Houston Football Weekly Press Conference
11/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 29, 2011
HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On the development of the defense...
"You've heard me say a couple times this year that there has been a process. The second year in this system has helped us. We upgraded our talent. We have improved defensively and continue to improve each week. The professional game is very different from the college game. The quarterback run game is nonexistent. The addition of (defensive line coach) Carlton Hall and (linebackers coach) Jamie Bryant helped strengthen our coaching staff. We had some goals going into this year of what we had to do defensively to be successful. Some of those factors to improve were third-down defense and scoring defense and getting better at quarterback-run defense. We paid attention to that and you can see a big difference. The first game we had seven new guys on the field. David Hunter, Marcus McGraw, Phillip Steward and Sammy Brown were the only returners. We had a couple junior college players, Zach McMillian and a few freshmen like Derrick Mathews. (Defensive coordinator) Brian (Stewart) and his staff are doing a great job. You just have to look at the numbers from 30th in the country in scoring defense as opposed to 96th a year ago. That is a dramatic improvement. There are a number of players that have been coached and understand what is going on in the scheme. There are also a number of players that have really improved throughout the season."
On being surprised of the turnaround of defensive statistics this season...
"Surprise is not the word. I felt like we improved during two-a-days. Our talent level has risen. We have seen improvements, certainly with Marcus in his forth year. Sammy Brown has been playing incredible and Phillip Steward has raised his level of play. Derrick Matthews has also had a major impact this season. He has made a bunch of plays as a true freshman. Also the addition of D.J. Hayden has allowed us to play different types of coverage. It's a combination of a lot of different things. Our defensive staff has been doing a great job. What we do offensively, total defense is never going to be the mark. It is going to be third-down defense and points allowed. I saw the confidence factor increase. We got some great leadership, especially from our linebackers. The other thing is that we have been able to rotate more. There is more depth in the front and secondary. We didn't have any depth before then. We are able to rotate our defensive lineman more and able to keep them fresh. Everything has been a change for the positive. What we were looking for going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 was getting more athletes on the field."
On how the defense will respond to Austin Davis and the Southern Miss offense...
"I have a lot of respect for Larry Fedora. When I was at Oklahoma, he was at Oklahoma State. We have known each other for a long time and are family friends. This is a well-coached football team. If you are going to compare them to anybody, they are similar to us. We both have veteran quarterbacks who have played a lot of quality football games and have a lot of quality wins. They lead the league in rush defense and we lead the league in pass defense. They are second in the league in scoring defense and we are third in the league in scoring defense. You can go on and on comparing our statistics. They are a top twenty-five team with a veteran quarterback. When you get to championship play, quarterback play becomes a big factor. They have a quality quarterback in Austin Davis. He can throw the ball and forces you to cover the whole field. There is no doubt that they will be able to move the ball. It will be another great challenge for our defense. There will be some carry over from Tulsa. We had to face more quarterback run game. Perimeter and speed-wise they are a step above Tulsa. They will have a good scheme and are well coached."
On the atmosphere on campus...
"It was obvious Monday morning when there was a line wrapped around the building that our students are very excited. Our players were out here Monday morning in the ticket office trying to show their appreciation. Our students have been fantastic. It is a great reward for our team, students and seniors. They get a chance to play for a conference championship at home. During a year like the one we are having, it's a great reward for our fans and our alumni. I think it is a situation where everyone will be excited. Our fans will be as excited as anyone. We can't wait to play Saturday."
On the past matchups against Southern Miss...
"They have been crazy. The last time they were here we scored to go ahead by one and then they blocked an extra point and ran it back. It was crazy. Last year we went back and forth. There have been some crazy things that have happened in this game. They are extremely athletic and well coached. They are not going to come in here intimidated. I think it is going to be a great game."
SENIOR QUARTERBACK Case Keenum
On the line to purchase student tickets Monday morning...
"It was pretty awesome. That starts the week off right. It's a championship game and students are in championship mode too. I love it. I love seeing students excited about being at the game. I don't know what time they showed up but I know they were there pretty early."
On how it feels to play for the C-USA Championship...
"It feels really good. This is exactly where we wanted to be. It feels good walking into the locker room and seeing our results in there. 12 wins. This week was our goal. I've been to the conference championship before and not won, and it's not fun. We all know what's at stake and what kind of team is going to come in here and play us. They're going to come play very well and with a lot of energy and we're going to have to match it."
On Southern Miss...
"It's always a good matchup. They've always got a bunch of talented athletes on both sides of the ball. Austin Davis is a great quarterback. He's one of the best in this conference. He's had a great year. I've had a chance to watch him on film a bunch. He continually makes plays. On defense they're very solid. They mix up a lot of looks and a lot of coverages. They have different guys jumping different routes. They play hard on the front end. We're going to have to come and just do what we do because they're going to change up a lot of stuff and throw different looks at us."
On what Coach Sumlin means to the team...
"He means a lot. The way I've always looked at it is that when your coach is showing up on different lists, then that's a good thing. It means you've got a good coach. You don't want him to show up on the other side of it. Coach Sumlin has meant a tremendous amount to not just the football team, but for the whole University. It's been pretty awesome to have him here. For me personally, I've been very fortunate to have him here."
On what it feels like to be on national television...
