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Tulsa Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe Press Conference Quotes
9/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 19, 2005
Tulsa, Oklahoma -
Steve Kragthorpe Press Conference Quotes:
Opening Statement: "Obviously, it's good to be in the win column. I thought we played a fairly complete game -- offense, defense and special teams. We made some big plays in the second quarter to extend our lead from 10 to 17. I thought our defense did great job in terms of the three-and-out right before the end of the first half and we utilized our timeouts and were able to score a touchdown right before the intermission.
Paul Smith did an excellent job on the quick kick, getting down inside the one-yard line and then Chris Chamberlain gets a safety. Obviously, that was a big play too, and then we followed it up with good field position and get a field goal.
I think that one of the referees asked me at one point in time during the game have I ever been in a 2 to 2 game and my answer was no. I don't think I have ever seen a 2-2 game. That was kind of interesting, it was like I said to the referee, I said no, but it looks like a 2-2 in the top of the fourth right now. Again, it is good to get in the win column.
I'm looking forward to the opportunity to compete in our first Conference USA game against a very good Memphis team on Saturday night."
Does DeAngelo Williams seem less intimidating now that you have shut down a couple of running backs? "No, not at all. He is a very good player. I think going into this game he is the best back that we have seen so far. In terms of his explosiveness, his ability to jump cut the ball, and get back door very quickly. He is able to do some unbelievable things with the ball in his hand. I know that they are trying to throw it to him a little more and utilize his abilities there. He catches the ball well out of the backfield. Looking at the guys we've played so far, I think he is the best one."
What is it that makes DeAngelo Williams better than the backs that you have seen so far? "I think his ability to stick his foot in the ground and get back north and south very quickly. He is a great cut back runner and has good open field speed. Again, if you compare the guys that we played so far, Lawrence (Maroney) has the ability to get the ball north and south very quickly, but he does not have the ability to jump laterally like DeAngelo does. Adrian Peterson obviously is a great back. He runs behind his pads and has great power, but he is a guy that needs to get started. He is a little more of a long strider. Whereas DeAngelo reminds me more of a Barry Sanders type of back. I mean he can be going one way, and stick his foot in the ground and go 100 miles an hour the other way. It is instantaneously. That is the thing I see about him -- you think you have him pinned in, you think you have him in the phone booth, and all of sudden he is out and running the street so you have to do a good job of knocking his legs out."
Was there something in particular that your team hoped to improve on in the first two games that you really improved on against North Texas? "I think turnovers. We did a good job of taking care of the football and that is something that we want to continue to minimize and obviously continue to secure turnovers and we did a good job of that. Knowing going into the game that they had the capabilities with their two running backs of being very explosive running the football, we wanted to knock that down and put the ball in the hands of the quarterback and see if he could beat us. I thought we did an excellent job of that."
How much do you think the way your team played against Oklahoma acted as a springboard or verification that your a team that you thought you would be? "Well, we played two very good football teams before we played North Texas no doubt. Minnesota is now 3-0 and Oklahoma, I still think is a good football team although they are 1-2. We knew coming into this game against North Texas that they had the explosive capabilities that both of those teams prior to this game possessed. So we knew going into their environment, on the road, their first home game that it would be a challenge for us. I think that playing the speed of the games that we played in weeks one and two certainly helped us."
What is the mindset of the players now that they have gotten that first win? "Well, obviously we are excited about securing a victory, but each game is different. This game is going to be totally different than either of the first three. We are going to have to play very good football against Memphis to put ourselves in position to win the game. They are a very talented team -- we know that. They are a very well coached team. They are going to do a lot of creative things on the defensive side of the ball. I think what gets lost when you talk Memphis is the talent level that they have on defense, everybody talks about DeAngelo, and certainly we should,because of his abilities, but if you look at their talent level on defense and what they do. They are going to blitz us from every angle, they will bring one from Okmulgee, one from Bartlesville, one from Sand Springs, one from Broken Arrow, and they are going to bring them from all over. They are going to blitz from every place, so it is certainly a challenge on the offensive side of the ball as well."
They will bring them from everywhere. They will bring safeties, they will bring corners, they will bring linebackers, they will bring two off the side, and they will do it all. From a multiple front look, they are going to play some double eagle 46 Buddy Ryan defense. They are going to play some odd stack, like we play, they are going to play some four down looks. I have seen in the past where they have had a 11 guys standing up, moving around so your going to get it from all angles."
Are Memphis' linebackers their best defensive players? "I think that they are very good. But, they have some excellent talent across the board. They have a free safety that can run and hit, they have corners that can cover, they have defensive lineman that play with great quickness and they really do a good job of utilizing their hands in the running game and the passing game to shed blockers. Their linebackers are guys that can definitely run and make plays."
On playing against a first-year quarterback for the third time this season: "We are in the same boat. We have a first-year starter at a quarterback as well, so I have seen some guys come in and light it up. I saw Marc Wilson at BYU throw for seven touchdowns in his first game against Colorado State. So you know it varies from year to year. Guys jump in there and play. I have had true freshmen quarterbacks go in and throw for 425 yards in their first game when I was at North Texas, so to me it really does not matter."
Are you surprised at the overwhelming amount of success that Garrett Mills has had over the past few games? "No not at all, he is a very good football player. Garrett is so intelligent and practices so well. He gives us the ability to utilize him in a number of different ways, in creative formations, in motions, in shifts and those kind of things. Again, it is not a surprise to me because I see him everyday, and unfortunately not everyone gets that luxury, so I see the way that he practices everyday and what he does in the game is within direct relation to the way he practices and prepares during the week. So, it's not a big surprise to see a guy that has that type of talent level, that type of intelligence, and that type of work ethic, and attention to detail in practice it is pretty good combination in terms of setting yourself up for success. The equation sets up pretty well for the end result."
