University of Houston Athletics
Weekly Press Conference: Oct. 12
10/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON FOOTBALL WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES (PDF)
HOUSTON (5-0, 2-0 American) at TULANE (2-3, 1-1 American)
Yulman Stadium • New Orleans, La. • Friday, October 16, 2015
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Tom Herman
Opening Statement
"I'm excited about winning a conference game against our in-state rival. It's nice for the kids to have a couple days off to get their legs back under them after a short week. As we begin to prepare for another unique week with a game on Friday we will treat today like a Tuesday. So today is a championship Tuesday.
"Last week the days seemed kind of weird. We were calling days different than what they really were. This week will be similar. They will treat today like a Tuesday and tomorrow like a Wednesday and Wednesday like a Thursday. Not as much adjustment as a Thursday game but still a little bit different for our guys."
On Tulane
"We're excited to go on the road to Tulane. Tulane is extremely talented on defense. Their front four they are the best front four that we will play all year, which coincides, nicely with our lack of offensive line depth. They will be a challenge defensively offensively. They will be kind of a pro-style meets under center spread meets new age shot gun spread. They want to run the ball in play action pass and do a pretty good job at it. The strength of their team is certainly their defense."
On what he saw that happened against SMU
"We did well. Offensively, I think we did a good job. The time that we stalled, we kind of killed ourselves a little bit in terms of penalties and/or missed assignments. Defensively we were trying to do a little bit too much early. By that I mean, part of playing really good defense is playing gap sound. If I'm supposed to be in A-gap then be in the A-gap. Don't worry about where the ball is, go be in the A-gap and understand that the scheme of the defense will allow somebody free to make the tackle.
"If I'm Steven Taylor or Elandon Roberts, I don't need to make every tackle. Sometimes the best play for a linebacker to do is blow up the gap you're supposed to be in. At times in the first few drives, those two kids we're really trying to do a little bit too much to make every tackle, and it was leaving some open holes in the run game. We got that corrected. It's something we'll work on, because those kids are super talented and are used to making a lot of plays, but when it comes to base defense, being in your gap is more important than making your tackle."
On Tyler McCloskey making big catches
"He's doing a good job. I don't know if he'll become the focal point of our throw game, but it's just something that we want to make sure people respect him. It dramatically changes when you show the ability to run your tight end down the middle of the field. It dramatically changes how you are going to support the run, because now you have to make the decision on if you're going to support the run with my boundary safety, or am I going to leave him over the top, because the tight end could go vertical.
Quarter coverage teams, we want to make sure that people knew that we had that ability. If you are going to creep that boundary safety down too tight in the box, then we are going to send our tight end down the field."
On offensive line changes
"Mason (Denley) will be thrust into the fray there as well as Damien Parris. Damien has a little more experience obviously than Mason but not a ton. We got to play with five. It will be a combination of those guys getting ready to play, and Coach Warehime and the offensive staff having them ready to play. To say the playbook is wide open is foolish because it's not. You've got to do a good job to ease them in. It's a long season. This problem is not going to away. It's not a Tulane issue. It's going to be a season long issue that we really need to think long and hard about what we're asking them to do."
On Zach Johnson's injury
"He basically tore every ligament in his knee: ACL, MCL, meniscus, patellar tendon, everything is shredded up. He'll have surgery, possibly two surgeries, at different times."
On Josh Thomas' injury
"Josh Thomas, high ankle sprain, torn every ligament off the bone. He'll have surgery. Not sure as to his return. We're not expecting him back. Could there be an outside chance? Yes, that's what they're telling me, but I'm not counting on it."
On Marcus Oliver's injury
Marcus Oliver has an ankle sprain. He's been cleared to practice. He'll practice today. He's got to play in practice better on that sore ankle for us to put him in the game. Right now he got beat a couple of times in the game, not because he's not good enough, but because he was favoring that ankle. We've got to make sure that if and when he's asked to go into the game that he's not out there gimping around. "
On seniors Zach Johnson and Ben Dew losing their senior seasons
"It's gut-wrenching. Both him (Zach Johnson) and Ben Dew are seniors. We all think this season is on a trajectory to be a memorable one if we continue to do the things we've done and not change, but to have their senior years both cut short just rips your heart out. We'll find a way to use them. Ben Dew has been great. He's been out to every meeting and practice helping those new offensive linemen. We'll expect the same from Zach."
On adjustments for the offensive line
"It's not the blitzes and pressures. It's the one-om-ones. These guys (Tulane), their front four can get a pass rush on any offensive line in the country. We'll have to be cognizant of where we slide the center. The center in a four-man rush can always be used to slide one way or the other to help a guard.
