Tulsa vs. Tulane Quotes
9/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2011
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
TULSA QUOTES
HEAD COACH Bill Blankenship
Opening Statement
"It's what we've been pointing at. We want to get out front in the conference play and get a chance to get the first one. Try to play with a lead when you come to the conference rankings when you try and play down the road and compete for it in the end."
On the First Half
"The defense was very strong the whole game. Put in some bad situations with a couple of turnovers, they really I thought bowed up and did a great job of forcing the field goal and not giving up a touch[down]. Really had some fits and starts offensively early. It took us a while to get going. A couple of turnovers and again we're playing from behind. It seemed like we kind of got our tempo finally right. I thought Alex (Singleton) really sparked it with his first run and then to be able to finish that drive and it seemed like that kind of jump started the offense."
On Bryan Burnham
That was one of the things we talked about in the locker room. We feel like Bryan (Burnham) is definitely a guy that saying hey I'll be one of those guys. That's one of the questions coming into it who's going to be the guy. Well I think we found one of them now. I still like what I'm seeing from Jordan James and Willie Carter. We're getting those guys going but Burnie (Burnham) certainly showed that it wasn't a fluke last week."
On needing this game
"Well we all need a win. I've been doing this long enough to know they're precious. You got to take them when you get them. Don't complain about them if they're not pretty enough and celebrate them. Then get ready, you don't get to enjoy it very long. Got to get ready and go defend our home turf with a really good Oklahoma State team coming in."
On GJ Kinne
"Early on, his hand got hit on the first interception as he was releasing that one. But I thought he was very accurate, he was seeing the field really making the plays. Not just making the plays but making the reads that we want him to make. I'll tell you it is just such an amazing thing to get to coach a guy that's just in his third year. He's very clam, very self-assured. He sees it and tells you about it and sure enough we go back out and implement a lot of what he wants to do and it really worked well."
On Louisiana native players
"Milton was one of the guys we gave a game all to. Second week in a row for basically a young man that has never played defense until last week. All through junior college was a quarterback and to get to see the kind of action he's seen and to play as well as he's been playing is really exciting. I hated that Ricky lost the ball. He had a couple of plays as well. Another Louisiana guy, Tyron Walker. I don't know that he fits the category cause he went to JC first. But he's also one of those guys who really meant a lot to him to be back close to home."
On the running game
"I was disappointed early on. We did not run the ball very well in the first quarter. We were trying to do that and it felt like we couldn't establish it. It almost worked the other way. It seemed like it took our passing game to loosen up the run game a little bit. And as it went on I think we were able to move the ball like we needed to with the first unit."
On Bryan Burnham's confidence
"He's been a guy that's just kind of been in the shadows and a guy that's been a hard worker. To me he's the poster child for what a programs about, just stay the course, stay in it, do what you're supposed to do and your day comes. It's a lot of fun to see him get that one last week and also to come in with a big game this week."
On next game against Oklahoma State
"I'll watch the game Thursday night, no question. Strong outstanding team obviously very gifted doing a great job offensively especially. They didn't give up much on defense. We know there'll be a great task ahead of us. Well celebrate it tonight but well get back in and go to work. It means something that our guys play at home."
DL Cory Dorris
On starting the conference season with a win
"Overall to start conference with a win, you can chalk that up as a (win). It is good anytime you are able to come out and get a conference win. Our goal is to be Conference USA champs and you can't start out any better than 1-0 in conference."
On the defensive effort
"It feels pretty good (to hold a team to just three points). I don't want to over-elaborate on it. (The defense) had a really good day out there today. The offense was struggling a little bit in the first half and we were able to pick up for that a little bit on our side and keep our spirits alive. If Tulane can't score they can't win, that's the main point."
On Milton's Interception
"I am really proud of Milton. He was able to come back home and have such a great game and make such a big impact. He really shows an example for all of us out here that whenever you do play at home, especially for us Tulsa kids, that you should be that guy. It proves to me that I need to step it up a little more than I have been."
