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Rice University Athletics
Ken Hatfield's Monday Quotes
9/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 12, 2005
Opening Statement -- "You saw the difference in that they had already played a game and made some corrections. (UCLA) did not make many mistakes; they made some penalties, but they didn't make many mistakes in their blocking assignments, especially. We don't have anybody on our scout team to simulate their kind of speed, and it showed early in the first drive.
"We were ready. We kicked off well and covered the kickoffs extremely well. We got them behind the 24-yard line every time on kickoffs. We ready, but their talent took off.
"We had a great kickoff return (after UCLA's first touchdown). We had one guy miss a block or Andray Downs might have gone all the way. Then the offense with Joel Armstrong moving the team down the field. He got hit twice on the play he scored on. It was important to answer their score with ours, but after that, we just didn't slow them down.
"Like 50 percent of the other teams, we lost our first game. Several years ago, we lost to Ohio State 70-7 in the first game of the year, then came back and beat Tulane on the road the next week and went on to go 7-4 that year. I mention that because, when you have the first loss of every individual season, you look for an Adam Herrin and the leadership you have to help the younger people get through it, to try to improve and get better. I asked our coaches if there were any players who just didn't try hard or wasn't hustling. Those are the players we would try to make changes with, but there wasn't any. There were several folks who were very tentative, playing for the first time. At the same time, we were not forcing things to happen. This is going to be an easy film to coach off of.
"We're looking forward to playing Texas. Were they to play the national championship game today, (Texas would) be in it. I don't think there's any doubt about it. It was a tremendous victory for them, on the road at Ohio State, coming back like they did. My hat's off to them. Mack (Brown) has done a tremendous job. They have great team speed and a really solid team in every category.
"The biggest thing we're looking for is how much we can improve this week. That will be the key to this football team. We are committed through the whole season.
"Following our Conference USA opponents, a lot of them started off extremely well, even though some of them have lost some games. I have been impressed with UAB and Central Florida in their opening ballgames. SMU had a big win over TCU after their win over Oklahoma. UTEP's playing good. Tulsa, it was a nine-point game at Oklahoma and Oklahoma intercepted and ran it back on the last play of the game. The league is going to be competitive, and what we're trying to do with this football team is improve, get better and grow, and to position ourselves when we get to conference play.
"Texas is a team that will challenge you in a lot of ways. If we learn from what we did against a good UCLA team last week, we will play harder and smarter, and be around the football a lot more than we were last week."
On committing more defensive players to the point of attack -- "We only can play with 11. I can't commit more. Even with Texas being as nice as they are, I think Mack will want us to only have 11. I would commit 15, if I could, to the point of attack.
"It doesn't matter whether you're playing us, UCLA or Texas, you have to stop a team's running attack. It might be easier, as the season goes along, to play to a team's tendencies. After a couple of games, though, they don't have that many tendencies. They're just good and solid, and that makes it more difficult on the defense. We'll have to shore up the line of scrimmage before we worry about their good receivers. They know it and we know it; we've to commit enough folks over there to slow down the running game. That's the first priority."
On Rice's mental state after UCLA -- "The biggest thing is the way this team handles being 0-1. Nobody wants to be where we are, but the good thing is that the guys love football. We had more guys who come over here on Sunday and study the game themselves. Most people would be sleeping, getting back here at 7:30 in the morning. They want to improve and get better."
On 18 Owls' first collegiate game -- "I think they were scared spitless. When Chris Ptaszek got going, he steam-rolled some guys. The bad part was that a lot of times the ball was snapped and everyone was moving but him. He was thinking, 'Which way to I go?' A lot of times when we broke the huddle, all three of the freshmen would ask the center, Scott Austin, the same thing. I told Scott, 'At least tell them all to go left.' All of a sudden, you're out there and the lights are on, the 25-seconds are going and everybody's moving, then those big ol' hairy-chested guys are hitting you in the mouth. It's mind-boggling, and every one of our guys felt that way when they started. That's something they learn: they've seen the speed of the game and they know they better attack somebody."
On Joel Armstrong -- "Joel Armstrong is the leader on our offense, and Adam Herrin is the leader on our defense. That's the nature, the personality of our team right now. Joel will be ready. He'll have a great week of practice. He is as positive of a guy as I have ever seen. He was supportive of Chase Clement when Chase went in to play the other day. His leadership and (playing against Texas) last year will help."
On Texas QB Vincent Young -- "Vince is everything you look for in a quarterback. He's been in a growth pattern, both in the Oklahoma State and Kansas games last year, then bringing them back against Michigan and the big touchdown pass at Ohio State. You can't simulate that in practice. He's continued to grow and be a great leader for them. He's certainly one of the top candidates for the Heisman Trophy."
