Mike Bloomgren Press Conference Quotes
10/25/2022 1:56:00 PM | Football
Opening Statement
"We had the opportunity to play a little extra football on Saturday and I'm pleased that we were able to find a way to win the game in overtime. I thought we had some outstanding individual performances, whether it was Chris Conti with 10 tackles or the defenses 10 hits on the passer to Luke McCaffrey's 202 total yards to TJ McMahon being recognized by the Manning Award for his performance. There were a lot of good things, but I think that was a great team win. I said it the other day and I still feel that way today. We needed everybody. I think it was a character revealing, gritty team win. That's pretty cool to be a part of.
Offensively, I think we played with way to much air in the first half, including the critical self-inflicted wounds of fumbling the football, with one of them coming at the one-yard line which we know is critical. We were able to get our act together and find a way to score one more point than our opponent, which is always the goal. Especially in a conference road game. I thought our defense did a great job of keeping us in the game until our offense found a rhythm. It's, again, that yin-and-yang that you always need in a team. Then coming out of halftime with the offense scoring 35 points after halftime. That's a pretty good day at the offense, including scoring a touchdown in three plays in overtime.
Defensively, it was certainly not our best game. But, when all the chips were on the line, we found a way to end the game by denying them that two-point opportunity. Again, I chalk that up to all of the hits on the passer (and) being able to stop the run game all day long. A lot of good things went into that last play. I think I want to say this. After preparing for (Louisiana Tech) and watching it in-game, I don't think Sonny Cumbie is just a good offensive, creative mind, I think he's a great one. I think he did a phenomenal job and his kids played incredibly hard. The way that they came out in the first quarter was impressive. The way they fought on both sides of the ball and to jump out on us 10-0. Again, my hats off to what he his building there. But, once again, I'm glad we found a way to win the game.
One word that we talk a lot about in the program is 'Mudita.' In short, it's joy for others, and having the same joy, maybe more, for somebody else's success than your own. That was one thing that I saw on Saturday. Even when we weren't up on the scoreboard, we had people on the sidelines being outstanding teammates, picking each other up, always being there for each other. I think it's just the culture that our players and our coaches have set. It's so fun to be a part of and I'm so thankful for the player-led team that we are and the way these guys believe in each other and fight for each other.
What are we working toward this week? We're working to prepare what we know works. We want to have the best Tuesday practice that we've had all year. We want to put the work into the game plan on the field like we know we need to. Then have the best Wednesday, the best Thursday and the best Friday yet. What we're looking to do is to play 60 minutes, all four quarters in all three phases of football, to our standard. That's something that we have not come close to yet. What I do believe in my core is that we can beat anybody in this conference when we do that. Again, it comes down to the only people that can beat the Rice Owls is the Rice Owls. We've got to make sure that we're staying out of our own way. The formula we talk about is starting fast, staying focused and finishing strong. That's going to be the mantra again this week. We have put this game to bed. We showed the film to the guys yesterday and had a really good Monday practice. So, we're moving on to Charlotte.
We know this will be their first game under Interim Head Coach Pete Rossomando. Just like any other game, we're going to prepare the right way. We're going to look at the film, we're going to put a great plan together, we're going to give it to the guys and we're going to work our butts off this week. So, we can come back out her at Rice Stadium, work on going 1-0 and celebrate Homecoming."
What have the close wins told you about the identity of the team?
"I think character. I don't know how you could say anything but character. Character and belief, to be honest with you. That's one thing that we talk about. There's a lot of elements of getting a win like that where you have to come in here and watch the film that's not really fun to watch. You get coached pretty hard by your coaches. But, that's what we had to do. Our play wasn't up to our standard. But when you win, sometimes it's like lipstick on a pig, where it looks a little pretty, but at the end of the day, the thing stinks. So it's great to get a W, but there's a lot to work on. That's how we're attacking this thing."
What did the team start doing better that led to 35 second half points?
"There were a couple of things that we tweaked at halftime and a couple of changes that we made, but there weren't many to be quite honest. But in the second quarter, we drove down to the one-yard line and put the ball on the ground. So, it's not like we weren't moving the rock. To get the touchdown through the air to Luke was a big deal. I think there were a lot of things that went right for us to only be down 10-7 at halftime, including Sean Fresch's pick in the end zone. I went into the locker room very grateful to only be down three points with the way we played in the first half. We just had to come out and play our style of football. There's not going to be a whole lot of magic. I'm very thankful that we were able to come out and execute better."
