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Todd Graham Press Conference Quotes
12/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 1, 2008
Tulsa, Oklahoma -
Todd Graham PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
OPENING STATEMENT:
We're very, very excited to be sitting here today and host the Conference USA championship. I reflect back, and Bubba and I have had several conversations, on just how important we thought this was to get this championship game here in this city and with the new renovation of the stadium this year. It was at the top of our list. I know we spoke before the year.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Fulton Collins (Chairman of the TU Board of Trustees who died in August). I remember the last conversation that I had with him was that this is a city that supports this university and supports our program. It's going to be an unbelievable event to have it here, especially with all the things that's happened during the last few years at our university and the great support we have in this community. We're awfully excited to have the opportunity to host the game and we're looking forward to Saturday.
I'd encourage all of our fans. In saying that, we need a great homefield advantage in this game. This is an opportunity for us to show the country was our city is about and what our university is about. We get an opportunity to host this. I reflect on last year and going out to Orlando and just how tough of an atmosphere that was for us to play in there at Bright House Networks Stadium. I know that Chapman Stadium is going to be rocking. We need our fans out and we need to pack this thing and then some. We need a 12th man out there for our defense on Saturday.
Our goal is to be Conference USA champions. We're excited to be in the game, but our goal is to win it and be champions. I'd also like to congratulate East Carolina and Coach (Skip) Holtz. Those guys have done a great job. I think this is a match-up of the two best teams in our conference, and two teams that are very explosive. There's going to be some great players on the field. So it should be an exciting game to watch. I'd encourage everyone to come out and support. You will be entertained at Chapman Stadium.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE? HOW COMFORTABLE IS YOUR TEAM PLAYING IN THIS STADIUM?
We're very comfortable. It's been an unbelievable transformation. The unbelievable support that we've had here, the leadership, our administration has made this happen. Our alumni and boosters have created what I think is one of the most unique venues in college football. It's an opportunity for us to show it off this weekend in a big-time game on national television. Our guys are extremely comfortable here. We practice here every day. We've won 10 in a row here. We do that with the help of our fans. We need a great support from them this week.
EAST CAROLINA'S DEFENSE, ESPECIALLY THEIR FRONT FOUR, IS PRETTY SPECIAL. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THEIR DEFENSE?
The strength of their team is their defensive line. Probably Arkansas and ECU have the two best defensive lines that we've played against all year long. We have to do a great job up front. In a game like this, it's the team that creates turnovers and has the least amount of mistakes that will be successful. This game will be won or lost up front. They have a tremendous front four that's great at pressuring the quarterback. They're third in the conference in quarterback sacks. We're first in the conference in quarterback sacks. We do it a different way.
It's a very diverse match-up. It's a real interesting match-up. The East is different from the West schematically in just about every way, in offense, defense and special teams. I think the biggest match-up of the day is our offensive line being able to protect their quarterback against their defensive line. They're very explosive and very big. They do a great job pressuring the quarterback. The No. 1 task for us is to not let those guys change the game.
DID MARSHALL DO ANYTHING (FOUR SACKS, SIX HURRIES) DIFFERENT THAN YOU EXPECTED?
They pressured a lot more than we anticipated. They played very hard for Coach (Mark) Snyder. I was very impressed. They play very well at home. We had to fight down the stretch. Our guys, we have championship cEAST CAROLINA GOT OFF TO A FANTASTIC START AND STUMBLED. YOU GUYS GOT OFF TO A SIMILAR START YOURSELVES. ARE THESE TEAMS SIMILAR? Both teams have had outstanding years. You look at college football, there's 15 teams in the country that have won 10 games or more and anytime you can be mentioned in that breath, you've had an outstanding year to this point. But this university and this program is about winning championships. Our focus is to win on Saturday. Coach Holtz and them started off unbelievably in beating West Virginia and Virginia Tech. They have a tremendous, well-coached football team. I do think, in my opinion, the two best teams in our conference are going at it this Saturday.
EAST CAROLINA HAS WON THREE GAMES IN OVERTIME. AS A COACH, WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU ABOUT THEM?
I'm very familiar with their coaching staff. I have a lot of respect for their coordinators. Coach Holtz does a great job and runs a great program. They've played in a lot more close games than we played in. The key for us and the advantage that we have and we have to make sure is hitting all cylinders is this crowd. I challenge them to be fired up and on their feet. When we're on defense, on every third down, I want them screaming ... we have to have that because this game is going to boil down to defense. We have to play great defense this weekend to be successful.
