red zone. Those things were trying to accomplish. You can see we're headed in the right direction.
"Having said that, we're 6-1 and ranked in the top 20 in the country, but as a team we haven't played our best game. It's still out there for us. We can be better, and these guys will probably be the first to tell you. People got confused with what I said last week. It had nothing to do with potential. When I talk about playing our best game, I'm talking about 50 or 60 guys playing, not just 20 or 30 guys.
"Sometimes it's been a position here or there, or a guy here or there, but I've been pleased with the overall effort as a team. We talked to these guys about what we can do to be better, and we can be better. We will have to be better over the course of the next few weeks.
"Right now, in the country people are headed one way or another. There's a maintenance part of it. Everybody's beat up, and no one is playing with the same 20 guys, so there's no staying the same. You're either in one direction or the other. It's the middle of the season, and it's midterms.
"Young guys are going through that stretch where we've been traveling and they're beat up. It looks like a long season and it's now just hitting them that we're still in the middle of the season. If this was high school by weeks, we would be getting ready for the playoffs. We're just in the serious crunch time of the season.
"This week, it's really helped us to be at home in the stretch. Playing four of the first six games away from home has taught us a bunch. We really enjoy being at home. Saturday will be fun, and it will be a really good game.
"Southern Miss is a team who has lost a couple of really close games and beaten some quality opponents. They went up to Kansas and had a good chance to win. They also came back from a big deficit against Virginia to win the game. They've been in some good games. If you watch the tapes, they have a good talent level.
"Defensively, they're similar to Mississippi State's style of defense when you talk about athletes. Their two defensive ends have 4.5 sacks apiece, and their middle linebacker has five sacks. There's 15 sacks right there so we need to block those three people.
"Offensively, everybody recognizes the fact that they have a lethal 1-2 punch. Damion Fletcher is one of the better running backs in the country. DeAndre Brown was one of the top recruited receivers in the country last year. He suffered a broken leg and came back. He's a big 231-pound wide receiver. He's a guy that, even though you're there for coverage, can still make a play.
"I look at them, and they're extremely well coached. I've known Coach (Larry) Fedora for a long time. He does a great job, and he has a lot of great guys on his staff that knows what they're doing.
"If you look at them offensively, they're similar to Oklahoma State in the fact that they're going to be a no-huddle team. We played Oklahoma State earlier this year with the same 1-2 punch. Other people haven't seen Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant in the last couple of weeks and we did. They have similar style and similar weapons. From that standpoint, we have a better feel for what to expect in the game."
On comparing Tory Harrison and Damion Fletcher's style of play:
"They're both talented guys. The day that the running back has become the workhorse has become very limited because of the length of games and the number of hits. When you have two backs, it takes pressure off of one guy to have to do everything. We recruit telling guys `you could go there and carry the game 30 or 40 times a game but what you think about is that a running back will get hit somewhere between three to five times every time he carries that ball.'
"That adds up. Right now at game seven, you're getting hit 350 a game. When you have two guys, it helps. They're rotating their backs like we're rotating our backs.
"They're similar to us. When you look at us, we have three guys in the mix can do things equally well. They're both really good backs."
HOUSTON JUNIOR QUARTERBACK Case Keenum
On his schedule:
"It is busy as usual, just another week in our season. It's nice to have all the games on a Saturday, so that we can keep the schedule the same every week."
On Southern Miss:
"There a good football team. They have lost a lot of close games, and it's always a battle when we play them. In 2006 we lost to them away. Then we beat them here for the Conference USA championship, so there is a lot of history there. They have a really talented football team and a good head coach. They have a good scheme overall and their defense is going to come out and play hard. It is a totally different game this Saturday. We do know they have been successful against some talented football teams."
On the offensive line:
"Every time we get off the field, I admire the job the offensive line does, and I know they always play their hardest. They do their best to protect me. Football is a physical game. I feel very blessed that I stay injury free, and I have to continue to try and do the same thing."
On getting up for every game:
"We only get 12 guaranteed chances to play football so with the amount of time you put in the off season and all year round, when you only have 12 different days to do what we have been working on our whole life, you can't take your chances for granted."
On Conference:
"Our conference seems to take twists and turns, and you can't control who beats who. The only thing we can control is how we play against Southern Miss. We also make an emphasis not to worry about what other people do. It's about how we play and respond. Everything else will take care of itself."
On the running game:
"The running game has been great, especially this Saturday. The offensive line did an incredible job in blocking for the running game. It shows another side of our offense, that we can run the ball and be successful in doing it."
