Sept. 28, 2009

Tulsa, Oklahoma -

Todd Graham PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Opening statement

We were pleased with how we bounced back last week and now it starts the most important week of the season for us now -- the biggest game of the year for us. We're going back on the road to Rice. They've played a difficult schedule with Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. They're a very good football team and play extremely hard. They're coached very well. Coach (David) Bailiff does a great job coaching that team. They've gotten better every single week and we're expecting a big-time battle. Our goal, first and foremost, is to be Conference USA champions. We have to go on the road and figure out how to win this weekend.

What did you take out of the win at Sam Houston?

The good thing is there wasn't any negative. We got a punt blocked late being a little lackadaisical. When the game first started, I thought we were a little sluggish on defense and played down to the level of competition. But for the most part, we dominated a team that we should dominate. There were a lot of good things. We got better in a lot of positions. Eric Sproal got his first start at center and did a lot of good things. Brian DeShane, a true freshman, got his first start at offensive guard. Brian is going to be a great player. There are guys like Willie Carter, Willie is a guy that we have to get the ball to more in our offense. He's extremely fast and explosive. There were a lot of good things. We also got to rest some people and allow some to get healthy.

Clint Anderson is in the two-deep this week. Will he see action this weekend? If he's ready to go, then he'll play. We'll just have to see how it goes this week. It's a week-to-week deal.

I'm really excited. I don't know if there's been any other time in my time in Tulsa that we've been sitting in a position to opportunities with this kind of schedule. I said at the first of the year that there's going to be three conference champions on the schedule and seven bowl teams. There are six bowl teams left out of the last eight games. We're going to play a top-five team in the nation (Boise State) and by the time we play Houston, they can be a top-five team in the nation. Southern Miss could be in the top-25.

We have a tremendous challenge ahead of us, but it's an exciting time. What a great opportunity that we have. We just have to keep getting better and chipping away at it. We're going to lay low and keep working, keep plugging at it and trying to get better.

The key for us is we have to get better at the offensive line and get better at that. We have good players to work with. We just have to get that continuity going and not give up big plays on defense.

We're going to be in the national spotlight. We have eight regular season games left and you couldn't ask for a better situation. I divide the season up in fours. We've had our first four games. These next four games, no question, will decide what kind of season we're going to have. They're very challenging. We're going on the road to Rice and UTEP. Our first three conference games are on the road. If you can be successful in those two games, you only have one left away. The rest are all coming here. That's what I'm excited about. We're going to have a great opportunity to play some great football teams down the stretch and they're going to be here for our fans to see. We're excited about the opportunity and, again, it's one week at a time. I know that's a cliché, but we have to get better.

We've beat three teams we should have beat and we played poorly in a game that we should have played a lot better in. That's where we're at right now. We have a good football team and we still have a great belief in what we're doing.

I'm hopeful this week that we'll get our guys back, for the most part. That's hurt us. Losing Charles Davis was tough. We've missed Tyler Holmes and Clint Anderson. We haven't had Charles Clay healthy all year. Jamad Williams ... Damaris (Johnson) was banged up after the last game. We need to get him back 100 percent and the big thing about that with guys being beat up and hurt - how do you get better? You practice.

We have eight ball games and look at the home schedule our fans are going to have - Boise State, SMU, Houston, East Carolina and Memphis. That's going to be some pretty exciting games and two of them, we're going to play nationally ranked teams and have some great opportunities down the stretch.

Can you speak about Rice's defense?

They have a veteran bunch. (Andrew) Sendejo is a guy that's a playmaker that makes plays all over the field with TFLs and interceptions ... he's a great player. I recruited him and know him really well. He's a great football player. They're playing hard and they're experienced. They have all their players back on defense. Their defensive ends are very special. They are guys that can cause trouble in rushing the quarterback. Terrance Garmon is an outstanding linebacker that is a returning starter for them. They're a veteran bunch. They're playing hard. They play really good at home.

You've had an opportunity to work with four different quarterbacks with great talents. How fortunate do you feel as a coach for that opportunity?

I've been really lucky. To get your first head coaching job and have Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard, that was pretty nice. It was tough sledding. Chase was a great leader and a great player. And then move to your next job and have Paul Smith, which isn't bad either. Then we've had Dave (Johnson) and G.J. (Kinne) now. I think I was fortunate in the first one and knew what I was getting in the second one. I think you reap what you sow from there. We've been able to design an offense that's very attractive. We're able to compete for quarterbacks nationwide and compete for the best of the best.

Is it a dangerous situation to play a team that feels like it should have a win or desperately wants that win?

