University of Houston Athletics
Houston vs. Texas Tech: Presser
9/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
2017 HOUSTON FOOTBALL QUOTES FOR THE TEXAS TECH GAME
TDECU Stadium • Houston, Texas • Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017
HEAD COACH Major Applewhite
On what he sees from Texas Tech on film...
"We are early on in preparations. Obviously the tradition continues in terms of explosive offense. Texas Tech can put a lot of points on the board. They play with great tempo, have a lot of different receivers and running backs involved, and have great ball distribution. Defensively, they are playing well. Their defensive line, I can tell a difference from last year to this season in terms of how they are playing up front. They continue to be aggressive in the backend. They play with great eyes and see things well, so we have a tremendous challenge for us this Saturday."
On if Payton Turner has earned more playing time this week...
"It will be indicative of practice, but production in games obviously matters. How much he plays will be determined by how comfortable he is in practice and how well he plays in practice. We need to continue to develop depth as we go throughout the season. We are still a young football team. We have some good players with experience who have played a lot of snaps, but we need to continue to develop and grow as the season goes along. He's one of those guys that needs to add into the mix up front."
On if he spoke to Payton Turner after his two big plays and if he is adjusting to his role...
"I did not. I told him congratulations, but continued to watch the flow of the game. He played well for it being the second game of the year, but needs to just continue to develop. That's going to be the common theme of a lot of the freshman that have played early on in the season. To continue to develop, not only on field in terms of scheme, but in the weight room and adding weight as the season goes along."
On his memories of playing Texas Tech...
"They do a great job as a program stressing you with the tempo of the offense. That's what gets a lot of attention. I know that irritates the defensive side of the ball. I've been in programs where they might focus on a back like Ricky Williams and not talk about our defense, so I understand that from that stand point.
"They have done a great job of playing on both sides of the ball early this season. Head Coach (Cliff) Kingsbury and his staff have done a great job of distributing the ball to different backs, different types of backs and different wide receivers. The quarterback has a good feel for what they do offensively, and there's really no secret on how to beat them. You can't waste possessions, you can't turn the football over and you have to be sound on special teams, because they're going to stress you from an offensive stand point."
On if he ever lost to them in college...
"I lost to them the first time I played them in 1998. We lost 42-35 to Spike Dykes there in Lubbock."
On what he tells the defense going into a game against an offense that can score quickly...
"You have to play 60 minutes, and I've been a part of those kinds of games. The game that I just mentioned in '98 was a 60-minute game. It came all the way down to the last drive. In 2003, I was a graduate assistant and I remember Chance Mock throwing a ball in the end zone. BJ Simmons had just drove right down the field and scored right before that drive and we had to go back down and score. Probably the biggest thing that pops into your mind as a coach on how to prepare your team mentally for this game is that there are a lot of ebbs and flows, because there's so many points scored. That's if were doing our job offensively.
"You have to stay in it, you can't pay attention to the scoreboard. We talk to our team all the time that scoreboards are imposters. Early on, you can't pay attention to it. Whether you're up 14 or down 14. Same thing we said in the locker room in Tucson, same thing we said in the locker room last weekend, that's a general theme. Sometimes you can start evaluating the game before the game's even been played. Settle down, settle into your pads, pay attention to your assignment, play with great effort, and don't pay attention to the scoreboard. Each and every play and each and every series."
On if they are putting an emphasis on offense this week at practice since last week they did not perform well in practice...
"It's just more or less the standard that wasn't being met that I was just disappointed with, but it was a handful of players; it wasn't as a whole. There are a handful of guys that'll taint your view of practice. Holding those guys to those standards from a head coach's standpoint, from a unit coach's standpoint, in terms of how they practice; it's neither here or there. There's no in between.
"It was good to see them come out Sunday and practice hard. The way they practiced, you can tell that they were focused. In fact, there was a point made in Sunday afternoon meetings, `Listen, we're back to work, back to practice and these are our habits and these are what we do. If it's not then everything we talk about is just talk. So let's go put it out on the field.' I was proud to see them focused in practice and go full speed yesterday. They have today off to get their bodies right to come back out Tuesday."
