Todd Graham signals to his team on Saturday. |
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Todd Graham Press Conference Quotes
Nov. 24, 2008
Tulsa, Oklahoma -
Todd Graham PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
OPENING STATEMENT
We're real pleased with how we played last week. I thought it was a team effort. The guys really answered the call and won in dominating fashion, which is what we needed to do. It's on to the last week. It's exciting to be going into the last week and playing for a championship. We know that going to Marshall ... every game we have from here on out, we'll be focused on. We know we may have the opportunity to play three more games. To do that, we'll have to win at Marshall.
Marshall has a very good football team. They've had some bad luck as of late, but they have very good defensive personnel and are athletic as a football team. They have the ability at wide receiver to stretch the field vertically with (Darius) Passmore and the tight end (Cody Slate) is one of the best players in the league. We're going to have to play our best game.
We're excited to have an opportunity to get our 10th win, but to do that we're going to have to play well. Our guys are focused. I told them that each game now, that they play, is for a trophy. We are focused on the fact that we want three opportunities left and, to do that, we have to beat Marshall.
MARSHALL HAS STRUGGLED, BUT THEY'RE STILL A DANGEROUS TEAM ON SENIOR DAY?
Last year, it was the same situation. They beat East Carolina to eliminate East Carolina from the Conference USA championship game. They play very well at home. They beat Houston soundly at home. They play very good defensive football. They rush the football extremely well.
(Darius Marshall), the running back, is a very good player. He's among the top 3-4 rushers in the league. They're a physical team. They're a run, play-action pass football team on offense. They're very well-coached. Mark (Snyder) does a great job of coaching his guys to play extremely hard and be an extremely tough football team. Defensively, up front, they have some real physical defensive linemen. They have the best linebacker corps that we've probably seen. I've been very impressed with their skill kids on the back end. They have a very good defense and have run the ball very efficiently.
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They've had some big wins against Southern Miss on the road and Houston at home. As of late, they've had some bad luck and stumbled a bit, but they'll be highly motivated for their senior day. They have played extremely well at their place.
IS THIS YOUR FIRST TRIP TO WEST VIRGINIA SINCE YOU COACHED THERE?
I think this is the first time I've been back to West Virginia since I got on the plane when I took the job here as defensive coordinator. My wife stayed and (moved). That's how it works in this business. You get another job, you're gone that day. This is the first time I've been back there since the day I left.
TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE OF WINNING FOOTBALL GAMES AT HOME AND ON THE ROAD.
For anybody in the country, it's tough. It's what you see each week. We have a great synergy at home and have won 10 straight at home and went undefeated at home. There's a level of comfort and familiarity that I think is big. You have travel issues when you travel ... it's just a different environment.
This game is a mental game. It's about a mental edge. You have to have that on the road. That's our challenge this week. I think our guys are going to respond in a great way. They responded this week. They know exactly what they're playing for. They know this game is big for us. We're playing for an awful lot. Our goal is to go and to win and have an opportunity to play another one here next week.
DO YOU KEEP UP AT ALL WITH THE RICE-HOUSTON GAME?
No. Last week, after our game was over, people were telling me this and that, but we're focused on Marshall. We have to win. We can't worry about somebody else. I just really believe if we take care of our business, things are going to work out. That's how I look at things. The great thing is their game starts at the same time that our game does. We don't have to worry about that. We can worry about one thing, beating Marshall and getting our 10th win of the season. That's what our focus is. I believe this game, at Marshall, is for the West Division championship for us. That's how we're approaching it.
THERE'S A LOT OF HISTORY THERE. DO YOU PLAN TO DO THAT WITH THE TEAM? We won't have time to do that. We're staying in Charleston. We'll go there and practice on Friday, and then head for the hotel. Then we'll get up in the morning and meet before the game. That's the only time we'll have. I've watched the movie and it's an incredible story. It's a great football story and a great life lesson story. It's a neat deal, but I won't have time to do that there.
WERE YOU GLAD TO SEE THE DEFENSE PLAY LIKE IT DID SATURDAY, AND DID IT NEED A GAME LIKE THAT?
