University of Houston Athletics
Houston vs. Tulane: Press Conference
11/12/2018 2:14:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON FOOTBALL
Monday, Nov. 12, 2018 • Houston
Carl Lewis Auditorium • Athletics/Alumni Center
HEAD COACH MAJOR APPLEWHITE
On mounting injuries
"I don't really look at it as mounting injuries in terms of how we win or lose. We have enough talented players to go win. We have to play better, we have to coach better and we have to put our players in positions to make plays. Everybody this time of year has injuries. Is it a little abnormal some of the numbers? It is, but that's a greater challenge and that's the way we're built as a staff and the way we we're built as players. There're no excuse for that. Like I said, it's a little odd, but we have enough to go win. That's what were focused on."
On Ed Oliver playing
"Ed practiced a little bit on Tuesday, a little bit on Wednesday and a little on Thursday before practice. Going through warm up drills, he bothered his knee again and that's why he was out against Temple. I don't want to get into the healing part of it, that's not my expertise at all. Ed wants to play, but you have to be cautious. I'm going to listen to the doctors and listen to the players in those respects. What I told Ed this week was, 'You go and you get healthy. What we don't need to do is take reps and then something happens in which we can't play. Now there're others that aren't able to get reps and get prepared. Let's just get healthy, then once we're healthy and we feel like we can play, and the doctors agree, then you can come join the team.'"
On if Ed Oliver will play again this season
"You would have to ask Ed (Oliver) that. I don't know that answer. He is a young man that is extremely talented. A lot is going through your head when all of your notoriety, all of your attention is because your level of play, and then you can no longer play the game that you love – it is very difficult. We see these guys make great plays on the field and we see them as invincible, so it's difficult. You ask any great competitive athlete who has gone through injuries and are taken away from the field, it is extremely difficult; you probably ask Garrett Davis the same question or Jerard Carter. So, trying to protect those guys and keep them from the media and just kind of chit-chat is more or less trying to make sure that your student-athletes are well-body and mind. Let them worry about going to get healthy and moving on."
On Ed Oliver not going to practice so other players can get reps
"If we are battling back-and-forth, let's go with the known and let's practice those guys and get those reps to get them prepared. He is not going to forget how to play – I know that. So, let's get over there and get healthy. If he can join the team, then he will join the team."
On looking at goals set for the team
"Everything is still in front of us. It's about Tulane. It's about beating Tulane. Today in practice, it's going to be understanding what we have to do to be a team that's hungry. They had an opportunity for a bowl game last year that was taken from them, so now they are sitting here with two games left, knowing that they got to win one out of the two to go to a bowl game. We are in their (Tulane's) way and that's the type of team we are getting ready to play."
On using the injuries as an opportunity for the younger players to get reps in preparation for next year
"There're definitely things you can build on when you're playing younger players from year to year. We'd all much rather have had an eight or nine-month process to do this, from January to August of next year. With two guys like Ed Oliver and Jerard Carter out, you've got some true sophomores and true freshmen that are going in there to play, and you're getting a chance to see what they can and can't do. This will also help them from an individual's standpoint in terms of experience. They can see what they have to do when this season is over. They'll know what it felt like to be double-teamed, and they'll know how they need to attack this workout and this off-season to get themselves in the physical and mental condition for next year."
On the biggest challenge of having a short week
"I don't really look at it as a challenge. Our guys responded really well last night at practice. In some ways, it's actually a positive, especially coming off of a loss because you've got to drop it and move on quickly. The guys came in last night prepared to get ready for Tulane and they had a great practice."
On Bryson Smith's absence and filling in that role
"We have backups in all of our packages. There are some packages that if you lose a guy here and there you may want to cut back on some of the plays in that package. We're still going to utilize Bryson in a number of roles: quarterback, running back, wide receiver, kick returner, and punt returner."
On Bryson Smith's health
"He was at practice last night. It's just one of those things that you've got to continue to monitor and see how he's feeling. He's so tough and he's cut from the same cloth as former Houston quarterback Greg Ward. They're from the same high school and he reminds me a lot of him. It's going to take a lot to keep him from playing because he loves to compete."
On players being interchangeable on the defensive line
"We have Logan Hall and Payton Turner. They are typically your defensive ends. Aymiel Fleming is typically your nose tackle. Blake Young is playing behind him, Zach Vaughan has played more of an end position and Willie Smith III can play more of a nose tackle position. He will be able to provide more depth for us as well. You have a swing of bodies that can play those positions."
On challenge of playing Tulane
"Willie Fritz has done a really good job. He's a great man. I enjoy the times I get to be around him in recruiting or head coaches meetings. He's a great leader and a great person, who has does a great job with his staff and players. They have done a great job this season to put them in another opportunity to appear in a bowl game. They present issues on three phases of the game. They are playing great football right now, but it's all about Thursday night and preparing for it."