On always talking about the offense
"If they want to talk about the offense, you guys would probably be talking to someone else right now. But, it is great to get the attention we deserve. We didn't have as great of a year last year that we wanted to, even though we were ranked No. 24 in the nation, but that was mainly due to the offense. We've been there and we are a veteran defense and we are playing like a veteran defense right now. We are coming out with a lot of confidence and it is showing on the field right now."
RB Alex Singleton
On coming home to play
"It was very good to come back home and get a win. I was just excited to step off the plane. I felt good, practiced good and the team did very good. It was just a great feeling. I was very anxious just to come home and see my people and play the game. I knew it was going to be a good game and I told my friends that was expecting a very good game. It just so happened that (our team) had a good game and we came out on top."
On the long run to give the team momentum
"I was on the sideline telling the team ` we just need one spark'. Anyone on the players could have done that, but it just so happened they called my name and I did that. I gave us that spark."
QB G.J. Kinne
On playing better in the second half
"I think we established our tempo. Honestly, we just played better in the second half. We didn't play very well in the first half. I don't know what it was, but we came out a little flat. We were preaching all week that we couldn't come out flat and we did."
On the first drive of the third quarter
"It was a good drive. Anytime I can run the ball to open up a half and get a long run, it kind of sparks the offense and we just played better in the second half.
On getting a win to open the conference season
"Any time you get a win it is great. On top of that, a conference win is even better."
On his accuracy
"I felt pretty good (today). We had a pretty good game plan, but at times we didn't execute. In the second half we came out and played a lot better."
On his connection with Bryan Burnham
"I told him all week, "You're going to have a big game. I'm going to put the ball on you and you're going to make some big plays'. I have a lot of faith in Bryan. He is a guy that, ever since the summer, I could tell he has really matured and he is a really good football player. We are going to need him, for sure. It was big for him to get that confidence tonight."
On the defensive effort
"I think we left the defense on the field too long last week. You can see what they can do when they are fresh and (the offense) played a lot better today."
WR Bryan Burnham
On his big play ability
"We really needed to somebody to step up and that's what I wanted to do after losing Damaris. We needed someone to step up and take his spot to give a spark to this offense. Coach Peterson challenged me and he knew I had potential and he challenges me every day at practice and pushes me every day at practice to be the best I can."
On his QB's confidence
"G.J.'s confidence in me and our chemistry will continue to grow. With losing Damaris, we needed someone to step in like that and it is going to be a fun season."
TULANE QUOTES
HEAD COACH BOB TOLEDO
Opening Statement
"Well, first of all, let me say that we are obviously very disappointed about losing the football game. Probably disappointed in the way we lost it. We came out in the first half and I thought we played extremely hard. Our defense did a really nice job, but they got worn down a little bit. Offensively, we threw interception, we had two fumbles, we dropped numerous passes, we had a lot of pressure on the quarterback, we couldn't establish the run game. We struggled offensively, and that definitely hurt us. Devon Walker, our safety, broke his arm in the first half. He will have surgery tonight to repair it. That is the only injury I am going to talk about. Outside of that, we just have to re-group now. There is a lot of football to be played. We have to go down Alabama-Birmingham and see if we can win us a league game next week."
On Ryan Grant
"I think having him out probably did hurt us. We were playing some younger guys who had a hard time separating from their coverage and getting open. When we did get open, we dropped the ball. You can't drop that many balls. Last week, we caught the ball. Its back to work. That's all you can do. When Ryan is not there, you have to play with someone else. Those other guys have to pick it up a little bit. I thought Joe Kemp did a nice job. He sprained his ankle warming up and we didn't think he was going to play. He did a nice job. What is sad is we had some opportunities, we started to get some momentum, and then we shot ourselves in the foot. Every time we would get a little break, a little momentum, we didn't capitalize on it and that is something that you have to do."
On Austin Jacks' fumble recovery being a potential turning point
"I don't know if that was a turning point. It was a big play. We didn't do anything with it."
On the offense not responding to help the defense in the first half
"I was looking for it too. You can't turn the ball over, you can't drop balls, you can't have that much pressure on your quarterback and move the ball and score points. That's what happened."
On the offensive line
"I don't think we protected as well as we need to. Their defensive ends were very physical and had their way with us to be honest with you."
