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Rice University Athletics
Mike Bloomgren Press Conference Quotes
11/19/2019 5:40:00 PM | Football
Recapping Rice Victory at Middle Tennessee; Previewing North Texas
Opening Statement
"Getting that first win on Saturday felt really good. I'm not going to lie to you about that. I'm so proud of our players and coaches for the way they stayed in this, the way they kept fighting and the way they kept preparing. Really, to see them rewarded with that victory locker room. After the game, that winning locker room made it all worth it for a lot of things that we do in this program. What I said after the game I meant. In 2019, it's very hard to get a group of men to stay together and keep fighting with all the outside things going on. With all the things that they hear on social media or from their own families. These guys never blinked. They just kept fighting, kept listening to their coaches (and) kept trusting their coaches. We saw the results of that on Saturday night.
After watching the film, I thought we played with a ton of juice. I thought our sideline was up. I thought our kids were having fun playing our game. (There were) a lot of really good things. It started on the first play of the game when (Middle Tennessee) completed a slant and Tre'shon Devones strips the ball out. We end up getting a couple of first downs and Chris Barnes hits it through the pipes for a career-long field goal. After a couple of things, it just started steamrolling. You really saw good production in all three phases in that first half. I'm really pleased with how that went. I thought the offense exploded. I thought Tom (Stewart) threw some great balls. (He was) really efficient, 18-of-23. He made good decisions and gave Bradley Rozner a chance. That's who both of those guys were coming into this program. That's what Tom Stewart did at Harvard. He gave people a chance down the field and they made plays for them. That's what Bradley Rozner was when he led junior college football last year (in touchdown receptions). So it's nice to see them in this system, in this format making those plays. I think it's really just a foreshadowing of what's to come. Again, you look at guys who have been in the program a long time. Aston Walter stepping up having the 34-yard touchdown run and more than that, having the 25-yard run on 3rd-and-11 to really take two more minutes off of the clock in a four-minute drill. Just big stuff.
The second half, obviously there's a few things that we want to correct and that's great. It's great to have those when you have a winning locker room. You can come in here in a good mood on Monday and still talk about all of the things we need to correct and how the process doesn't change. We look at our kids and say let's treat victory and defeat as the imposters that they are and just keep working. Keep working, keep trusting and keep going. That's what we did. We had a great practice yesterday morning. But again, talking about that game in the second half, we found a way to win. We didn't do too many things completely different than we've done all year. We scored a lot of points in the first half because of the offense, defense and special teams all playing together. They found a way to make one more play than the other team as the game went on and beat a great program. I have so much respect for the way Coach (Rick) Stockstill coaches them. They've been to a bowl eight straight years coming into this season. It just meant a lot.
We know that we have two games remaining in the season. We're excited about those games and can't wait to play them. But we're going to take it minutes-by-minute; hour-by-hour and we're going to prepare the right way.
Our Players of the Game on defense were Antonio Montero (and) George Nyakwol. Both of them are Co-Defensive Players of the Game. Offensive Players of the Game are Aston Walter and, of course, Bradley Rozner and our Special Teams Player of the Game was Nahshon Ellerbe, who if you watched those kickoff returns, gave our sideline a ton of juice and a ton of life. He had three returns for 88 yards, including the way he finished on the last one. So I'm really proud of all of those guys. Those are guys who have stayed the course. Antonio led us in tackles with eight. George had seven tackles (and) 1.5 (tackles for loss) and his (pass breakup) was just violent. He put his hat right on the ball and separated the ball from the receiver. So big-time stuff across the board and I'm glad we can celebrate those Players of the Week.
The next challenge is of course North Texas. This team requires our full attention. We know what that program is all about. I have so much respect for Coach Seth Littrell, the way he prepares them, the mindset he gets those guys into and his knowledge of the game. I have said it before, but we are going to do everything we can to beat them on the field, but there is no way I can beat Coach Seth in a bench-press contest!
We are going to keep working and get ready for this team. When you watch the film, there's not too much different from last year in terms of the talent they have on the field. They return the Conference Player of the Year, quarterback Mason Fine. We have to prepare for him because we think he's as good as you get in this conference. We have to be prepared for some of the air raid things they are able to do.
