University of Houston Athletics
Houston Football Weekly Press Conference
9/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 13, 2011
HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On what he said to the team at halftime...
"We told jokes and slapped each other on the back. Everybody was a little frustrated. It is a little bit different offensively and defensively. Offensively, we were just a little off. I think we dropped the ball on the ground and we missed some touchdowns. They weren't just missed first downs, they were big plays on the field. Defensively, we had bad field position. Two things you don't want to do on the road is get their crowd involved early and let them have a crazy return and let them have good field position. We created a turnover when we could've taken the crowd out of the game. We created a perfect storm when we were on the road and let the storm get dark. It was how we approached it at half time. We were a little off on defense and one step away on offense. Defensively, we just had to settle down in our formations, and speed option and we did that."
On Case Kennum being anxious in his play...
"There are days like that. You go to baseball games and sometimes you can paint the corner and others times you can't. He goes out and does what he can do. He played a lot different from the first week. His throws were sharper. We kept to the game plan and obviously we were able to iron it out a little more and connect on those in the second half."
On the defensive player that has stood out the most the past few weeks...
"I think without a doubt that D.J. Hayden has stood out and the coaches agreed he was the defensive player of the game. He has made great plays and he continues to get better in coverage and has been a good tackler. I think the thing that has been different for us is we have to continue to get in position before the play and get in the right spots. There has been a lot of missed tackles and we see guys just run through our defense. I think our athleticism has been better. D.J. Hayden has brought that. Dominic Miller has had a huge impact in our middle. He has made a bunch of plays. I thought he did excellent for his first time out. Marcus McGraw obviously is expected now to make big plays. We have to continue to get our other guys going. Zach McMillian has been playing solid. So our two corners have been playing very well and so has Marcus. We have to get some of our other guys going; we are not saying they are playing poorly, we would just like them to be more productive."
On special teams...
"You look back at the return yardage and it's probably the most we have given up since we've been here. We should've tackled a guy at the 12 and he got loose on us. We went up 48-17 and we had some guys get loose on us. For the most part we have been good on special teams. It's good that you bring it up because it will be a big factor this week. Statistically, they are the number one punt return team in the country. They have two blocked kicks just like us. There is a lot of familiarity between these two teams. Coach (Tony) Levine worked at Louisiana Tech a long time ago. Sunny Dikes has familiarity with our staff."
On what the team learns from its first road game...
"You learn something from everything. I didn't make a big deal about it last week. It may have been my fault we did not play inspired football at the beginning. I thought the atmosphere was good. I think how the game started with the kick return and how we put the ball on the field, it is hard to say we handled it poorly though. Our guys learned a lot from last week. Going to Louisiana Tech, they are always fired up and there is going to be a lot of competitive juices going into this game."
On what you see in Louisiana Tech's personnel that makes them dangerous...
"They have a great return guy. They have a chance to be successful. They have a great running back named Lennon Creer. I spent about every week going to recruit him (at Oklahoma). Bryce Beall played safety until his senior year because of Lennon Creer. He went to Tennessee and then transferred because of the coaching change and sat out a year. He has had three touchdowns and can play for anyone in the country. They will have something to prove to each other Saturday."
"They have good athletes and are well coached. After last weekend, what we talked about is to how to handle situations and how to prepare for a game. We talked about the three things to prepare for a game, which is physically, mentally and emotionally. One and two is what us coaches will prepare you to do. Emotionally, you have to be ready to play on Saturday. We have some new guys and for almost half of them it was their second start, so it's a learning process. I don't want to be the greatest halftime speaker in the country. We went through that three years ago when we were behind every game. I would prefer to get that out of the way at the beginning of the game."
On his feelings on where his team is at so far this season...
"As a coach you want to be perfect. We will need to get better every week and handle situations every week. We try to keep as much pressure on our guys at practice and put them in these situations so that the game becomes reactionary situations and not something that we have to think about it. As many of those situations as you try to put those guys in, the game is the only real way you can do it. For an opening week on the road, we came out and managed the game very well and had very few penalties. I like the fact our fans have a high standard. Our team standards are more important than anything. I feel that our guys did not feel good about their performance as a whole this past week because you are not judged by a quarter, but by the whole performance. I think that that give us a lot to build on this week."
On Chevy Bennett...
"I think our tackling improves when your athleticism improves. He is a great tackler and has some range as he becomes more comfortable. I think he will get better and better. We don't expect things to happen overnight. The guy has played two games at that position and two games at that position in major college football. When you are playing strong safety at this level there is a lot going on back there. The past two teams have been pistol run and quarterback run. He has to run the alley and fill the gap. He has to be a pass defender, a deep guy, and so it takes time but I have been pleased with his progress."
SENIOR QUARTERBACK Case Keenum
On the second game being as much fun as the first...
"They are all going to be fun in their own different way. It was the first time I've been in an opposing teams' stadium in a while."
On the game being close and the second half success...
