Tulsa vs. UTEP
10/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
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UTEP Head Coach Mike Price
"I still have a lot of faith in our team and I was very pleased with our intensity, our effort. They got themselves excited to play, really good intensity. We matched their intensity. We hit and we matched their hitting. We hit them hard and got after it, and there were just some big plays that went their way in the second half that didn't go our way. They were blitzing us and got to us after awhile. Then we were having to pass and got into that mode and tried to do that every down. We struggled in the second half.""Obviously I think the pass and the interception for the touchdown was the turning point in the game. We weren't able to stop them probably again, like happened to us at Houston."
"If we hadn't had that pick and we maybe would have kicked the field goal instead of fake it, we might have been in that game."
"Second and 25 and they run the screen pass. A normal screen pass that was very well executed. They block down field real well on their screens anyway, going into this game it was just something that probably shouldn't happen. The great catch the kid made on the sidelines on Fleskoski. That was a great play by them. The interception for a touchdown was a great play, because we missed the block and Jordan [Palmer] got hit as he was throwing and he threw it behind the guy. The kid made a pretty good break on the ball and caught it full stride. They made some big plays where we, other than the one pass to Johnnie [Higgins], didn't have many big plays on our side and that can happen."
Tulsa Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe
Opening Statement:
"I thought it was a great effort tonight to come back the way we did. Our defense played exceptionally well. I though our defense played well all night. I thought Jarod Tracy did an awesome job of kicking the ball, all three of those field goals were right down the pipe. He did an excellent job of banging the ball. Again our defense really stepped up and made some plays. Chris Chamberlain steps up and makes a huge interception return for a touchdown which ignited the crowd. I thought the crowd was awesome. We had over 28,000 fans here on a Friday night. It was a great atmosphere and they certainly helped us. It was loud on the field on a number of occasions and I thought that helped our defense in terms of being able to minimize their ability to throw the ball down field with the pass rush. It was kind of a sloppy game for us offensively at various points in time in the second and third quarter. But we had a big defining drive to take it down and score after Chris' interception for a touchdown to make it a two score game and at that point in time I felt that the way our defense was playing it would be hard for them to come back.
What was the message you had at halftime being down?
We've been down before. It was only a seven point differential at that time. We weren't worried. We had played sub-par on offense early in the game, but we knew we could come back. We got banged up there a little bit offensively so we had to find ways to fabricate yardage. Paul did a good job off keeping some plays alive and Courtney ran the ball real strong, and again I thought the offensive line much like the rest of the season got going in the fourth quarter and dominated the game at that point in time.
Tulsa Player Quotes:
Alain KaratepeyanOffense was struggling in the first half and defense had to step it up, any satisfaction in that.
"We schemed them all week long in practice and then we saw them doing in the game exactly what we saw them doing all week long in practice."
Does the defense get a kick out of scoring touchdowns?
"For a defense to score a touchdown is very rare to do and when we had that first opportunity to score we took it and celebrated."
What about the strength of the team now?
"This is a team of chemistry. We know how to play together. We know each other, our strengths and weaknesses. Basically how to play together."
Is it good to get this game out of the way?
"Coach Kragthorpe always says to take one game at time. You have to finish the game and that's what we do."
Your play on the interception...
"Coach called my number, he always says look out for everybody. If your number is called make a play."
Satisfaction after last years disappointment in El Paso...
"It wasn't much of a factor coming in as my first year but it was a big win. Its just another game for us."
Feeling after hitting Palmer...
"After I made that hit and heard the crowd screaming it was just, I knew something was going good. I turned around and I saw Chris [Chamberlain] running into the endzone. I just went crazy and Coach Patterson tried to tackle me."
Fake field goal...
"I was at the backside of that play. We had a block left, which was on my side. As soon as I came in I held up the tight end and I looked back behind him and I saw the kicker run with it. Then all I saw was Chris Chamberlain chasing it down."
Jarod Tracy
Playing on national TV...
"It may add to the excitement. I don't really feel the pressure or nervousness I guess. I was just out there having fun and I made a couple of kicks."
Paul Smith
"Coach Kragthorpe, as he has already mentioned, he told us pre-game `just find a way to win.' It was going to be a tough battle, it's been a tough battle with them all four years that I have been here. We knew what we were in for. We knew that we were favored a little bit but, that doesn't mean anything, they are a great team. We found a way to win, in all three phases."