Our offense is going to have to be ready for a defense that is going to fly around. They play with their hair on fire and they are going to be everywhere. They really close down gaps. They have safeties whom are very active. We're going to be prepared for that. We will have to do a great job of protecting the football, like we always talk about. We have to make plays, like we did the last game, and we'll have an opportunity to light-up the scoreboard.
It will be a great test for our team. Coming off a win we're a confident bunch right now, believing in what we are doing. Being so close so many times, then having a little success, is great for this team. We're going to go out there and play our hearts out for the 19 seniors who will be represented on Senior Day this Saturday. It's going to be a lot of fun seeing those guys in pregame. It's a group who has come together, and they all made the decision to try and make things better than it was when they got here. They are fighting to do that day-in and day-out. I appreciate the impact that they have had."
How did the Middle Tennessee game rank for you as a complete game?
"It was the best half of football that we have played in the first half. It was good to find a way to win."
What was going through your mind on the last play, where they broke out the 'school yard' play?
"It was the one time I appreciated seeing a piece of laundry (penalty flag) come on the field. When that yellow flag came out I was sure I knew what it was because I was standing in line with the throw. That was part was a little bit of a relief."
As one of the least-penalized teams in the nation, how did it feel giving up a touchdown on a drive aided by three different penalties?
"Yes, we had seven penalties in the game and three were on either a third or fourth down which kept one (Middle Tennessee's) drives alive to lead to a touchdown. That was frustrating to have three flags on one drive and frustrating to have seven in a game. That is not the discipline we want to play with, that is not who we are nor want to be."
How did Aston Walter's fourth-quarter run look to you during the game, and what does it meant to have him back this season?
"It was Aston who changed his mindset when he decided to come back for an extra year. From the way he prepared over the summer to the leadership role he's taken, there is nothing we could have done any better than put the ball in his stomach with the game on the line at 3rd-and-11. The line gave a great push to the left, then out and made their secondary blocks. It was so important. Aston's run, and the play, could not have been any bigger in that game."
"Getting that first win on Saturday felt really good. I'm not going to lie to you about that. I'm so proud of our players and coaches for the way they stayed in this, the way they kept fighting and the way they kept preparing. Really, to see them rewarded with that victory locker room. After the game, that winning locker room made it all worth it for a lot of things that we do in this program. What I said after the game I meant. In 2019, it's very hard to get a group of men to stay together and keep fighting with all the outside things going on. With all the things that they hear on social media or from their own families. These guys never blinked. They just kept fighting, kept listening to their coaches (and) kept trusting their coaches. We saw the results of that on Saturday night.
After watching the film, I thought we played with a ton of juice. I thought our sideline was up. I thought our kids were having fun playing our game. (There were) a lot of really good things. It started on the first play of the game when (Middle Tennessee) completed a slant and Tre'shon Devones strips the ball out. We end up getting a couple of first downs and Chris Barnes hits it through the pipes for a career-long field goal. After a couple of things, it just started steamrolling. You really saw good production in all three phases in that first half. I'm really pleased with how that went. I thought the offense exploded. I thought Tom (Stewart) threw some great balls. (He was) really efficient, 18-of-23. He made good decisions and gave Bradley Rozner a chance. That's who both of those guys were coming into this program. That's what Tom Stewart did at Harvard. He gave people a chance down the field and they made plays for them. That's what Bradley Rozner was when he led junior college football last year (in touchdown receptions). So it's nice to see them in this system, in this format making those plays. I think it's really just a foreshadowing of what's to come. Again, you look at guys who have been in the program a long time. Aston Walter stepping up having the 34-yard touchdown run and more than that, having the 25-yard run on 3rd-and-11 to really take two more minutes off of the clock in a four-minute drill. Just big stuff.
