San Jose State-Tulsa Post-Game Quotes

Nov. 20, 2004

Tulsa

Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe:
Opening Statement
"I'm really proud of this football team. I'm proud of the way they have responded to some adversity throughout the course of this season. I was proud of the way they came out and played today. I thought they came out and played really well early in the ballgame. We ran the ball really well today. We had a couple of big third down conversions and some touchdown passes that put us in the end zone. The biggest thing, when you look at it, is the character of this team and the way they have responded throughout the course of this season. We have had some ups and we have had some downs, but we really responded well today and I'm really proud of this group. I'm happy for our senior players to have a chance to come back here and win at Skelly (Stadium). We got one more opportunity next week against a very good UTEP team.

On the last touchdown drive
"Fifteen plays and seven minutes and some change, obviously that was big for two reasons. Number one, we wanted to get the score differential to 10 and take some time off the clock in that situation. So there is no question that was a huge drive for us in the ballgame."

On Uril Parrish
"We did some great things on third downs and Uril (Parrish) had some second efforts on a lot of those situations on third down. We kept the chains moving and methodically moved the football down the field. We had a methodical drive and got down there and got some points on the board when we scored a touchdown and took some time off the clock. We wanted to limit the number of possessions they had in the football game."

On second half points
"We did a good job minimizing the number of big plays. They have got an explosive offense, and its well documented by the teams they've played. We did a better job knocking down the runs."

Uril Parrish:
"I just respond and play well, and help our offense do well so we can all be in sync. We wanted to win this game and we want to send our seniors out proudly with hopefully one more win, and get some motivation into next year."

On the last drive
"I didn't want to let my team or the coaches down because everybody has a position to play, and if they are giving me the ball, then they are counting on me to get the first down and to do the things we need to do to get a win."

They made some adjustments to stop certain runs, which limited me to breaking the long runs. I just try to make the most ourof every play and help our offense get in sync whether it is passing or running. I just try to make sure we get in a positive direction."

San Jose State

Head Coach Fitz Hill
Opening Statement "I feel proud of our guys play. They competed hard. Being on the road was a real concern after the effort we had given last week. Coming in we were trying to see if we had the same intensity two weeks in a row. Coming out, at first, we had problems. In this conference, traveling sometimes, wears like that. I was concerned. But I thought we fought through it. We battled. We did take the lead. Anytime you feel like you have the chance, on the road, to win the game in the fourth quarter, this is really what you play for on the road, particularly in this league. We were real close to having a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. We didn't. Hats off to Tulsa. They did a great job controlling the clock in the fourth quarter. They ran the football very effectively to limit our opportunities.

Intentional Grounding play on 3rd and 7 "It was a poor snap. I'll have to go back and look at it, but it was definitely a momentum change. I felt like we had a chance to convert, which we had done."

On San Jose State opponents taking advantage of scoring on the first couple of possessions
"Particularly on the road, that's been a difference. I'm not psychiatrist, I can't really tell you why that is. But whatever it is, we are trying to get them to come out faster, but we haven't done that defensively and the team has gone down there. But we've always come back in a couple of series."

On Tulsa's running game plan
"That is Tulsa's forte, running the football effectively, using the tight ends, throw in some play action, make some plays in that situation. At this point in the season, you are not going to do a wholesale change, anything. What they did, they were able to keep our offense off the field. At halftime I felt that the game would go either way. I knew if we were going to win the game we'd have to score 40 points. And I was almost to the "T" on doing that. But we miscued. We broke down a couple of times. Had a couple of blocked kicks. We could have gotten six more points on two different blocked kicks that would have made the difference. My thought was that with the wind, go ahead the three then onside kick the football, and hopefully get the good bounce then go in and kick the football again. They blocked the kick and we didn't have a chance."

General
"My hats off to Coach Kragthorpe. We've had very similar types of seasons. They had Boise at home and had a chance to beat them, we had Boise at home and had the chance to beat them. We've both lost a couple of close ones. In a way, our season is identical. In this league that we are in, we had seven teams, as of Friday, that had not won on the road. It's just something that you are glad that the geographic of the league are changing next year. We aren't flying about to Tulsa and SMU all in one year."

On Lance Martin
"He's gotten better every game. He went for nearly a 170 yards. He is such a hard, punishing runner. To start the season, I'm really proud of Lance. He's a walk kid that comes to San Jose State, and stayed around, kind of like an alley cat, he just hangs around and hangs around until someone takes him into his palace. He's been so consistent. He started the year being third or fourth team back. The cream always rises to the top. You can count on him and trust him and that is why you play him.