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Coach Todd Graham Provides Weekly Analysis of TU Football
9/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 27, 2010
TULSA, Okla. - University of Tulsa head football coach Todd Graham gives his weekly analysis of the previous game and the week ahead in his Monday morning press conference.
Opening statement:
It was good to get a win on Saturday. I was really proud of our guys. We challenged our guys for the leadership to step up and take charge of their team. After looking at the film, I really felt like our guys played harder than in any other game so far this season. Now we start conference play and we've got Memphis. I know Coach (Larry) Porter really well and I have a lot of respect for him. I know several of the guys on their staff. I know Eric Price is a great offensive coordinator. We've gone against him several times before when he was an offensive coordinator at UTEP. I'm very impressed with Memphis, and I believe they've done a good job of recruiting. They have an athletic and big football team. Their offensive line is huge. Defensively, they have linebackers that are 240, 250 pounds. They started off at Mississippi State, and they turned the football over and had some bad things happen. But they played very hard in that game. They came back and beat Middle Tennessee, and then this last week they went out to UTEP and played unbelievable defense. They have an impressive defense. To hold that bunch, with (Donald) Buckram and (Trevor) Vittatoe to 16 points is pretty impressive. They're improved from last year, and it's obvious that there is a lot of passion and energy. It's always tough to play on the road in this conference, but we have to figure out how to go down there and get a win.
How big a victory was this past Saturday for this football team?
It was a win we needed to get. It was a game we should have won and we did. They had a very good team. The defensive end is probably as good a defensive end as we played against all year. They had some quality skill players. The quarterback getting hurt in the first half hurt them a lot. We divide the season off in four-game segments. Now we're starting conference play in our second set of four. It's very hard to go on the road in conference play, but we have to do it. We lost in the last few seconds at East Carolina, which puts us one behind right now, so we have to go to Memphis and try to get a win.
This rivalry with Memphis is big, with two of the last three games going to overtime.
They have phenomenal athletes and they're going to be similar in their approach. They are going to run the football and use the play-action pass. They have a ball-control offense. They have three tall wideouts. They always have great athletes at their skill positions and you can tell they are playing better and better each week. I've been out to El Paso a lot and for Memphis to go out there and play like they did against UTEP shows they have a good football team.
Can you talk about the job that Coach Porter has done in rebuilding things?
I've looked at them and a lot of Tulane on film, and all of the teams are getting better because we have a lot of good coaches in this league. Coach Porter is a tremendous recruiter and has a great staff. You can tell the kids are playing with a lot of excitement. They came up short last week, but you can tell they are getting better. They are playing a lot more disciplined. That's the biggest thing I can tell, they are more disciplined in all three phases.
Can you talk about Jamon Hughes at LB for them?
Hughes is second or third in the conference in tackles, and Frank Trotter is very active up front. They are big, physical, active guys. Hughes is a big-time playmaker. He's a very powerful guy.
Memphis' offense, under freshman quarterback Ryan Williams, seems to be going through growing pains.
He's 6-6, a 225-pound guy. I was surprised when I looked and saw that he was a freshman. He throws the ball really well. He played a little against Mississippi State. They turned the ball over a little bit and Mississippi State put a little pressure on them. But he's grown. Each week, you can see how much he's grown. It's always a process getting installed what you want to run. They have two quality running backs up front and they're taking pressure off him. He is going to be a very good quarterback. It's always nice to have a guy with that size, arm strength and accuracy, plus receivers like Jermaine McKenzie and Marcus Rucker. They are vertical threats both down the field and in the intermediate routes. They can catch the ball on top of people.
Have you evaluated sophomore safety Dexter McCoil's play from Saturday?
Dexter is fourth on our board in terms of productivity as a player, and he has only played in a total of one full game over the course of the first four. It helped a great deal to have him out there. He's had two interceptions and has only played half the time, which goes back to his experience. He's had a year under his belt. He's pretty critical to us, as well as (senior) Charles Davis. Our depth allowed us to move Charles to cornerback this past week. When we have John Flanders and Davis and Dexter, it gives you guys with experience and it helps (true freshman) Marco (Nelson). I thought he was steady this week and didn't make the errors he's made in the past. I think we're improving in the back end. I feel good about Dexter's role.
You started with two deep safeties. Does that represent a change in philosophy?
We played two-deep safeties every down and then we roll to the coverages. It's basically what we do. There's been times we made some mistakes. We're going to be a team that challenges the receivers. We're going to play a lot of press coverages on the corners. We're modifying and adjusting things. How you deploy and lineup has a lot to do with how the offense lines up. (UCA's) formation and structure was a lot different than a lot of the teams we've played. We played a lot of roll coverage and rolled guys down. We always line up with two deep safeties and deploy from there.
You had a lot of passes in the flat and let playmakers make plays without a lot of vertical shots. Are we going to see more long shots as the season progresses?
