University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Tulsa Post-Game Quotes
10/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Tulsa Post-Game Quotes
Tulsa Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe:
On the Hurricane?s defense:
?We wanted to try to disrupt the timing of their passing game. He [Almond] is a great passer. We wanted to make him a little bit uncomfortable and hope that he would throw it to us if that was the case.?
On coming back:
?We never flinched, and we never panicked. We had a good feel on the sideline.
I thought the guys were into it. We knew that most of the errors we made were self-inflicted. We knew if we could get those corrected then we would be in good shape, and that?s the way it played out.?
On the Southern Miss environment:
?This is a good environment. You take nothing away from these people here. They have a great college football atmosphere. We knew what to expect; we knew we could handle it, and our guys reacted very well.?
On playing Rice next week:
?It?s a big one, but we?ve got to stay focused. We?re going to enjoy this thing; it?s a big win, but when the wheels touch down in
TE Garrett Mills:
On third down efficiency:
?That?s something that we pride ourselves in, as a team. We understand that third downs are big plays during the game.?
On making a statement against Southern Miss at home:
?We felt like we came in and executed the way that we know how and gave them a run for their money. It?s a great atmosphere here and a tough place to play and we?re lucky to get out of here with a win.?
QB Paul Smith:
On coming back after throwing two interceptions:
?I think we did a good job of battling back. Our defense did an incredible job. After that play, Coach Kragthorpe challenged me saying that it was because I was a young quarterback and wanted to see how I would play after those interceptions. But I was pleased with our defense helping us out and the offensive line created a pocket all night.?
On Jasper Faulk?s interceptions for a touchdown:
?It was a mental mistake on my part where (he) jumped on the swing route and took it to the house.?
On playing in
?We knew coming here that this is an intimidating place to play, based on the success they?ve had at home. We knew how good they were, and we couldn?t give them the game, like I tried to early with the interceptions. We don?t have to hit a big play, just run the underneath stuff and that?s what we did early and guys made big play after the catch.?
On how big of a momentum boost this is for their next game:
?It was a big momentum boost coming into this type of atmosphere and with them being at the top of the conference. We knew we could do it, we just had to prove it to everyone else.?
DB Julian McGowan:
On how well the defense played:
?We had a game plan on defense and did what we had to do. We knew that they were going to run the ball, so we played a lot of man coverage, allowing us to load the box with six or more guys to force them to pass.?
On how good it feels to play back in
?It feels good to be back home and play in front of my family.?
On what the win meant to the team:
?We knew that we had to win to get our reputation back after winning big against
On what playing for
?All
CB Roy Roberts:
On shutting down the run:
?We had to stop the run because what we do best is our pass defense. Our defensive line did what they had to do, so we got picks.?
On coming back onto the field after the first half:
?We couldn?t wait to get back onto the field. Coach Kragthorpe said that this was for the championship, so we came out and played our hardest.?
