Oct. 7, 2008

New Orleans - Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo discussed the Green Wave's shortcoming last week in its loss to Army, and previewed TU's upcoming game this Saturday at UTEP during his weekly press luncheon at the Wilson Center.

Opening Remarks:
On being disappointed with the loss:
Obviously with us, everybody's disappointed. But hey, nobody's more disappointed than me. People may be disappointed and all those things but believe me, nobody is more disappointed than I am. I am embarrassed about the performance that we had on Saturday and I take full blame. You know, I'm the head football coach; I take complete blame for what took place on Saturday. I believe we prepared to win; we worked very hard at practice. I believe we wanted to win, the players wanted to win extremely bad, but we didn't play well enough to win and we've all seen that happen over the years and it's hard to find answers. Everybody says `what happened?' Well, if I knew what happened, I would've solved it before it happened. I don't know what happened.

On being distracted by all of the homecoming festivities/Tad Gormley Stadium:
There obviously wasn't a home field advantage for us. It was like playing an `away' game. That's what some of our players told me, they said, `coach, we felt like we were on the road.' And the thing that happened is with all of the festivities; homecoming and going to banquets and a couple of our players having to do things with speaking, pep rallies and on and on and then playing out there...it was very distracting. I hate to use that as an excuse, but you know you talk about being focused and not being distracted...it was a very distracting week. There were a lot of things going on. And again, maybe we weren't as focused as we needed to be.

On what happened during the game:
We started poorly. We came out and had the blocked punt and then of course they score a touchdown on it. And then we go down, we take the ball all the way down the field and we're moving the ball, we get to the six, we go back to pass and then Kevin drops the ball and they pick it up and run it back for a touchdown. So it's 14-0. It could've been 7-7 or 7-3, instead its 14-0 right off the get-go. So, you look at our kicking game. We had a blocked field goal, we had a shanked punt and we had horrible kickoff returns. We could not catch a kickoff. So that put us in bad field position. So that was disappointing.

Offensively, they've been giving up 9 or 10 possessions a game because they keep the ball away from people, we had the ball 13 times, we had it 35 minutes, which is unheard of against a wishbone team, 25 first downs and we ran off 80 plays for 486 yards. You'd think with those kinds of stats you'd win a football game. But, we had three interceptions, one was run back for a touchdown; we had the fumble run back for a touchdown. Obviously, the blocked kick I already mentioned. We were one out of three in what we call the `green zone'...we don't like to say `red zone' because that means you get stopped, right? So, we're pretty educated here, we call it the `green zone,' okay? Anyway, we get 13 points, that's it. So, we're not scoring points. That's what hurt us in this football game, offensively.

Defensively, we gave up 291 yards. They throw five passes and complete four of them. And they throw it to the fullback, which they haven't been doing. So they got us there. They didn't have any turnovers and if you looked at their first few games, that's how they were losing games. They were turning the ball over and not only did they fumble it, they were getting them run back for touchdowns. In all those previous games, that was happening. Including the A&M game a week ago, which they should've won, if they don't get that ball fumbled and run back for a touchdown against A&M. They didn't have any fumbles against us. The fullback rushed us for 187 yards on 19 carries. He averages 9.8 a carry, which is almost a first down every time he touches the ball, and he scores four touchdowns. He should've been the NCAA player of the week. The one thing we did going into the game we said number one, we have got to stop the fullback. And we didn't do that. And if you don't stop the fullback when they run a wishbone option offense, you cannot stop that offense. We obviously were very disappointed in our reads and we did a poor job of tackling defensively. We hit them a few times; they bounced off and went for long gains. We had 10 penalties in the game; they had two. We had illegal procedure, we jumped offside, some stupid penalties that get you out of drives that put you in a bind. And then in the 4th quarter, and this is one of the things I talked to our team about Friday night and they might want to stop mentioning things...its bad déjà vu or whatever. We have been a poor second half team. You look at the scoring; the first half and the second half. We have been a very poor second half scoring team. So, again, we have to fix that. The score was 21-0 in the 4th quarter, 21-0 they scored.

On the `here we go again' mindset Tulane seems to have when things go wrong in a game:
Now, the thing that im concerned about is bad things happen in a game. I talked to our team about it through the course of the year, I talked to them last year, I always talk about it. I talked about it earlier in the season. Bad things are going to happen. They usually happen to both teams. You have to put t behind you and you have to forget about it and move on. We have a tendency, when bad things happen to us, there's a look in our eye and a feeling of `here we go again.' I see it in our fans. I see it in people who report here. It's that look of `here we go again,' instead of `hey, let's step it up, lets go.' We've got to teach the mentality and we haven't done that yet. We've got to change the mentality and learn how to compete. Just because bad things happen doesn't mean you stop competing. You can't give in to it. And one of the things I talked about to our team yesterday was Tiger Woods. You think Tiger Woods wants to win every time? Absolutely. Does Tiger Woods win all the time? Absolutely not. But he competes his fanny off. Does Tiger Woods hit bad balls? Darn right. He hits them in the rough; he hits them out into the water. Does he stop competing? Absolutely not. If you get Tiger Woods in a playoff, you better put your money on Tiger Woods. Because you're probably going to win more than you lose because he is a winner. If you get in a putting contest and you both have 30 footers Tiger Woods is going to sink the putt because he is a winner. And that's the thing I'm trying to talk to our team about. You've got to have a mentality, you have to be tough minded and you have to fight through the bad things. And we've got to learn to do that and right now we have a look in our eye and we hang our head like `oh boy, here we go again.' And I've got to get that changed.

