University of Houston Athletics
Press Conference: Game 3 at Cincinnati
9/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON FOOTBALL WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES (PDF)
HOUSTON (2-0, 0-0 American) at CINCINNATI (2-0, 0-0 American)
Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio • Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Tom Herman
Opening Statement
"I'm going to be brief. I'm proud of our guys for handling the delay the way that they handled it. Three hours and 15 minutes or so is a long time to get amped up and ready to go, play a couple of minutes, and then sit around in wet and sweaty clothes for three hours. Then to go back out and play three quarter of football, our guys responded very well."
On what to expect from Cincinnati on both sides of the ball
"As good as they were last year they've improved on both sides of the ball. Their defensive line and their defensive tackles seem to be in a lot better shape. They're moving around better. Their two safeties are really good players that make a ton of tackles for them. They seem to be a little bit more sound in what they're doing. They're in the right places at the right time on defense.
On offense, the quarterback is playing at an extremely high level. He's a really good player behind a massive offensive line. They're running the ball a little bit better than they have in years past. It will be a challenge."
On if the short week is a good thing to get back out there because they're playing so well
"Nope. It's not a bad thing on the back end. You like when you can take a deep breath on Friday and Saturday, and let your kids heal and relax a little bit, but to go from our offense playing 97 snaps against Lamar and then turn it around on Sunday, the day after 97 snaps, and for all intents and purposes have a 'Tuesday' practice in terms of preparing for a game week.
I understand why they do it. The ratings are off the charts when you play these Thursday night games, and we're in the entertainment business, but we play four of these. We have three Thursday night games and a Friday night game. So in a 12-game schedule, a third of our games are not on a Saturday. That takes its toll on player's bodies. We're playing four games in 20 days. You do the math, that's a lot of pounding on a young man's body in a short amount of time.
We're not going to change. We've got a very good plan. Very similar to the plan we had last time we were on a Thursday night game, and we played well in that game. The biggest thing is our kids know our offense and our defense. It's a matter of exposing them to what Cincinnati does on both sides of the ball, and then making sure we get the proper physical reps, but also walk that fine line and make sure they're fresh and ready to go from a physical standpoint on Thursday night."
On how they've adjusted the practice schedule for the remainder of the week
"Last year was the first time that I've played a Thursday night game in a long time. I called everybody I knew last year to kind of figure out what different coaches and different programs were doing.
We practiced late last night. We went from 7:15-9:15. The reason for that was twofold. One was that we haven't played a night game yet, so to get under the lights and on the turf the temperature was a little bit cooler. Two was letting them rest a little bit longer on Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. We didn't have them in until 2 p.m., when normally they're in here at noon on a Sunday. That schedule was a little bit different.
Today we'll go out at night again. We'll have a pretty similar schedule in terms of when they're here. They'll still eat lunch here and lift weights today, but we've scheduled a block of about an hour and a half of some optional treatment and tape and stuff like that, again to continue to rejuvenate their bodies.
We're trying to not be on the field very long, so there's not really much individual time. It's all scout work and special teams work. Last night was 16 five-minute periods which is about an hour and 20 minutes, and tonight it will be 18 periods which is an hour and a half. Then we'll go back to our normal Thursday schedule tomorrow in the afternoon. That's what we did leading up to the SMU game (last season), and we felt like that was pretty good."
On the health of quarterback Greg Ward Jr., and if not playing on Saturday helped him recover more
"I hope so. He got a tremendous amount of work because we obviously thought we were going to play at 11 and then be done. He got a big time rehab treatment in the morning when we got here, then he went out and warmed up and threw the ball around a little bit, and then obviously we didn't play him, but when we came in and realized the rain delay was going to be pretty long he got another rehab and treatment in. It was actually pretty good for him.
He was out in pads last night and practiced. He's still sore, but the soreness is all muscular, so we're doing everything we can from massages to dry needling to make sure that the muscles that surround the shoulder are ready to go. He threw the ball yesterday, and I would expect him to be even better today."
On if the team prepares for the delay they had on Saturday
"We kind of had a dress rehearsal in training camp. In the middle of practice we jog them into the tunnel and the locker room and tell them 'okay, this is what we do, this is where we'll go, and this is kind of our procedure.' You never anticipate one being three hours. That was definitely the longest one I've been around. The first 5-10 minutes the coaches kind of got together and talked about their adjustments and all that, while the players are in the locker room with our strength and support staff.