We all needed a game like we had on Saturday. We had to get back on the winning track. Our guys have great character and responded in a great way every time that we've faced a challenge. I'm really proud of how they responded as a team and as a unit. Again, we needed to go out and get to our form and our guys did that.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT Tarrion Adams, THE CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK IN C-USA?
Tarrion has been an unbelievable warrior for our program. I can't think about the Conference USA championship game in 05 without thinking about him and how hard he ran. I told our coaches the other day ... we're putting together a teaching reel that we'll use for our running backs.
I believe that there are two kinds of running backs. Nine out of 10 of them are guys that all have great skill and talents, or they wouldn't be playing at this level. But most of them get hit and they go down. And then there's a few and far between guy that has this passion about them that make you tackle them.
Tarrion is one of them. I used to show Walter Payton tapes to these guys and we showed Walter Payton to Tarrion a lot. It's an edge about you that you're going to make people tackle you. Tarrion sees himself as the enforcer. He's going to deliver the blows instead of taking them. He has a different mindset. We're proud of him and the type of career that he has had and the toughness that he's displayed. No one but Tarrion, the trainers and us know the toughness that he has. He's one of the toughest running backs and one of the toughest football players that I've been around. He brings it that way and every week he has to be patched together. You wouldn't know it with how he plays, competes and practices. He's just a champion.
IT'S CONFERENCE AWARDS TIME. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR QUARTERBACK, David Johnson?
Dave's had a great season so far. The key is we finish it. He's taken the reins and has been a great leader for us. He's done a great job of managing the game. He's made some incredible plays and put up some incredible numbers, especially in his pass efficiency. He's had a remarkable year.
DOES IT SAY A LOT FOR THE STATE OF THE QUARTERBACK IN THIS CONFERENCE WITH KEENUM, CLEMENT AND JOHNSON?
You need two things that are essentials to win and be successful. No. 1, you have to have a quarterback that's a winner that has great character, is a great leader and manages the game and executes the offense. Second, you have to have a championship defense. That's the two things that we try to focus on and do well. When you look at teams that win consistently, that's what they do. I think it's underreported and underappreciated, the level of offenses that we have in this league.
If you talk to the coaches in the east, they'll talk about how different it is to play a team in the east compared to a team from the west. There's contrasting styles. Both are equally difficult. There are great offenses in this league and great quarterbacks in this league. You mention those three guys there, but you have to look at Vittatoe from UTEP. There are phenomenal quarterbacks in this league and phenomenal offenses, which make for tough going for defenses. It's not an easy task.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE YEAR THAT Mike Bryan HAS HAD?
Mike has developed into a blue-collar, hard-nosed leader of our defense. Mike makes phenomenal plays. He was our linebacker of the week this past week and he can be selected for that every week. He's extremely consistent. He has a physicalness about him that's what you want. He's a throwback, old-school linebacker. That's how I'd look at Mike. He's stepped it up. We challenged Mike to step up and be a leader this year and he's stepped it up on the field and off the field. Everything about Mike Bryan, he has improved. We're so proud of the leader that he is. He's the guy that leads that bunch.
HE'S A THROWBACK IN EVERY WAY?
He's an old country boy. On the same hand, he doesn't say much. He's not very verbal at all. I'm always trying to get him to joke around, but he's not one to joke around. I was getting after him last week. I was trying to get him to laugh a bit. I was getting after him about that quarterback ... I asked him if his dad was at the game and he said yes. I asked, 'what did he say about letting that quarterback run over you?' He didn't laugh. Which, I was joking. He said that quarterback was 6-4, 220. He's pretty much what you see is what you get. That's what you want. We are really sticklers on the discipline and character. We have great kids here, and Mike has stepped it up in every single area and we needed him to do that. He's the guy that's made the most improvement. If you wanted me to pick a guy on our football team that we said had to step up and take it to a different level, Mike Bryan would be that guy. He's propelled our team to this success. He's been an integral part and a big-time leader for us.
