Mike Bloomgren Press Conference Quotes
11/20/2018 3:52:00 PM | Football
Coach Bloomgren Held His Weekly Football Press Conference Prior To This Weekend's Home Game vs. Old Dominion
"Good afternoon everyone. On this week of Thanksgiving I want to let (the media) know I am thankful for you all and the way you've covered our football team, and supported our program all year. As (Rice Assistant A.D. for Media Relations) Chuck Pool just mentioned, I want to give a shout-out to Coach Genny Volpe and the Rice volleyball team for the year that they've had, winning both the C-USA regular season and then conference tournament championships – and doing so with a young team. The conference Player of the Year is a sophomore and the Tournament MVP is a freshman, so very bright things are on the horizon for them. We want to wish them the best of luck representing Rice in the NCAA Tournament.
Saturday night in 'Death Valley' (LSU) was a lot of what we thought it would be. I'm talking about the atmosphere, the bus ride in, getting on the field and looking around, and the energy that that stadium provides – and what a cool venue it is. All those things lived up to our expectations I would say. It's a great place to play a football game. It was a great challenge for us to go in there and play those guys, a very, very talented football team that is well-coached. I thought the positives for us was we went in there and for a lot of our guys it wasn't too big for them. We stood toe-to-toe with those guys and we hit, and we hit, and we hit. I thought it was a physical, physical, football game. Those were the bright spots.
Of course there are a couple of things we wish we could have done better. I wish we could have taken them to deep water and see how the game would have turned out. Offensively, we saw some great play. We started to get the running game going a little bit more, with guys like Aston Walter and Juma (Otoviano) running the ball down-hill. It was really cool to see Juma get his first touchdown in 'Death Valley.' I think it will be the first of many for him in a Rice uniform, really exciting stuff. I thought 'D-Lo,' DeAngelo Ellis, did a nice job going up and catching a few passes. He had three (receptions) for 66 yards, including two of them coming on what everyone calls '50-50' balls. With the ball-skills that D-Lo showed, they might be more like '80-20' balls for us. We'll keep giving him those opportunities down the road. We still think of D-Lo as a cornerback, and he did have a tackle in the game in addition to those three catches, but we're going to use him on offense. That's something that is not going to change no matter if he evolves into a starting corner for us next year or not. Next year D-Lo is going to have a role, and we're excited about that.
Defensively, they had that first drive that went down the field. We kept them in front of us for the most part, but they knocked us around a little on the first drive and then woke-up. We became more what we have wanted to see out of our defense. On the second drive, Dylan Silcox' speed-to-contact causes a fumble and Prudy Calderon is right there to jump on it and get the turnover. That freshman always seems like he is around the ball. He did another nice job for us there. We had another turnover opportunity right before the half with Brandon Douglas-Dotson picking one off, but unfortunately we were offsides on that one so it got called back. It was good to see 'B-Dug' find the ball in his hands and get a chance to return it.
Special teams was a bright spot for us again. You saw Jack Fox doing what he does. He had three punts over 50 yards in the ball game. On the year he now has 25 punts inside the 20. He is worthy of all the consideration he is getting from the Ray Guy Award. I hope he gets a chance to go to Atlanta and win the thing. That's my sincere hope because I don't know if I've ever been around a more deserving specialist. With all the things he does for us even outside of punting - from the fakes to his ability to be a great holder on conversions and allow us to do all the different formations that we do. He just does so much for that group, including great leadership. Then obviously another bright spot was Haden Tobola, stepping-up in Tiger Stadium for a 51-yard field goal and just knocking it through the pipes for his tenth field goal of the year. That was good to see. There were a lot of good things on that side of the ball as well.
This Saturday will mark the last home game, and game, for 20 seniors. It is the last time they will wear a Rice Owls uniform. It will be an exciting time with Senior Day, a little pregame celebration with their families and a chance to take some photos on the field. I don't know if I can articulate how much I appreciate these seniors and how much they have done to advance our mission. Their senior year has not gone the way any of them would have wanted. That's disappointing. It's disappointing for everybody involved. The guys who have really stood up and continued to play, play a lot and play well for us, have provided great leadership. I cannot thank them enough. One of the coolest things we can do for all these guys is support them as they work for that Rice degree. All 20 of these seniors will earn that Rice degree. That's always exciting as we go forward.
The thing that I will tell you about these seniors is whether they choose to pursue this game beyond college or not, and some them will choose that, is I really believe in these guys. Some of them are going to invent companies that we will all want to invest in, so stay tuned for that. This week in talking about the game and senior day, one thing that I've really encouraged our young guys is that we have to send our seniors out the right way. We have to pour ourselves into this, and do everything we can this week to find a way get these guys the best senior day possible. And the only way it is going to be a great senior day is to win the ball game. I've told the underclassmen, this is what you're going to want the underclassmen to do on your senior day. You're going to want to go out the right way. So, I expect the seniors to have the game of their lives, the best day they have ever had on a football field. I hope these young bucks will follow their lead, and lead us to victory against a very good Old Dominion football team.
I think head coach Bobby Wilder has done a great job with that program the entire time he's been there, bring it up through the FBS level. They've been in the conference since 2014 and have had a couple of epic battles with Rice as you go back and read about them. You look at their season this year and their wins when they're hot, they appear be as hard to deal with as any team we've seen on film. From their quarterback being extremely hot against Virginia Tech, to watching a defense that flies around, I feel like I say this way too many times, way too often, but we're again facing one of the top sack-leaders in NCAA history in defensive end Oshane Ximines. He's been invited to the Bowl. He is an outstanding, outstanding, football player. He plays so well in the run game and of course attacks the passer.
Old Dominion will be a great challenge for us. We know it's going to be a four-quarter battle. We want it to be a four-quarter battle. We've got to get it to deep water, and give our guys a chance to win this game. If we can play like we're capable of and 'O' and 'D,' and let special teams be the difference for us, we're going to be happy with those results.
With that I'll take any questions."
Can you put a label on what it would mean to end the season on the right note?
"I think it starts with the way we want to do it for the seniors. I want these guys to go out the right way with a win. For the direction of the program it would be a big boost in recruiting. I think winning this game would mean a lot to this program. For me it would be as important as a playoff game, only we would not get to keep playing. It definitely has that sense of this is the last game, let's find a way to win it."
What's been the toughest part of this season?
"It's been a battle to change the culture and the mindset, but we are totally committed to our process - doing things the right way that we know will win football games. To get everyone over the hump to winning games, it's just a matter of doing it and keep working hard until we do it."
Could you share how your perception of the Rice program might have changed in the leading-up to getting the head coaching job to now, which is pretty close now one calendar year ago?
"That is a fair of enough question, but I will have a more thought-out response for you at another time. I can honestly say that the only thing I have been focusing on is trying to get these seniors this game. I know there are a lot of lessons I've learned and things that I want to continue to do in the program. I know I've grown because of the coaches on this staff who have been around me, and learned from the players on this team, but as for specifics allow me a little more time to have a better response after this game."
