University of Houston Athletics
Houston at Oklahoma: Press Conference
8/26/2019 2:57:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON FOOTBALL
Monday, August 26, 2019 • Houston
Carl Lewis Auditorium • Athletics Alumni Center
HEAD COACH DANA HOLGORSEN
On how ready the team feels for this week's game
"It's game week. I don't know how ready we are, but you get to the point where you can't improve until you play. You can go through 15 days of practice and you have to stop that before you can get to the next level. You get to the point where enough is enough and you have to switch gears.
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, so we can introduce an opponent and have a real game week. We will prepare just like we would for any opponent. It doesn't matter who the team is. We're still going to prepare to compete and competing is what we're going to do here in the next six days."
On the state of the team's defense
"I feel good. We've coached them the right way. We've added some guys that we think will be really valuable to us. I'm eager to see what every aspect of our team is going to do whether it's defense, offense or kicking. I don't think we can truly gauge where we are, because we haven't even played game one yet. After this, we're going to figure out where we are at and then take that feedback to then make corrections and improve. That way we can be much better come games 3 and 4."
On the challenges of going up against Oklahoma Quarterback, Jalen Hurts
"He's got a lot of experience. He's a smart kid. I remember at my previous position, we kept an eye on him when he was coming up. He's just one player though. You really never know what you're going to get this early on in the season. They don't know what they're getting from us, and we don't know what we're getting from them.
We have to be able to be really smart coaches, so that we can make as many in-game adjustments as we need to. I'm looking forward to seeing what they've got, what their plan of attack is and how we're able to adjust to it."
On the dangers and benefits of playing a high-profile game so early in the year
"I love having these games early in the year, because it gives you an idea of where you're at. You know you're going to get really motivated throughout the course of the whole year leading up to this game, and we've played a lot of these games in the past. It gives everybody a little extra motivation. It's just one game and it's the first game."
On the progression of the team's health
"I've been really happy with the state of the team's health. We had 105 healthy bodies last night when we went through our mock game, and we're going to travel about 70 of those guys. I've been very happy with our scout team and the way those guys have been getting coached up. Right now, there's only a couple of players out long-term. We're probably healthier right now than we have been since I've been here."
On which players are "long term" as far as injuries
"Well, junior cornerback Javian Smith is out, but I don't have that full list in front of me. The ones that were out in the spring are the ones that are out now. This is probably the first camp I've been through where we didn't lose anybody long-term."
On Holgorsen's history with Oklahoma being relevant
"I think it's relevant. I know those guys pretty well. Offensively I know them well, but defensively it's a little different. I know what they're doing special teams wise. Two games ago we played them in my world, in late November. Defensively, I think I know what I'm going to get from them. When it comes to Alex Grinch, the Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator, there's no secret what he does.
Grinch had a lot of success at Washington State and we got a lot of film for what his product is. I don't think we're going to be watching a lot of Ohio State film, because he wasn't the coordinator there last year. He has a lot of video that is his style of ball and we'll obviously watch that from a personnel standpoint.
They aren't releasing their depth charts, so we don't know who they are, but two and three years ago, I went against them and we'll relay that to our players. They know me pretty well too and will have to figure out what we're doing offensively based on what the personnel is. They know I adapt to what our guys do best, and they'll have to figure out special teams and defense."
On the season opener being a challenge
"I'll have to adapt. We've played in some big one's last year, there was a neutral site game at Tennessee. These big games are nothing new to me, the coaching staff, or the University of Houston. We've played in a lot of big games while I was here. Back in 2008 and 2009, we played big games against great opponents. We've been there and done that, so I think our players and coaching staff are excited about it."
On playing Oklahoma in 2016 versus now
"They've referenced it, like I said, these big games are nothing new to the University of Houston and we'll continue to be in these big games. Chris Pezman is scheduling all types of high-profile things and those are fun, but let's make sure we do the right thing from a scheduling perspective because not everyone's doing it. It should be fairly uniform across the country and it's not, which is unfortunate. They really haven't talked about it a lot, they've referenced it and there's some pictures across the building, but there are other big victories that have happened, it's not just that one. We have confidence and we will build on from there."
On providing depth charts
"You can pretty much figure out a depth chart when we put the first team out there. I've always released a depth chart, and I'll release one. Why they don't put one out, it's kind of silly to me. If they're not putting one out, I'm not putting one out. I guess I'll put one out with those funny eyes. I can figure out who they're going to play with and figure out who we're going to play with. So, after game one when we put a starting lineup out we'll probably readjust the depth chart for the next week, and the next week. Now I do understand that you want to have competition within every position, there's honestly some positions on our team right now that we don't know who the starter is. That's probably the same thing for them, but we'll figure it out soon enough."
On keeping the team focused during big games
"Honestly, it's just one game. Every game is big. This one's big, but the next one is big too. The next one is our first home game, so that one's going to be pretty big. Then the next one is against a pretty good opponent, that's a big one. Then there's the first conference game, that's a big one. Then the road game against a really good quarterback, that's a big one. Then finally a relevant home game, our first conference home game, that's a big one. Every game is big. Focus on one game, focus on your opponent, focus on preparation and routine, and worrying about us and doing our job. Hopefully everything will work out."