"It's just another cool thing. It's another thing that makes this season that much more special. With all that stuff, distractions can come but it's all about managing those things and making sure that those aren't the focus. Its just a byproduct of it."
On what the national television game means...
"It's a good chance for our whole team to make a lot of people that haven't had a chance to watch us change their minds. We haven't been on network television in a long time. We play on Thursday nights and Friday mornings on different channels. We love any chance we get to play on TV but this is obviously a chance to play on a little more of a national stage, so I think this is good for everybody. It's good for the whole school and we're looking forward to it."
On playing the championship game at home...
"It's another senior day. It's going to be awesome. That's one pretty cool thing about this conference is that the championship game is played at home. I know a lot of guys are really excited about that. That adds to the hype of championship game. It's cool for all the fans and all the students that it's right here on campus, and that makes it that much more special. We're going to try and make it that much more special for everybody."
On putting too much pressure on the game...
"You could, but we've done a good job of just keeping the same mindset the past few weeks. Nothing that's happened before matters, and nothing matters that is going to happen. The next few weeks are riding on this week. We've had a good mindset focusing on the task at hand and that's the same thing for this week. This is where you want to be. This is why you play football. Playing big time football games against big time football teams. It's pretty exciting. This is why we do it."
On how big this week is...
"It's huge. A lot of that is because it's this week and it's the only one we can play right now. For all the seniors and myself we've got two football games left. That's not very many. It's gone by really fast and we've done some special things, but we know that there are even more special things out there. This was probably one of the only goals we set at the beginning of the year; to win conference. It's literally sitting right in front of us right now. We know what's at stake and we know what kind of team is coming in here to play. A lot of guys have played in one before, and that's big. They've played in one and had it slip through their fingers. The guys are not going to let any opportunity go by without doing their best to seize it."
On the play of the defense...
"It's been awesome. The week before (against SMU) was the best defense I've seen play here since I can remember. They gave an encore performance this past week. I hope that continues and it will continue. Those guys are playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of speed. They're making plays from the defensive backs to the linebackers all the way to the defensive linemen. As an offense and a quarterback, that takes a lot of pressure off of us."
SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE BACK Zach McMillian
On what this weekend means...
"It's not so much that it's the conference championship, it's the fact that this is what we've been playing for. This was our goal at the beginning of the year and we're excited that we got to it and we want to go out the right way."
On playing the conference championship at home...
"It's awesome. I don't like playing away games. Fans are mean. It's a blessing because your family doesn't have to travel very far. All your fans are right there."
On the play of the defense...
"Marcus (McGraw) and David (Hunter) have been playing awesome. They have been stepping it up and leading us defensively. We've been playing a lot better through just talking. Everybody is on the same page and understanding the defense."
On fellow defensive back D.J. Hayden...
"He goes in with this nonchalant happy to be playing football attitude. He's an awesome player to be around. He steps up and makes a big play for us every game. You just want to feed off his energy because he always brings great energy to the game."
SENIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN David Hunter
On excitement for the conference championship game...
"I played in the conference championship two years ago against East Carolina. It felt good then but it feels even better now because this is my last year and my last game at the Rob. There's just a lot of excitement going around. You can really feel it."
On the buzz around campus...
"It makes you feel good when you get to school and there is a line past Hofheinz (for people waiting to get tickets). It shows that everybody is really excited about the game, ready to cheer us on and watch us go to work."
On what Coach Sumlin means to this program...
"Coach Sumlin means a lot to me. I was one of the first recruiting classes that he had here. Coach has been always been a great guy. If we're slacking in any area he'll let us know, but at the same time he is somebody that we can go talk to. He's a great guy who has done a lot for this program, and I think he has touched a lot of people."
On if senior quarterback Case Keenum should be one of the finalists for the Heisman Trophy...
"I definitely think Case should be there. I think Case is a great guy, and everybody should have a guy like Case on their team. If he goes to New York, I'll be one of the first people sitting in my living room watching and hoping that he wins."
SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER Justin Johnson
On the season so far...
"It's been amazing. We had a few goals at the beginning of the year and one of them was to finish the regular season undefeated and another was to make it to the conference championship. To put ourselves in this position is an awesome feat."
On the difficulty of going undefeated in college football...
"Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. It's definitely not something to be taken lightly. It takes a lot focus from week to week, especially with quick game turnarounds. The focus has to be on an extremely high level, and with our seniors and the rest of the guys we've done a good job of that. It's not something to be taken lightly but we're trying to put that behind us now because we've got another big game coming up."
On Southern Miss...
"They're big, athletic and they do some different things. We're going to have to come out and play our game. It's going to be a good match up."
SENIOR LINEBACKER Marcus McGraw
On getting to this point...
"We just had to focus on each week. After each win, every game got bigger. It is at an all-time high right now. We know that each week we have to put out a bigger performance than the week before. With a Conference USA title on the line, we know that we have to put it all out there."
On feelings of students lined up outside to buy tickets...
"I was excited. I got here early and there was already a line around the corner. Just to have that buzz around campus is exciting."
On the change of the campus over the years...
"People are starting to feel the campus experience. People are excited to be around campus. I remember when people were trying to give out tickets. It is really exciting."
On improvements over this season...
"I think we are starting to get into a groove now. Coaches are doing a good job of running a system that we are all comfortable with."