On Cauvey Jackson and Tarrion Adams: "I think Tarrion and Cauvey have both done some very good things for us early in the season. They did not have significant playing time going into the year, but we knew that they possessed some skills that we wanted to utilize. I think Charlie Stubbs, our offensive coordinator, has really done a great job of utilizing all of those backs, and we have a one, two, three, four punch where we can keep those guys relatively fresh throughout the course of the game and hopefully continue to wear down the defense and keep those guys fresh at the same time. But both those guys possess the skills that we are looking for in becoming more complete players all the time in terms of playing well with the ball in their hands and the ball out of their hands, being a blocker or catching the football out of the backfield. Ultimately, we want our backs to be complete players."
How important is it for the players to be unselfish? "Well it is important for all of our players to be unselfish, there are not enough balls to go around, and there is no doubt. I remember when I was an offensive coordinator, I used to talk about for everyone to be happy we have to snap It 240 times a game, and we are not going to be able to do that. So it is hard to keep everyone happy, the happiness comes in that locker room when you have won that football game. I think our guys have done a good job at encouraging each other, whether it is at he wide receiver positions, the running back positions where we have a lot of depth, or at the quarterback spot. You see David excited when Paul throws a touchdown pass and you see Paul excited when David is doing things out there."
How important is it spread the ball around more? "It is important for us to spread the wealth, so to speak, and make people continue to cover the field from goal line to goal line and from sideline to sideline. I think we are doing a pretty good job of that right now, and we need to continue to exploit whatever the defense is going to give us and we have to be good enough at all the positions. As the old cliché in the chess match goes, be able to take advantage of the move that they make. So we have to continue to do that, we need more guys that continue to step up, I thought Idris Moss stepped up in the game and made so plays for us, so backs are catching the ball well out of the backfield and that gives the ability to continually challenge and hopefully set the tempo of the game from an offensive standpoint."
"There is no doubt people are going to find Garrett. They are going to know where Garrett is on the field and interesting enough the other night he was the third read a couple of times on a couple of plays and we got him the ball. It is kind of interesting in terms of the chess match, I mean people are going to try and cover him and find him and do those kinds of things. Again I think one of the things that is in our favor is how we utilize him, he is not just an in-line tight end or just a fullback that lines up in the backfield or he is not just a receiver that lines up on the line, all the time at X. If you have a great X out there and that is the only position he plays you can't move him inside, you can't motion, it is pretty easy to double him, but for us right now it is a little bit tougher to find ways double or triple Garrett because we move him around so much."
What do you think of Garrett Mills not being considered by the John Mackey Committee? "I'm not into those awards first of all because they are so subjective. I am telling you right now, I wouldn't trade Garrett Mills for any tight end in the country. He's a great football player. People can make whatever assumptions they want to make, they can make whatever subjective opinions they want to make in terms of the way Garrett plays, and all of those kind of things. All I know, he is a very productive football player, and I wouldn't trade him for anybody in the country. To me he's as good as there is, and he is going to be playing football for a long, long time."
Does this game give you a chance to make a statement in your first game in C-USA? "Well ,we want to win by one point, that's the bottom line. We are going to try and play this football game like we have played the last three, and we want to come out and try to win. In terms of making a statement, nothing makes more of a statement than being successful. And so we are going to try and make a statement each time we come out and play the game. This just happens to be our first Conference USA game, so I don't think they are going to have fireworks and all that stuff, but if they do, great. But for us, we are trying to win the game by one point."
Is Idris Moss developing into the football player you thought he would? "I think he did a great job the other night, particularly with the punt returns, it was windy, and it was swirling there a little bit down there on the field. I thought he made great judgments. He had a couple punts that were short, and he did a good job of calling it off, and did an excellent job of fair catching the football, which has become a tougher job in college football now with the change of the halo rule after the 2002 season. You can get a lot of bodies right around you and you have to be able to adjust to it and catch the ball. He did a good job of advancing the ball after the catch. He had a couple of catches for us. He did a good job of getting the ball in the chute on the quick screen to him, and made a nice play getting it back north and getting it in the end zone."
How has offense progressed in first three weeks? "I think the biggest thing is we're more comfortable, in terms of our players and understanding what we are trying to do from a scheme standpoint. We had a new quarterback, we have some new wide receivers, we have a different combination of offensive linemen in there. And again, I think our offensive line for the most part in the first three games has done a pretty good job of protecting our passer against some pretty good pass-rush situations. Our quarterback is feeling very good about the timing of the passing game/. You see him getting the ball out of his hands quicker, and starting to see things better. And we are making plays with the ball in our hands. Garrett is doing a good job at advancing the ball, Idris did a good job the other night at advancing the ball Our backs have become more involved in the passing game, and that is one of the things we wanted to do coming into the season - to involve those guys more in the passing game."
How has offensive line matured? "I think you are starting to see the chemistry with those five guys. They are playing together extremely well right now. There is no unit on the offense or defense or special teams that has to play with the synchronization, like an offensive line does, because of all the combinations you're going to see, all the twists, all the fronts, all the blitzes and the communication. There is so much communication, there is so much working together that goes into that, there is no more complicated meeting than an offensive line meeting."