"We struggled there in the first and then we got our rhythm going. You've got to hand it to North Texas, they came out playing hard and it kind of took us out of our game. It took a little bit of time to get back into the swing of things but when we did, we looked like our old self."
On preparing for the games...
"We've had four or five months to prepare for UCLA and a week for North Texas. It's going to be game weeks from now on and getting into a routine of when to watch film, how much to watch and everything else you have going on. It's something I'm going to have to get better at."
On Louisiana Tech...
"I saw them play Southern Miss on TV two weeks ago and they looked really good. They played really well against Southern Miss. You don't ever want to compare scores but from what I watched, they play hard."
On matching Louisiana Tech's emotion they will bring into the game...
"We definitely need to play at our level. It doesn't matter who we are playing. The talent level is going to rise from here on out and we are going to have to play to our standards each week."
On the involvement of Patrick Edwards...
"He has been there the whole time but I haven't really thrown his way. We kind of figured out after a quarter or two that we need to let him do his thing. He is an incredible asset to our team. We're going to have to go to him more often. Having him on the left side is very crucial."
On Justin Johnson...
"He is an incredible player and a hard worker. The good thing about Justin is that I'll always know where he is going to be and he will be going 110 percent when he is there. If he messes up, which is very rarely, I know it won't happen again. He is the type of guy when you tell him to do something, he is going to do it and do really well at it. He is a great football player and I'm glad he is on our team."
On Jacolby Ashworth...
"Jacolby has stepped up and done a great job. He is great fit for his position and a good-sized player. He can move people around. The entire offensive line has done an awesome job coming together. Jacolby and Chris (Thompson) help the other guys out and bring everyone along. They are meshing well and the good thing is we have room to improve. We will get better each day and it will be a great year for those guys."
On Louisiana Tech running a 5-2-4 defense...
"We have faced different defensive schemes and we believe whatever defense is thrown out there, we need to go do our stuff and make it work. We have the talent to do that. We are just going to go out there and do our job."
SOPHOMORE CORNERBACK Zach McMillian
On potential of defensive backs...
"We have a lot of work to do. We had a lot of mental errors in the last two games and we have really been trying to clean that up and be more disciplined with how we line up. Also, we need to recognize what the offense is doing quicker."
On what makes them a strong unit...
"I like to press and play man-to-man and D.J. (Hayden) does as well. So we compliment and feed off of each other. When Colton (Valencia) is up making good tackles and Chevy (Bennett) is excited, we all feed off of each other. We really build each other up during the game."
On D.J. Hayden's performance so far...
"He has played awesome. He has really set the tone for the rest of us and shown how we need to play and bring our game up to his level. He practices hard and it shows in the game."
On Chevy Bennett leading the unit...
"He is coming into his own right now. Some people say it's just easier for corners and safeties to just back up, but it's actually more difficult for a safety because they have to make more calls, kind of like a secondary quarterback. He is doing a great job of learning on the fly. He is doing better day-by-day just practicing as hard as he can."
On his father also playing at the University of Houston...
"He pushed me all throughout high school and middle school and really wants the best for me. I'm just glad I get the chance to wear his number and follow in his footsteps."
On having more playing time this year...
"It was nerve wracking in the beginning for the first game, but I feel like I've calmed down. For UCLA, I was very jittery the whole time but this last game I feel like I've calmed down and have started seeing things a lot faster. I feel like we have a real challenge this week because they (Louisiana Tech) have some really good receivers. We have to step it up in practice this week."
On taking all opponents seriously...
"Every school is big for me because I wasn't recruited that heavily coming out of high school. I feel like if we are all playing college football, then they can beat us just like anybody else. We see that every week with upsets so you have to bring your A game and we didn't bring that in the first half against North Texas."
On winning over the coaches' respect...
"Words can't express it. I am so thankful to God for giving me the opportunity and to the coaches for having faith in me. It's good that hard work pays off."
SOPHOMORE OFFENSIVE LINEMAN Ty Cloud
On the job the offensive line is doing...
"We are coming along very well. Louisiana Tech has some really good guys so we are going to continue to watch film to get better."
On the pride of the offensive line...
"We know if we protect Case he can get the job done. He has shown that he can. Don't let him get hit or sacked; that's our job and we take pride in that."
On the running game...
"The more we can run the ball, the more the lanes will open up for Case. We try to take the pressure off of him."
SOPHOMORE PUNTER Richie Leone
On the experience of the special teams...
"We have a lot of experience coming back. The emphasis that all of the coaches put on the special teams is really showing out on the field."
On his kicking game so far this year...
"Every opportunity that I'm given I want to do the best that I can. Since we have such a high powered offense, I know I'm not going to get as many chances as some of the other guys in the country, but when I do I just want to make the best of them."
On the job the coverage team has done...
"They're extremely fast and athletic. Coach (Tony) Levine has put the best guys on the coverage team and they are really doing well for us."