On the running backs that Houston has faced
"These are the three best running backs in the league. I know there are other great running backs I have seen on tape as well. The running back at Cincinnati is really great as well and the Central Florida running back is great too. It's all about having great vision, having great blocks, creating movement to create opportunities for some tackles for loss and trying to make them throw the ball more than they want to. It's going to be a challenge, no doubt about it, but you have to prepare your mind and be excited for games like that where teams lean on the run game. "
On the challenges working through a short week
"You spend time during your off-weeks and preseason to kind of get a leg up on some of those things, so when you get to a short week, some of that preparation is already done and your support staff, your QC's, your analysts and things like that will go ahead in earlier weeks knowing it going to be a short week so they can boil things down for you. When you get in there on a Sunday morning, the challenges are really more physical. You have to take pads off of them, a day after a game, before you can get back to pads on Monday. The preparation part has to be accounted for. Some of the things you do at fall camps and off-weeks are so you do have an idea of what you're getting ready to go into, because you do lose a whole Monday. It's more about the physical and the players coming off of a night game are in great condition and are healed up and ready to go for a Thursday game."
On if the defense is taking a hit without Ed Oliver
"It's obvious. I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but when you lose a two-time All-American and national award winner, you usually don't get better. I remember when Ricky Williams left at Texas and I was a sophomore, we didn't get better by losing a great player. That's why you play and why you coach, so you can relish that opportunity. You cherish it, you're ready for it and you want to be the next man up like we did at the South Florida game. Thinking 'Yeah, he's not going to play, so let's see how we are without him and let's go prove a point.' That's what you have to do and as a competitor. It has to drive you and if you doesn't, something's wrong with you. That's what has to drive you as a defense, defensive line and as a team to motivate you to go against a really good team that can run the football."
On how to bounce back after a loss
"I think our guys understand that you can't sit there and dwell on it. What you talk about is what you have in front of you. You have an opportunity, if you go win your game Thursday night and you play well, to still play for our side of the conference and have the opportunity to go on to the conference championship game. You can sit there and dissect it, go back and review and all those type of things about a loss, or you can look at the opportunities ahead of you. I was talking to the team last night and said, 'Hey, the team that won the national championship got beat in the rivalry last year, but they didn't mope. Instead they got up and went out and beat Georgia. Then, they went out and won two games in the playoffs and won the national championship.' That's what championship teams do, they flush it and move on and get ready for the next one."
On thoughts of sending the seniors out
"That's it. That was the whole message sending them out after the game Saturday night. I told them this was a short week, so we're going to get rid of this one tonight and understand when we come back to work on Sunday, it's about these seniors taking their pads off and win theirs at home. You'll never forget that moment. I still remember mine and I'm sure everybody else who's played remembers theirs. You want to be able to hug each other as seniors and enjoy your last one at home and be around your family. The coaching staff, support staff, and all players talked about that yesterday. It's all of our jobs to make sure these guys go out winners Thursday night."
Monday, Nov. 12, 2018 • Houston
Carl Lewis Auditorium • Athletics/Alumni Center
HEAD COACH MAJOR APPLEWHITE
On mounting injuries
"I don't really look at it as mounting injuries in terms of how we win or lose. We have enough talented players to go win. We have to play better, we have to coach better and we have to put our players in positions to make plays. Everybody this time of year has injuries. Is it a little abnormal some of the numbers? It is, but that's a greater challenge and that's the way we're built as a staff and the way we we're built as players. There're no excuse for that. Like I said, it's a little odd, but we have enough to go win. That's what were focused on."
On Ed Oliver playing
"Ed practiced a little bit on Tuesday, a little bit on Wednesday and a little on Thursday before practice. Going through warm up drills, he bothered his knee again and that's why he was out against Temple. I don't want to get into the healing part of it, that's not my expertise at all. Ed wants to play, but you have to be cautious. I'm going to listen to the doctors and listen to the players in those respects. What I told Ed this week was, 'You go and you get healthy. What we don't need to do is take reps and then something happens in which we can't play. Now there're others that aren't able to get reps and get prepared. Let's just get healthy, then once we're healthy and we feel like we can play, and the doctors agree, then you can come join the team.'"
On if Ed Oliver will play again this season
"You would have to ask Ed (Oliver) that. I don't know that answer. He is a young man that is extremely talented. A lot is going through your head when all of your notoriety, all of your attention is because your level of play, and then you can no longer play the game that you love – it is very difficult. We see these guys make great plays on the field and we see them as invincible, so it's difficult. You ask any great competitive athlete who has gone through injuries and are taken away from the field, it is extremely difficult; you probably ask Garrett Davis the same question or Jerard Carter. So, trying to protect those guys and keep them from the media and just kind of chit-chat is more or less trying to make sure that your student-athletes are well-body and mind. Let them worry about going to get healthy and moving on."
On Ed Oliver not going to practice so other players can get reps
"If we are battling back-and-forth, let's go with the known and let's practice those guys and get those reps to get them prepared. He is not going to forget how to play – I know that. So, let's get over there and get healthy. If he can join the team, then he will join the team."
On looking at goals set for the team
"Everything is still in front of us. It's about Tulane. It's about beating Tulane. Today in practice, it's going to be understanding what we have to do to be a team that's hungry. They had an opportunity for a bowl game last year that was taken from them, so now they are sitting here with two games left, knowing that they got to win one out of the two to go to a bowl game. We are in their (Tulane's) way and that's the type of team we are getting ready to play."
