POSTGAME QUOTES: Houston 24, Temple 13
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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HOUSTON HEAD COACH TOM HERMAN
Opening Statement
"I'm really excited for our team. That was a tremendous team win. Heck of an effort from our defense. Our offense found a way to move the football and score points against a tremendous defense and a heck of a team that Temple has.
Hats off to them, one of best teams, if not the best team we've played all year. Coach Rhule has done an unbelievable job with that outfit. I'm certainly proud of everyone in that locker room. I'm proud for our great university, and I'm proud for the great city of Houston."
On celebrating the win
"The fans were a little rough, I've got to say. I lost my wife for a minute there, so we've got to figure out what we're going to do with security. It was certainly special to celebrate that win with them and with the look in their eyes, they believed in what we were teaching, and we were able to give them what they deserve."
On chance to play in New Year's six bowl game
"That would be extremely special for this team and this university, to be on the national stage. You can't buy that advertisement. You can't buy that energy and enthusiasm that brings to a university. We're going to gather here at 2 p.m., tomorrow to watch the bowl selection show and we'll party here at the stadium, and assuming everything goes as planned we'll be in one of those New Year's Six games, and I'm really excited for our fans and university to take part in."
On what hoisting the trophy means
"What was going through my mind was, 'don't drop it!' I took care of that.
It was an overwhelming sense of pride in our guys and team. None of this would be possible without leaders in that locker room buying in from day one and dragging the rest of the team with them. We have the finest coaching staff in the entire country, and we have the best strength staff as well, that continue to hammer home our culture when we're not around. The trophy was really just a representation of that buy in, especially these older guys had, from day one."
On Greg Ward
"He's a competitive dude, and he's a playmaker. We still have some polishing to do in terms of his quarterback play. When the ball is in his hands, usually good things are going to happen. He certainly is the gas that runs the engine on offense."
On the great defensive efforts this season
"We've got a plan to win, and first thing in that plan to win is play great defense. I don't know of any championship teams that have hoisted trophies without great defensive play. First and foremost on my mind when I got the job, I wanted to make sure we hired great defensive coaches that we were able to instill a great defensive culture here at the University of Houston. We have certainly ridden their backs on numerous occasions."
On attacking Temple's defense
"We knew up front they were really big in size with Hershey Walton, and Matt Ioannidis. Those guys were beasts in size. They're really quick and athletic at defensive end, and certainly, Tyler Matakevich was a playmaker. We wanted to go in with some misdirection. We wanted to get the ball, and we're pretty good with space, but we're not great yet inside with our young offensive line. We felt like if we could space their ends out we could find some creases in there to run, but they had a great plan. We were going through after every series. Everything was different. Every look every series there was a different blitz, a different coverage, and a different front. Hats off to the offensive coaches for adjusting throughout the game.
On teams success
"Any time you set out to change a culture you've got to have buy-in from the people that you're leading. Credit to the leaders on this team. These guys completely handed us their hearts and said we're in. We're buying what you're selling. We trust you, At that point it was blind trust, but they were willing to do that. None of this would have been possible without those guys, their tremendous amount of buy in and their leadership in the locker room. As I've said before, of grabbing the other guys that may be on the fence and dragging them to the right side, and getting those guys bought in too. You can't go the places that we've gone with eight or 10 guys that have bought in. You need 30 to 40 guys, and credit to these leaders that are sitting in front of us, and the few that aren't, who really got that done."
On offseason training
"Our team chaplain, Kevin Washington, said it best last night when we talked about when you win a championship there are no regrets. In fact, when you're old and grey like me, these guys will probably look back on those memories and those days of getting up at 4 a.m., and going out in the frost and cold: just trying to get through 30 up-downs, and not making 30 perfect up-downs in an hour with fondness and with laughter. They will, I promise you. When you're able to do this, and win a championship, and be remembered as a champion, it certainly makes all of those moments that as an 18-22 year old kid may think 'is this really going to pay off? Is this really the way you have to do things?' and all of them understand now that it is. Those things led to this moment."