On the running backs:
"I can count on all of them the same, no matter what play it is. They all have different talents and some might be better at some plays than others, but they can all run any play in our offense. It's nice to know that when you see different guys coming on, there isn't a drop off in talent level or in preparation from each guy or how hard each of them are going to play. They all play very hard."
On what they have been working on:
"We concentrate on our third down efficiency, our red zone efficiency and just taking care of the football. That changes games."
On Tyron Carrier:
"I like to throw to whoever is open. Tyron is one of those guys who tend to do that. We have lots of guys who can do that, and it is exciting to see the weapons we have"
On the team:
"I don't think everything is clicking yet. We haven't played our best game yet. We haven't put together our best football in all four quarters in one game this year yet. There are things we have done well, but there are things we can do a lot better every week and we learn from that, and we try to keep maturing and keep growing as a football team and coming together. Hopefully this week it all comes together for us.
"We have got the same confidence levels we had during camp. We knew we were going to have a talented football team, and we worked hard to be as good as we could be, our opinion of ourselves hasn't changed. We know one game doesn't change what type of team we have. We're very talented, and we can do special things on offense, and the defense has showed us what they can do as well. Maybe other people's opinions have changed and their confidence in us, but we have stayed the same and will continue to."
On the defense:
"I think it shows by our record. Our defense playing well and getting us turnovers has been crucial to us winning games. They have done a great job in getting us the ball back, and we're trying to keep them off the field. They are doing a great job in helping us out, and we want to make sure we don't get any three-and-outs, which can really hurt the defense. If they go and make a big stop and then we get a three and out and, they're back on the field straight away, that can be really disheartening."
SENIOR LINEBACKER C.J. Cavness
On his senior season:
"It is going to be a good season for us seniors. We want to implement winning into all the younger guys and keep the tradition going around here. It will be good for the University of Houston."
On his evolution as a player:
"That's something I think about before every game. I try not to forget what got me here and what will keep me here, which is hard work, commitment to this program and the will to win. Our whole team possesses that."
On the defense winning C-USA Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time:
"It's something that we pride ourselves on. We have to work to win, and that's something the coaches instill in us during practice. Good things are happening to us right now, but we won't forget the past. We know that winning takes preparation during the week, playing hard and getting the win."
On Southern Miss:
"They're a good football team, big up front and fast at the skill positions. They have lots of playmakers. We have to prepare and go out and execute the game plan on Saturday."
On Matt Nicholson:
"Matt was the leader of our defense, so losing him was big. Everyone rallied around Matt to support him. We all stepped it up, everybody. Losing him was a big thing for us. But we had to go out there and play for him and everyone else."
SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE TACKLE David Hunter
On SMU:
"We knew in the locker room for us in order to win this game that we had to give all that we could. They have some great skill players; good quarterbacks who could move the pocket and do a lot of things. We knew starting Monday that we'd have to be mentally and physically prepared for the game, which included doing everything extra like running sprints."
On C.J. Cavness big game:
"He was everywhere on the field. It all starts on Monday though. He started the week practicing off, and it paid off Saturday. He had great practices every single day and was busting his butt to make all the plays. You saw in the game that it really reflected that. I would have loved to have made some of the tackles he made, but sometimes you take pride in watching your teammate play at that level."
On Southern Miss:
"It's definitely going to be a tough battle. They have some very talented players on their team including their big wide receiver and their strong running backs. They also have a very good offensive line; that's why their running backs put up good numbers and good yards. Their offensive line is incredible, so it'll be a good battle. We have to start preparing today, and if everyone prepares like they should and we're mentally and physically ready, it should be a good game."
SENIOR CORNERBACK Brandon Brinkley:
On the Southern Miss offense:
"They can run and pass the ball very well. They'll also mix it up with the wildcat and run some more. Really they'll do everything, and they have some great receivers."
On preparing for the game:
"We're very confident. You have to be when it's a big game like this. We're not expecting to lose. We expect to make our keys on every single play and expect the best."
On Coach Sumlin:
"Coach Sumlin is all about winning and having fun. The most important this is to have the young guys go out there and have fun. If you mess up, you need to keep your head up and go out there and make the next play."
On being a leader:
"I try to keep them relaxed. Everyone makes mistakes. I made plenty against SMU, but we all have to keep working and going on. We all help each other out."
On the home field environment that's been created:
"It feels real great coming to home games with our crowd. It feels like all of Houston is supporting us. We even had a famous rapper (Bun B) come support us for the SMU game."
