University of Houston Athletics
Houston Football Postgame Quotes
10/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2010
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2010 Houston Cougar Football Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-2 * 1-2 SEC West) at Houston Cougars (3-2 * 2-0 C-USA West)
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 * John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium * Houston, Texas
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On the game
"Mississippi State played very well. The bottom line is that they executed and we didn't. We came out with energy and intensity. David (Piland) was very sharp in the beginning of the game. Offensively we were very sharp and defensively we stopped them. We gave up the ball at the 10 (yard line) and they scored and that was a big momentum changer. We missed a tackle and gave up a 40-yard run and we are back down there again. With all that being said, their ability to execute and our inability to execute during critical situations was the key to the game. They had a good scheme. They are a well-coached team and they did a nice job."
On the performance of freshman quarterback David Piland
"I was pleased with how he came out and played early. He continued to compete. We got behind and we put him in a situation where, because of the score, we probably had to throw a little bit more than we wanted to. With all that being said, he was extremely accurate for the better part of the game. When he wasn't, there was a break down with pressure and it wasn't necessarily a blitz. We had a couple breakdowns in protection from our side and we also had some dropped balls at critical times. One guy is not going to fulfill Case (Keenum)'s shoes, but collectively we have to play the best. That is the best thing to do.
On the rush defensive
"It is a concern. It is a concern particularly against that scheme. I don't know how you can come out of the game and not be concerned. We lost (Matangi) Tonga in the first part of the game and everyone knows that is a critical part of what we are trying to do defensively. The replacement situation cut into the rotation. You can't look at these statistics and not be concerned about where we are right now."
On Matangi Tonga
"He will be evaluated tomorrow and then we will see."
On his message to the team after the game
"In a game like tonight, no one is happy. Our players and coaches are embarrassed in that showing, particularly in front of our home crowd. It is obviously something we don't want to do. The bottom line is that we have to come back next week and we have a conference game. The original goals of this season are still out there, and that is to win a conference championship, and we want to keep the Bayou Bucket at Houston. We need to watch this video and learn from some things that happened tonight, individually and as a team. On a positive note, in the second half, being in the situation that we were in, I saw guys competing and we blocked a couple of kicks and tried to get some things going in a situation where most guys would just lay down. We have to come back in on Monday and learn from this and not let it drag on to the next game and get ready to play Rice.
JUNIOR LINEBACKER Marcus McGraw
On the defensive play tonight
"The thing about the way they run the ball is that you really have do your assignment. Every play they broke on, there was one or two people on the defense not doing their assignment."
On there being too many missed tackles
"That was the story of the game. If we would've done a little more tackling, a couple of those points wouldn't haven't been on the board. That's something we're going to have to go back and look at. It's the little things we have to change."
On doing well at first, then it going down hill
"That's how football goes. A lot of stuff happens and as a team you have to force your way through it. We could've done better facing the pressure, but it just got to us and kept coming. We only got a few breaks every now and then and that was hard for us to face."
JUNIOR RUNNING BACK Bryce Beall
On the game going down hill
"We just didn't execute like we did at the beginning. They just took the momentum from us and we shot ourselves in the foot. It really had a lot to do with them though. They just played a lot harder than we did today."
On David Piland
"David did a great job for us. The offensive line and running backs need to do a better job protecting him. There were situations where we couldn't protect him and he was getting hit and the timing was bad. We just have to get better at that and make him more comfortable so he doesn't feel like he has to rush his throws."
On getting better as a team
"We have no choice, we have to get better. It seems like the same mistakes we're making in games and struggling with and we have to fix that. We don't like losing."
JUNIOR WIDE RECEIVER Tyron Carrier
On his performance
"I did ok, I missed a few assignments. We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. It's hard to come back from behind when you do that as much as we did."
On David Piland's attitude before the game
"Both of these quarterbacks for being freshmen have a lot of poise. They're never rattled; it seems like I'm more nervous than they are."
On if the momentum shifted after the muffed punt in the first quarter deep in Houston territory
"We had opportunities after the muffed punt it was still early, but that started it. When you play a team like that you can't make as many mistakes as we did."
JUNIOR SAFETY Roisean Haynes
On summing up the night
"A night full of miscues, and mistakes sums it up. A guy doing wrong there, or a guy doing wrong here. It's not ever really the whole team that messed up all night. When you draw it up, you see that it's a guy missing an assignment here or there resulting in a big play. We just have to get back to practice, and sharpen things up to get ready for next week."
On how hard it is to bounce back from a loss like this
"Just it being Rice alone will motivate guys to want to get out there and play hard. We're more of a team that is liable to bounce back from a loss rather than to fall into a slump. We've been through situations like this before. It's not the end of the world, nor the end of the season. We still have seven more games left, so we can't take it too hard."
MISSISSIPPI STATE HEAD COACH DAN MULLEN
On the game
"They're an explosive offensive. We did give up a bunch of yards, but they threw the ball 59 times. Our defense did a good job of not bending, not breaking and making some big plays when we needed to make some big plays. Obviously, we ran the ball over 400 yards and controlling time of possession, which was really important coming in because when you're facing a high-powered offense, you want to keep them off the field. We were able to do that.
"We got that little slump again in the third quarter, where we went three-and-out and got a little sloppy on defense. We had two field goals blocked by the same guy (Wesley Scourten). He's a big guy and a good athlete, but we kicked it over him a lot of other times, too. That's on Sean (Brauchle), who just had a couple of low kicks. It's great to win a football game. I'm happy with the way we played but know that we could play better. We're going to have to going back into SEC play next week."
On Houston's defensive pressure
"It's a huge deal. They had a great crowd tonight - they sold it out. Kevin (Sumlin) is doing a great job with this program. Their kids have learned how to win a little bit, and they believe they are going to win. They get the crowd behind them, they go down and score right away and force us to punt. It was a big, big play for us on special teams."
On making adjustments after Houston opened the game with a quick scoring drive
"When you play a no-huddle team as fast as they go, you can't simulate that a practice. You just can't. So I think that first series we had to get adjusted to the speed of the game."
On snapping Houston's 18-game home win streak
"This is the third-game in our win streak right now. It just shows the type of program that Kevin is building here. I wouldn't be surprised if they went on another good streak right now. When you can get in there and you can run, control the clock the way we did, force turnovers but not turn the ball over, that's what made the difference and really swung the momentum our way."