"We had the opportunity to play a little extra football on Saturday and I'm pleased that we were able to find a way to win the game in overtime. I thought we had some outstanding individual performances, whether it was Chris Conti with 10 tackles or the defenses 10 hits on the passer to Luke McCaffrey's 202 total yards to TJ McMahon being recognized by the Manning Award for his performance. There were a lot of good things, but I think that was a great team win. I said it the other day and I still feel that way today. We needed everybody. I think it was a character revealing, gritty team win. That's pretty cool to be a part of.
Offensively, I think we played with way to much air in the first half, including the critical self-inflicted wounds of fumbling the football, with one of them coming at the one-yard line which we know is critical. We were able to get our act together and find a way to score one more point than our opponent, which is always the goal. Especially in a conference road game. I thought our defense did a great job of keeping us in the game until our offense found a rhythm. It's, again, that yin-and-yang that you always need in a team. Then coming out of halftime with the offense scoring 35 points after halftime. That's a pretty good day at the offense, including scoring a touchdown in three plays in overtime.
Defensively, it was certainly not our best game. But, when all the chips were on the line, we found a way to end the game by denying them that two-point opportunity. Again, I chalk that up to all of the hits on the passer (and) being able to stop the run game all day long. A lot of good things went into that last play. I think I want to say this. After preparing for (Louisiana Tech) and watching it in-game, I don't think Sonny Cumbie is just a good offensive, creative mind, I think he's a great one. I think he did a phenomenal job and his kids played incredibly hard. The way that they came out in the first quarter was impressive. The way they fought on both sides of the ball and to jump out on us 10-0. Again, my hats off to what he his building there. But, once again, I'm glad we found a way to win the game.
One word that we talk a lot about in the program is 'Mudita.' In short, it's joy for others, and having the same joy, maybe more, for somebody else's success than your own. That was one thing that I saw on Saturday. Even when we weren't up on the scoreboard, we had people on the sidelines being outstanding teammates, picking each other up, always being there for each other. I think it's just the culture that our players and our coaches have set. It's so fun to be a part of and I'm so thankful for the player-led team that we are and the way these guys believe in each other and fight for each other.
What are we working toward this week? We're working to prepare what we know works. We want to have the best Tuesday practice that we've had all year. We want to put the work into the game plan on the field like we know we need to. Then have the best Wednesday, the best Thursday and the best Friday yet. What we're looking to do is to play 60 minutes, all four quarters in all three phases of football, to our standard. That's something that we have not come close to yet. What I do believe in my core is that we can beat anybody in this conference when we do that. Again, it comes down to the only people that can beat the Rice Owls is the Rice Owls. We've got to make sure that we're staying out of our own way. The formula we talk about is starting fast, staying focused and finishing strong. That's going to be the mantra again this week. We have put this game to bed. We showed the film to the guys yesterday and had a really good Monday practice. So, we're moving on to Charlotte.
We know this will be their first game under Interim Head Coach Pete Rossomando. Just like any other game, we're going to prepare the right way. We're going to look at the film, we're going to put a great plan together, we're going to give it to the guys and we're going to work our butts off this week. So, we can come back out her at Rice Stadium, work on going 1-0 and celebrate Homecoming."
What have the close wins told you about the identity of the team?
"I think character. I don't know how you could say anything but character. Character and belief, to be honest with you. That's one thing that we talk about. There's a lot of elements of getting a win like that where you have to come in here and watch the film that's not really fun to watch. You get coached pretty hard by your coaches. But, that's what we had to do. Our play wasn't up to our standard. But when you win, sometimes it's like lipstick on a pig, where it looks a little pretty, but at the end of the day, the thing stinks. So it's great to get a W, but there's a lot to work on. That's how we're attacking this thing."
What did the team start doing better that led to 35 second half points?
"There were a couple of things that we tweaked at halftime and a couple of changes that we made, but there weren't many to be quite honest. But in the second quarter, we drove down to the one-yard line and put the ball on the ground. So, it's not like we weren't moving the rock. To get the touchdown through the air to Luke was a big deal. I think there were a lot of things that went right for us to only be down 10-7 at halftime, including Sean Fresch's pick in the end zone. I went into the locker room very grateful to only be down three points with the way we played in the first half. We just had to come out and play our style of football. There's not going to be a whole lot of magic. I'm very thankful that we were able to come out and execute better."
Players Mentioned
LB
/ Football
CB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
QB
/ FootballWBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
Wednesday, March 09
VB: Rice-Texas Postgame Presser
Saturday, December 04
VB: Rice-San Diego Postgame Presser
Thursday, December 02