On UTEP:
We're still a work in progress I guess you can say. We have not arrived yet. And we are working hard at it. Our players are working hard, our coaching staff is working hard, but we are still a work in progress. I looked at the next week and we're playing El Paso, playing on the road. They lost their first three games and they've won their last two, so they're 2-0 in the conference. Obviously Mike Price is a really good friend of mine. We coached against each other in the Pac 10 when he was at Washington State and I was at UCLA. Their defensive coordinator, Osia Lewis, was with Dan Dodd and myself at New Mexico. He was a player actually at Oregon when I was at Oregon...so I've known Osia for a long time. He uses Rocky Long's defense, which is a 3-5-3 blitzing, attacking, come from all different directions at you defense. Mike hired him this year to be the defensive coordinator and they struggled in their first three games, again, trying to learn that defense, you can see them getting better. They've improved. They've got a really good quarterback, Trevor Vittatoe, he's outstanding. They've got a great kicker, Jose Martinez. The problem is I don't know if the quarter back is in or if the kicker is in because they both wear number 10. But all kidding aside the guy's a great kicker. He kicked a 60 yarder this year already. He's kicked 10 field goals. When he kicks off, we don't need to work on kickoff returns very much because he kicks it in the end zone. He's got a great leg. Their linebacker, Adam Vincent, is the second leading tackler in Conference USA. And number 47, their cornerback, Cornelius Brown, leads Conference USA with three interceptions.

Injuries:
Now, the stuff that I do every week and I don't mean to bring it out as an excuse but I always talk about the injury list, you always want to hear it, so here it goes. You got a few minutes?

Travis Olexa, he's out obviously with the knee surgery. Alex Lauricella is out with his knee still. Jeremy Williams was operated on this morning for a broken hand. He had two broken bones in his left hand. We'll get called here in a while as soon as he comes out to see how he's doing. But he also has a knee problem, maybe a cartilage. They're going to do an MRI after this surgery is over. Chris Asumnu, we were told after the game that he might have had a broken ankle. After X-raying it and all it was a high ankle sprain, a really bad high ankle sprain. They put him in a cast and as I mentioned to some people, sometimes a high ankle sprain is worse than a break. Its better to break your ankle than to high ankle sprain it. So he's out for a long time. We don't know how long yet. Travis Burks pulled a hamstring in the game. He's out. Cody Blackwelder has a pinched nerve in his neck so he's out. Sule Osagiede has a knee cartilage. He's out right now. So we've got those players that aren't going to play.

Questionable for this weekend:
Those that are questionable: Antoine Duplessis has a knee problem, questionable. We'll see how he reacts this week. Devin Holland injured his knee in the game. We have to wait and see how he responds. Oscar Ponce de Leon, our nose guard, he injured his knee. And Jordan Stephany has a sprained foot. He was in a boot all day yesterday. So, we're banged up and beat up. This is the worst we've been in my year and a half coaching football here. I've never had this many injuries. And I don't know if it's the surface, I don't know if it's the cut blocks from Army, I'm not sure, but we do have some injuries.

On if playing at Tad Gormley was more of a distraction than advantage:
I think it had an effect and talking to our players, that was one of the things they brought up to me is that it was very distracting to have to play on that grass which was long and there were bumps on it, but you know, let me back up by saying I think it was great for the people who went out there and tailgated. They had a heck of a function out there okay, but the facility itself is really a track stadium. It was very difficult. They didn't have the down and distance on the scoreboard. I didn't know what the down and distance was. Dan Dodd was so low he couldn't tell me half the time what the down was because he was sitting so low and so far by the end zone. The press box from what I understand was cramped. Todd (Graffagnini) told me that his room was hot. The grass was long. The people were far away. And still you look at it; I turned around and there was a pretty good crowd. I went from that side - there weren't that many people over there; there wasn't anyone in the end zone. So I don't know what kind of an advantage it really was. It was great for the atmosphere, going out and tailgating. Those people had a good time doing that. The game...left much to be desired.

