TU Coach Todd Graham Previews Notre Dame Matchup
10/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 25, 2010
TULSA, Okla. -Tulsa head football coach Todd Graham sat down with the media to discuss how his team has been handling the bye week and how the Golden Hurricane is preparing for its non-conference tilt with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Opening statement
This is an exciting week for our players coming off a bye week. The bye week came at the right time. We needed to get some guys healed up. We did really good work last week and we're looking forward to this week, going to South Bend and competing against a very good Notre Dame team. They are coming off a tough loss to Navy and they'll be extremely motivated to get back on the field. They have a very good offensive football team. On the offensive side, going into the Navy game, they were eighth in the country passing the football. They had a lot of their best players not playing against Navy. (Michael) Floyd and (Theo) Riddick are probably two of the best receivers in the country. Losing the tight end has hurt them as well. They are a very good offensive football team. They're very big. It will be the biggest team that we played to this point and it will be very physical. Defensively, they have been very good against the run. Last week against Navy, it is a tough indication because you are playing the triple option and the things that they do are so different than anyone else in the country. They have had a very good run defense and have one of the best linebackers in the country. They are big and physical up front. They are very well-coached. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Brian) Kelly. When I was at West Virginia, I was very familiar with him at Cincinnati. They are well-coached in the kicking game. Their coverage teams are very solid. Up until the Navy game, they'd lost two games that they should have won. I think they are a very good football team.
On making sure the team doesn't get overwhelmed with playing a team like Notre Dame:
The good thing is that I've been there before when I was at West Virginia. It's a real special place. We're approaching it like we have two parts left to our season. We have a one-shot deal at Notre Dame and then four critical conference games. The way our conference is going, like it does every year, it's going to come down to the end. That final stretch is big for us. We're still in the thick of things. We're approaching it as this deal with Notre Dame is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to get a chance to go to South Bend. We're going there to compete to win. We're going to go through our normal routine. I don't like to change much. I am going to go by the College Football Hall of Fame. Some of these kids might not have the opportunity to do that again. We did that when I was at West Virginia and I thought it was real nice and a neat deal for our kids. I love college football. I'm a history guy. You see the building that it is here. I have a lot of respect for that. And I have a lot of respect for (Notre Dame's) program. We'll do that and take in as much as we can for an experience standpoint, but be really focused on the game. The key to the game for us is to win the turnover battle. We can't fall behind early and avoid the explosive plays. I think Floyd will play. That hurt them tremendously not having him last week because he's a big-time explosive player. Offensively, we have to take care of the football. We have an offense that we have a lot of confidence in that can move the football. We have to score and we can't get behind early. That's the key for us. You'll have 81,000 people there. Our guys have been in that type of environment before. I think they're excited about the opportunity. They're anxious to get out and get another opportunity to play a BCS opponent. Hopefully we'll have a different result.
On the reward of playing a team like Notre Dame:
The reward of a win would be tremendous. We've talked about what a win like this would mean. We want to compete for conference championships, but we need to take the next step, which is to beat a BCS opponent. To beat one that has the reputation that they have, it would be the biggest of my tenure here. It would be huge to win this game. We know we're going to play our very best game to do that. It would mean a lot.
On slowing down Notre Dame's explosive offense:
That's the key for us. That's the key to the whole game. When you look at the matchup, their offense can be explosive. They have some really good players that can hit home runs against you. That's what they did against Western Michigan. They hit the first play for a big touchdown. What we have to do is be productive early and not fall behind. That's what has happened to us. You look at the Oklahoma State game, we go three-and-out and turn the football over. Then we struggle and give them short fields, and pretty soon you're down 17 points quick. We can't give up cheap ones. I imagine they'll be attacking us down the field. We have to make some plays. We have to impact the quarterback. But the key is just to keep the crowd out of it and not get overwhelmed quickly. If you can look up at halftime and you're within striking distance, that's where you want to be.