On the future of the program
"When you go in and you try to instill this culture, it's not for one season. It's for the program. It's to build a foundation for things to come. I know there are two seniors up here that won't get to experience off-season this year, but these two juniors will, and it will be hard again. It will be tough, and it will be physically and mentally challenging, but I think now, that has become the Houston way. The players embrace it and understand the value in it and where it will lead them in the future."
On momentum and the Temple defense
"Certainly it allowed momentum, for sure. We got some momentum that obviously got us a lead, which we didn't relinquish, but I think it calmed our guys down a little bit, especially offensively. We watched a lot of film on these guys. We knew how good they were on defense. For our offense to take the ball after the turnover and go down and score a touchdown was a big sigh of hey we can do this against this defense."
On knowing all along if this was going to be a championship winning team
"When you take over a job you really don't know how good you're going to be probably until training camp. The one thing I did know is, if we were worth our salt as coaches, that we would be the most physically and mentally tough team on the field each and every Saturday. That always gives you a chance, and for the most part, we were that this season. After we beat Louisville, not just beating an ACC team on the road, but kind of the way that we did it in terms of we didn't necessarily play really well. We played so hard and we played well at times in all three phases of the game when the other phases weren't playing well, and it was just maybe one of the best team wins that I had ever been around. I looked in that locker room and said 'hey I think we've got something here' with the way that the fence-riders, the guys who were maybe half-in, half-out realized that 'hey we can do this if we continue to do what these crazy guys are telling us to do.'"
On the 12 FBS programs in the state this season
"I hope that we can certainly always be mentioned in that class, and I think today certainly validated that. I think it speaks volumes in recruiting, and if you want to go somewhere, and win a whole bunch of games, and win trophies and get rings that the University of Houston is certainly a place to do that."
HOUSTON QUARTERBACK JUNIOR GREG WARD
On what Coach Herman means to the program
"He means a lot because this program had been going through a lot before Coach Herman came here. We knew he had a plan when he got here. The culture that he instilled in us was different, but we are very happy and fortunate that we have him."
On his scoring touchdown
"We were going up-tempo and they gave me fair numbers in the box. I was able to make a play on the edge, and the outside receivers gave me a block so I was able to run."
On taking the hit as a quarterback and what happened when he got hurt
"Coach Herman always stays on me about being tough and just ducking my head and going. He stays on everyone about that. During this game that's what it was all about. During the last play in the end zone I got tackled wrong and landed on my shoulder."
On his moment on the stage and being with the students on field
"It was everything for us. We along with the coaches have been working since January and having practices at 4 a.m. At first we didn't want a change and a new culture, but we all got through it together."
On what the win means
"I just pictured the whole team out there without all the fans, what we went through, what the coaches had put us through, and the drills we did in the cold to prepare us. Coach stayed on us daily and he never got off the gas. We are very fortunate to have the coaches here and build champions."
HOUSTON SENIOR CORNERBACK William Jackson III
On Elandon Roberts and his leadership
"He's a great leader. He's great friend off the field. He's everything you would want in a senior linebacker. He'll get on you. Even though we're friends, he still has to get on me, and I kind of like that in a leader."
HOUSTON JUNIOR RUNNING BACK/CORNER BACK Brandon Wilson
On Elandon Roberts and his leadership
"He'll get on you about everything. If you mess up on defense, he'll be right there on you. He's an important leader."
HOUSTON SENIOR INSIDE LINEBACKER Elandon Roberts
On being the soul of the Houston defense
"It felt good. Week in and week out, me, my brothers and our coaching staff work on creating that bond and trusting each other. That was big for all that to come to closure for the season with a championship, with confetti in the air, the ropes and the stage. That's the way to go out. Especially when we have created this brotherhood like we did."