On if they are considering playing at Tad Gormley again next year:
Well, I need to talk to our administration about it and see what their feeling was too. If we're going to go and play at a place like that they need to fix it. They need to make it a college football stadium, not a track facility. It reminded me of a track facility. People couldn't see the game. They were too far away from the excitement, from the game itself. I have nothing against it, I don't want to come out and sound like a bad guy, but to be honest with you I would much rather play in that dome. That's a football facility and nothing against it, the people worked hard. The bathrooms were new, the locker rooms were cleaned up, they had carpet, they had paint, toilets and showers and everything was nice. But they were little tiny cramped up rooms. They were a quarter of the size in here. We only had one room. The coaches had to dress in a trailer. It was a very difficult situation and it was distracting. Again, that doesn't take away from the punt block or you throw an interception. I don't want to use it as an excuse is what I'm trying to say. But it was very difficult.

On how much Jeremy Williams' injury affects the Tulane Team:
I think it really affects us in that he's our big offensive player. He is a guy that can make big plays and I don't know if we have that type of person right now. We're going to have to find out because he's not going to play. So, somebody else is going to be given an opportunity. You know, Michael Batiste, Casey Robottom, I think Brian King's been doing a good job - he's starting, Chris Dunn. Some of those guys are going to be given a chance. Alan Mitchell hasn't played much. So, when guys get hurt somebody else has to step up and take their place. I would say that we will find out soon if we have another big play guy.

On if his injury affects Tulane's overall game plan:
I would say we need to change some things. Not only have we lost a super receiver but we've also lost two fullbacks.

On Tulane's special teams:
I'd say if you have a black eye they'd be on our special teams. And you know what, its not that we haven't worked at it. We have a coach in charge of each special team. And that coach has coaches that he has help him on that special team. And I let that coach pick whatever player he wants to be on his special team. And then of course I'm at every special teams meeting. Yesterday morning we looked at the film, this morning we looked at El Paso's film. I'm in there with them. And a coach doesn't snap the ball high. A coach doesn't miss a block. A coach doesn't kick the ball low. A coach doesn't fumble a kickoff return. I could go on and on. But you know what, we're ultimately responsible so we're going to take the blame. It's not that we haven't met, its not that we don't have a plan, its not that we don't practice it - and I mean a lot. Its not that we don't do it live, because we practice it live and most people don't. I mean, we've tried everything to make it better. And obviously we've failed miserably.

On if he kept the entire team together during meetings to discuss the game and watch film:
Absolutely, you can talk to our players about it. When we meet we talk about offense, defense and special teams. And yesterday when we had the team meeting, usually I meet with the team, I recap the game, I talk about the upcoming opponent, we have an awards ceremony for guys who played well and then we break up special teams and then offense and defense. Yesterday, we didn't have an awards ceremony. I did talk about the game probably a little longer than normal. I think I forgot my press conference. Then after that we kept the whole team in there and I had each coach go up and show the film of the punt team, the punt return, the kickoff, the kickoff return. PAT field goal, PAT block. But, those 6 phases went up in front of the whole team and showed the players who is performing and who wasn't. So we're trying to put a little peer pressure on the players as well. A lot of guys don't see those guys except the ones that are on special teams.

On Tulane's tackling:
Well, we haven't been a very good tackling team to be honest with you. We spend 10 minutes a day on tackling and we've been doing that because I haven't been pleased with our tackling. But, on the other hand when you face that offense you just cant simulate it in practice. Your scouts cannot run it like they run it. And then of course there's a reason why guys are on the scout team. They're not as good or as physical as the team you're going to face. They physically got down on those 4 points and came off the ball and knocked us off the ball and then we didn't fit right a few times. And then when we had the fullback and hit him we missed the tackle and he ran for a long run. So another thing is we practice cut blocks and that's the toughest thing to do. You know, you've got to take on the lead blocker, you've got to put your hands on him, you've got to defeat the block first, get rid of him and then go tackle. If you have your eyes on the back and you think you see the blocker, he'll cut you down every time. And that happened to us several times. That's probably where we got some sprained ankles and knees too.

On the Rocky Long Defense:
Well, I heard of Rocky Long at UCLA partly because of the defense. And Rocky worked for me for 2 years and of course he coached Jose at Oregon State. So when he got the job in New Mexico, when he left me and went to Mexico, he hired Jose as an assistant. And then as a coordinator. But Rocky runs the defense. It helps in that if you don't know what they're trying to do and you try to plan for it in 3 or 4 days it can be really confusing to you. If you have experience, which we do, we at least know what they're doing. So we have a plan. We're not guessing at things. But again, the players still have to carry out the plan; we've got to execute.

On if it is the same defense that Jose Lewis ran at New Mexico:
Yes, absolute, it's what Rocky's been running since he's been the head coach. Rocky was the coordinator at my place, at Oregon State and he's done the same thing. It's Joe Lee Dunn's 3-5-3 defense. Joe Lee Dunn was a head coach at New Mexico when Rocky was a quarterback at New Mexico. Joe Lee is like his mentor.