On the anticipation leading up to the game:
We played Miami when I was at West Virginia, and they ended up winning a national championship and were No. 1 at the time. This one is very unique and probably unique to have the opportunity to play them in a regular-season game. I feel like we're starting to play really good football. If we have some guys back, it would really help us. I think we have a chance to have some critical guys back that we haven't had. I think you prepare like any week. So much of this game is emotion and passion. You get into this last stretch and it's really not how you start but how you finish. You look back over the seven football games that we played and we real easily could be 6-1. On the same hand, you could probably go the other way with it, too. These last five games are going to be big for us and each week is huge. This game is special, there's no question. I'm not going to sit up here and say it's just another game. It's a really big game for our kids. This is a game that, if our guys can figure out some way to get out on top, they'll be talking about it for 50 years from now. You don't get to play in a lot of games like that. It's a special opportunity for The University of Tulsa. They have a very good football team. They're going to be very motivated. Navy is a very difficult team to play. They are very different, especially what they do offensively. Up until this point, I don't know if they allowed a 100-yard rusher this season before the Navy fullback had more than 200. They struggled with the veer and how to stop that. It's a big game for us when we go and play Oklahoma. To win one of those would be special, but outside of that when you go on the national stage and play Notre Dame, to be able to somehow get a win would be something that these kids will be telling their grandkids about.
On if Navy losing to Notre Dame would have been better for TU:
Navy is a tough opponent. Trying to get ready for them in three days is very difficult. I think they're going to be pretty motivated. They're a good football team and the coach has them going in the right direction. I'd imagine they'll be focused on themselves and not on us. They're focused on their fundamentals and getting better and making corrections that they have to make.
On if Notre Dame will be even more upset after having lost to Navy:
Yes, they'll be motivated, probably more than if they would have beaten Navy. They'd be on a four-game winning streak if they would have beaten them. I can tell you that I wouldn't want to play Navy right now because you look at the nature of what they do. I remember playing Navy in 2004 and we had six people hurt and the guys that weren't hurt were beat up. Their legs ... they're going to cut you 100 times in one game. Navy has more BCS wins than any other non-BCS team in the country. Navy and Utah may be tied. It's a tough opponent to play. There's good and bad to playing Navy before us. Notre Dame is going to be focused on what they're doing. For us, the biggest thing is not to be sluggish. The biggest thing about a bye week is that many people think it really helps you, but sometimes it doesn't. If you look at the winning percentages, there's not a correlation of having an advantage on a bye week. Sometimes you tend to do too much. What we have to do is we have to go out and play our best football game to win this game.
On Notre Dame narrowly losing to Michigan State:
They should have beat Michigan State and probably should have beat my good friend Rich (Rodriguez) at Michigan. They had an opportunity to win that game. Their Michigan game was much like our SMU game and their Michigan State game was much like our East Carolina game. They've had some similar fates and misfortune. They are a very good football team. We know we have to play the very best game that we've played this year if we want to go into South Bend and win.
On if Tulsa will run more option this week:
We're going to run the veer. We've brought Jamelle Holieway out this week and see if he can teach us to run the veer. I don't watch many other games, but I did watch (Navy-Notre Dame) and that may be one of the most impressive efforts by a football team that I've seen in a long time. Their staff at Navy did a tremendous job with the passion that their kids play. We actually talked to our kids about that, even though our offenses are so different from us, our players sat and watched the Navy game. I wanted them to watch. This is the kind of emotion and passion that you have to play with. (Notre Dame) could be up two touchdowns against Navy. Navy played their best football game, and that's what we have to do. We have to sustain that for 60 minutes. We can't give up cheap (scores). The games where they had a lot of success is when they get cheap touchdowns. That's going to be the key for us defensively. We're hoping to have Charles Davis back. That will help us a lot in the back end. And then hopefully we'll have Odrick Ray back and that would help us impact the quarterback.
On how the wide receiver-quarterback combo is similar to that of Oklahoma State:
I felt better each week when I've watched Weeden-to-Blackmon against everyone else. I think Blackmon is really special. Notre Dame has a quarterback that I think is a big-time NFL quarterback. He's 6-4, 240 and can throw it. Floyd not being in there last week was huge. The one player that's tough is Riddick. Those guys are as good as there are in the country. Floyd, I would presume, would be a very high first-round pick. We have to figure out how to handle that because you have to stop the run, too. They have a very good balanced attack; the key is not giving up cheap ones.
