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UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 22, 2016Philip MontgomeryTulsa, Oklahoma Tulane - 27, Tulsa - 50 PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I'm just now looking at the sheet, but overall really proud of the way of our football team. Got a lot of questions last week about how our football team was going to respond and what we thought our kind of what we believed in and our integrity part of it to me. So, really proud of the way our guys came out, especially in the first half and really played well. Proud of, offensively, going down first possession right there, getting points, kind of mixed in a run and a pass really well. Defense went out and shut them down. And I think that kind set the tone for the entire five first half. We came out and really set the tone in the second half and we made some little mistakes in there that you just can't do. Tulane, I think, is a very good football team, I think especially defensively, you saw what they did to Memphis last week and I think Memphis is really good on offense. So I was proud of the way our guys came out and executed. Got to eliminate some of those things there late. I think some of that was a little lack of focus and we're playing some young guys in there, but those guys got to step up and continue to make plays and continue to keep that tone that was set earlier for them. So proud of our football team. That gets to us five and we're almost to our point and that's our first goal is to get that and our guys are anxious to get that done. But I was really proud again of the way they reacted and responded to everything leading into this week. With that, I'll take questions. Q. You make it sound like responding and bouncing back from a disappointment is an easy thing, but there's some teams that can't do that. What is it about what you preach or what they do that had them able to do this? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I don't think it's anything that I preach, I think it's the tone that we set for our football team. That goes on in the course of a game, that goes in the course of a half, what we do in our offseason program. And we have really preached over the past year about finishing. I thought our guys, forget about play one, forget about the first series, the next series, whatever, we're moving on each and every time. And I think our guys have really adopted that train of thought and continuing to battle and do the things that you got to do to go and at least give your self an opportunity to win football games. So, I'm proud of that, I'm proud of our physical nature that we're bringing to each and every game, and we just got to continue to keep growing and trying to push ourselves to another level. Q. Obviously, being down two defensive starters, aside from the long runs, especially in the first half, how do you think the defense did? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I thought the defense played lights out in the first half. I really did. Not having Trent Martin out there, not having Jeremy Brady who, for the most part, one of those two guys is probably our leading tackler each and every game. But I thought McKinley stepped in and played really well. I thought Coop stepped in and played really well. And I think the guys around them elevated their games and continued to keep those guys in the right spot and us playing the type of defense that we have kind of set the tone of playing this season. That thing's going to continue, but I think that's part of our defensive coaching staff doing a great job and putting those guys in the right place, but also getting them prepared when these things start happening those guys have got to step in and be ready to play. Q. Did you get the sense that you guys were agitated, coaching staff, players, especially after the end of that game in Houston, maybe this renewed your focus, because you guys came out with offensive line mauling people, defensive line swarming on the quarterback, kind of came out with a chip on your shoulder an attitude? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I hope we're playing with that attitude each and every week. Going back to last week, last week was last week. Our guys have got to be focused on the next week and we got to bring that same intensity each and every week. I thought we played with a lot of fervor last week. I think that's just carrying over. I think as you look at our games as we're building through the season, I think our football team is gaining confidence and growing as a football team, but also the nature that we're playing with now I think is really starting to take hold. We have got to continue to do that and that starts on defense, that starts with our guys up front, starts with Chris Minter, those guys setting the tone for the physical nature of the game and then our guys outside doing what they got to do to make plays. Q. Could you address home coming and a lot of the TU fans felt emotional about the Dennis Byrd situation and did you feel that emotion in the locker room and could you address the moment of silence and the decals and that? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I mean, Dennis Byrd, and I talked about this in my press conference earlier in the week, he was a man that stood for everything that we want our program to stand for. A guy that was relentless in his fight to overcome odds, he did everything right, tried to make the people around him better. I read a story earlier this week about they brought some -- and I don't remember because I don't want to get the story wrong or the facts wrong -- but a group of people came to the Jets facility and he went over and I think there was a blind lady sitting there, nobody was around her, but he sat down and had probably a five-minute hug with her. She put on his helmet and just it was an unbelievable deal. So, just the way he handled life and the way he handled situations and he's going to be somebody that is truly missed within our program and within our family here by the university and our football program. But whatever we can do to show our thoughts and condolences for him and his family and just letting them know that they're always a part of this family and they're always in our prayers and we're thinking about them. Q. Would he be proud of this defensive effort today? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Well, I told my guys in the locker room he would. Yeah, so I would hope he would. I think they played the way he would want the game to be played. Q. Offensive side of the ball, what does it do for you as a, your offense, the play calling when you have multiple backs whether it's Flanders or Brewer that can do what they have been doing the past few weeks? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Well, we have always been and I told the guys when we first got here, that we were going to be a running back by committee. And we have had that trend all the way through. I think we played five different backs last year, I don't know how many we played so far this year, but those guys understand they're getting reps in practice, they're doing the things that they got to do and they're preparing themselves to play. Those guys up front are opening up holes, Coach Shield has done a great job with our running backs and we have got a lot of unselfish guys back there that are all operating at a high level, but those guys, we got a lot of faith in everyone of them that go in there. So, to be able to continue to keep plugging in guys when we need to and those guys going in and playing the way they need to. Q. What did it mean on those first two drives to have number 88 stand over here and make those two long receptions really kind of -- they were number 20th in the country in defense, they were playing the run tough, did that open things up a lot for you? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, we talked about this all week long and we knew they were going to load the box and try and stop the run. But our guys on the outside they had to make plays, really challenged them this week to do that. Josh, along with all of our receiving corps, we have a ton of faith and those guys are unselfish, they don't care who is getting the ball, they just want to win. I think that's the main thing about our football team, it doesn't matter who is making the plays, long as we're making those plays to get W's. But to have Josh out there, a guy who's been doing it well here for a long time, to step up big and really get us started, that's what seniors do, that's what leaders do, and it was great to see him have the type of game that he had with everything that he had to deal with this week. Q. (No microphone.) PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Well, he just had a little injury to his hand that he's had to fight through and has really stepped up and played extremely well. He's been making those plays for us every since I've been here. Q. (No microphone.) PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, really it's always, I think it's always been part of his game. You can ask him. If I remember correctly, third play of the game, of game two last year, took it 75 yards against New Mexico. So he's caught deep balls for us all the time he had two deep balls against them last year if I remember correctly. Two for touchdowns. So knew the way they were going to play it, those guys all had to step up and it was just looking for matchups and letting those guys do and do what he this do. Q. We talk about momentum, I know this game was big for you because it was next, but in the scope of just the flow of the season going to Memphis next week, they played Navy tough today, how important was it to have a performance like this just for morale and confidence as you hit the road? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I think we're still trying to grow and build as a team. I think we're growing in confidence in all three phases of the game and we made plays in all three phases. Now we made mistakes also, but those are things we got to go back in and correct. But I was proud of -- you know, Memphis is a really tough football team. Going there, that's a tough environment to play in. I know that with a new coach there they got a new scheme, they have been playing really well defensively, they put a lot of points on the board, against a lot of different people. I don't know what they scored today, but I know that last week Tulane did a pretty good job on them, but we got our hands full with them but we're going to enjoy this win and then we're going to get prepared for Memphis. Q. To add on to that same question, seven games in, you played in your two losses you played well, in your opinion, how good is this football team right now? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: You know, that's a good question. I got a lot of faith in my guys. Our two losses are to two Top-10, top-15 teams. Really had a chance to take one of them out. I thought we played really well for about one and three quarters of a game at Ohio State, which is a very talented football team. But I think that we got a chance to do something special here with this football team. I think all of the goals that we set for ourselves at the start of the year are still right there and they're attainable. But we have not allowed ourselves any room to wiggle in there. So, each and every week we got to continue to keep approaching it the way we have been doing and take them out one by one. We're fighting for respect and our team knows that. And that's not just in our conference, but in our state. So, our job is to go win and we're going to let the chips fall where they may after that. Q. It was 280 yards total offense by Tulane in the second half. You guys came out at such a high level. Is that difficult to maintain over 60 minutes and is it you have to guard against a letdown as the game progresses when you come out so fast? PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I would say no to that, only because that's what we expect of our football team. We have been in battles and in grinds all the way through this thing since I've been here so our guys know how to play a full 60 minutes. I think we had a little lack of focus there, a little bit there in the second half. But that's part of growing as a football team and learning how to take care of things as you get leads and so those are things and hurdles that we're just now facing, but those are things we got to learn from an continue to get better on and continue to grow to be that type of team we want to be and we're trying to take ourselves to another level, we got to keep pressing that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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