On how they prepared for this game
"Our defensive staff and our coaches. We take them up on anything they say, and it shows on the field. We played to win the turnover battle and to play great defense. Our offense played to make sure they won the turnover battle. Like Coach Herman always tells us, the game is never won with the team having the most turnovers."
On the effect turnovers have on the game
"Turnovers are a big part of the game. When the defense can get turnovers, it changes the momentum of a good offense like Temple's. It's a real good vibe for the offense to go out on the field and capitalize on it."
On what this championship means to the school
"It means a lot. There are great players that have come through this university. Just being able to play in a New Year's Bowl is going to be great for the team, for the university and the great players that have come through here.
TEMPLE HEAD COACH MATT RHULE
Opening Statement
"First of all, I would like to extend my congratulations and credit to Houston. We have played them the last couple of years, and I just think that they are extremely talented, but you saw a difference tonight in them. They played the game the right way. They weren't saying anything. They were just playing. They were special.
At the end of the day, just a lot of respect for Greg Ward, Jr., he was the difference tonight. We played really good defense at times, but he was just a difference maker, which he has been all year. Credit to them. Credit to Tom (Herman), I'm happy for them. Obviously, we are disappointed, but I told our guys that I couldn't be more proud. That was a really hard environment to play in. A lot of credit to Houston and to their fans. It was almost un-hearable at times.
Down the stretch we have two bad snaps with the game on the line. They certainly had a home-field advantage. It was a credit to them. Their fans should be commended. I am really proud of our kids. They fought back into the game and had a chance to make it a one-score game. We had a couple of plays get away from us. For our kids to win 10 games, to beat Penn State, bring College Game Day to Philadelphia, and to do the things that they have done and know that they are going to a bowl game I couldn't be more proud."
On offense stalling on Houston's side of the field
"We had a chance to catch some balls down there in the red zone, and they made some pass breakups, but we had some miscues, and as I said it was really loud. Here again, that's not excusable; I wish we would have scored, don't get me wrong, but we just couldn't make the plays that we make to win the game. At the end of the day there are three, four, five plays that you have to make to score in the red zone to win the game, but we just weren't able to do them tonight, and they did. They executed those plays down the stretch."
They did a nice job defensively. They blitzed us from the beginning of the game to the end. We knew that. We had some big plays, and we were just a step away from breaking them. Robby (Anderson) wins on the deep ball, and you think he is going to go and then they knocked him down. We just couldn't finish.
We had plenty of chances. We will watch this game for a long time with a pit in our stomachs saying we should have, could have, would have, but they just made a couple of more plays than we did today."
On the fumble by wide receiver Robby Anderson
"You are going to fumble. Bad things are going to happen to you. We had two turnovers early in the game. Obviously that is not what we wanted. We never took the ball away from them. Credit to them. They have won the turnover margin every game. They are +21, or whatever they are. They won the turnover margin. We could not get the ball away from them, and they got it from us. We had a great plan early. We got rhythm early, but we had two turnovers and it kind of stalled us, but I am not going to point to any one thing. There were so many plays. Even at the end, we had a chance to make it a three-point ball game. Momentum was definitely on our side. You just have to make a play or two, and their kids definitely made them."
On Houston quarterback Greg Ward, Jr.
"I don't think he was unstoppable. In the second half we had a ton of three-and-outs, and we played really well. We held them to seven points in the second half and not with great field position. At the end of the day, when a guy is a great player he is a great player. He is hard to defend. Great calls by Phil Snow (Temple defensive coordinator), we twisted, we came unblocked, a guy misses him, and then another guy misses him. At the end of the day, if we would have moved the ball a little bit more consistently in the first half, the defense wouldn't have been on the field for so long. They maybe wouldn't have gotten to that level of tired, not tired. I don't think of this so much as mobile quarterbacks as much as I think about it as great players. We played two or three players of the best players in the conference. Greg (Ward) made a ton of plays tonight.
