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Rice University Athletics
Ken Hatfield's Monday Quotes
11/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 14, 2005
On John Wall's 75-yard TD run against Tulane -- "I'm happy that John outran all those people once he broke the line of scrimmage. Everybody on the sideline was waiting for who was going to catch him. Nobody did it. John just put on some steam and took off. It was one of those Longest Yard deals. I just kept waiting and waiting, and all of a sudden he gets into the end zone. That was really good."
On the victory over Tulane -- "I was proud of the character of the football team. They stayed in the fight and believed they could win a football game. It would have been awful easy to get their dauber down with eight lead changes, missing two field goals, and missing a touchdown pass. A lot of those things could have been devastating.
"The game showed a microcosm of the whole season. They didn't get down and kept fighting all the way to the end. I was happy for the opportunity to sing the fight song. It was one they've enjoyed for two days now; now, it's time to get back to business with (UCF)."
On Tulane's season -- "Tulane was motivated in a different aspect. Football is the one commonality that they have had in a topsy-turvy year. I told (Tulane head coach) Chris (Scelfo) before the game, that I couldn't imagine what has been like, seeing those guys every day, coming out of the dorm or barracks, and trying to make some semblance of life. I said, 'You guys have done a tremendous job in keeping their spirits up, keeping them motivated. The thing they'll remember 10 years from now, will be that football and their teammates were the things that kept them together.' They understand about adversity. They had no time to be bitter, they had to be better."
On UCF -- "They will certainly be motivated, knowing they can win their division title with a victory. But we're playing our last game for our seniors (in Rice Stadium), so we are going to be motivated and ready to play. (UCF) has done an outstanding job this year of running the football and throwing it. More than anything else, they've won all the close games.
"Once it started turning around after the second game, when they had lost 17 games in a row, they have done a terrific job of keeping things going in the right direction. They found a way to win a couple of close ballgames, including coming from behind against both (UAB) and East Carolina, both on the road.
"They have extra motivation with Southern Miss getting beat by Houston (Sunday)."