Monday, August 26, 2019 • Houston
Carl Lewis Auditorium • Athletics Alumni Center
HEAD COACH DANA HOLGORSEN
On how ready the team feels for this week's game
"It's game week. I don't know how ready we are, but you get to the point where you can't improve until you play. You can go through 15 days of practice and you have to stop that before you can get to the next level. You get to the point where enough is enough and you have to switch gears.
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, so we can introduce an opponent and have a real game week. We will prepare just like we would for any opponent. It doesn't matter who the team is. We're still going to prepare to compete and competing is what we're going to do here in the next six days."
On the state of the team's defense
"I feel good. We've coached them the right way. We've added some guys that we think will be really valuable to us. I'm eager to see what every aspect of our team is going to do whether it's defense, offense or kicking. I don't think we can truly gauge where we are, because we haven't even played game one yet. After this, we're going to figure out where we are at and then take that feedback to then make corrections and improve. That way we can be much better come games 3 and 4."
On the challenges of going up against Oklahoma Quarterback, Jalen Hurts
"He's got a lot of experience. He's a smart kid. I remember at my previous position, we kept an eye on him when he was coming up. He's just one player though. You really never know what you're going to get this early on in the season. They don't know what they're getting from us, and we don't know what we're getting from them.
We have to be able to be really smart coaches, so that we can make as many in-game adjustments as we need to. I'm looking forward to seeing what they've got, what their plan of attack is and how we're able to adjust to it."
On the dangers and benefits of playing a high-profile game so early in the year
"I love having these games early in the year, because it gives you an idea of where you're at. You know you're going to get really motivated throughout the course of the whole year leading up to this game, and we've played a lot of these games in the past. It gives everybody a little extra motivation. It's just one game and it's the first game."
On the progression of the team's health
"I've been really happy with the state of the team's health. We had 105 healthy bodies last night when we went through our mock game, and we're going to travel about 70 of those guys. I've been very happy with our scout team and the way those guys have been getting coached up. Right now, there's only a couple of players out long-term. We're probably healthier right now than we have been since I've been here."
On which players are "long term" as far as injuries
"Well, junior cornerback Javian Smith is out, but I don't have that full list in front of me. The ones that were out in the spring are the ones that are out now. This is probably the first camp I've been through where we didn't lose anybody long-term."
On Holgorsen's history with Oklahoma being relevant
"I think it's relevant. I know those guys pretty well. Offensively I know them well, but defensively it's a little different. I know what they're doing special teams wise. Two games ago we played them in my world, in late November. Defensively, I think I know what I'm going to get from them. When it comes to Alex Grinch, the Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator, there's no secret what he does.
Grinch had a lot of success at Washington State and we got a lot of film for what his product is. I don't think we're going to be watching a lot of Ohio State film, because he wasn't the coordinator there last year. He has a lot of video that is his style of ball and we'll obviously watch that from a personnel standpoint.
They aren't releasing their depth charts, so we don't know who they are, but two and three years ago, I went against them and we'll relay that to our players. They know me pretty well too and will have to figure out what we're doing offensively based on what the personnel is. They know I adapt to what our guys do best, and they'll have to figure out special teams and defense."
On the season opener being a challenge
"I'll have to adapt. We've played in some big one's last year, there was a neutral site game at Tennessee. These big games are nothing new to me, the coaching staff, or the University of Houston. We've played in a lot of big games while I was here. Back in 2008 and 2009, we played big games against great opponents. We've been there and done that, so I think our players and coaching staff are excited about it."
On playing Oklahoma in 2016 versus now
"They've referenced it, like I said, these big games are nothing new to the University of Houston and we'll continue to be in these big games. Chris Pezman is scheduling all types of high-profile things and those are fun, but let's make sure we do the right thing from a scheduling perspective because not everyone's doing it. It should be fairly uniform across the country and it's not, which is unfortunate. They really haven't talked about it a lot, they've referenced it and there's some pictures across the building, but there are other big victories that have happened, it's not just that one. We have confidence and we will build on from there."
On providing depth charts
"You can pretty much figure out a depth chart when we put the first team out there. I've always released a depth chart, and I'll release one. Why they don't put one out, it's kind of silly to me. If they're not putting one out, I'm not putting one out. I guess I'll put one out with those funny eyes. I can figure out who they're going to play with and figure out who we're going to play with. So, after game one when we put a starting lineup out we'll probably readjust the depth chart for the next week, and the next week. Now I do understand that you want to have competition within every position, there's honestly some positions on our team right now that we don't know who the starter is. That's probably the same thing for them, but we'll figure it out soon enough."
On keeping the team focused during big games
"Honestly, it's just one game. Every game is big. This one's big, but the next one is big too. The next one is our first home game, so that one's going to be pretty big. Then the next one is against a pretty good opponent, that's a big one. Then there's the first conference game, that's a big one. Then the road game against a really good quarterback, that's a big one. Then finally a relevant home game, our first conference home game, that's a big one. Every game is big. Focus on one game, focus on your opponent, focus on preparation and routine, and worrying about us and doing our job. Hopefully everything will work out."
Players Mentioned
CB
/ FootballMedia Availability: Ashton Porter
Monday, April 20
Media Availability: Kentrell Webb
Monday, April 20
Media Availability: Keisean Henderson
Monday, April 20
Media Availability: Conner Weigman
Sunday, April 19