I sure hope so. Coach (Chad) Morris is doing an outstanding job of understanding what we have to do to win games. It's not just about offense. There's a lot more things involved there. We have a young defense that we're trying to bring along. The most impressive thing is how balanced we are. We have 167 passes and 164 runs. We're one of the best in the country in running the football and in both scoring and total offense. I felt like we didn't play as well up front as we did in the first three ball games. We have to continue to get better there because as we move forward, the competition is only going to get better. We've played some really quality teams to this point, but I think the key for us is to hit the big play once in awhile because it's very difficult to drive the ball 15 plays and score every time. The thing I like about our team right now is the chemistry. I think Coach Morris has brought that. I'm a big relationship guy and it's been a seamless transition, while also improving our chemistry. When I was the defensive coordinator, I'm not going to tell you I was real worried about what the offense was doing. I was always so focused on what we were doing. He's been an unbelievable addition to our staff and been a tremendous leader. He's very smart. He has brought different things and has been very adaptive to the skills that our guys have. He's really tied in and those offensive guys really care about what is happening on defense. He's helped bring that together. His relationship with Coach (Keith) Patterson and Coach (Paul) Randolph is different. I've worked at places where I never talked to the offensive coordinator. I'm proud of what he's done. Our special teams have gone unnoticed. (Junior placekicker) Kevin Fitzpatrick and (senior punter) Michael Such have done a tremendous job. We have eight guys starting on our kickoff cover that are true freshmen, and I'm very proud of that bunch. Our special teams have been a strong point for us. Coach (Bill) Blankenship has been great for us. Coach Blankenship has overseen special teams in the past, but this year we have all of our coaches involved. Coach Patterson is doing kickoff cover, Coach (Van) Malone is doing (punts), Blankenship does the kickoff return and oversees all of it. It's an area we wanted to improve and now it's a big strength for us. Offense has also been a big strength for us. We just can't turn the football over.
This is an important three-game stretch for your football team - Memphis, SMU, Tulane.
No question at all. The most important thing about this three-game stretch is to be 1-0 after this first week. These guys have a physical team. The Memphis coaches come from the SEC and you can tell that Coach Porter is trying to instill that style of play in his players and they are playing very physical football. We have to go in and take care of the football. They are forcing turnovers and errors. We have to make sure that we don't hurt ourselves by turning the football over and making stupid penalties.
What can Alex Singleton's performance last Saturday do for his confidence?
He has really matured. He's a big, strong guy that could have gone to the SEC. He was a guy that was highly recruited out of high school. He's just now starting to understand how strong he really is. I think he's matured a lot and is becoming a dominant back. His role will get bigger each week as he improves and understands our system. I was also proud of Jamad (Williams) moving back to running back. Coach Morris came to me and said he needed him back, so we moved him back over there. Trey (Watts) needed to be spelled a little bit. Jamad will still see action on third down as a defensive back. We still need him on defense, but I thought he made some good plays. I also thought the play that Trey Watts made on the screen pass was phenomenal. I think Willie Carter is playing an important role. He's a big-play guy and probably the fastest guy on our team. Alex is a big-play guy and is probably going to get the ball more.
It's hard to read Alex because he's not surprised by his success and doesn't want to toot his own horn.
He's really a down-to-earth kid who loves teammates. He has a special grandma and mom. He's family-oriented and a quiet guy. We gave him the game ball after the game and he didn't want it. He gave it to the offensive line. That's the kind of guy that he is.
Are you proud of G.J., with the way he redeemed himself after the 6-yard punt with a punt that pinned UCA at the 1-yard line?
He's really good at punting the ball deep in the opponent's territory. He kicks it inside the five-yard line every day at practice. We'll probably continue to use (the quarterback punting), but probably not as much. We've done that with all of our quarterbacks. I said I'd never (let G.J. punt) his first one, but he did a great job.
What did you see on film of the 28-yard screen touchdown pass by Trey Watts?
We didn't get a body on the pass rusher. He actually hit G.J.'s arm and we were lucky to even catch the pass. We got beat around the corner. No. 8 for Central Arkansas probably put as much pressure on us then anyone has all year long. I think some of that was we didn't play as well. Clint Anderson and Tyler Holmes have been unbelievable through four games. Trent Dupy has had a good start to the season. Brandon Thomas had played great up until this game. Stetson (Burnett) and Brandon weren't as good as they'd been Saturday, but our offensive line has given up four sacks all year. One stat they should have is quarterback pressures. A lot of people don't give up sacks, but if you're pressuring the quarterback, you're forcing errors. We gave up too much pressure on the quarterback in the last game. That's what I saw on that play in the last game. It was great extra-effort blocking downfield by the. They opened it up downfield and it was an incredible run. Trey Watts is doing a great job for us. I'm really proud of him. (G.J.)'s hand was hit, that's why the ball went like that.
Is the injury to Charles Davis making him questionable for Saturday?
There's a chance we'll have him back this week, but it's questionable. It's not a serious injury that will keep him out for an extended period of time.
