University of Houston Athletics
Houston Football Weekly Press Conference
10/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 18, 2011
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
Opening Statement...
"There's been a lot of talk about conference realignment and I wish I could give you more information on that. We are in good hands. I have a lot of respect for our administration, Mack Rhodes and Dr. Khator, and how they've handled things since I`ve been here, not only with how they've handled football but athletics in general. I know that they are going to do what is best for the University of Houston.
One of the great benefits of my job at the University of Houston is that I have an administration that does a great job and allows me to focus on my job, which is coaching the team. I think times like this are where great leadership shows up. The key to this whole deal is that our administration has been and is working diligently to put us in the best position possible. When you have an administration like that you don't have to worry about those things. You know that they are going to handle things in the right and professional way. The communication throughout the process has been fantastic.
On Homecoming contest against Marshall...
There's a lot of excitement around our football program right now. Our players are excited about wearing the throwback uniforms. It's the first time we've really done this since we've been here. I think this represents a little more than just a uniform, with the tradition at the University of Houston. It's a way that we can excite our fans for our homecoming weekend and pay tribute to an era of success. It was a time where winning was expected, and that's what happened and Coach Yeoman did a great job. It's really an honor to put this uniform on this weekend. We have an opportunity for our current student body and for all the people coming back to our campus to see some of the new things to create a really good atmosphere for Saturday.
As far as Marshall, they have gotten better over the course of the season. Doc Holliday has done a great job wherever he has been as an assistant coach. He is a tremendous recruiter, and you can see the improvement since he returned to Marshall as head coach. You look at their football team and they played West Virginia very tough in that opening ball game for three quarters, and they've beaten Louisville, Southern Miss and Rice. This is a quality football team, and they have taken their strides defensively. They lead the league in sacks and are up there in tackles for loss. (Marshall defensive end) Vinny Curry is an exceptional football player and one of the better players in our league. He reminds me of Bruce Miller, who was the defensive player of the year in our league two years ago. They are an opportunistic defense that's in the top of our league in turnover margin, just like us.
They also turned it up on offense last week. When A.J. Graham came in at quarterback, he gave them a spark as a runner. He's able to scramble and do some things and generate offense. They've got some players on the perimeter that can help. From that standpoint, they've been in some games, they've been on the road, they've played some quality competition and they've won some games. Defensively, because of how they play, they try to create havoc, create negative yardage and create turnovers. We have to take care of the football and be productive on first and second down. We're going to have to show up and pick up where we left off against East Carolina."
On game plan to limit Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry...
"Everybody else seems to have problems doing that. He'll probably be as good a player as we've seen so far, and we'll probably see some other good players down the road. Without a doubt this is a talented guy with a high motor. I think the difference between him and (former UCF defensive end) Bruce Miller is that Bruce was significantly smaller than Curry, but still a high motor guy with talent. Vinny is a great pass rusher and he's used to seeing some double teams. We have to be creative, but we can't vary too much from what we do. We've got to be able to mix it up."
On discussing rankings and what it means to the team...
"It's better that I talk to them about it than everybody else. I'm not so naive to think that everybody else isn't trying to tell them how good they are and patting them on the back. Our guys understand where they are. I get the sense from our team and our coaches that our guys are flattered by it but not impressed, and I think they still feel like there are a lot of things out there for them to accomplish. We are at the midway point of our season. We tell them that they have 12 guaranteed opportunities to play, and you earn the right for 13 and 14. Our guys are very focused on the fact that we are still trying to earn 14 football games."
On leading the nation in total offense...
"We never talk about that. But it's happened before and it's happening now. If we're doing what we are supposed to do and playing at a high level, we can win a game with 300 yards of offense. The idea is to score as many points as possible and score more than they do. We are going to be efficient and do the things that are necessary to be successful offensively. If those types of numbers are the byproduct of that, then so be it.
There are all kinds of different styles out there being played and it doesn't mean that one is necessarily better than another one. You look at teams across the country and there are some high scoring teams out there that are winning and then there are teams that are playing great defense and are winning. It doesn't matter what you do or how you do it as long as you do it well. Right now we are playing well, but as we talked about on the bye week, we had to get some people healthy. We are still looking to play better as an overall team."
On keys for defense to continue high level of performance...
"We're playing a different type of team this week. With the quarterback change that they've made you've got a quarterback that can scramble and get yards and really incorporate quarterback run and read games. We've got to adjust and be able to stop a varied running attack, meaning not just running backs but the quarterback as well. I thought we did a great job two weeks ago with (ECU quarterback) Dominique Davis, by not letting him get out. We have to be disciplined in our rush lanes and be able to play a lot more quarterback read, option-type attack, and be able to defend play action deep balls over the top. So it's a different football game and a different team than it was two weeks ago."
On Case's records...
"It's a byproduct of being efficient and improving, whether it's defensively, offensively or special teams-wise. Over the course of the time that we've been here, any sort of individual awards or recognition we really view as team awards. Football is a team sport, as opposed to winning a battle title or playing golf or tennis. Any record about total offense leads to the team on a larger scale. Any kind of national awards we've been involved with, they're team awards. They are byproducts of guys being successful and teams being successful. Our guys take pride in that. We also know that when it comes to national awards and things like that, I don't see a whole lot of guys at those who aren't on winning teams. Our team recognizes that. For us to be successful, we're going to have some players in those categories and there is nothing wrong with that. Our team sees that and understands that. Hopefully he won't be the only guy breaking records around here."
On Sammy Brown compared to Vinny Curry...
"Sammy really came along the last game. Sammy has a lot of ability, but he has to be more consistent. Without a doubt, East Carolina was his best football game. They are two different types of guys. Sammy is 240 pounds and Vinny is 270 pounds. Vinny is able to play both inside and outside, whereas Sammy is more of a speed rusher and a real outside linebacker at this point. He's not as big as Vinny, and Vinny is probably just as quick."