On Texas Tech personnel...
"They play great in space. Keke Coutee, I remember looking at him and recruiting him out of Lufkin. He's a very confident football player with great change of direction and very good hands. He's very difficult to tackle in space. It's the same thing with a lot of their other athletes as well.
"They'll do that even with their backs. They'll get (Justin) Stockton out in space. I remember watching him as a freshman. Great skilled players, (Nic) Shimonek does a great job of getting the ball to them, he's a very good quarterback. He understands the system. He's been coached very well. This is going to be a very big challenge for our defense. To play in space with him and make tackles in open space."
On what he's seen from the defense...
"There's still so much football left. There are nine games left. I'm not ready to start talking about how the book's going to end when we're only on chapter two. Let's continue to work on how we do things, why we do things and how we practice. Let's put the premium on those things and how we prepare, then we'll be able to reflect and say this was or was not the offense, defense, or special teams like we thought. We have hardworking and talented players. The opportunity and potential is there, but we have a lot of work to do."
On if the coverage from Rice led to the strong performance from Linell Bonner...
"No, he did a great job. He did a great job on game day and performed well and produced. We expect that out of him each and every week. He has shown that he can do that. He's set the standard and will continue to do that in practice as well."
On Matthew Adam's defensive capabilities as a leader...
"Matt and Garrett Davis were both elected captains and are continuing to step and grow into those roles. I've talked to all the captains about how you can be hired for a job, but the title doesn't mean anything. You can be elected for a position, but the title doesn't mean anything. You have to serve. As leaders, as you get more comfortable in what you're doing, it's then time to serve and bring others along with you. Serve your football team in that manner, just in the same way as a head coach you have to do certain things when you're in that position whether it's your personality or not.
"Matt has done that with physical play and he continues to get better every day. It was a very difficult offense to get ready for last week; the personnel, the formations, the motions and the shifts. It was very difficult to pull the pen on some things. They give you so much eye candy. You could tell there were a few times in there where he was really dialed in and you got a chance to see just how physical he can be as an inside linebacker."
On the offense's pass protection and how the veterans have impacted the offense...
"In terms of pass protection, we've got to improve. We've done some good things at times and there's been some times where the coaches and players have thought it wasn't the standard. Our eyes may have been in the wrong place or we've got bad position, but overall it's been okay. We need to continue to develop and get better at it.
"From a wide receiver standpoint, it always helps to have the competitive experience. You saw some guys make great plays on the ball Saturday. They need to continue to do the same things and continue to work hard on it in practice. As we talked about, practice represents the game day reality. We need to practice those movements and the speed in which we play at, because the passing game is a lot of anticipation and a lot of timing. If you're not operating at 100 percent, that anticipation and timing is false on game day, because now you're trying to play at a different speed. We've got to play at that speed on Tuesday and Wednesday."
On the performance of the special teams and the pace of play...
"From a special team's standpoint, I was proud of our kickoff coverage. Some of that was just being where you're supposed to be. There were some mishandled balls by the kickoff return unit, so we were able to pin them inside the 15 a few times. It wasn't so much what we did, we just showed up where we were supposed to be. There were some great plays from a punt team standpoint. We had three downed inside the 20 and one inside the 10.
"We need to continue to do a great job on that unit. They blocked a punt last week to create a little spark before halftime for their offense. As a field goal unit we need to continue to better upfront, honestly. We tried a 47-yarder into the wind, and we found out about our kicker by taking that opportunity there. He hit it accurately, but probably pushed his range a little bit. The kickoff return unit didn't get many opportunities, but we can continue to work on that weekly in our drill work.
"From an offensive standpoint they played faster and a little more confident in their assignments, coming in from our game one to our game two, which is everybody else's game three. A little bit more rhythm and a little bit more feel for what we were doing.
"We've just got to continue to develop. Nothing has changed. We've talked about as a team how and why we do things. Why we do things is very important, so let's continue to focus on those things and understand we're a team that continues to grow. There's some inexperience in certain positions, so we need to continue to create some competitive experience in practice and try to develop that as best we can. It is about how hard we go and what we do in practice."
