Postgame Quotes: Houston 52, Tennessee Tech 24
9/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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TENNESSEE TECH GOLD EAGLES (0-1 • 0-0 OVC)
at HOUSTON COUGARS (1-0 • 0-0 The American)
TDECU Stadium • Houston, Texas • Saturday, Sept. 5, 2014
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Tom Herman
On the thrill of the season opener
"We've been working nine months for this. So the first win was extremely gratifying. It was neat to see the smiles on the faces of all the guys that have put in the time, effort, energy, blood, sweat and tears to get to this point. It was extremely gratifying."
On Greg Ward's play
"It was erratic in the throwing game. He made some beautiful throws but missed some open receivers. Like a lot of good athletes playing quarterback, they let their footwork and fundamentals slide a little. He's got to make a conscious effort when he drops back to make sure his feet and hips and shoulders and everything are the way they're supposed to be. A guy like that, eight times out of 10, can get away with poor mechanics and poor fundamentals, but it's those two times that he doesn't that we expect him to be 10 for 10. We just have to go back and work on his fundamentals. As far as his leadership and playmaking ability, they're off the charts. Our kids feed off his energy. No doubt that I thought he could have done a better job at time. When the offense got a little bit stagnant, it was because he got stagnant. Great quarterbacks can't do that. They've got to rise above the dip and momentum and pick their teams up. That's something we're going to work really hard with him this week on. Obviously we're going to face some adversity each game."
On the play of the defense
"The three gigantic plays in the throw game, had it not been for those three plays… I hate when coaches say that 'if it had not been for those three plays then we would have only given up so many yards' and all that stuff. That is true. For the 59 snaps, I thought we played hard. The four or five cost us really big. We did a good job of putting them in a situation when a guy, if we have something go wrong, it doesn't turn everything into a 60 or 70-yard play. Aside from that, I thought they played lights out in the run game - 29 yards rushing. They played their butts off, but we obviously need to eliminate those four or five mental lapses that cost us those plays."
On his team's postgame routine
"We say a quick voluntary prayer, and then we call the coordinators up and they single guys out. Coach (Major) Applewhite called up Greg Ward, and they said a few words to the team. Then he called up Demarcus Ayers and Kyle Postma to say a few words to the team. Coach (Todd) Orlando does the same with a few guys on defense. Coach (Jason) Washington does the same thing with a few guys on special teams. Then we presented Hunter Yurachek and Dr. (Renu) Khator with a game ball. Then I gave the team a few words of wisdom of what was expected of them tonight as they celebrate, and then also coming into tomorrow as a workday with their minds right. Then we sing the fight song, and David (Bassity) makes me go do a radio interview. That's kind of the time table."
On his relationship with the team
"The W is good enough, but the team was nice enough to plan ahead of time and the captains presented me with a game ball inside the locker room. That meant a lot to me. It will certainly go up on a shelf and be cherished for a long time. I get pretty emotional with this team, especially the senior class, for how hard they've fought for us. They didn't have to and in a lot of places that doesn't happen when you transition coaches. Usually the senior class guys are the ones who provide the most push back, and for us it has been the complete opposite. Our seniors have provided the most buy-in. Any time I get a moment with guys like that, it's pretty emotional."
On the team's pregame routine in the season opener
"It went better than I thought. We introduced a lot of new things in terms of our game day expectations and what we do in terms of different meetings, walkthroughs and meals we have at the hotel. Everything was new for these guys, and there's no way to simulate that. You can have a mock game, but you never have a mock day at the hotel. I thought we were going to have to do a lot more poking and prodding to get what we wanted, but they were locked in and focused and paid a great amount of attention to details."
On Tyreik Gray's progress
"Tyreik (Gray's) issue has never been the ability. When he went in, we literally had to tell him what to do every time he was in. This week, he has to study, come in and do extra work with the veterans in that room - Demarcus Ayers, Chance Allen, Steven Dunbar, and Greg Ward - and with his position coach. He has to do more on an every down scenario, because he certainly has the ability. What he showed in the few plays he was out there is that he's definitely capable of it. "
On the team's defensive effort
"The key to great defense really at the end of the day is swarming to the football, playing with a fanatical effort and very good tackling. We have all of those things on our defense. We have very passionate guys, and it starts not just from the leaders in terms of coaches. I have the finest defensive staff in America: Todd Orlando, Craig Naivar, Oscar Giles and Jason Washington, but I have two of the finest captains on defensive in Elandon Roberts and Adrian McDonald. They bring that kind of energy, that kind of juice. Regardless of score, regardless of practice period - it could be practice (number) 12 of training camp, nine hundred degrees, and those two guys are out there flying around, flying to the ball and playing with fanatical effort. When you do that on defense, you are going to have a chance to be successful. We certainly can do that."
