POSTGAME QUOTES: Houston 35, SMU 22
10/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
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SMU MUSTANGS (4-2 • 1-1 American)
at HOUSTON COUGARS (4-1 • 2-0 American)
Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 • TDECU Stadium • Houston
HEAD COACH Major Applewhite
On the decision to start Ed Oliver in the lineup this week…
"I believed all week that he wanted to play, I just didn't know if he was actually going to play or not. It was more or less up to Ed though. I told him he has to make the best decision for himself. I spoke with Coach Blum and Coach D'Onofrio and asked them if Ed, at 70%, was a better start than a fully healthy Aymiel (Fleming) or if Ed was looking more at 100% ready to play. I also asked them how mentally prepared he was to deal with the injury and playing. I trust Coach Blum because he continues to have a great relationship with Ed. He told me he was ready to play. All of our assistants do a great job of getting our guys ready to play in the games, so I have a lot of trust in them."
On the decision to sit Linell Bonner following his potential concussion…
"Linell had a headache after the Temple game. He, like a lot of these guys. He wants to play and knows that our medical staff, along with medical staffs across the country are sensitive to the concussion issue. On Thursday night, he spoke with his family and was honest with himself about the ailment he was dealing with. He came in Friday and mentioned it to us. We ran him through our concussion protocol and declared him out around noon on Friday. Our staff had no idea he was dealing with the ailment beforehand. I told him his long term health was more important than playing in a game. I was confident we would win. Our outlook was to focus more on taking care of his health as a player than endangering him with more injury risk. I was proud of the decision he made because I realize the social pressure of wanting to play through concussion symptoms. Life is longer than football, so when he is back to full health we will be back on track."
On changing the tempo offensively to combat with SMU's style of offense…
"What we do offensively is going to be based on what the defense does. We never predicate our offensive tempo with that of the opponent's. We are going to take whatever the defense gives us. It helps our running and passing game if we follow that rhythm. The tempo that we played tonight is more of the tempo that we want to play going forward."
On not giving Kyle Postma a lot of responsibility running complex offense plays…
"There are things that are done for every quarterback to make it simple for whomever is in the lineup, whether it's Greg (Ward), Kyle (Postma), Kyle (Allen), or D'Eriq (King). SMU has a good defense with a lot of different pieces that can disrupt an offense, so we wanted to make Kyle (Postma) comfortable with simple formations instead of overwhelming him with too many formations. We wanted him to stay aggressive offensively and he played well. He had a couple of turnovers when he was taking shots down the field on first down, but I told him if we throw an interception on 1st and 10, it's better to throw it away instead. He can blame the play call on me and throw it away. I'm fine with moving on from the previous play to 2nd and 10."
On what if feels like to be in the victory formation…
"It felt good. I'm proud of the way they played. Our guys played really hard. We didn't play perfect all the time, but they played really hard. I'm proud of them. They're (SMU) a really good football team, very well coached. I know some of their staff and how hard they work. Their good people, I'm just glad our guys played hard."
On Duke Catalon's game…
"I just believed in him. He came in on Sunday and we had a little quick talk. He said, 'Hey I'm going to do better than what I've been doing.' I said, 'I love you man. You know you're going to do well, just go do it. We don't need to talk about it.' He did, he went out and just did it. He played really hard and ran well. The offensive line blocked well and I don't know when thethe last time was that we had 256 yards rushing. That was impressive, but you know we can't get too high on our horse. We have another conference game on the road against a team who is coming off a loss and is every bit as mad as we were after we lost to Texas Tech. I told them to enjoy it tonight, be smart, be safe and let's get ready to go and play a good Tulsa team."
On how the defense clicked…
"We played great red zone defense this game. It's hard to say, I don't want to paint it with a broad brush, but in spread football you get a lot of yards. You get across the 50 and it's hard to score in the red zone and that's where you're at defensively. People are going to get yards nowadays. It's more or less, can you take the ball away in the red zone and force a field goal. I don't want to concede all of the yards and we can certainly make people go 3-and-out on their side of the 50. You have to have a bit of realism that people are going to make some explosive plays and quarterbacks are going to make some throws. Our defense did a great job when they started getting in the red zone, limiting them to field goals and taking the ball away."
On the thought process of the trick play that resulted in a touchdown to Kyle Postma…
"We talked about it as an offensive staff. We said, 'Hey, what about the reverse pass?' Sometimes people have certain field positions such as, right as you cross the 25. Some people call it the fringe, right as you cross the 30 or 45. It's just kind of a feel and also looking at formations to see what people are giving you. I wouldn't say there's any secret."