On the secondary
"Our secondary is hurt right now. I talked about our front seven being pretty good at the beginning of the season. We have three banged up safeties and the fourth one broke his arm in the first quarter. You are playing with two true freshman safeties who have to go in and compete too. A little indoctrination. Renaldo Thomas got a lot of playing time. We went up for a ball there at the end and the other guy went up and took it away. You can't let them make those kind of plays."
On G.J. Kinne and the Tulsa offense
"He was the MVP last year. He is a heck of a football player. They had Smith before him and now they have Kinne. They just kept rolling. I thought he did a nice job. He is tough to get to, he can make plays with his legs as well as his arm. He did that tonight. He made some nice throws and got away from pressure."
On there being so much opportunity in this game
"That is what made it so disappointing. Like I said, we played pretty well in that first half. We gave up a 3rd-and-1 play and the guy breaks it for a long play. Then, they score before half. At half, we felt like we still had control, everything would be fine, just keep playing. All of a sudden, they take the second half kickoff and score. Then, it's just trying to catch up.
On preparing with so many freshman
"We felt pretty good about to be honest with you. We felt, scheme-wise, we knew what they were going to do. They did exactly what we expected them to do, offensively and defensively and kicking game wise. They didn't do anything that we didn't expect or practice. They just played better than we did today. We didn't play as well as we needed to play to win the football game."
On Tulsa being able to take control of a game
"Offensively, they were running the ball well. They were throwing the ball well. Us offensively, we weren't moving the ball. It's a concern. When you can't score touchdowns, you can't win a football game. We had a hard time trying to score a touchdown early. As they got ahead, it got tougher because you get out of your gameplan a little bit."
On Tulsa's defensive improvements
"They have a lot of guys that are back, that are veterans, that are better. They are better than they were a year ago defensively."
On being concerned with the offensive line
"It's concerning. It is what it is. We got what we got. We have to continue to try to do a better job. There is only so many things you can do. You can't protect them all the time. They have to grow up and block. We just have to get better."
On Ryan Griffin and missed throws
"That's going to happen. It wasn't a route-running error. It was just pressure. You have to throw the ball sooner than you want. That kind of thing. He wasn't as accurate as he needed to be. Dropping the ball, that killed us. Those drops. You can't drop the ball. You have to make routine plays. We were driving down there and we would run a drag route and drop the ball. That's a first down, maybe a touchdown, and we drop it and have to kick a field goal. We missed two field goals, which is rare. He didn't kick the ball of well today either. It was very shallow."
On missed field goals
"One snap was a little high, but Ryan Rome took the blame. But he missed the other one. It's a unit. It's a snapper-holder-kicker and we didn't execute very well as a unit today."
On Orleans Darkwa's slow start
"I think it is partly due to the fact that he didn't practice a lot. He didn't practice all of fall camp, really, when you talk about getting hit and running and doing different things. You have to get calloused a little bit,. He didn't have an opportunity to get calloused and he is doing it here in games. We made bad run there at the end. We ran around backwards and fumbled the football. We just made some bone-head errors that really hurt us."
QB RYAN GRIFFIN
On the game overall
"We turned the ball over too much. We didn't execute and we got the ball in the red zone and we beat ourselves."
On the second half
"Turned the ball over and it wasn't good by us. It was a poor performance."
DE DEZMAN MOSES
On the game overall
"You know, no excuses. We just didn't play as well as we should have today. I believe that we are a better team than we showed today. Give those guys a lot of credit, they came out and played hard, but I feel like we are a much better team than we showed today and we just got to refocus and come out much tougher next week."
On the difference that you saw from the first half to the second half
"Those sorts of things happen. Sometimes as the game gets out of hand, sometimes guys tend to lose focus and things like that, but we're better than that and I believe that some of those were just caused from us being unfocused at that point in the game. I know and I believe as a defense we're much better than what we should in the second half and a much better team we showed the entire game."
CB RYAN TRAVIS
On the game overall
"In the first half we came out and we made a lot of plays, we kind of dominated. In the second half we came out kinda slow. They kinda made more plays than we did and execute a lot better."
Talk about your interception
"It was...god bless an interception. You know we got field possession but we weren't able to put it in. We got a field goal out of it."