On when he will begin celebrating the win
"When you guys let me out of here. (laughs) I'm going to enjoy it tonight and tomorrow morning, I will probably wake up and have brunch with my family. We're actually having a service tomorrow at our field house, but I am going to enjoy it tonight and tomorrow morning. We'll enjoy it tomorrow too. To be honest with you, as a team, we will have a team meeting, we will congratulate, we will recognize the players of the game, and the big plays in the game. Then we will put it to bed and go out on to the field and introduce Louisville to the team and get a start on Louisville tomorrow night."
On Kenneth Farrow's workload
"He (Kenneth Farrow) wasn't running really well, and I need to figure out why, because he is our best player on offense. It worked out well, and the game got to the point where we didn't need him to go back in to do anything. It was a combination of those things. I say he wasn't running really well and that's the truth, but that's not why he only had 11 carries. It wasn't like we pulled him. It was the normal course of rotation, and once the game got to a point where we knew we didn't need him to win the game, we got him out to keep him fresh for next week."
On the fumbles the team had
"Kenneth [Farrow] fumbled one and Demarcus [Ayers] fumbled one, which they recovered, and the other three were bad snaps. You never want to make an excuse, but we have a redshirt freshmen center playing in his first game. The ball got a little wet, and his hands got sweaty, as they tend to do in Houston, Texas, in early September. Those snaps were horrible. There's no excuse for it. That part of it we can correct."
"The two fumbles were interesting to me, because we pride ourselves on being absolutely fanatical about the way that we teach and demand ball security from everybody that carries the football. I didn't see it (tonight). I saw it in practice, for 40 practices in the spring. And for whatever reason, the kids didn't carry it over into the game. That was obviously the reason for Kenneth (Farrow's) fumble and Demarcus (Ayers') fumble. We'll watch those on film and see where we went wrong and go back to our basics. If we need to have a whole period on how to carry the football next week, then we will. Those two fumbles were absolutely unacceptable. There's no place for poor ball security on our offense."
On why he took that moment to wave to his wife during the game
"It was the end of the third, maybe the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was actually after we scored a touchdown. I had it in my head: 'enjoy the moment, enjoy the moment'. I looked around the student section and I looked up in the corner where she sits. I figured she and my family would be up there, and I would give her a little wave. I doubt she saw it. She was probably preoccupied or running around chasing around these little rug rats. It made me feel good knowing that I did it."
On waiting to release the starting quarterback to the public
"The only reason we waited was because, we just felt like we did not want to give our opponents an opportunity to prepare for the two different styles. Adam (Schulz) is a more polished passer, and a more drop back kind of guy. Greg (Ward) is more of a read option, hit the ball on the perimeter kind of guy. So we just wanted to keep that under wraps as long as we could and not give them any extra advantages in preparation."
On the play of Adam Schulz
"Adam Schulz is hell of a player, hell of a quarterback and hell of a kid. We told him, when we made the decision, that we told both of those guys earlier in the week who it was going to be and had them both in the room. We wanted them to both hear the same message. We told Adam, that statistics show we're going to need you at some point to win the game. If you need to look, look no further than your head coach. In our first year at Ohio State, Braxton Miller gets knocked out against Purdue and we're down by eight. We bring in Kenny Guiton from Aldine Eisenhower (High School), and he leads us back to a double overtime victory. Obviously the world documented the quarterback situation at Ohio State again this year, so Adam is a pro. Adam is a great leader, a great young man that understands that his time will come. His chance, at some point in this season, the team will count on him to lead them to victory, and I have no doubts he will be ready."
HOUSTON JUNIOR QUARTERBACK Greg Ward Jr.
On the team's performance tonight
"It was a great win, but we left a lot of points out there. If we just fix those mistakes, there's no telling what we can do later in the season."
On the pressure of moving out of the pocket. Is that something you worked on in the offseason?
"It was something Coach Herman, Coach Applewhite and myself have stressed on; trusting the offensive lineman on protecting me so big ups to them."
On if there was any doubt that he would be the starting quarterback
"I don't know about doubt. Adam (Schulz) is a great competitor. He's a great quarterback. He and I just battled out during camp, summer workouts, and in the spring. We both didn't know how it was going to go. I'm just blessed to be a part of this team as the starting quarterback."
On developing being coached under Herman and Applewhite coming in during the offseason
"From the things that Coach Herman has done with the three quarterbacks at Ohio State, I knew he could push me to a limit I have never been pushed to. I was grateful that he came. Knowing he was bringing Coach Applewhite with him was just a blessing and another step in my game where I could improve and take it to another level."
On what caused the fumbled snaps
"That's just something about the first game and being too excited. We weren't as patient as we should have been. Those things can be corrected. If we correct those, there's no telling what the score would have been."
