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Blankenship Holds Weekly Press Conference
8/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 29, 2011
TULSA, Okla. - TU head football coach Bill Blankenship sat down with the local media and discussed the season opener against No. 1 Oklahoma, which will be played in Norman at 7 p.m. Sept. 3.
Opening statement
Welcome to game week. This is an exciting week to be on the countdown to Oklahoma. Our players have done a great job last week and continuing in our game plan preparations. Last night, we held a mock game where we went through all the situations in practice to prepare ourselves for opening day in Norman.
We also elected captains. I'd like to announce our captains for this year. Our offensive captains will be G.J. Kinne and Clint Anderson. Our defensive captains elected by the team are Curnelius Arnick and Tyrunn Walker. Our special teams captain is Milton Howell. Those five gentlemen will represent us as captains for the team.
Let me go ahead and address this. I'm sure there is going to be some interest. There have been no changes in the status for Damaris Johnson. Anything beyond that would be speculation. There has been no change in the information we have in this point and going forward he will remain suspended indefinitely.
How does that big-play ability change your mindset for Saturday?
We've talked about this. We approach it as a coaching staff and as a team no different than if we have a guy blow a hamstring or break a toe. Those things happen in football and it is important as a team and a coaching staff that we move forward to the next guy. We have plans in place with receivers and returners to do the best we can do. I'm confident in the young men that we are going to put out there and the coaches that have prepared them.
As you prepare for OU, what do you have to do on both sides of the ball?
That's a loaded question in a sense that they are a very good football team. It has not been difficult because we've been distracted. The distractions have been minimal to our team and to our coaching staff in terms of all you have to do is put the film on and you get focused pretty quickly. It's a very good football team, but what we can do is control what we can do and we are focused on taking the best Tulsa team that we can take in.
Will you talk specifically about Ricky Johnson and Jordan James, guys that have to play and play well for you in Norman?
We're excited about our receiving corps. You mentioned Ricky Johnson. Ricky has had significant playing time over the last two years and he will continue to be a factor. Jordan James is a guy that came on out of spring and continues to show us that he has big-play ability. Thomas Roberson had a great week of practice and he is another veteran player. Then you sprinkle in our new guys. Bryan Burnham is not new, but I think he'll get on the scene very quickly this fall. He is a guy that had been a safety his first two years here and moved to receiver. He's going to do very well. You add to that some of the newcomers and the freshman corps and I think he'll do very well.
Those guys have been in the mix all fall. Literally, the big change is you take one guy out of the lineup and we have 7-8 receivers in the mix. One guy gets less and six guys get more.
Can you talk about Thomas Roberson? When did he come back full speed?
Thomas had some foot surgery back in the early summer or late spring. He was slowed down through the summer, but he has worked back. We tried to bring him back slow because he hadn't had the conditioning base through the summer like the other guys did, but he did very well this fall.
You've had talented freshmen emerge at wide receiver. Can you talk about Gary Owens and Keyarris Garrett?
Gary Owens is a lightning-in-a-bottle type guy with speed and change of direction. He's not a big guy. Keyarris Garrett gives you that 6-foot-3 matchup problem that can run. Both of those guys are still experiencing a learning curve of being in Division I college football as a freshman, but I think they are doing very well. We expect both to play and contribute as the season goes on and have a great year. They seem to be head and shoulders above the other freshmen that are here.
Will their roles be accelerated this week considering the circumstances?
I don't know if their circumstances would be much different otherwise. Maybe those opportunities would show up a little sooner. I think they will be a part of what's going on this week, but I don't expect them to have big roles. They will be a little isolated. When you look at what we did with Ja'Terian Douglas a year ago, we spotted him in situations where he had a specific role. That's what we are looking to do with Keyarris and Gary - limit what we ask them to do as true freshmen but get them ready to be able to make some plays and get some touches.
What will be the biggest question going into Saturday?
I think it will be how the veterans will play. If the veterans come in and play and do what we are able to do, we can make a good run at this. Where you get in trouble, again, is when we start trying to transfer everything over to Oklahoma and what they do. We can't control all of that. They are a very good football team. Our job is to execute. If we do a good job of doing what we do, then we have a shot to compete. Otherwise, the inexperienced guys are the inexperienced guys. They are not going to be the difference makers in this game. It is going to be the experienced guys that are the difference makers that we have to depend on in this game and I think they will.
What will it be like for a player like Trey Watts to play in that stadium, especially after his father (former OU star J.C. Watts) played there?
I'm sure it will be emotional. I'm sure it will be emotional for a lot of our Oklahoma kids. This is a school that they have grown up watching. Some of them were recruited there. Some of them were not. Some of them wanted to be recruited there. Those are always the issues when you go into Norman and play at OU. Most of the guys that we've talked to are excited about playing at OU.
You talked last week about there not being too much of a difference between your first game as a high school coach and this game. Will there still be butterflies?
I'm confident that they're will be butterflies and I'm confident that we'll be excited about it. We compared it to my first game at Eastwood when I'd never coached a game. The correlation loses a little bit ... it's not like the first game I've been in, but it's the first Division I head coaching experience and there's no short cut to experience. We're going to be nervous and excited. I'm sure four or five years from now, you are going to ask me about the opening game and I'm probably going to have some butterflies.
G.J. Kinne played his third game at OU. How different is he in Game 26?