"We'll be cognizant of how we used the tailback in pass protection in terms of shifting him down, or what we call chunking his way out the middle if he's going through the line to help a guard, or if he's going outside the line to help a tackle. All of those things can help you full-side protect, keep the tight end and tailback both in, but then again you're running three-man routes into a defense that has seven guys covering them, the odds are not in your favor.
"We might have to do some of that, because we need to protect those guys. That's okay. We'll figure it out. There have been worst situations that have come up in the history of college football that teams have overcome, and we'll certainty overcome this one."
On balancing the offense
"Balance is being able to win the game on how the defense dictates you to win the game. Balance doesn't mean we're going to throw 50 percent of the time and run it 50 percent of the time. To me balance, and I learned from my mentor Greg Davis a great offensive mind now the offensive coordinator, long time offensive coordinator at Texas, balance is being able to win the game the way the defense is telling you how to win the game. If the defense is loading the box and not letting you run it, you're going to win the game throwing it. If the defense is defending the pass and not allowing you to get deep shots down the field or making pass completions difficult, then you're able to win the game running the football.
"That is the goal of our offense: to be balanced. Not necessarily 50/50; we don't care. When the ball is snapped the defense is going to do whatever they want. We've got to be able to adjust and adapt to whatever weaknesses the defense presents itself. We're on that track. Greg (Ward) was 16-18 for 243 yards, and didn't have any touchdowns (throwing) for the second week in a row. But, when we got down in the red zone after the Tulsa week we were going to run the ball in the red zone, that's for damn sure, and we did that."
On Lee Hightower's growth and making big plays
"Yeah, he's a welcome edition. I didn't know who Lee was in the spring because he was hurt. I didn't really get a chance to get to know him until training camp. He's a really football-smart guy. He's got some length to him and just really understands the game really well.
"(He's) Not the most fluid of athletes. Changing directions is not his forte right now, but coming down hill and making plays and stopping the run, and making plays on deep balls. He's done a great job. He's kind of my dude on special teams. He's got everyone lined up and going in the right direction. It's really a pleasant surprise having him back there in the secondary. I didn't realize how sharp of a kid he was. He's really football-smart."
On playing in another short week
"It's really not (a short week) though. We played on Thursday, so it's really a long week. We have eight days since the last time we played. With the other week we had five days. So it's actually a long week for us. We'll treat it like a normal week.
"Whether the slow start on defense was because how physical we were in practice on the week leading up to the SMU game, I don't think we determined that. We're still in the process of examining that. There's really no other way than talking to players and seeing how they felt. At the end of the day, if we're going to err on one side, were going to err on the side of being too physical in practice and certainly not being too soft in practice. That's not who we are. So if that means we're a little slow out of the gates on defense for a series or two, I'll take that any day of the week over going out with no pads the entire week. It's not who we are."
On being ranked in the top 25
"Yeah I think that's always our goal, but that's our end of the season goal. Last time I checked the playoff committee is not going to care what we we're ranked after the fifth week of the season. They're going to care where we are at the end of the season. Although it's nice to be recognized for what we've done thus far, I don't think they give any mid-season trophies or mid-season bowl invites.
"I'm sure I sound like every other coach in America, but it really doesn't matter. It doesn't: none of it matters. I told our guys in our team meeting yesterday to make sure that the circle keeps getting smaller and smaller and that we're not letting these outside messages creep in, because we are all human and praise feels a lot better than criticism in the short term. As humans we try to seek out praise, and what I told them is that the really successful people seek out criticism. They want to be criticized; they want to be helped to improve on their craft.
"It doesn't matter. I don't know why they even do them. What matters at the end of the year is what the playoff committee decides in their mind is the highest rated no Group of Five school and team. So what the AP or coaches say after week five is not going to matter."
On the guys rallying around each other and playing for their brothers
"Yeah, I saw that for the first time in the Louisville game. These guys have it in them to play for each other. We had some minor adversities strike in the first quarter and a half of the SMU game, and our guys responded, but let's put us down by ten in the fourth quarter and see how we respond then. It would be interesting to see, when tested, if we hold true to form, but right now that is the one glaring similarity of all the great teams I've been a part of. This team has that part, at least for now."
On the American Athletic Conference having a two-division format
"The pros are that you are able to have a twelve-team conference and still determine a champion. Even though you aren't going to play every team every year, but every two years. It worked really well for the Big 12 for many years when they had 12 teams. It continues to work well for the Big 10, SEC, and all those conferences. The only con would be that one side is considerably less talented than the other and would make it more difficult to make it through one side than the other."
