University of Houston Athletics
Cougar Football Weekly Press Conference
9/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 21, 2010
HOUSTON - Head football coach Kevin Sumlin and members of the team took questions from the media as the University of Houston prepares for the Tulane game on Saturday.
HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On the decision about playing Terrance Broadway on Saturday night
There's a lot of things that go into that and based on where we were (in the game) and where we are in the season. The idea of at the beginning of the season was to redshirt, Terrance (Broadway) and David (Piland). We felt comfortable with that with Case (Keenum) and Cotton (Turner). Really you hope you don't get to that situation and unfortunately, for the first time in my career we got to it in three quarters, in game three. So you see you've got nine more games and really another half of a football game to go, nine and a half games to go. The possibility of 11 games, which is a complete season and based on our knowledge of the injuries at the time, with Case at first and how Cotton had an open fracture, it was very obvious that he was done. So knowing that and knowing both were basically done for the season, the decision to do that was clearer and easier than people thought.
On the difficult situation Broadway stepped into in the middle of the game
I think it's pretty obvious how difficult that is but what other choice do you have. Most people, I can only speak about how we prepare our quarterbacks and how I've done it in the past. The starting quarterback gets about 80 percent of the reps during the week as your backup gets about 20. Your backup goes in and he is nowhere near proficient in the game plan because of practice. You are trying to get him through the game and basically the third guy gets to warm up during the game and at practice. You just don't have enough to be proficient at what your doing to get that many guys ready and you know I think it's a credit to our offensive staff and to Kliff Kingsbury and how our quarterbacks are trying and what kind of knowledge Terrance had going into the game about the game plan. I think it's a credit to him and how he handled the situation being on the road, forced to play on national TV and how he reacted to the situation. I thought he was extremely poised, I thought he took care of the football and obviously moved our team and generated points. But, without a doubt he did his job.
On deciding between playing Broadway or other freshman QB David Piland
We recruited both of them. I think they are both excellent prospects, that's the reason they came here to compete for the job when Case graduated and they wanted to compete to be the backup this year. We just felt at the beginning of the year, Cotton was further along, which he should have been because he was here. Talent wise, I think, there is no question, people have seen then during scrimmages, they are both talented young guys, but they are young. There are going to be growing pains but I think they are both capable of winning. That's why we brought them here and they are going to continue to develop. They'll both make mistakes, but we're going to handle that as coaches and try to figure out what we're going to do. They're comfortable in our system and how we do things. They are both products of winning high school programs. These guys understand what's at stake. In recruiting you look for that, but you also want a guy who doesn't shy away from that. I think that's why they both came here, because they want to compete to play.
On the possibility of both Broadway and Piland playing this season
I would assume that they would both play eventually. We've only had one practice with both of them, we'll be in full pads today. Hopefully, it will stop raining so we can get a dry ball and figure that out. I'd say that we'll know a lot more tonight and we've got to start getting on the rep situation. What you don't want to do is halfway prepare both guys. You need to make a decision and get to prepping the guy who is going to start the game. We've got to be smart in how we practice. Practice changes now that Case is not there. We can't increase the amount of reps for both guys, practice another half an hour and run our guys into the ground. We've got to be smart in how we do things to create situations to get our guys more practice time with the ball in their hands. That's our challenge as coaches.
On deciding which quarterback gets the reps in practice
We've got creative ways to create reps for both guys. Today one guy is going to get more reps in certain periods. That's where coaching and development comes in. People have different ways of doing things all over the country. My point is that you spend time with this coaching staff on how you're going to rep guys and how you're going to develop them. At the end of the day, you've got to create situations for both of them today to kind of evaluate where they are."
On creating the same offensive tempo without senior quarterback Case Keenum
We'll see. I think so. If we can't, we can't, but I think we can.
On the effect the wedge rule has had on the return game
It affects everybody. The two-man wedge is a completely different situation. You have some people out there who are still doing three-man wedges. There is just some gray area there right now. I don't think it's affected us that much. We're seeing different schemes in kickoff coverages, but I don't know how much it's really affected what we do. I know we've seen a lot different returns from other people in the first three games then we see traditionally. But for us, I don't think it's affected us that much.
On his assessment of the defensive transition at this point in the season
I think we are a better defense now than we were last year at this time. Everything is relative. Our ability to get off the field on third down in the first half, combined with our five drives on offense, of which we punted twice, turned it over twice and kicked a field goal. That's the ballgame right there. We were 1-for-6 in stopping them on third down in the first half, and we kicked a field goal, turned the ball over twice and punted twice. In a game like that, it's a team loss. We gave them 14 points by giving them the ball at the 50 (on an onside kick). They had a defensive lineman that was playing at the 23 yard line - their starting defensive end, No. 97. But, between the 23 yard line and the 50-yard line there was not a UCLA player. We practiced all week kicking the ball to the 30 yard line and letting it hit the ground. At that point, it would be a mad scramble or their ball at the 28 or 30 yard line. We did not execute that. We gave them the ball at the 50. That was not an onside kick, we gave them the ball at the 50 (yard line), which put our defense in a bad position. We did that a couple times. In the second half, obviously there were some adjustments made then I think we were just the opposite. I think they only converted 1-of-6 in third downs in the second half. I think we make better adjustments now. I've always said this, times have changed and the key to defense to me is getting off the field in third down. If you can't get off the field in third down, then other things happen. The surprising statistic is that we led the first half in time of possession. I think that's the first time we've ever done that, so all the statistics that people say matter don't matter if you turn the ball over and give them the ball at the 50. I think our defense has improved. Are we where we need to be yet? No. Are we on the right track? Yes. The disappointing thing that Brian (Stewart, defensive coordinator) and I talked about was that I thought our first and second-down defense was very good. I thought there were a number of third and long situations that we broke down. They ran a draw on third and 15. We got a roughing the passer call on second and long. It wasn't just one thing. It was a guy here, a guy there on critical downs. I think we're headed in the right direction. I think our guys made adjustments on Saturday night and I think we're going to continue to get better.