On Mulbah Car giving good yards and if there was something lingering from the Temple game…
"Yeah he hurt his neck in the Temple game, wasn't concussed but hurt his neck. It was stiff all week and he couldn't get a lot of physical reps. He was cleared yesterday. Going through warm-ups , it was one of those situations where we were thinking, 'Does a guy who is thinking about his neck better off going in than a guy who is completely fresh?, Coach Kenith Pope did a great job of making sure that Mulbah Car, Davion Mitchell and Patrick Carr would be ready, along with Duke Catalon. I was very pleased with the way Mulbah came in and ran the football. He did some great things with the ball in his hands. He continues to do that and continues to do other things with the football not in his hands. He is going to be a really good player."
HOUSTON JUNIOR RUNNING BACK Duke Catalon
On what Coach Applewhite talked to him about this week…
"I felt like I wasn't going hard enough in practice, or meeting his expectations. I was apologizing to him because he was the one that brought me over from UT. I was saying thank you for that opportunity and I was going to start working harder in practice."
On his thoughts after the game…
"From my first carry, when I saw that the line was good I knew this was going to be a good one."
On changes this year…
"I'm glad that it happened tonight. I didn't put too much pressure on myself I just kept pushing hard."
On more pressure…
"I didn't feel any extra pressure because I believe in Milburn. I didn't feel any extra pressure."
HOUSTON SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK D'Eriq King
On the play throwing a touchdown to Kyle Postma…
"It was a great call. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was going to be a touchdown. They were worried about me on the sweep, (Kyle) Postma ran a great route and got open. I just threw him the ball and he did all of the work. We both wanted the play. We talked to each other last night in the hotel room and said that if they called the play, we were going to score. That's what we did."
On if he is comfortable as a wide receiver…
"I'm feeling more comfortable. The more you play, naturally you feel more comfortable. That's football."
HOUSTON SENIOR QUARTERBACK Kyle Postma
On the play call of him catching a touchdown…
"We ran it twice in practice and one time I dropped it. When he threw it I was just telling myself not to drop it. It was a perfect pass and all I had to do was catch it and run to the end zone."
On being the starter now after this journey…
"It feels great. I'm just trying to get my confidence level up more. I made a few bad throws and decisions, but I just have to clean those up in practice. I just have to come out and do the best I can for the team."
HOUSTON SENIOR SAFETY Terrell Williams
On his two interceptions…
"It feels good, but overall I'm just happy to get the win with my team. Without them I couldn't have done any of that. They brought out the pressure and locked everyone else up, so without them I couldn't have done anything."
On how the team reacted when SMU was knocking on the door…
"I feel like we applied ourselves as a defense. When they got in between the 20-yard line and the goal line we stepped up. We knew it was time."
On how having Ed Oliver is a boost…
"We love having Ed out there. You guys know the animal that he is and we know the animal that he is. Whether he is out there or not, we know we have to man up and we are going to be a good defense regardless."
On mindset after he got the interceptions…
"A feeling came over me. I was happy, happy to go with my teammates and get pumped up, because without them I couldn't have done anything. It's a big-time game, so we were trying to get a big time win."
On momentum for the upcoming games
"It always feels good to get a conference win, but at the same time we take it one week at a time. We never look ahead for another team. If SMU is who we have this week, that's who we are looking at. We aren't worried about anybody else."
HOUSTON SENIOR SAFETY Khalil Williams
On the key to holding SMU to field goals
"When we get in the red zone our coach always tells us to flip the switch. We have a different mentality coming into the red zone. It doesn't matter how they got in the red zone, all that matters is stopping them from getting six."
On how the team reacted when SMU was knocking on the door…
"Yeah, you always fight harder when you're back is against the wall. You have no choice but to fight harder to get out the situation."
On if SMU is considered a rival..
"We look at it as the next team up. It's not too much of a rivalry game. We lost to them last year, but we just looked at them as the next team on the schedule like we do every team."