On effect of the atmosphere of TDECU Stadium
"I don't think rattled would be the word. We had a delay of game penalty and some of those things, but it is just the home-field advantage. You just have to deal with it. I only said that to give credit to Houston's fans. They were really loud and did a really nice job, and made it hard for us to execute, especially in that student end zone. They were really loud. Still, at the end we had a chance to jump up and catch some balls, and we didn't catch them. I don't feel like we were rattled at all. In crucial moments we didn't make the play we needed to make to win the championship, and that is why we were at the losing end of it."
On moving forward
"I'm not deflated at all. I'm disappointed, but I'm not deflated. You play in a championship game you are going to win some and you are going to lose some. We plan on being here again. We hope that we win every time, but no one wins every time. We lost to a good team. We have a chance to get to 11 games, which is the best that any team has ever done. Houston was in a bowl game last year, the year before, and two years before that. With coach (Kevin) Sumlin they were 11-0, they have been in these moments, but this is our first time being in this stage. At the end of the day, you guys can write and say what you want, but this isn't deflating. This is one of the most positive days in Temple football history.
I wish we would have won it, but you know what, we got there, we were down, and our kids fought back on the road. They fought back. Disappointed yes, but man, we are going to go play another bowl game. This team hasn't even been to a bowl game yet. We jumped step C and went from B to D; you know what I'm saying? I am proud of them. I am really proud of them. I'm not deflated at all. I'm excited about the future. I'm excited about these kids, but I'm just disappointed for our seniors. I told the juniors that we will be back, and next year we will hopefully have it at our place."
On the drive late in the game
"The drive started to run together for me. We were hoping to cut the score to three and get in field goal range. We had a hold in that drive, and that knocked us out of the red zone, and then later there was one on a crucial fourth down. We played a lot of that game on their side of the field. We couldn't make the key plays from the 40-yard line on in. They played really aggressive coverage. They were all over us. They called them on one, but they were aggressive kids on defense, and I like them. We couldn't get open and make the catches we needed to make or make the throws we needed to make. Yeah some penalties helped us maybe once or twice, but some penalties hurt us as well."
On P.J. Walker's interception
"Yeah they ran play action. We should've been blocking that guy. The first drive, the guy came free and he should've been blocked, but the offensive line just turned him loose. Unfortunate for P.J., but he should've just taken that ball and thrown it away and threw it out of bounds. He threw it up and the guy was wide open. You're not going to beat Houston by turning the ball over on your own side of the 50 and then come right back down and turn the ball over on the 15. Early on we played not poorly, but with some nerves that we shouldn't have played with."
On Houston's defense forcing Temple to pass
"No I just think their good. The first year we were just a train wreck. The last two years I've been here, maybe we were just a bit antsy. They led the country in turnover and turnover margin the last three years. That's kind of who they are right? After those first two we settled down. That's how they play defense, and they do a great job of it. So we should run the ball the first five plays next time? I just think they're good. I would never take anything away from them. They're just good, and they win by turnovers, and we gave them a couple that we shouldn't have given them."
On the defense adjusting to the tempo of Houston
"Yeah I don't want to turn the ball over on the 36. That's giving them a tremendous advantage, but the defense battled. We hung in there. Defensively, if you take away Ward's long run, we made them earn everything. It wasn't just an absolute up-and-down the field. We started making some stops in the fourth quarter. Had we been able to score points early in the first half and get them off the field, it would have been a different story. We spotted them seventeen points, and I was proud of our guys in the second half on defense. They came out, they regrouped, and they fought."
On the offense handling the pressure from Houston's defense
"I said that in my opening statement. They just blitzed the heck out of us. They did a great job. We couldn't get the run game going: the power run game going. They just did a good job. They blitzed us on third, and then we finally got some rhythm on third down. I don't know how else to say it, but we moved the ball. P.J. (Walker) threw for 287 yards. We had some runs, we had some throws, a penalty here, a fourth or third down conversion there. I only laugh because it is frustrating to me. It's when you know what the problem is going to be, and you can't stop it. They have done it to everybody, and they do it well. I was talking to (Houston safety) Trevon Stewart at the end of the game, and we've been playing him for a long time, and he's a good player. They have a lot of seniors, and we have a lot of seniors. That was two good teams out there battling. It came down to the end, and credit to our kids for battling. We couldn't handle the pressure or the red zone and they deserved it.
