Post-Game Quotes
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 27, 2008
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Tulsa vs. Central Arkansas September 27, 2008 Post-Game Quotes
Tulsa Head Coach Todd Graham
"I'm glad that one is past me. We are excited about being 4-0, and I'm really proud of our offense tonight. They were very consistent except for the two turnovers. We had 100-percent ball security the first two weeks and then the last two weeks we have had two turnovers in each game."
On defensive performance...
"Defensively, I'm real disappointed on our mental focus and the fact that we gave up way too many big plays. I give those guys some credit. I told them their quarterback was a very good player, but you can slice it up any way you want - we did not play very good defensively. We talk about having a mental focus and a mental maturity so that we are not up and down all the time. We need to get up every single week, because we played down to their level tonight."
"We were definitely not ready to play defensively and we did a poor job preparing them as coaches. "
On being prepared for Central Arkansas...
"It's hard because you see Oregon State beat USC this week and you do everything you can imagine to tell the guys you have to get ready to play. Every team has guys who can make plays. They have a quarterback who is ranked as one of the top-10 quarterbacks for the NFL, and their tight end is an outstanding player. They had some good receivers who made big plays tonight, but it was mostly us who made the mistakes. We had more critical errors and busted assignments in this game than we have had all season, but we won and we are right where we want to be at 4-0."
On playing Rice next week...
"I think this game is going to be a pivotal game in the Western Division. I think Rice has a very good football team and a great offense. We better get ready to play defensively and I think our guys are going to do that. They have a very good quarterback and skill players. I know them very well and they will come in here ready to play."
"We have a lot of momentum right now. Our kids expect to win and they rallied when we asked them to tonight."
Tulsa Player Post-Game Quotes
Tulsa senior running back Tarrion Adams
On eclipsing 2,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving . . .
"Actually, I am just now aware of that. Personally it is a great achievement, but I need to contribute it to the team. The more success I have individually it makes the team that much better. I am a team guy and anything that helps the team I am all for it. I would like to give a lot of thanks to my offensive line. They opened a lot holes tonight. There are a lot of things I didn't have to work extremely hard for. Everything was just kind of there. So I would like to give thanks to those five guys."
On the holes and how it helped your performance tonight to get back to another 100 yard performance . . .
"It was key. That was something that we stressed all week, the running game. That was something we perfected tonight. I am proud. I am proud of the guys up front because they came out and really played well. They have been challenged all week and the coaches have been on them hard about our run game. They came out and opened all the holes."
Tulsa senior wide receiver Brennan Marion
On having more rushing yards than receiving yards . . .
"We just took what they gave us. They had two safeties back their playing cover two so the running game was wide open and the offensive line blocked well. Tarrion (Adams), Jamad (Williams) and Charlie O'(Opeseyitan) got the job done."
Tulsa sophomore linebacker Tanner Antle
On the complexity of the UCA offense:
"Compared to what we are used to seeing in our practices it was real simple. It just comes down to our mindset. At the start of the game it just wasn't right. A win is a win and we will take a win every week. We just need to come out and get better every week."
Central Arkansas Head Coach Clint Conque
Thoughts on the game
"Their offensive line locked us up. We weren't able to get off blocks. They really stretched out our linebackers. They kept us off balance there. The trick plays with their smoke and mirror offense got us out of position a couple of times. I was really proud of how our team competed. I think we came in here wanting to win. I think we handled ourselves with class. I think we represented our university extremely well. I am disappointed we lost, we came here to win."
Thoughts on the fake punt on the first possession of the 2nd half .... " We ended up three yards short. If the runner cuts back off his block we probably have it. We play to win. We were aggressive. I think we went for another fourth down after that. The thought process behind that was we haven't stopped them virtually and we needed our possessions on offense.
Thoughts on the play of quarterback Nathan Brown...
"Brownie played very courageous. I think on the offensive side of the ball we did some very positive things. The kids on defense made some mistakes but they didn't stop competing, which is importing for me to see at the end of the game. I think Nathan Brown tonight proved he is one of the best quarterbacks in college football with his performance."
How Tulsa changed their defense in the 2nd half...
" They brought some more blitzes in the 2nd half. When you do that its hit and miss you know they blitz and we through the screen and we score a touchdown. So it's live by the sword die by the sword."
On his team's performance in the 2nd half...
On Tulsa throwing the ball late in the game...
"I thought our team came out on point. We just ran out of gas. Our tackling deteriorated in the 2nd half. Their offensive line took over with their size and we couldn't get off blocks. We couldn't convert some third downs and in the redzone kept us from getting it closer."
" You are throwing the ball with 15 seconds left, we are going to conduct our program with class. We run our program for the growth of young people. We think it is important to teach them values on and off the field, things that are right and we don't perceive to be right. Give Tulsa credit they beat us tonight and we move on."
On this game helping his team's confidence as the season continues...
"I think offensively it is going to give us a tremendous amount of confidence. I think defensively there are some things. Defensively we were outmanned tonight and we have to back and find the positive things we did tonight and build on those and correct the others.