I don't know. I'll just tell you that I know Coach Bailiff and how well that program is run. They play hard. They started off in week one playing hard and they played hard every week.

What I told our players the other day is that it gets into a grind. You get into the fourth game of the season and people start just going through practice. The mental toughness and mental preparation part of it, you better have a passion for it each day to prepare to win. That's the key.

Those guys will be highly motivated for us to be in there. This is a turnaround game for their season. It's a must-win for us. For us to reach our goals, we have to be getting better each week. We have to go on the road and win at a place that's been tough for us to play. We've been successful and won games there, but none have been easy.

Can you talk about the impact of moving Wilson Garrison to the middle of the defensive line?

He probably should have been there last year, but we have Terrel Nemons there. Wilson is athletic enough to play end and tackle. And, to be real honest with you, most people don't know this but half of the time we play with a four-man front. Wilson plays a lot of three technique and nose tackle. He's extremely talented and extremely strong. I think he has a future. I think he's a guy that could play at the next level. He's voted captain every week. He's a hard worker. He's from Hinton, Oklahoma and no one knew anything about him. He has great character and great ability and we were able to find him and get him here. He's done a great job for us. That's been a big move for us to move him in there.

There's also Odrick Ray. Not a lot of people know that Odrick Ray is playing the three technique inside and he's playing extremely well. We have six or seven defensive lineman that are as good as we've had around here. That's really helped us out a lot because we need to continue to put pressure on the quarterback.

Can you talk about how Trae Johnson has emerged?

I'm really proud of Trae. Trae has been, from the time he got here, a guy with unbelievable talent. He had a lot of success early and had a good season last year, but not to the level that I thought he should. I challenged him to do things the way that we wanted them done. We didn't want him to be a guy that was just a good athlete, but a great worker and a hard worker in practice. In the first time in his time here, he was voted captain by his peers and I think that speaks volumes with how far he's come in the last year.

The other day, I walked by him and was talking to him. He said, "Coach, I want to get good. I want to be the best. I want to be all-in." It's not just catching touchdowns. It's about blocking, working his tail off and being demanding of his teammates in practice. He's really matured. He's caught five touchdowns and he should.

Our coaches have offensive MVP within our team and we give game balls out. He made two spectacular catches (against Sam Houston) and played particularly good. I didn't even think of him for a game ball because that's what I expect him to do.

You've been a defensive coordinator and head coach. Can you remember the last time you went four straight games without giving up a rushing touchdown?

I think that's important. That's our big focus, being solid against the run. It makes it more difficult to pass the ball and score. I'd be real excited that we hadn't given up any rushing touchdowns if we haven't given up so many passing touchdowns. We eliminate the one-play drives ... we're getting into the part of the season where we're playing some prolific offenses and it starts with Rice this week. Every single week, this thing will get tougher and tougher from a big play standpoint defensively.

We're a pretty good rush defense and it helps us a great deal. If you can force someone to be one dimensional, it helps. But there's people in our league that can be one dimensional and score a lot of points.

Was there anything specific in the secondary that you changed up or did better last week?

We had only one blown coverage, which was good. We had a lot of young guys playing. LeQuentin Black has gotten better each week and I'm real proud of Kenny Sims moving over to safety and his play. I think the key for us is to get better fundamentally in stemming our coverages and executing our system.

When you have different people moving around and not staying in the same spot, it makes it difficult to execute. I think we were really immature mentally in the secondary in week one and made errors in coverage and positioning. We got a lot better in week two. In week three, we played disastrous. We blew more coverages than I think we've ever blown here. We did a poor job preparing our guys and Charles going down affected that. Last week, we were pretty consistent. My deal is for us to just get lined up. Let's be consistent about what we're doing and get guys to execute their fundamentals. Let's get better. I think we got better last week. We'll see this week, because we're going to play a lot better team this week offensively.

Can you speak about the fan support?

I said this on my show. I'm very appreciative and thank the fans for coming out like they come out. Seeing Steadman (Upham, TU President) ride that motorcycle onto the field through all those kids ... I can remember going out there for the first couple of games and maybe there were 5,000 people there. People were lining the streets during our team walk. We've added some things, some tradition to our place, and make it a big-time atmosphere.

It was a better home atmosphere than it was last year. The crowd was into it. We had the Blue Crew. It keeps getting better and better. It was a home field advantage and it was exciting to see that. A lot of these guys, I remind them that they had no idea. I remember sitting across the street on the bottom floor and the water would come from under the door and Coach (Keith) Patterson would tell me to move. He thought I would get electrocuted showing the kids film.