SMU HEAD COACH CHAD MORRIS
Opening Statement
"I want to give Coach Applewhite and his staff credit, they obviously did a good job. Hats off to those guys, they won the game. I wish we could have a few plays back, but that's not how it works. We had too many mistakes and penalties. Our third down defense in the first half was a backbreaker for us. For them to be 6 of 7 on third down isn't good. We had an opportunity to hit a field goal before half that we missed. If we hit the field goal and the extra point, it's a one possession game. Who knows what it would have looked like then. We threw the ball entirely too many times, but given the situation we had to do that. It was out of balance for us, we strive to be as balanced as possible. We missed too many tackles, we missed kicks, and we made mistakes in the red zone. Those things get you, especially when you go against a good team. One game isn't going to define us. We have a good football team, I know that. We have to get a lot of things fixed. There's a lot of hurt in that locker room right now. This was a game we liked our chances in. But again, credit to them. It was a breaker when we had them backed up with a good punt and they were able to drive 96 yards for a score. We missed too many tackles. We had pass interference calls. Those things get you beat. We saw a lot of that tonight. The effort was outstanding on both sides though. We knew it would be a physical football game. Moving forward, we have an open week next week and we'll have a chance to reflect on ourselves and get better. It's a six-game season now, and we'll take it one game at a time."
On the Houston rushing attack…
"Too many missed tackles. Coming into the game, Duke (Catalon) only had about 100 yards on the season. He went for 177 today. It's unacceptable and not who we are. We missed a lot of tackles, and we have to be better. That contributed to their third down conversions because they were able to win big on first down."
On SMU Quarterback Ben Hicks…
"He was trying to make plays late in the game when they were dropping everybody back into coverage. We have our check downs and we tell them it's all about completions at that point. He tried to force the ball to James (Proche) and it was picked off. The play before that, when there should have been a targeting call but they waved it off, would have been picked off too. He was high on that ball. You can't do that. You can't take it all at one. We had plenty of time, we could've scored and kicked an onside kick. But, we turned it over. He was doing some good things, it's a shame it ended like that for him.
On the shift in momentum during the second quarter…
"We were ineffective on first down. We have to stay ahead of the chains by getting at least three yards on first down. That was a killer."
On the high passing attempts…
"They were run-pass checks. So, whatever they gave us was going to dictate whether it was a run or pass. We just try to have answers."
On the bye week…
"We have to get better at a lot of things. This is two weeks in a row where a quarterback has had entirely too many completions against us. He was 20 for 28, and we had something similar to that last week. We have to get better at disrupting and influencing the passing game. Obviously, we have to tackle better. We have to self-reflect and focus on our technique. There's only one opportunity during the season to do this, and this is our week. I'm proud of our players. This is a good football team, and one game isn't going to define who we are or this season. We're seeing improvements, but we can't continue to beat ourselves with penalties and missed tackles. We had too many penalties that kept drives alive. Those things have to be fixed."
On the bye week being good for recovery…
"It's coming at a great time. We'll practice Monday through Thursday. We'll come back, then it's a one-game season versus Cincinnati."
On the offensive line…
"We played well in some areas. We protected Ben (Hicks) well, at times. We ran the ball well. But, until we watch the film it's hard to tell."
On Rodney Clemons injury…
"It was just an ankle. I don't know the whole deal. He should be fine."
On the Houston offensive line…
"They were obviously creating creases, because their backs were getting to the second level in a hurry. They did a good job executing their game plan. They ran power, counter and zone. We could've done some things differently, but credit those guys. They ran the ball for 265 yards.
SMU REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK BEN HICKS
On his feelings about the 58 attempts...
"I don't know. We had to start throwing the ball. We kind of got down. We were moving the ball those last two drives and interceptions. I wasn't really thinking about it. We'd like to be balanced, but when you get down and you get late in the game, you have to start throwing the ball. So I'm sure that's what kind of got us to the 58, but I feel fine. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow, but right now I feel fine. It was a tough one, but we'll bounce back."
On feelings about being discouraged throughout the game
"Yeah, no doubt it gets discouraging. We get down there and things get tight. We have to find ways to make plays. We just didn't. With our two losses, I think that's what kills us. We got into the red zone, we moved the ball on Houston, we moved the ball on TCU, but we just couldn't finish with touchdowns. Which is discouraging, but we just have to find a way for when we get into the red zone so we're able to score touch downs and not settle for 3. That's what ultimately gets you beat: threes. Field goals don't win games, touchdowns win games. We have to go back and figure out what we have to do. With good teams and good defenses, other teams have to find ways to score and that's on me."
On what got out of sync on the drive series
"We talk about first downs all the time. First downs are huge. Those two drives that we started with killed us. As a play caller, that's really tough. What do you call? We talk about it all the time, we just have to do it."