On using the injuries as an opportunity for the younger players to get reps in preparation for next year
"There're definitely things you can build on when you're playing younger players from year to year. We'd all much rather have had an eight or nine-month process to do this, from January to August of next year. With two guys like Ed Oliver and Jerard Carter out, you've got some true sophomores and true freshmen that are going in there to play, and you're getting a chance to see what they can and can't do. This will also help them from an individual's standpoint in terms of experience. They can see what they have to do when this season is over. They'll know what it felt like to be double-teamed, and they'll know how they need to attack this workout and this off-season to get themselves in the physical and mental condition for next year."
On the biggest challenge of having a short week
"I don't really look at it as a challenge. Our guys responded really well last night at practice. In some ways, it's actually a positive, especially coming off of a loss because you've got to drop it and move on quickly. The guys came in last night prepared to get ready for Tulane and they had a great practice."
On Bryson Smith's absence and filling in that role
"We have backups in all of our packages. There are some packages that if you lose a guy here and there you may want to cut back on some of the plays in that package. We're still going to utilize Bryson in a number of roles: quarterback, running back, wide receiver, kick returner, and punt returner."
On Bryson Smith's health
"He was at practice last night. It's just one of those things that you've got to continue to monitor and see how he's feeling. He's so tough and he's cut from the same cloth as former Houston quarterback Greg Ward. They're from the same high school and he reminds me a lot of him. It's going to take a lot to keep him from playing because he loves to compete."
On players being interchangeable on the defensive line
"We have Logan Hall and Payton Turner. They are typically your defensive ends. Aymiel Fleming is typically your nose tackle. Blake Young is playing behind him, Zach Vaughan has played more of an end position and Willie Smith III can play more of a nose tackle position. He will be able to provide more depth for us as well. You have a swing of bodies that can play those positions."
On challenge of playing Tulane
"Willie Fritz has done a really good job. He's a great man. I enjoy the times I get to be around him in recruiting or head coaches meetings. He's a great leader and a great person, who has does a great job with his staff and players. They have done a great job this season to put them in another opportunity to appear in a bowl game. They present issues on three phases of the game. They are playing great football right now, but it's all about Thursday night and preparing for it."
On the running backs that Houston has faced
"These are the three best running backs in the league. I know there are other great running backs I have seen on tape as well. The running back at Cincinnati is really great as well and the Central Florida running back is great too. It's all about having great vision, having great blocks, creating movement to create opportunities for some tackles for loss and trying to make them throw the ball more than they want to. It's going to be a challenge, no doubt about it, but you have to prepare your mind and be excited for games like that where teams lean on the run game. "
On the challenges working through a short week
"You spend time during your off-weeks and preseason to kind of get a leg up on some of those things, so when you get to a short week, some of that preparation is already done and your support staff, your QC's, your analysts and things like that will go ahead in earlier weeks knowing it going to be a short week so they can boil things down for you. When you get in there on a Sunday morning, the challenges are really more physical. You have to take pads off of them, a day after a game, before you can get back to pads on Monday. The preparation part has to be accounted for. Some of the things you do at fall camps and off-weeks are so you do have an idea of what you're getting ready to go into, because you do lose a whole Monday. It's more about the physical and the players coming off of a night game are in great condition and are healed up and ready to go for a Thursday game."
On if the defense is taking a hit without Ed Oliver
"It's obvious. I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but when you lose a two-time All-American and national award winner, you usually don't get better. I remember when Ricky Williams left at Texas and I was a sophomore, we didn't get better by losing a great player. That's why you play and why you coach, so you can relish that opportunity. You cherish it, you're ready for it and you want to be the next man up like we did at the South Florida game. Thinking 'Yeah, he's not going to play, so let's see how we are without him and let's go prove a point.' That's what you have to do and as a competitor. It has to drive you and if you doesn't, something's wrong with you. That's what has to drive you as a defense, defensive line and as a team to motivate you to go against a really good team that can run the football."
On how to bounce back after a loss
"I think our guys understand that you can't sit there and dwell on it. What you talk about is what you have in front of you. You have an opportunity, if you go win your game Thursday night and you play well, to still play for our side of the conference and have the opportunity to go on to the conference championship game. You can sit there and dissect it, go back and review and all those type of things about a loss, or you can look at the opportunities ahead of you. I was talking to the team last night and said, 'Hey, the team that won the national championship got beat in the rivalry last year, but they didn't mope. Instead they got up and went out and beat Georgia. Then, they went out and won two games in the playoffs and won the national championship.' That's what championship teams do, they flush it and move on and get ready for the next one."
On thoughts of sending the seniors out
"That's it. That was the whole message sending them out after the game Saturday night. I told them this was a short week, so we're going to get rid of this one tonight and understand when we come back to work on Sunday, it's about these seniors taking their pads off and win theirs at home. You'll never forget that moment. I still remember mine and I'm sure everybody else who's played remembers theirs. You want to be able to hug each other as seniors and enjoy your last one at home and be around your family. The coaching staff, support staff, and all players talked about that yesterday. It's all of our jobs to make sure these guys go out winners Thursday night."
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