On what the key to executing against their defense:
Recognition. And there are certain things you can't do against it because they'll beat you like a drum and we wont do those things, hopefully.

On the `here we go again' reaction and the fact that the team didn't react this way against Alabama and East Carolina, two ranked teams:
I know and that's what is so baffling to me. I thought we had turned the corner. I thought wow, we are getting better, we're improving and we're getting this thing going. And I just felt like we took a giant step backwards. I was talking to our Athletic Director and he felt bad for me. He said it's like cement. You get a foundation, you put this foundation down and you put the cement down and then when the cement is just starting to dry and its starting to look good and then a bunch of people just start walking right through the cement. And that's what it felt like. Its just like, we thought we had arrived, so to speak. We are improving and getting better and then all of sudden we take a giant step backwards. And again, I don't know, is it the two things that hurt us early and then combined with the lack of focus and concentration? It was an eerie feeling being out there to be perfectly honest with you. I even had an eerie feeling.

On what he thinks he'll do differently against UTEP:
Well one of the things is we've been receiving most of the time to start the game. I like to receive when I, you know, some people defer, I may this week (laughs), I like to receive. So you don't get the ball usually the first possession of the third quarter; you don't have as many times in the third quarter. I don't know, we have to look at that. I just think we need to come out and I told the team, I mentioned this to the team we need to perform better in the second half. And I don't know, some of the things I'm telling them they're just not responding to it. Like I said, I take full blame for that. Somehow I've got to find a way. I think one of the things I'm doing is we're getting in the red zone and I think maybe I'm throwing the ball too much. I think I need to get back to running the football more in the red zone. We've thrown some interceptions, we've thrown some incompletions, we get behind the eight ball a little bit, so we're going to crank it up a little bit more running the football.

On what he's going to do to prop Kevin Moore up this week for the game vs. UTEP:
Give them confidence. He is our quarterback. I was proud of the way he responded. On taking the blame, he didn't need to do that. That's why I'm taking the blame. I don't want him to have to take the blame. But, he was a man about it. And a kid that doesn't have much confidence wouldn't have said the things he said. So he's confident in himself and that makes me feel good and that shows me that I should have confidence in him. So, he's the quarterback, he's got to go back to work, he's got to learn from his mistakes and he's got to get better.

On Kevin Moore being a prideful person:
Yes he is. Very prideful, very articulate. He's very knowledgeable. He knows what's going on. I mean, in the game he knew exactly what was going on. We designed a play for the game and we knew it'd be big with Jeremy crossing and then he throws the interception. If he just waits that much longer...he got so excited because it was so big...if he just waits that much longer and throws the ball there instead of there it's probably a 40-50 yard gain and maybe a touchdown. Instead, it was an interception. We have an audible where they came to a blitz strong side and we practice it, we get in an audible. We check the protection. We run an X or a split-end on the corner route. Brian King is wide open. It's going to be a 25-yard gain; it's a chunk. It's an explosive play. He throws it 10-yards in front of Brian. How do you explain that? I don't know how you explain that. Maybe he was trying to aim the ball a little bit. Throw it. The guy who's so wide open you try to aim it there instead of throwing it.

On Kevin throwing the ball well until he got hit:
Well, we went back and we looked at it and the game sometimes is a blur and we have to go back and as they say, look at the video. He was throwing the ball pretty well until he got hit that one time. That was just before the audible and I was thinking, does he have a concussion? But if he had a concussion he wouldn't have been able to make the audible that he made with the defense that they gave us, but he got hit. He was down on all fours, he should've been out of the game probably, but he got back up slowly and went and did the next thing. But, he got the heck knocked out of him. What can I say? He is a sophomore, that's his 5th game he's played in. He's a young guy that's learning all the time. He's got a lot of poise, he's got a lot of ability, and he's got great knowledge. He tries hard. He's got both feet in the rains; he cares a lot about this team. I gave him confidence yesterday. I patted him on the back and I said hey, put that one behind you. We've all had those kinds of games. You're a good quarterback, you're our quarterback, don't worry about looking over your shoulder. You're the guy, go out and get it done.

On why UTEP has been successful their past two games:
Well they're executing better. I see them defensively; they really didn't understand the concept of what Jose was trying to do to them. Against Buffalo, they made a bunch of little mistakes and they weren't as aggressive as they are now. They're running the defense from that side of the ball. Offensively, I think Vittatoe is a good quarterback and they have the chance to make some big plays. Their kicking game is pretty sound. So, they're getting better as they're going. Of course they won two league games. They had a big win the other night. They run a few fakes; they ran a fake punt for a big gain; they've done an onside kick; they've done a few trick plays in the kicking game, kind of like what we have done too and they've been successful at it.