Both teams have great skill players. When you look at their receivers and running backs, you see great athletes. They have great athletes on their defense. There will be a lot of speed out on that field. It will be exciting to watch. There will be some big, explosive plays. That's what I anticipate.
TULSA'S OVERALL SUCCESS IN CONF USA OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS?
You can drive around on campus and look at just the six years I've been at this university and see the remarkable change that the administration brought here. From where our students live to all the different improvements we've made in facilities and being a top 100 academic institution in the country and competing at the highest level of intercollegiate sports ... it's not just football. We talk about winning championships. We've been the best at doing that in our conference, whether it be football, volleyball or basketball. It's been remarkable, the quality of student-athletes that we have here.
It's a special place. It's the smallest Division I in the country. Our teachers know the kids by their first name. The type of education that they receive here is second to none. And to be winning championships speaks volumes about the leadership at this university in the last six years. Where we were six years ago, it's nowhere near that. It's awesome to see that.
That's what is exciting about being able to host. Not only for Conference USA, but the country. They get to come to this university and see how special it is.
IT SEEMS TO BE A RECURRING THEM HERE, WHEN SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS, YOU FIND A WAY TO FIGHT BACK INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
When the fight gets going, that's when we like it. When you get knocked down ... to me, how you respond is critical. I've been fortunate enough to have a mom that taught me that. You find out what you're made of. There was no flinch in this program. We were disappointed, but we were motivated to get up off the ground and do what we were supposed to do. We're not finished yet. We have a major challenge on Saturday. Our No. 1 goal is to win a Conference USA championship and bring this game here. I know our guys are focused on doing that and are going to play their hearts out on Saturday.
YOU HAD A PRETTY BAD THREE WEEKS BY ANY MEASUREMENT, BUT YOU WERE SAYING IT WASN'T OVER.
There's no substitute for experience. We'd never been 8-0 before. We'll be better at handling it next time. We faced a setback and probably didn't respond like we needed to. On the same hand, we were in this position in 2005. I remember walking into the locker room across the street and saying we were going to win the next (two) and UTEP is going to lose the next (two). We're going to be in the championship, win it and go beat Fresno in the Liberty Bowl. You have to just stay the course.
I can tell you I'd like to have those two games back. You have to stay the course on what the plan in. We deviated from the plan a little bit there and that caused us the setback. But we got back on the plan. As a leader and a player and a program, I think that's the key. We have great character here. That's the foundation of our program. Our administration here, that's a given. We're going to have young men that represent our university on the field, in the classroom and in the community in a first-class manner, period. That's how we win here. It's real simple. We came here six years ago and we recruited young men that do what you ask them to do the first time you ask them to do it. That discipline and the character that we have comes out and you see that's how we responded. They got knocked down, but they've been there before. I felt like you can't worry about other things. You worry about what's in front of you. We finished 7-1 in the conference and 10-2. That's not a bad season. But we're not satisfied with that. We've learned a lot along the way. We want to finish the race. To me, we're proud to be Western Division champs for the third time of the last four years, but we're focused on being Conference USA champions. That comes Saturday. We can't have a better opportunity to have it in our home stadium and our home crowd. It's a special opportunity.
YOU HAVE SENIORS THAT HAVE PLAYED AND WON IN THIS GAME. DO YOU DELVE ON THAT EXPERIENCE?
We talked about it last night at the end of our workout. I've had those guys, they'll be talking about what that means and how you go about winning that game. This will be a hard-fought contest. It's not going to be a walk in the park. It'll go down to the wire. It'll be a game that's a very physical football game. Experience does help. We have a positive experience in 2005 and a not-so positive experience last year. We have exactly the setting that we want and I think our guys will respond in a big-time way. Our guys will play their hearts out. We're definitely calling on that experience.
The key to the game is not beating ourselves. We have to take care of the football and play defense. The team that does that will win.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
You better buy tickets in a hurry, because they'll go fast. What an opportunity it is and how proud we are to bring this game to this city. It's an opportunity to showcase the city and bring the conference championship here ... all the great people that have been so giving to our university ... to open this stadium and play the conference championship game on this field ... we need to win it. To do that, we need this place to be packed with our fans - and standing up and cheering on third down.