On how the Oklahoma State game helped the preparation for the Notre Dame game:
I don't mind telling you that we went into the Oklahoma State game and, if I had to play that one over again, I would have dropped a guy out of the box earlier. But we were playing against what I thought was one of the top two running backs in the country. They had a three-back set. They ran the ball all over the people in the first few games. We were going to challenge them up front and probably underestimated at the time how good (Blackmon) was. I thought we could press him. I definitely would have taken a lot less chances early. We played off a lot last year and it was like dying a slow death. Blackmon could get off press coverage and we got burned early. I would change how we played that, but we would have given up rushing yards. We're going to challenge people. That's why it's a process to get better. I think we've gotten better every week. We were exposed in that game and just got hit with four quick ones and we got behind early. At some point, you can run but you can't hit and you have to challenge. We have to pick and choose our spots. We probably will have a different look than what we had early against Oklahoma State.
On guys like Charles Clay and Damaris Johnson setting TU records against Notre Dame:
That would be great because it means we're having a productive game. We're going to have to score points, especially on the road. Charles, being a senior, has been special to us. He's having a tremendous year and has stepped up in the last game. I thought he had his best game (against Tulane). The Arkansas game was his best game up until that point. I really felt like, from a blocking standpoint, he had a complete game and stepped up. Damaris and Charles have to have great games. I think the kicking games are going to be critical. Damaris is definitely a big factor there. I'd be thrilled for them to do that.
On not letting Notre Dame wear them down:
I think that's an issue. One of the things is they are a team that runs the no-huddle. They are going to go fast. That's how they start the game and he wants to go faster than they are going. We have to really look at that. The key for us is, as much as we can, keep the ball away from their offense. This will be the biggest offensive line that we've played. We do have some guys that rotate up front, so we have a little bit of depth there, but our linebackers and defensive backs have to play every snap. We have to do a good job of being able to run the football on offense and somewhat control how many snaps we have on defense. If they have 75-80 plays, it's not going to be good because you are going to get worn down toward the end. Our whole goal is to play between 65-70. If we keep it below 70, we'll be in good shape. Last week, we scored on explosive plays. We played 92 plays on defense and held them to 24 points. We have to be aware of how many snaps we played on defense. That's going to be critical.
On the availability of sophomore quarterback Shavodrick Beaver:
It's day-to-day with him. We don't talk about specific (injuries), but we're hoping to have him back. He's going to be questionable.
On the availability of senior Odrick Ray, and the play of freshman Shawn Jackson:
We're really proud of how Shawn ha played. We use Odrick inside and outside and I'm fairly confident that we'll have him. I don't like saying we're sure, but he's a big factor for us. Shawn Jackson is a kid that I'm really proud of how he's come in and handled everything with playing as a freshman. At one time, we had four true freshmen out there. He's 10th in the league in TFLs and 20 or 30th in tackles. That's impressive because he is not a regular starter. He doesn't do anything but make plays. He needs to play more. We're excited about his development so far.
On having a bye right before a big game like Notre Dame:
I would probably rather play Notre Dame and then had a bye week before conference play. I don't really worry about it. I think it's going to be a dogfight every week. You look and see Tulane wins at UTEP, Houston goes to SMU and beats them. Rice beats Houston the week before; that's just Conference USA, especially the Western Division. That's the way that it is. The good thing about the last four games in our conference schedule is that three are at home and we've played good football here. We have a one-shot deal at Notre Dame and then we have our conference in a single-elimination tournament after that. I really believe that every week will come to the last drive because there's a lot of parity in our league. You have to bring it every single week. The key is to be peaking and keep getting better. I felt like the last game we played really well.
On what he considers as the signature win while at TU:
As a head coach, I'd say the BYU game. It would be the biggest win. We've had a lot in conference, maybe the Houston game in our first year. As far as being associated as the defensive coordinator, you'd have to say the conference championship game and the Liberty Bowl game. I think Notre Dame would be a step above that.