On if the team is where he expected them to be
"I don't know that we had any expectations. We certainly didn't say October 12th we want to be this. You just prepare and practice. Prepare the players as best you can and teach them where to go and how to plan and how to do the things we are asking them to do. We didn't have any preconceived ideas of where we should be."
HOUSTON SENIOR RUNNING BACK Kenneth Farrow
On what the team can improve on heading into the Tulane game
"Everything. We go out there every week and work on the same stuff that we've worked on since day one. We can always get better in everything we do. So that's our focus. We had a pretty decent game, offensively, with the way we were able to run the ball. We're looking to go out there this week and keep working on the fundamentals."
On what the team can improve on heading into the Tulane game
"We have Tulane coming up, and everything is still in front of us. We've been doing what we needed to do every week. We want to go out there and get a win every weekend. That means taking it one day at a time, plus going out to practice and executing."
On the team's focus after starting 5-0
"I think guys are getting in early and knowing what they're supposed to be doing. We are going out and playing for each other and executing the game plan. We all have stuff we can get better at, and that's what we're going to do. Days like today, when we have full pads on, we get to go out there and hit each other at practice. We're getting better every day in practice.
On the differences in the week of preparation heading into a Friday night game
"After playing Thursday of last week, we have more time to get everyone's bodies right. Guys did a lot of stretching over the weekend, and a lot of treatment. Guys are getting rid of little nicks and bruises. We should be well-rested and ready to go come Friday."
On what it means to be ranked in the AP Top-25 poll
"We talked about wanting to be nationally relevant. When we see stuff like that, it lets us know that we need to keep doing what we've been doing and go even harder. It's nice to see that, and it lets us know that we've been doing a good job. But no one is taking anything for granted. We need to go out there every day and continue working like we've been working."
On the steps the team has taken to be nationally recognized
"We've worked really hard in the offseason to be in this position. I think the last couple of years we had chances to be in this position and let ourselves down. For the guys who have been here, it's no surprise to us. We knew if we went out there and put in the work every day, we were capable of this. It's fun to see it all come together and see guys buying in. Guys are going out every day and not taking any plays off."
On recalling an early season practice where Coach Herman laid out the path to national relevance
"Coach Herman brought us out there. Everything is clear cut with him. He tells us exactly what's going on. That's been in everybody's head. The biggest thing is that we go out there every day and prepare. If we go out there and win every weekend, stuff will start happening. We've just got to stay focused on what we've been doing to put ourselves in this position. We can't deviate from that."
HOUSTON SENIOR LINEBACKER Elandon Roberts
On the SMU game
"If you watch SMU on film, they always come out strong in the first half, because they have a good head coach and offensive coordinator. They played well in the first half. There were some ups and downs, more so on our part. We weren't fitting a lot of stuff up correctly, like we usually do, but we'll get it corrected this week in practice. At halftime, the only correction we made was to calm down and play our game.
We got pushed around a little bit. Some players were doing too much when all they had to do was their job. We practice that every day in practice: just doing our job. When the second half came we started doing our job and playing our game on defense it was a whole better half."
On playing at home
"Being at home, you're in front of your crowd, your family, your home. As much as you tell yourself all the different plays you want to make at the end of the day you have to do your job. That's what we are good at as a team. SMU came out with a good plan, and we didn't play as sound as we usually do in the first half, but once the second half came we did."
On how important turnovers are for UH
"Turnovers are a big thing for us. Turnovers win the games. Our offense is not turning the ball over at all, and we're getting turnovers for our offense. Every time we get a turnover, like against SMU, our offense was punching it in for a touchdown. Getting turnovers really creates the momentum, and it could turn game's outcome. It takes the game to a whole different level, especially when you can get four turnovers, and your offense comes back and turns them into touchdowns for you."
On Lee Hightower
"Our job as the front seven is to stop the run, so the guys can do their job in the back end. Lee Hightower is a great person, a great player, and he really has some great moves for the game. When he's back there he has a lot to check, and see the formations before I see them. He's like the Earl Thomas of the secondary. He and Adrian McDonald are running the show and sometimes Lee Hightower has to run that show over Adrian for the simple fact that he's going from side to side. Lee is a great student of the game. I love playing with him on the field."
On being ranked
"It feels good to be ranked because we see results in everything we're putting in, but just because we're ranked doesn't mean anything. Next week we might not be ranked, so we're just pushing forward every week. Every week we're going 1-0. We're taking it one game at a time. We're just looking forward and going from there."
