University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Football Weekly Press Conference
11/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 16, 2010
HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On Tulsa's defensive play vs. Houston last weekend
Well, there were a number of things that happened in the first half that, involving schemes, to try and disrupt the running game. Early in the game we could not get a handle on them. In the second half, they provided a different look for us defensively, and our ability to block and handle the blitz really opened up some holes for our running game and helped in the passing game. They did a great job of taking away our key players and not letting them make big plays. That's why you saw a guy like Kierrie Johnson with 140 yards.
On if there is ever a scenario other than injury where a QB change would be made
Sure there is. If we felt like offensively a player, really any position not just quarterback, could get it done better than the one that was in there then we'd make that change. That wasn't the case Saturday night.
On Southern Miss coming off a big win and how he thinks the team will do based on how they're playing right now
Well, they have some big wins and they've struggled at times, too. They've gone on the road and won, and they've lost some close games. They're well coached. Austin Davis is a dual-threat guy. He runs it when he needs to, which has given us problems, and he throws it very well. Larry (Fedora) does a great job with his team, particularly on offense. They're going to attack us on all cylinders. They have weapons on the outside, and probably the biggest difference from this year to last is their running backs, but the way Austin Davis has played he's kind of picked up the slack for the lack of the running game. We have to be on our toes defensively. It's your typical Southern Miss team.
On the state of the team mentally
Our guys were disappointed last week, to be close the last couple of weeks, and not be able to win hurts, but they refuse to quit. They've played right down to the end of the game, and have made some mistakes. In no way are we happy or satisfied. This week, after talking to a bunch of people, they're excited to play this week. If we can go over there and play well and eliminate our mistakes, we'll be back on track. We still have a couple of games left to play, and still have a lot out there for us if we can win these games.
On if he thinks the defense played their best game of the season
We played well enough to win. We gave up 28 points, and the 28th point came with four minutes left in the third quarter, and they didn't score again the rest of the game. (The Tulsa offense) was on the field for 12 minutes out of 15 in the fourth quarter. Some of that was because of the turnover, but a lot of it was because of the inability to get off the field on third downs. All that being said, it's a team game. Through the game they created a lot of plays, and in the fourth quarter they didn't allow Tulsa to score. It's kind of a double-edged sword. We'd love for it to be better, and I think we are getting better.
On the difficult task of running the ball this week
Well they are now the number one rush defense in the league. They got past Central Florida after our game against Central Florida so we'll have to plan them for what we want to do. We'll see some things that we saw last week. Like I said they're a big, athletic group.
On USM Lineback Korey Williams
Korey Williams, is a great player. He's a young man that I have a lot of respect for. He was a (Hurricane) Katrina victim, and I got to know him very well when he was up in Dallas in my recruiting. He was a Freshman All-American, and he's a great player. They type of guy that could play for anybody in the country. They have some talented guys on the defensive line, but the linebackers are the great players.