TEMPLE SENIOR LINEBACK TYLER MATAKEVICH
On staying focused on defense during the game
"We really just took a deep breath and just said everyone relax. As soon as you get caught up in the moment, geting to the championship game and stuff, the biggest thing you can do is block it all out. You just have to focus. Take it one play at a time. Unfortunately they had a bunch of big plays in the first half. Then we started playing Temple defense in the second half, but it just wasn't enough."
On the play of Greg Ward Jr.
"He's one heck of a player. We knew how good he was when we played against him. He just keeps plays alive with his feet. Coach (Phil) Snow put us literally in the perfect situations, and we just missed the play. Unfortunately, I missed both long runs. I should've made the play. It's definitely frustrating. We just have to sit down and look at the film and get ready for the bowl."
On getting over this loss
This one hurts. You never like losing. You just have to keep the 'what's next' mentality, and we just have to go back and figure what's going on next, and we'll go from there."
On being down early in the game
We don't quit. We could've just packed it up and just called it a day when we were down 21 points, but that's not who we are. We've been through so much as a team, and it just sucks to come all this way and come up short. One or two plays and we're right in the game. We were in it the whole second half, but it's just frustrating."
On the Temple fans who came to the game
They're the best supporters. They're awesome. I just wish we could've got a W for them."
On the bright side of the game.
"You just have to sit down and really look at how far we came. To go from 2-10, to 6-6, to being in the conference championship is such an unbelievable experience. It's such a ride. I just hope these young guys really take this to heart and see what they have to do to get over this hump and bring home the championship next year."
On the surprise of Temple's season this year.
"Not at all. It's all the same kids. We were a talented team a few years ago. We all stuck together and stuck it out, and look what happened."
TEMPLE JUNIOR QUARTERBACK P.J. WALKER
On clock management at the end of the game
"The clock management went pretty well. We were moving the ball. We had an opportunity to score with probably two minutes left, so if we had scored at that moment, then we would've had time for an onside kick and recover the ball and have a chance to go score again,"
On the effect of the early turnovers
That's something that obviously hurt us. We were down early, but I think the defense played a great game. They played their best football all year. So with the two turnovers it really cost us."
On the crowd's loudness
"It was real loud, but offensively we handled it pretty well with our cadence. We had a long enough cadence to quiet the crowd down. We played through it pretty well."
On the passing windows against Houston
"It was tight. We had a few that were pass interference that we didn't get, but you just have to play through it. Their defensive lineman did a great job of getting their hands up. We just have to go out there, watch the film, and get ready for our next game."
On how to get over this loss
"This team is not going to look at it as it was our last game; our last opportunity to compete. We're going to come back. We're going to bounce back as a team and not lose two straight."
On the offense's play
"We wanted to come out and run. As a group we could run the ball. We ran the ball pretty well. But at times we had a few negative plays. That's what hurt us. The negative plays, getting behind the sticks, and things like that. We were down a little, so we were forced to throw the ball."
On Houston's defense
"They fly around and make plays. They're a defense that tries to win the turnover battle. They do a great job with the disguises, and blitzes and things like that. They have a lot of great players over there."
On the interception in the first half
"My intention was to loft it over him, and I had seen him running down, so I thought I would've been able to throw the ball over him, but once he had seen the ball in the air, he was able to make a play on it. I didn't have enough power on it."
On preparing for the next game
"It's hard. We felt like we played our best in the second half. We played our hardest. We can't hold our heads down and things like that. We just have to come out this week and watch the film; see what we can do better,"
On being able to move the ball
"We were able to move the ball well early in the first half. They couldn't stop us in the first half. The two turnovers cost us. We were moving the ball well, but then we had some setbacks. Once you have a few setbacks, the crowd gets going, the defense gets a lot more energy. In the second half we had drives, but we weren't able to finish in the red zone."