That's why I keep going back to the veteran ball club that we have. Those guys that have been in the fire are why we are going to make a difference. That was Trent Dupy's second or third game to start as a true freshman. Brian DeShane was forced into the lineup with Tyler Holmes getting hurt. We were playing a lot of puppies two years ago. Those guys have logged a lot of games for us now. G.J. is radically different as an experienced quarterback rather than a guy in his second or third game than a guy that sat out for two seasons after high school. I'm pretty excited that I have that guy leading our troops.
Do you hope he doesn't try to do too much?
I hope he does way too much. I just hope he doesn't try to do too much. I know that's what you are asking. That's a little tongue in cheek. He has to play high and play at a high level because he is one of our playmakers. I don't want him to feel the pressure that he is the only guy out there. He still needs to be that point guard that we bragged on him about. We still need him to distribute the ball. We still have a lot of playmakers on the field and if he'll do a good job of doing that and still make plays himself, I think he'll play well.
Do all of your wide receivers know how to play each position?
For the most part, yes. They are interchangeable in terms of inside receiver and outside receiver. Those of you that follow Damaris enough know that he's been an inside receiver and an outside receiver. In some ways, not ever player that we have is a hybrid. Some are inside and some are outside. Not every receiver is interchangeable, but the top six are.
Who can fill in on the inside?
Jordan James does a great job at that. Thomas Roberson does a good job at that. Willie Carter gets left out a little bit because he is our hybrid. Ricky Johnson has played that for two years. He can play there.
Is this the best quarterback you will see this season (OU QB Landry Jones)?
He will be the best one we are going to see this week.
At media day, the confidence of your team was high about playing big schools after beating Notre Dame. Have you sensed that confidence level has changed at all?
Honestly no. I know that may be shocking to others. Our guys really believe in themselves and each other. They talked about it all summer. We know adversity was coming, we just didn't know what it is. When you see adversity, that's what you prepare for. You just have to be strong enough to overcome it. I think they've been pretty resilient for the distractions that have been in front of them.
Two coaches that have done really well against Oklahoma, Gary Patterson and Les Miles, their teams were confident when they went into Norman. You have to convince your team that they can win this game. Does it come down to that?
The other side of it is if they aren't convinced, there is no chance. A team has to believe in themselves they can go in an underdog situation in a tough environment and pull it off. The best evidence for me to use is what happened last year when we beat Notre Dame. It wasn't Oklahoma. It wasn't No. 1. But we don't pretend it to be. We have gone into hostile environments and been successful. That's what we are banking on to help us going into Norman on Saturday.
You have six guys that played 10 straight games together last year. Talk about the experience.
Those are the things that give me comfort and peace because we have guys that have been in the fire. Defensively, we took a lot of body blows numbers-wise as some of you reported. We weren't ranked high in some categories, but in some - turnovers, interceptions, those type of things - we did very well. We played well enough defensively last year to get 10 wins. The nucleus of that bunch returns. I'm very excited about what Coach (Brent) Guy brings to the table. What I've seen so far gives me hope that we will be a better defense.
Was the wildcat package going to be a part of your offense and, without going into personnel, will that continue?
We still intend for it to be.
Returning kicks, will it be by committee?
We'll watch it and see how it plays out. We have two or three guys that we are sorting through right now. It is clear in my mind that you will see Marco Nelson doing some of that. You'll see Trey Watts doing some of that. You could see Willie Carter. Those three guys have been consistently part of the group that we have been training since I've been a special teams coach. I feel good about what they bring to the table. We have some other young guys and some with a past history of returning punts. Milton Howell was an outstanding punt returner coming out of junior college, as was J.D. Ratliff. I feel really good about Marco, Trey and Willie.
Can you talk about exposure in playing three top 10 teams in September?
Exposure is not going to be an issue. The top 10 games will get us national exposure. The fact that we have 11 of 12 on TV and I think nine or 10 are national broadcasts ... exposure is in the works. What is a big deal is that when you play a top 10 team, you are getting across that (Bottom Line on sports tickers) when they are reporting all the scores. It gives us an opportunity and our guys have been talking since the beginning about what a great opportunity it is.
How does your defense prepare for Oklahoma?
It's very difficult to prepare for them when you have the kind of playmakers that they have. Again we go back ... that's one of the things that have helped us over time. We have enough playmakers on offense where you can't isolate. As you defend, you see the same thing. Landry Jones, Ryan Broyles, a running back by committee ... lot of playmakers on their offensive unit. The play of their quarterback is what really stands out. He is cool and calm and does a good job of directing traffic and, as I referred to G.J., does a good job of getting the ball to the right guys.
Not many teams have won in Norman. How difficult is it to go on the road and win at Norman?
I don't have anything to compare it to. That's just what it is. It is the schedule we have. Tulsa has gone into Norman and won. I know that for a fact.
What do you remember about 1996 when TU defeated OU 31-24 in Norman?
I remember watching Wes Caswell catch a pass on the right side boundary and keep running until he scored. I've seen that replay a few times.
You talked about wanting your team handling what they can control. What are some of those aspects that you are reiterating about what they can control in going into Norman?
You have to prepare in such a way where you don't put yourself behind the eight ball with a mental mistake. It's a tough enough environment that you can't help them by lining up wrong or not executing a play, being in the wrong gap on defense, having the wrong coverage. There's not leeway. The things we continue to emphasize are perfect execution, do what we're supposed to do and encourage each other all week long. Don't get caught up in what you can't control. We control what we can control. That's us. We'll continue to try to take that tact.