The second half, obviously there's a few things that we want to correct and that's great. It's great to have those when you have a winning locker room. You can come in here in a good mood on Monday and still talk about all of the things we need to correct and how the process doesn't change. We look at our kids and say let's treat victory and defeat as the imposters that they are and just keep working. Keep working, keep trusting and keep going. That's what we did. We had a great practice yesterday morning. But again, talking about that game in the second half, we found a way to win. We didn't do too many things completely different than we've done all year. We scored a lot of points in the first half because of the offense, defense and special teams all playing together. They found a way to make one more play than the other team as the game went on and beat a great program. I have so much respect for the way Coach (Rick) Stockstill coaches them. They've been to a bowl eight straight years coming into this season. It just meant a lot.
We know that we have two games remaining in the season. We're excited about those games and can't wait to play them. But we're going to take it minutes-by-minute; hour-by-hour and we're going to prepare the right way.
Our Players of the Game on defense were Antonio Montero (and) George Nyakwol. Both of them are Co-Defensive Players of the Game. Offensive Players of the Game are Aston Walter and, of course, Bradley Rozner and our Special Teams Player of the Game was Nahshon Ellerbe, who if you watched those kickoff returns, gave our sideline a ton of juice and a ton of life. He had three returns for 88 yards, including the way he finished on the last one. So I'm really proud of all of those guys. Those are guys who have stayed the course. Antonio led us in tackles with eight. George had seven tackles (and) 1.5 (tackles for loss) and his (pass breakup) was just violent. He put his hat right on the ball and separated the ball from the receiver. So big-time stuff across the board and I'm glad we can celebrate those Players of the Week.
The next challenge is of course North Texas. This team requires our full attention. We know what that program is all about. I have so much respect for Coach Seth Littrell, the way he prepares them, the mindset he gets those guys into and his knowledge of the game. I have said it before, but we are going to do everything we can to beat them on the field, but there is no way I can beat Coach Seth in a bench-press contest!
We are going to keep working and get ready for this team. When you watch the film, there's not too much different from last year in terms of the talent they have on the field. They return the Conference Player of the Year, quarterback Mason Fine. We have to prepare for him because we think he's as good as you get in this conference. We have to be prepared for some of the air raid things they are able to do.
Our offense is going to have to be ready for a defense that is going to fly around. They play with their hair on fire and they are going to be everywhere. They really close down gaps. They have safeties whom are very active. We're going to be prepared for that. We will have to do a great job of protecting the football, like we always talk about. We have to make plays, like we did the last game, and we'll have an opportunity to light-up the scoreboard.
It will be a great test for our team. Coming off a win we're a confident bunch right now, believing in what we are doing. Being so close so many times, then having a little success, is great for this team. We're going to go out there and play our hearts out for the 19 seniors who will be represented on Senior Day this Saturday. It's going to be a lot of fun seeing those guys in pregame. It's a group who has come together, and they all made the decision to try and make things better than it was when they got here. They are fighting to do that day-in and day-out. I appreciate the impact that they have had."
How did the Middle Tennessee game rank for you as a complete game?
"It was the best half of football that we have played in the first half. It was good to find a way to win."
What was going through your mind on the last play, where they broke out the 'school yard' play?
"It was the one time I appreciated seeing a piece of laundry (penalty flag) come on the field. When that yellow flag came out I was sure I knew what it was because I was standing in line with the throw. That was part was a little bit of a relief."
As one of the least-penalized teams in the nation, how did it feel giving up a touchdown on a drive aided by three different penalties?
"Yes, we had seven penalties in the game and three were on either a third or fourth down which kept one (Middle Tennessee's) drives alive to lead to a touchdown. That was frustrating to have three flags on one drive and frustrating to have seven in a game. That is not the discipline we want to play with, that is not who we are nor want to be."
How did Aston Walter's fourth-quarter run look to you during the game, and what does it meant to have him back this season?
"It was Aston who changed his mindset when he decided to come back for an extra year. From the way he prepared over the summer to the leadership role he's taken, there is nothing we could have done any better than put the ball in his stomach with the game on the line at 3rd-and-11. The line gave a great push to the left, then out and made their secondary blocks. It was so important. Aston's run, and the play, could not have been any bigger in that game."
Players Mentioned
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