The next 20 minutes or so they talked with each position coach about adjustments and stuff. If it goes any longer than that you're not going to beat them over the head with a football, so we really just tried to stay out of the way. We let our guys take their shoulder pads off and cut the tape off their wrists and ankles and put their headphones in. We made sure they were eating and hydrating, but beyond that we let them relax and treat it like a pregame."
On freshman defensive lineman Ed Oliver's follow up to his debut
"It was good. The defense as a whole only played 41 snaps, so I think Ed only played 16-17 snaps. He played like he should play."
On if there is anything from last year's film that they can take away on Cincinnati this year
"Not as much, because they're different. They have a different offensive coordinator, and the system is a little bit different. In some ways it's a little more difficult to defend, because there's more formations and they're running the ball a little bit better. At the same time, they have a bunch of NFL wideouts, or at least really good wideouts, a great quarterback, and a really good left tackle that got drafted as well. Not only have the faces changed, but the scheme has changed too, so there's not a ton of carryover from last year."
On if playing a big game early helps with going on the road for a big game
"I haven't looked at it that way, but it can't hurt. They had a pretty big one too. They went into a Big Ten opponent's house, and in the fourth quarter they were up by 24. Purdue kind of crept back in it a little bit, but the game wasn't tremendously close. They performed well on a pretty big stage as well."
On running back Duke Catalon's injury that held him out of Saturday' game
"Duke is great. He was 100% last night. All systems go."
On the running back depth after Saturday' game
"It's very gratifying. They still have a long way to go. A lot of that was our offensive line doing some yeoman's work up front. They didn't play a perfect game by any stretch, but any time a young guy can get that many valuable game reps is a blessing for those guys.
You feel like either one of those guys could go in for a spell right now. Would you want to go into the Cincinnati game right now with either one of those guys carrying the ball 27 times? I don't think so. They're not quite there yet in their development, but it was a good step forward."
On the starting lineup for the offensive line on Thursday
"He (Alex Fontana) will start and Mason Denley will play and continue to battle there. Mac (Long) will start, but Marcus Oliver will play and continue the battle there. Very comfortable (with the other three who started last week).
Houston senior offensive lineman Mac Long and senior outside linebacker Tyus Bowser met with the media on Monday. Hear what they had to say about last week's win and the game at Cincinnati on Thursday.
SENIOR OUTSIDE LINEBACKER Tyus Bowser
On defending their conference championship in the opening conference game on the road
"It's the first game of the conference, and we take pride in that, because as a team our goal is to go out and compete for a conference championship. Our first opponent is Cincinnati so we are going to prepare for that."
On if it helps to have already played a big game against Oklahoma
"It helps a little to get a couple reps and plays under your belt and just go out there and play. We don't have to worry about how the crowd is doing and what's going on out there."
On what stands out about the Cincinnati offense
"They are a little young and have a good quarterback. They still have talent. Whenever you talk about Cincinnati, we've always had to compete with them over the years. They are going to come out ready on all sides of the ball, especially with the offensive corp. They have great running backs, great quarterbacks, and a great offensive line, and you know they also have had great receiving corps over the years, so we are going to prepare and get ready for them."
On going on the road for the first time with a target on your back
"You embrace it. We have worked so hard to get to this point. We prepare and train for this type of moment. Coming into our first road game we are going to be ready."
SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN Mac Long
On the challenge Cincinnati presents
"Coach (Tom) Herman has been calling the upcoming game our super bowl of this week. It's a big conference game, and we're going to be ready."
On unity from running heavy games
"We did better, but we still have long way to go. We are slacking in the red zone and with our footwork, which will cost us games, so we just have to get better every day."
On the importance on opening conference play
"It's a conference game, which is a big game, and it's on Thursday night. The game will most likely be sold out, because it is a black out game."
On playing back-to-back games
"We have an awesome sports medicine staff that takes care our bodies, and we a have strength staff that does a great job with mobility. The constant grind of training camp also helps us."
On being targets
"We've talked about how success puts a huge target on our backs. We think of ourselves as underdogs and carry a chip on our shoulder. We are not going to get beat."
On playing away games
"It's different. It's going to be a loud environment. We have to be good at communication. It will be a challenge."
On keys to undergo mindset
"We go out and play hard, and trust our training."
On his journey
"My journey has been a long one. A lot of ups and downs, but I'm just happy to be here today."
On experience from Oklahoma game
"It was awesome. I was nervous and anxious going into the game. Closer to kickoff, it became emotional for me. After kickoff, it was fun. I had a blast."
