Football Postgame Quotes vs. UCLA
9/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2011
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HOUSTON HEAD COACH Kevin Sumlin
On his reaction to quarterback Case Keenum's performance
"It's never about redemption. The injury to Case was a freak injury. It was non-contact. He was chasing somebody planted and slipped and fell. That is probably a question to ask him. I can't say enough about the doctors and medical staff we have. Obviously we've done some sliding practice so he's a little bit better in that aspect."
On what winning the first game means
"I know it sounds like coach speak, but it was important because it was the first game. I actually talked to the team today about enjoying this victory but when we come back Monday we have to focus on this week. That one is important because it is the second opportunity to show who we are. It's a big win. It's big for our fans, our community and our university."
On how his offensive philosophy changed with the wind direction
"We scored 10 points into the wind and we scored 21 points going with the wind. The biggest decision was at the half. The wind was obviously enough of a factor, especially on the kickoffs and punts. Richie's first punt wasn't particularly good but it ended up being 51 yards. So if he turns it over there's no telling how far he can kick it. We made the decision to go against the wind in the first quarter and have it with us in the fourth quarter. We just played the percentages. What it comes down to is we should have been able to stop them and get off the field."
On the importance of establishing a rhythm on the first drive
"(Laughing) Well, we had a little bit of time to prepare for our first drive. So you would hope that we would be ok for that drive. But we had a guy that hasn't played in a while. I knew he was ready to play. We just wanted to make sure he was calm enough to throw a catchable pass. Our guys were focused at the beginning of the game and I liked the way we started the game offensively. We talked about starting fast and playing fast, and our coaching staff did a great job emphasizing that for the game."
On the athleticism of the defense
"Numbers wise we're probably not where we want to be. Third-down percentage was big. We were able to do some things. We got off the field on third downs but we also killed ourselves sometimes. I think we're still working. We have 6 or 7 new guys out there, and depending on what the personnel is, it might be 8 or 9. But to come through a game where it's physical and rugged, and the game plan is basically to run you over and give their wide outs some space then that's tough. I'm please we won the game, but we can be better. Our challenge is to have our guys come in and be honest with themselves in their assessment with where we are and improve this week. We had a couple of things get loose on us but all-in-all it wasn't them just handing the ball off and running up the middle like they were able to do to us last year."
On when he was sure quarterback Case Keenum was healthy
(Laughing) "Kickoff. We closed practice for a reason. I've probably seen him a lot more than anybody else, and you worry about emotions and adrenaline in a game. You never know how guys will respond. Physically is he back to where he was? Probably not. But mentally he is. He has the ability to handle situations and be able to move around and make some plays and avoid shots. We've seen him coming on and building some experience with our guys. Like I said to him, I'd be lying if the first couple of times he took off running I wasn't holding my breath, but after that it's just back to football."
On the balance of execution
"It was better in the first half. We talked about our game play. There was no secret to the game today with what both teams were going to try to do. So you can impose your will many ways. Everybody thinks of it as a physical Woody Hayes type of way of imposing your will. But without tempo and rhythm, if we can get that going and keep our guys on the field without changing the personnel, we can have some pretty good plays during a contest like that. It's a long game and to start the game out the way we did moving the balls, it can create some problems for some other teams."
On the execution of the two-minute drill in the first half
"One of the advantages of our offense is that we don't have to really practice the two-minute drill. We practice getting out of bounds and handing the ball back to the official, but basically that's what we do all the time. We don't have to change personnel or anything like that. Our guys can just look at the clock and figure out that we need to be moving fast. That's one of the advantages of our offense. We need to work some bugs out obviously because we have some young guys up front. But let me say this; our redshirt freshman offensive tackle and two new offensive linemen did a nice job against a talented front. They did well with protection, and we were able to run the ball effectively. We didn't run it down their throats, but we ran it well enough to where they couldn't just sit back and play pass."
On running back Mike Hayes' performance
"Everybody that saw him last year knows he's a talented guy. He's a change of pace guy. He's a rugged tough back who can catch the ball. Charles got a little nicked up today in his first game back. That happens, but as I've said before, you can never have too many running backs. Those guys are getting hit all the time, but I was pleased with all three of those guys."
On the game-plan for defending each quarterback
"Going into the game we knew they were both going to run the same offense. It wasn't necessarily defending the quarterbacks as it was defending the situation. The thought process before the game was Prince was the better runner of the two. So when they get down to one guy you think they were probably going to get ready to throw it, but that wasn't necessarily the case."
On the different formations the Cougars ran with all three running backs
"We had all three of them out there, but we didn't particularly run the ball the first six or seven plays. Those guys are interchangeable and complement each other. They can get out in the slot and do some things. They give us some flexibility from a personnel standpoint and if we get into an up-tempo style it puts some pressure on the defense. That's something we've been working on since the spring."
SENIOR RUNNING BACK Michael Hayes
On the thirty-four yard run he had
"It was a play where we hurry and get to the ball and snap it. I saw it open and kept my legs turning. Coach McKinney always tells us not to get tackled by a guy who gets blocked."