On Houston stopping the run
"They were moving to the ball really well. They ran to the ball with a lot of energy. They made plays against the run game."
TEMPLE SENIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE MATT IOANNIDIS
On the loss against Houston
"It's tough when you're playing a mobile quarterback like that. We fought hard, they fought hard, and they came out on top."
On the defense's struggles in the first half
"Honestly, it wasn't so much the tempo. The tempo was fast in the beginning, and later on it slowed down. There's wasn't much of an adjustment. They just slowed down. Tempo doesn't really affect us as a defense. We've played against tempo teams all season. It really just gets back to guys being in the wrong spot and guys running poor angles and not tackling well."
On the crowd's effect
"The crowd noise isn't much of a factor when we're playing away. The crowd is always going to be a little quieter for their offense, so for us it wasn't a big effect."
On stopping Greg Ward Jr
"Yeah, he's an athletic guy. He's fast. He can throw the ball. It's tough to defend him."
On preparing for the bowl game
"We have to get back to fundamental defense. We got away with some things in the first half. Second half we played good defense, but the first half we fell victim to the chaos.
TEMPLE JUNIOR RUNNING BACK JAHAD THOMAS
On playing in the championship game
"Just to be here where we are now compared to two years ago when we 2-10, it's great just to see the group of seniors that stuck with us. Just to be able to play in a game like this and have a chance to win is good. A lot has improved over the years."
On the clock management at the end of the game
"I thought it went well. It's not anything that we haven't been doing or that we haven't seen. Things definitely change when you're down. You may have to throw a little bit to score. The clock management went well. We just didn't execute well."
On getting past the loss and focusing on the bowl game
"Just the same way we've focused on every loss this season. This is definitely a bigger loss since it's a championship game. The magnitude of this game was a lot bigger, and it's going to hurt, but we know we have another chance to strap on the pads and play an opponent. It's another chance to send those group of seniors out with a win."
On not moving the ball on Houston's side of the field
"They sent blitzes. They did things, and we weren't executing at a higher level. We're just going to come back and look at the things we can correct and fix and move on from there."
TEMPLE SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER ROBBY ANDERSON
On the clock management by Temple at the end of the game
"We were trying to win the game. We were trying to give our all and win the game. We gave our best, and things don't always work out. Somebody has got to be a winner, and somebody has got to be a loser, but we gave our all."
On arguably his best game of the year ending in a loss
"It feels good, but it doesn't matter because we didn't win. I'm not a selfish person. I wish we would have come out victorious, but I gave my all for my team and my coaches."
On whether he told P.J. Walker he would be open
"No, that's an automatic thing. P.J. Walker has trust in me, so I didn't have to tell him that. There were a lot of plays designed for me to get the ball and contribute. That's selfish, so I don't have to do things like that."
On focusing on the bowl game after a loss
"It's not going to be hard to get ready for the bowl game, because we've lost before. This is a hurtful loss, but we've had a lot of accomplishments. We were the first team to make it to The American Championship (from the east). We played our best, but we're going to just have to block out the noise and come out victorious. Young guys are going to have to get ready for the future so they can guarantee they win it next year."
On his 12 receptions
"I felt kind of unstoppable today. The only way they were stopping me on was when they were bringing over cover-two, and doing things like that. My routes are not designed for those plays, but I didn't feel like they stood a chance today."
On his fumble
"It was just poor ball security. I was just trying to gain yards. There wasn't anywhere to go, so I should have just gotten down and lived to the next play. It happens. It's the flow of the game. Mistakes happen, and you've just got to go forward from it."
On this being Temple's first time on a big stage
"It's a learning moment, but it's a football game at the end of the day. When we get on the field, it's the American Championship, on ABC, for the big six bowl, but it's a football game at the end of the day."