On Case's improvement since the beginning of his career...
"From the first year to now seems like a long time, but I think now he's improved in a system that obviously he understands a great deal more at this point. It's not just him. We have the good fortune of having three really good receivers that have played with him all four years. It's not like we keep surrounding him with other people. There are a lot of guys on the same page with experience and with maturity. You should get better with time, and he has. He understands the total picture. When you go from the `what to do', to `how to do it' stage, he did that at a very rapid pace early. That's where he has separated himself, not only physically but mentally being able to grasp the overall big picture. I think that has led to a lot of his success."
SENIOR QUARTERBACK Case Keenum
On his emotions regarding records...
"My emotions are the same. It's the same as it's been all year. I am extremely blessed to be playing football again. I want to make sure I don't spend time dwelling on that now. I will have the rest of my life to look back. I'd rather take the time now and focus on what's important I can reflect on records later on in life."
On how important teammates are to his personal records...
"They are extremely important, looking back at the guys I got to throw and hand the ball to over the past few years. It's been a lot of different guys. It's been over thirty receivers that I completed passes to and over twenty of those guys have caught touchdown passes. A lot of those are yards after catch. There are a bunch of fast guys around. It's also the guys who block for me. It's not a single person award. It is a team deal. That's what's really cool about this sport."
On national rankings...
"I think being ranked in 2009 was helpful. It was a learning experience. It really doesn't matter what the rankings are right now. It really matters in December. It's great for fans and great for alumni. It's respect they want to see. For us, we are going to look week by week."
On the need to impress for rankings...
"From day one we knew that the only people that mattered were sitting in the locker room; players and coaches. Opinions change weekly. We can't pay attention to what people think of us. Good or bad, that's not where you want to be."
On Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry...
"He is a very talented player up front and a high-motor guy. That makes a good defensive player. It will be hard pass blocking. Our offensive line does a great job getting in the right blocking schemes. Chris (Thompson) does a great job pointing those guys out. I have faith in those guys and I'm going to trust them. He's a good player but we have good players too. It's going to be a great game."
On offensive tempo...
"Tempo allows a few things. One of them is to keep the defense from doing too much, from subbing and trying to disguise things. It keeps them from getting fake calls when we are snapping the ball quickly. That's a benefit of our tempo offense. Hopefully we can get them out of their groove and get into ours."
On throwback jerseys...
"They look pretty cool. I'm excited to see them on the field. They always look different on Saturday afternoons at Robertson than it does in the locker room."
On what he gained from his injury...
"I think I have grown a lot as a football player mentally. I matured a lot and became mentally and physically tough. When you go through anything rough like an injury it makes you tougher. I had to sit and watch a lot of football from a third person point of view. That helped me become a better football player. I learned a lot and came back stronger than I was before."
On confidence in offense...
"Just like any offense, the more time you spend in it, the more confident you get. I have thrown a lot of the same passes to the same guys. They know what I'm thinking. That is the benefit. It is priceless to have chemistry and experience."
SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE BACK ZACH MCMILLIAN
On how he feels after the bye week...
"Our bodies are refreshed. Coach made sure he took care of us throughout the week. He got our legs back underneath us. We needed it after that battle with ECU. Now we're just ready to come in, refocus and go back to work."
On what it will take to continue getting better on defense...
"Coach Stewart hasn't really changed much. He's been sticking to what we know and he's left it up to the players to execute what he's been implementing. He hasn't changed anything since day one. The players have been buying into what he's saying and that's why you see the difference from the beginning of the year.
On what he knows about Marshall...
"They're very physical. From the receivers to the offensive line to the running backs, they're all physical. Even the new quarterback is physical running the ball. It's going to have to be a battle and we're going to have to come in with our minds right."
On what needs to happen for the defense to play well...
"Always communicating and being in sync. We always have people rotating in and out so whoever is in the game needs to be in sync. We have a lot of players in the secondary who have gotten legitimate playing time so we all need to be going in the same direction and running the same play."
REDSHIRT FRESHMAN OFFENSIVE LINEMAN Rowdy Harper
On having new players on the offensive line and the success so far...
"We feel good that we've won every game so far since that was our goal. Obviously we have to get better. If you are not striving to get better then you are in the wrong business. You need to always try to get better. It's halfway through the season and we hope to win the rest of them."
On the progress made with new starters...
"We've progressed every week. We have had some bad weeks where we gave up a few sacks and did not watch the run game. Each game we're together we grow more solid as a group and that's what it is about."
On being a redshirt freshman and being in the line of fire now...
"It's been great and I love it. We have great fans and it feels great to play in front of them. We get the goose bumps every time we come out."
On Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry...
"He is big and long. He gets off the ball quick and we have not seen anyone his size do that. It's going to be great challenge and we're excited to see how we measure up."
On how tempo offsets players like Vinny Curry...
"It helps, but it is more about how we block. Other guys are in shape like we are and everyone works hard. It's really about blocking, but tempo does help."
On how all the buzz about the University is good for the program...
"It's great for the program, but like I said you have to keep getting better. We are excited to be 6-0 but our goal is still to go out a win that week's game.
SENIOR RECEIVER Justin Johnson
On the upcoming game against Marshall...
"It is a great game. We are really excited. To remember the past teams here, it's exciting to play our next game and make those guys proud."
On the national rankings...
"We don't focus too much on the rankings. We let everyone else worry about that. All we can do is go out and play week to week."
On Case Keenum...
"Case is a great football player as well as a great guy. Those awards are great for him. He will be the first to say that those are team awards. He is a great player and anything he accomplishes is well deserving."
