University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn vs. Texas Southern Post Game Quotes
9/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2010
Head Coach Randy Edsall
Opening statement:
"There were a lot of good things today and a lot of things we still need to work on. It was good we were able to play as many guys as we did so they can have experience down the road. We did some things on special teams that I didn't like such as kicking the ball out of bounds twice. We had a couple of things defensively to work on. The competition will get a little bit stiffer next week so we'll see what we can do then."
Do you think this team will be able to ride Jordan Todman like it road Donald Brown?
"We'll have to see, I think (Todman) is bigger and stronger. We have other options in Robbie Frey, D.J. (Shoemate), and even Meme (Wylie). He's the workhorse and he's the one who's going to get most of the reps, so we'll see what he can do."
Can you judge if the level of play improved from last week from this game?
"You can't really compare because the level of play is different, but I thought we lined up better and we came off the ball better. There were also some things we didn't do so well."
On the new tradition the team has started after the games:
"The team started it last year and I didn't think it was right at the time, but the captains came to me and said they really wanted to be supportive of the band's efforts. After all of the home games-win, lose, or draw-they're going to go over and sing the fight song with the band. They went two verses but we only wanted to go one, but hopefully it will keep some people in the stands to sing along and start a new tradition."
#10, Zach Frazer, (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Redshirt Senior, Quarterback
On playing against an FCS team:
"We came out with a different type of energy today, we wanted to get ahead early and keep the momentum going throughout the game. In games like these, we wanted to attack, attack, attack and we did not want them to have opportunities in the game. We executed the game plan well and we are looking forward to next week."
On only throwing nine pass attempts:
"We will do whatever we need to do in order to win games. We have a bunch of running backs and they needed to get a lot of touches. It was nice to see our running game play as well as they did today."
#57, Moe Petrus, (St. Laurent, Que.), Redshirt Junior, Center
On learning team dynamics:
"You learn the most between your first and second game. With the season underway, it's important to make the proper adjustments. It was nice to see the younger players get a chance to play and gain some experience. Now we will get focused for Temple.
On playing against this caliber defense:
"Its going to get tougher but we came into this game thinking their front four could play and they have a great middle linebacker, Dejuan Fulghum, so we were not underplaying their ability. We prepared just like we would against any other team. They are not the same caliber defense we will be facing throughout the season but we will not prepare any differently. We will keep practices intense and we will be ready to go for next week.
Texas Southern Head Coach Johnnie Cale
Opening statement
"We ran into a good football team today. They were a finely tuned machine. They were prepared and well coached. When you play at this level you don't have the opportunity to make mistakes. I felt early in the game that we are a quick-start team and if that doesn't happen then we kind of struggle. The flags were thrown a lot, but that iddn't have anything to do with the outcome of the game. UConn is a very good team, very physical. They did what they do best and that's running the football."
What were you trying to get out of the guys from this gaem?
"When you play at this level, it helps you for your conference play. The speed of the game. You can use it as some sort of measuring stick as to where you want the program to go and where you want to be."
What did you see out of the UConn defense? Last week they struggled a lot against the size of Michigan. You have some size on the offensive line as well. What did you see from that defensive front
"They got penetration a lot. We like to run that outside zone play a lot. No 8 Wilson (Linebacker Lawrence Wilson) he can play. He was all over the place. He made tackle after tackle and made a big difference. They made an adjustment and added another guy into the box early in the game. But we were behind the eight ball most of the game with the penalties. It's tough to get going when you start out first and 20 and second and 15."
Can you talk about the penalties? You had 11 penalties for 77 yards this week.
"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We are a young football team. We have to concentrate on that and cut down on that. We shoot ourselves in the foot a lot. Every time we get a big play, it gets called back. We had a few plays over the top that got called back, it really makes it difficult to get things going, especially against a team like this."
Can you talk about the difference between playing in the SWAC compared to playing a team from the BIG EAST?
"Size. Definietely size in the trenches. We played at Rutgers last year and thought they were big. But we ran into one bigger this year. In our conference you get a group of athletic players, but not to the level we saw here today. UConn was a good football team."
#8 Arvell Nelson (Cleveland, Ohio), Sr. Quarterback
When you look at the defense, do you think you saw a lot of the same things? Were they pretty aggressive on defense?
"The linebackers were flowing pretty good out there. Off the line, we couldn't get to the second level in this game. With the linebackers flowing pretty well, we couldn't get to the outside in the zone plays that we like to run. That really hurt us. We struggled to get our running game going at all against their size."
You said you were hoping to make a statement, were you trying to motivate the guys in the second half to try to get something out of today?
"We knew they were tough on film. During the game, I tried to motivate the guys to keep fighting. At halftime I tried to get us back into our game. ?
You are familiar with a big atmosphere, how was the crowd today?
"It was pretty intense. Pretty loud. The noise level was up there. I liked the crowd."
Players Mentioned