On how the team is handling what has transpired
We don't have any choice. As I told our guys yesterday, we've got nine games left. Our goals have not changed. Our goal is still to win a conference championship. I sat here yesterday in this room in front of our team, and told them that whether we won or lost last Saturday had no effect on that. All of our goals are still the same. Those won't change. I expect they won't change for our players. Case and Cotton need the support of our players, our community and our students. We talked yesterday that the players that play win games - or lose games. The guys who don't play have never lost or won a game, they're not playing. So the guys that are in this room, it's your time to win games. That's where we are and that's how we're approaching it.
On facing Tulane
They've got a whole new crew of guys there and statistically they are leading the league in rush defense. The transfer linebacker from Duke (Trent Mackey) is leading the country in tackles. You look at (the Ole Miss) game and physically they were pretty good against Ole Miss. (Dezman) Moses was an excellent player in high school. He went to Iowa and transferred. He was suspended the first two games and now he'll play against us, so there is no tape of him. I just know he was a really good player in high school. He's 6-3, 245 and he's a rush defensive end. They've had an influx of talent on defense. I think Coach (Bob) Toledo has gotten away from the traditional I-formation to running just one back. The freshman running back is a good back. He'll be playing a couple guys out there and playing a little wildcat and doing some things that are different than what he's done traditionally in the past. It'll be a different game than what it was last year.
Junior Safety Nick Saenz
On added pressure on the defense because of quarterback losses
We're going to have to lock up more on defense to give our offense more chances to get the ball. We're planning on creating more turnovers and creating more opportunities for the offense.
On how they plan to create turnovers
We put pressure on the offense and make them throw bad balls and stripping balls, too.
On how he felt to see both quarterbacks get injured It was surreal to see both of them go down. You don't plan for your star quarterback to go down, much less your backup, too. Terrance (Broadway) got in there and played really well. He showed that he can lead the team.
Junior Linebacker Marcus McGraw
On added pressure on defense because of quarterback losses
No, it's the same on defense. It hasn't changed. When we go out there, we expect to stop anybody and everybody, so we don't feel any added pressure.
On the game plan for Tulane
The coaches looked at film Sunday night, and they have a good game plan for us already.
On the mindset of the team
We still have our minds in the game. We still know our goal is in reach, so we still have our hopes up. It was a tough loss last week, so just have to keep our heads up. With the loss of Cotton and Case, our goal will be a little harder to get to.
On how the defense plans to improve
We just have to execute better on third down. We went back and looked at third downs and there were only one or two people not doing their jobs. If we just get everyone on the same page, third downs will be a lot easier to execute.
JUNIOR RUNNING BACK Bryce Beall
On losing Case Keenum and Cotton Turner for the rest of the season
At first it is tough, but we've got to move on. We have a long season ahead of us and our goals are still the same. Everybody around us has got to pick their game up to a new level.
On running the ball more after the losses
We are going to be fine. Great players have to elevate their play to another level. We are taking this personal to do whatever we can for our quarterbacks to make their job easier.
On the teams motivation
We failed last year in the conference championship. Our goal this year is to make sure to get there again and win. We are going to take it day by day and it is not going to be easy. We all just have to elevate our game. That is all we are worried about right now.
On the amount of time it will take to recover from the loss
I think we did that after the game Saturday. Going into this week, coach (Kevin) Sumlin did a good job of keeping our minds off of that. We know where we stand. We know Keenum is not coming back and Cotton is not coming back. We have to deal with what we have here. We got to go out there and get better mentally. We got to do things a little better than we have been doing them.
On being an example for the younger guys
I have to do more of the leadership. I have to pick that up. Case was a big leader for us vocally and now the older people have to be the leaders vocally.
On stepping up on blitz protection
We took pride in taking care of No. 7 (Keenum) and now we have to take care of whoever they put that back there. The offensive line and running backs need to do a great job at pass protection.
On Tulane's defense
This is a great challenge for us, not having Case. This is the first time I have played without Case as a starter. The good thing we have is we are playing at the Rob. And to have our two young quarterbacks being in front of our home crowd makes it a lot easier than going to a conference game on the road. Tulane will be a good test to see where we are mentally. To see how we come out and we respond to adversity. That is one thing our team is about. We are not going to quit. We are going to come out and play. We're going to give it all we got.
On thriving when against the wall
Popularity is temporary. When it is all going great people were behind us. Now they may have written us off, and that is just motivation by itself. We have a lot to prove. I know in our offensive meeting today, everybody wasn't down. We were saying we have to pick our game up to the next level. Good players have to be great. Great players have to be even better.
On keeping the tempo up
We just have to keep making first downs, keep executing and doing the little things right. And if we do that we can keep the tempo up. In the run game, we can't have short gains or losses in yards. We have to have positive gains. We have to make it manageable for our quarterbacks to convert when we have first downs. We have to be effective in the little things, especially the run game.
On what David Piland and Terrance Broadway brings to the game
They both have different styles. David is a lot like Case to me. He is really athletic, more athletic than fans will probably see. He has a swagger about him that is good. Terrance is really athletic as well, which people saw against UCLA. They both have confidence levels about them. Once they both get going they're going to be alright.