HOUSTON SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVER KYLE POSTMA
On what the last 72 hours have been like, switching from quarterback to wide receiver
"When I came here, Greg Ward and I were good friends, so I already had a good feel for the offense. Going from quarterback and having to know everyone's route, to receiver where I have to know only one, it wasn't really a hard transition. When he came in and told me I was going to be playing receiver, I honestly didn't believe him. Then it happened, and I just came out and played with my brothers to do everything I could for them and get the win."
On being a receiver in high school
"In high school I played a little bit as a receiver, but I really didn't play much. I went in there and went deep and they just threw it up to me. That's all I really did."
On what he said in the locker room after being honored as one of the offensive stars of the game
"I just stood up there and told them I was appreciative of this opportunity. I was just glad to be able to go out there and do what I did. It was just a good feeling, and I was just glad I could do that for all of them."
On being ready to be put in as receiver
"I was ready. I have been taking a lot of mental reps behind Greg (Ward) and Adam (Schulz), so I was just waiting for a moment to come out, and I had my chance."
HOUSTON SENIOR SAFETY Adrian McDonald
On being part of Coach Herman's first game
"It felt good. (I remember) coming in nine months ago, in the first team meeting, the way he (Coach Herman) approached us with a stern voice. We are blessed to have him on board. Throughout my career here, my freshman year, we lost to an underdog and last year we lost to an underdog (in the opener). Just to go out with this one for my last year, it was big, and it was a great start for him too."
On his interception
"It is big. It is something that I take pride in defensively since I have been here. Trevon (Stewart) and I kind of started a little trend going back from when we first stepped on campus. If we give Greg (Ward) the ball, give him more time with the ball then better things will happen. We have to improve on the turnover margin."
TENNESSEE TECH HEAD COACH WATSON BROWN
Opening Statement
"I liked a lot of things. I liked the way the kids fought. They played hard. They got some people in there hurting. You play these kind of teams, and we get sore. We hung in there, and there's just so much to correct that it's going to be fun. I saw a lot of fundamental mistakes that we have to get corrected and do a lot better, but that's doable. Those are correctable things that I saw. So there were some good things in the end. The best things I saw: the team played hard, didn't quit, kept fighting, played to the last play. Just get up and go again; so as long as our kids will keep doing that we've always got a chance."
On the performance of Tennessee Tech's offense against UH
"They had some big plays. The disappointing thing to me was we didn't run the ball hardly at all. We ran it a lot and we tried. We just couldn't get it going and that was disappointing to me that we couldn't run the ball better. But we threw it pretty well. We didn't do a whole lot of drop back passing. If I had it to do it over, I would have called more. I would have liked to see how our lineman held up with that. But we passed the ball pretty well. I was proud of Jared (Davis). I thought Jared played a really, really solid game. (He) didn't force balls. The only turnover we had in the whole game was a tipped ball off of a hot throw, where they were blitzing him, and the guy just tipped it, and made a nice play. (We had) only three penalties in the game, so we did a lot of the things we have to do that we did really well last year to win."
On the mistakes by Tennessee Tech's defense
"We got some stops, but for me on the sidelines trying to be as critical as I can be in a positive way, we weren't fundamentally good. (We made a) lot of mistakes tonight. Some of these bubbles, somebody would run inside and let the ball break all the way outside and go 40 yards for a score. Running by the quarterback on pass rush - he's going to take off on you, and you have to press the pocket and not give him all that space just to take off and run. I can't tell you how many third downs, where he just stepped up in the pocket and then took off with the ball or (there would) just be nobody around him, and (he would) just flip a ball to somebody. So there's fundamental things we have to do better. I saw some missed assignments in the first half offensively on some running plays that were critical running plays where we didn't block the right guy, so there was a lot of fundamental things that we can correct."
On the play of Houston's offense against Tennessee Tech
"If we play (against) any better (players) than those, I don't want to see them in our league. But we knew that coming in, those guys are special, I knew that coming into the game. (Greg Ward Jr.) is just in a different gear. (Greg) Ward - he's just a different gear, but we let him we let him too much, there was once we hit him on fourth down and short in the back field and had him for a loss and he rolls out of the tackle and runs in and scores. That's our ball right there. Down on the goal line where (Adam Schulz) kept it and our guy is supposed to have the quarterback, and he runs in and tackles the (halfback) dive, and the guy walks into the end zone with the ball. That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. But no, Houston's going to be good. They're very quick on defense. They're very athletic on defense, and they have playmakers at the right spots. To me, (they have) two really good running backs, - both of those guys are good players."
On the positives taken from Tennessee Tech's loss
"The positive is just (that) we can correct a lot of this. I saw correctable things. Yeah, we were playing a good team, and we got knocked down some, but I saw a lot of correctable things that I can't wait to get back in and get those things right, because we can do those things a lot better than we did tonight."
