Houston Footbal Postgame Press Conference Quotes
9/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 24, 2011
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HOUSTON HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On the team defense and the first shutout since 1999
"Our goal was to come out, make improvements and get our confidence level back. I feel that we have improved even though people don't think so statistically. Our offense has put our defense in bad positions the last few weeks. We were tired last week with 98 snaps and usually we are doing that to people. We tackled well, when we really had two different offenses. The running quarterback got in the game, which I thought was good for us and we were able to see some Wildcat."
On starting fast and it going offensively early on
"We are 50 percent. We have two games where we started fast and two games when we didn't. The games we started fast were at home, so I believe that was a factor. At the away games we had problems with the crowd noise. We took some time last week to practice on that. I think that being on the road the past few weeks will help us going into conference play."
On Case Keenum starting with Justin Johnson early
"Justin Johnson has made a big contribution the past three years. He does not get as much credit as Bryce (Beall) and Charles (Sims). Justin makes incredible plays for us. He leads by example at practice. He is a great team player and a tremendous leader. He does not show it as much on the stats but he is a big contributor to our team."
On Derrick Mathews
"Derrick is a tackling machine. He is able to run free. To be able to make that many tackles, it has a lot to do with our front line. Having a strong front line has helped Marcus (McGraw) and Derrick make plays. It has helped, coming in as a freshman and coming out the past few weeks, playing like he has been playing has really helped our defense."
On being back home
"It is nice to be back home but we have to prepare again to go back on the road. We are going to be back tomorrow afternoon at 5 p.m. to get another workout in. We have to get back here to put a lot of work in between tomorrow and Wednesday."
On the positives of tonight's game
"We were able to get guys out of the game early. That was a positive. Case (Keenum) came out early and Bryce (Beall) played well. We had a big turnaround and put in some good work. We had some big defensive possessions to be able to make plays. We had the opportunity to look at many guys tonight. It is about getting guys to play and allow for the learning experience."
SENIOR QUARTERBACK Case Keenum
On going into conference play with a 4-0 start
"You really couldn't ask for anything better. We executed things but we still have room to grow."
On Michael Hayes, Charles Sims and Bryce Beall
"I get caught (probably when I should be carrying out my fake) watching them run a lot more than I should. A lot of times you can just let the play run and let them do what they do. They can make something out of nothing a lot of times and make some really good plays."
On short week coming up before UTEP
"We have to start mentally preparing right now. We will watch some film and get this game out of our system. We just have to do what we do and go out there and prepare to win. It's all routine now. We've got to get used to doing that (playing with short breaks/on weekdays). A lot of our big conference games are going to be on Thursdays and Fridays."
On getting off to a good start
"We got off to a better start than we have in the past few games. You've got to give it to the defense. Our defense played a heck of a game. They played incredible tonight. The good thing is, we've still got room to grow. We can still clean things up. We had a few too many penalties and a few too many turnovers. Any amount of turnovers is a few too many really."
SENIOR LINEBACKER Marcus McGraw
On the first shutout since 1999
"It's a great confidence booster for the defense. We knew we had a chance when we came out to play. We wanted to play to our ability and get the goose egg on the board."
On momentum building
"The defense is riding probably the highest wave right now. We are excited and see ourselves improving week after week."
On his interception
"Zack McMillan tipped it and I saw it and just went for it. It's exciting when you get the ball in your hands, especially on defense. I wanted to score but I'll take 24 yards."
On the short week ahead
"It's going to be hard. It's something different for us. We just need to be smart tonight since it's a change of pace for us."
SENIOR WIDE RECIEVER Justin Johnson
On being back home and the quick turnaround they face this week
"We had an excellent crowd tonight. They always do a good job getting us ready and now we just need to put this one behind us and get ready for the quick turnaround. We just need to focus and get ready for conference."
On being confident going into conference play
"We have confidence in our abilities and we know we are not fully where we need to be. We need to work hard and attack each week as it is and get ready for the next opponent. We are definitely not comfortable. We are 4-0 but we are not going to relax."
On getting into a rhythm with Case
"Case is doing an excellent job seeing the defense. We are just taking what they are giving us. My job is to catch it and make something happen. He puts us in the right spot, the offense makes the blocks and all I'm doing is catching."
GEORGIA STATE HEAD COACH BILL CURRY
Thoughts on the game
"Their speed totally unnerved us. We simply didn't play our fundamentals at all. We repeated foolish penalties. We repeated the same mistakes the previous weeks and it was an embarrassment. That's all you can say."
On their defensive performance
"We have yet to become a consistent football team, and that's our job to get done as a staff. All I know to do is to continue to work. We have worked all these years, and I know it will come, but this is incredibly frustrating."
On quarterback's performance
"They gave us some good work running and throwing. (Kelton Hill) had one nice throw, but both the quarterbacks were rusty. We felt like we had to give (Drew Little) a chance after the performance of the previous two weeks. We felt we have given Bo (Schlechter) a fair chance, and the other two guys deserved a chance to play tonight. Had we done anything well, it would have been a lot easier for the quarterbacks. We didn't protect them well. We didn't block up front. We couldn't get them stopped on defense. It was just an embarrassing performance."
On expectations for the rest of the season
"I want to see resolve. I want to see work ethic. I want to see men come back to work. As a coaching staff, we are ready to get back to work and get some things fixed."