On the mindset coming into the game
The mindset of the team was to take it one game at a time. It was just about and us and this year. We knew we could come out and win the game.
On the reaction of tonight's game
It was nice. We now need to start getting better for North Texas.
On Case Keenum
"Case seemed like regular old Case. He is a hard worker and the leader of the offense. I didn't except anything other from him."
On having Marcus McGraw and Tyron Carrier on the field with him at the same time
"We are all different but we are all out there to make plays and contribute to the offense. "
SENIOR QUARTERBACK Case Keenum
On if it felt natural playing today
"After that first hit, everything was back to normal."
On how his body feels overall
This is going to be the best soreness waking up tomorrow that I'll ever have. I think I was 100 percent. It was different in some ways. I am older and more mature and I would like to think I am a better football player than I was last year and the year before. My mindset from the beginning was to come back stronger.
SENIOR CENTER Chris Thompson
On the blocking by the offensive line and the receivers
"That just comes with a lot of energy. We pride ourselves on coming out with a lot of energy and giving effort. We wanted to be a more physical team and that's how we came out and took advantage of it."
On UCLA's size
"They were pretty big up front as a defensive unit. It's not the size of the fight in the dog but size of the dog in the fight."
JUNIOR LINEBACKER Phillip Steward
On Derrick Matthews
"I remember being a freshman and I try to make him as calm as possible out there. I want him to enjoy the atmosphere and have fun out there. You don't want to be too uptight because you'll make mistakes. He got used to the game after the first couple of games. I thought he played really well."
On the fourth quarter
"We were trying to finish better as a defense. In order to do that we need to make plays. We are coming together as a defense and making those plays."
On Sammy Brown being in the backfield most of the game
"Sammy did a really good job. He stayed on quarterback and put pressure on them."
SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER Tyron Carrier
On Case being out on the field
"It felt like old times. We were both on the same play as you could see. He didn't miss a step. When he ran for the first time, I got mad at him and told him to slide the next time."
On winning this game
"It was an emotional game for all of us. We played really fast and need to keep playing to our strengths. "
UCLA HEAD COACH RICK NEUHIESEL
On the offensive production
"It's a team game you've got to win, and we've got to play better but it was a great effort by them. Certainly the quarterback played great, I don't know what the numbers were, but it was tough to stop him."
On Case KeenumM
"Case Keenum was terrific, and we fell into too big of a hole to dig ourselves out of unfortunately. We had our chances, and the first-game mistakes got us. It's a shame because there were a lot of things that went well today. We have to address the things that need fixing and get back to work and hopefully, play a lot better in our home opener."
"It's hard for you to sack him. He can see what you are doing defensively. He calls plays. I'm sure if you ask them, he called a lot of plays. You're playing a six-year NFL vet. The guy has been in the offense as a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior and then senior again."
On the how the end of the first half changed the game
"The end of the first half was the turning point in the game. We are down 17-14, and they come down and score. We're trying to be fairly aggressive but be smart. To give them the ball back with 37 seconds and they score again... That was tough. I was very proud of the way we came out on the field at halftime and scored on the opening drive. We caused a turnover, went down 90-some odd yards and scored again. We held them and had a chance to go ahead, but unfortunately, we had an illegal procedure that killed that drive. It's a bitter pill, but this is the first game. You can't look at it as the season is lost. You have to look at it as great lessons, and we will play our tails off next week."
On some mistakes that were costly in the game
"The line had procedure stuff. We can't jump. We snap the ball, run eight yards on the first play of the game, then snap one over our heads. We haven't done that in three weeks of practice. I know it's the first game, but we have to do that better. Those are things that keep you out of your third-down rhythm because when the third down and distance was in our favor, we were tough to stop."
"There's lots of positives, but when you lose the game and put this much time and effort into winning it, it's a disappointment. In the long run, you have to rally and be excited to play just like we were excited to play today."
On adjusting to short passes
"One of the keys to the game was to re-route the key runner. When you do that, you have to get back into your zone, and those underneath throws. The guys a wizard at finding them. He had it in their hands on time and accurate. He's a really good player."
On the play of Richard Brehaut
"I thought Richard played well. A couple things at the end of the game we have to work on communication wise, but I thought he played well."
"He was pretty sharp today with the decision making. For him to come off the bench at the time he did and play the way he did and responding in the second half, there was a lot of good football played by him."
On the team's kicking performance
"We have to keep looking at it. Kip started and made the first one. We want to have the confidence that he is going to keep going, but unfortunately, he missed wide right at a time when we really needed it to go from a two score game to a one score game. I'm pleased that nobody gave up and we got the ball back and scored. If we get a lucky bounce, we have a chance."
On the seven-minute drive in the second quarter
"The drive started with 9:30, and I didn't feel that we needed to be in a clock offense deal because we were wearing their defense down. They had been on the field a long time. There were some communication things when we got around the 20 that we need to fix. Somehow Richard didn't see the signal or what have you, but it wasn't as smooth as it needed to be at that point in the game. If we scored in and around the 3-minute mark, we had our three timeouts."
