Mike Bloomgren Press Conference Quotes
9/20/2022 1:29:00 PM | Football
Opening Statement
"Wrapping up last week, I thought our guys had a great week of prep. It was just really fun to see it all pay off. It was a big win for our program. I thought there were a lot of bright spots in every phase, offense, defense, and special teams. I thought the defense was extremely dominant. What we were able to do in terms of covering (Louisiana) down the field, staying on top of routes, the pressure we put on the quarterback to get seven and a sack, the pass breakups down the field, and the interceptions. The biggest thing was communicating all of their shifts and motions. We did a great job with our eyes in stopping the run. That was really the story of the game. Aside from two runs, I thought we did an exceptional job all game long.
Offensively, we played really hard. We played hard in the first half and we played well in the second which was great. It ended up being a pretty good statistical day as well. We converted 60.0% of our third downs and going six-for-six in the red zone for the second straight game.
I feel like we've made tremendous progress. I really do. You look back on the last two games, our defense has given up an average of 219 yards a game. We held (Louisiana) to 175 yards and nine first downs. Their time of possession in the second half, which is obviously a team statistic, was 6:39. That's a heck of a job by everybody, from our coaching staff, right down the line to every one of our players, including the scout team, which I thought gave us a great look last week.
Our goal this week is no different than any week. It's a fun week. It's a great week to be a part of this program. But our goal is to go 1-0 and not let our process change one bit. We need to understand that all the confidence that we earned from the victory last week should also be the confidence in our prep and how we go about our business week-to-week.
Talking about this game against (Houston), celebrating the Bayou Bucket is always fun. I think the Houston Touchdown Club does some great things to make this a big deal and make it a cool event, including that luncheon tomorrow. Certainly, we'll recognize the schedule that the school across town opened up with. It was not an easy schedule to start with and we know they're a very good team. We know how talented they are, and we know it's going to take an extremely good, clean effort by our team to bring that bucket back to Main Street. That is no doubt our goal."
How do you prep for Houston with them coming off a loss?
"No different. It's going to be about the Rice Owls. It's going to be about us. What they do across town is what they do and I don't know that it matters after a win or a loss. I think, right now, our team is very motivated. We aren't coming off a loss. We're very excited about football and we're ready to get to work."
How does being 2-1 change how you look at your team?
"I think the record is something we'll look at, at the end of the year and judge how we did. I'm proud of these guys for finding a way the last two weeks to win games and preparing the right way to do so. I don't know what the record means this time of year. I guess I'm just too focused on this week. That's what matters. The record, that's done. That's in the past. We're 2-1, good. Now let's go forward and improve that record."
On what this game means to him
"It's the next one on our schedule. It will always be a big deal in recruiting. I don't want to go away from that fact. We recruit a lot of our team from Texas and the city itself. So, anytime you can win an in-city rivalry or any in-state game, it helps. But the thing for our team is that we have another opportunity to play together this Saturday. We've got another opportunity this Tuesday, today, to have the best Tuesday practice of the year and that's what we're focused on."
"Wrapping up last week, I thought our guys had a great week of prep. It was just really fun to see it all pay off. It was a big win for our program. I thought there were a lot of bright spots in every phase, offense, defense, and special teams. I thought the defense was extremely dominant. What we were able to do in terms of covering (Louisiana) down the field, staying on top of routes, the pressure we put on the quarterback to get seven and a sack, the pass breakups down the field, and the interceptions. The biggest thing was communicating all of their shifts and motions. We did a great job with our eyes in stopping the run. That was really the story of the game. Aside from two runs, I thought we did an exceptional job all game long.
Offensively, we played really hard. We played hard in the first half and we played well in the second which was great. It ended up being a pretty good statistical day as well. We converted 60.0% of our third downs and going six-for-six in the red zone for the second straight game.
I feel like we've made tremendous progress. I really do. You look back on the last two games, our defense has given up an average of 219 yards a game. We held (Louisiana) to 175 yards and nine first downs. Their time of possession in the second half, which is obviously a team statistic, was 6:39. That's a heck of a job by everybody, from our coaching staff, right down the line to every one of our players, including the scout team, which I thought gave us a great look last week.
Our goal this week is no different than any week. It's a fun week. It's a great week to be a part of this program. But our goal is to go 1-0 and not let our process change one bit. We need to understand that all the confidence that we earned from the victory last week should also be the confidence in our prep and how we go about our business week-to-week.
Talking about this game against (Houston), celebrating the Bayou Bucket is always fun. I think the Houston Touchdown Club does some great things to make this a big deal and make it a cool event, including that luncheon tomorrow. Certainly, we'll recognize the schedule that the school across town opened up with. It was not an easy schedule to start with and we know they're a very good team. We know how talented they are, and we know it's going to take an extremely good, clean effort by our team to bring that bucket back to Main Street. That is no doubt our goal."
How do you prep for Houston with them coming off a loss?
"No different. It's going to be about the Rice Owls. It's going to be about us. What they do across town is what they do and I don't know that it matters after a win or a loss. I think, right now, our team is very motivated. We aren't coming off a loss. We're very excited about football and we're ready to get to work."
How does being 2-1 change how you look at your team?
"I think the record is something we'll look at, at the end of the year and judge how we did. I'm proud of these guys for finding a way the last two weeks to win games and preparing the right way to do so. I don't know what the record means this time of year. I guess I'm just too focused on this week. That's what matters. The record, that's done. That's in the past. We're 2-1, good. Now let's go forward and improve that record."
On what this game means to him
"It's the next one on our schedule. It will always be a big deal in recruiting. I don't want to go away from that fact. We recruit a lot of our team from Texas and the city itself. So, anytime you can win an in-city rivalry or any in-state game, it helps. But the thing for our team is that we have another opportunity to play together this Saturday. We've got another opportunity this Tuesday, today, to have the best Tuesday practice of the year and that's what we're focused on."
WBB: 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