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UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 14, 2017

Philip Montgomery

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa - 45, Houston - 17

PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Just so proud of our football team. I mean, we've been through -- we've been through some stuff, and the way they played today was just unbelievable. I mean, our defense, first half flying around, did a great job of stopping the run, eliminated big plays. They were all over the field and really kept us in the ball game.

Felt like we had a couple of things we weren't taking advantage of. Then we come out the second half and just kind of relaxed and got back into our groove, and I thought our offensive line played really well and started clicking on some things, and then momentum. You know, I talk about momentum all the time. It was a huge factor in this game.

Very proud of our guys and our young men, the way they've been resilient and stayed together. We still got a lot of games left. So you don't know what the season is going to hold for us, but if we'll play like we played today, there's a lot more bright spots that we can do. These young guys have stepped up and played well.

Houston's a great football team. Major's doing a great job with them and their coaching staff and very talented group. So just extremely happy and proud of our team and our coaching staff and the adjustments that we've made through this process.

Q. After the close losses that you had earlier in the season, at what point in the fourth quarter could you finally exhale? Was that Shamari's touchdown? Was it Petera's? Somewhere in there?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Probably Petera's, honestly. Shamari's was big, but you don't take anything for granted, especially not with what we've been through earlier this season. So until those final seconds come off the clock, we want to stay intense, and we want to do things the right way. I thought our guys played a full 60 minutes just like we've been talking about and been doing all year long.

Q. Was it finally nice to see some of those big plays kind of go in your favor this time around? Some of the lucky breaks kind of with Keenen, the way he caught the ball and then just had a free field to the end zone, and D'Angelo getting the whole --
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Those things, you've got to have a little luck on your side, and then the flip side of those, you've got to work hard enough, and you've got to fight hard enough for that luck to bounce your way. Our guys have continued to fight. They've continued to work hard in practice. They've continued to work on their craft.

Yeah, the guy missed the tackle, but Keenen also broke that tackle and then took it to the house. So those things go both ways. But, yes, it was good, to answer your question. It was good to see some of those breaks fall our way.

Q. Coach, talk about the two key interception returns that seemed to really be -- I mean, jump start you guys.
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, huge plays by our defense. And, again, they played unbelievable today. I thought our defensive staff did a great job of changing some things up and putting our guys in really good positions to make plays. Guys, they just, they swarmed today, and they were flying around the field. Those turnovers are huge momentum swings for you and big, big plays.

McKinley's, that first one, we really, really needed it at that time in the first half. And then Keidrien's one, it was big. Even the one where Petera's play that he made, you think about all the special teams plays that were made. I mean, Rowdy's on the squib kick, he splits a double-team and makes a tackle in the open field, which is a huge play to keep them backed up.

This was a full, all three phases type game for us, and this is the first time, in my opinion, we've put it together like that this year.

Q. Did you anticipate using both quarterbacks, using Chad in certain situations?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, we kind of looked at it throughout the week, you know, using both of them. They're both young, but they're both gaining experience. I think the way they played off each other today was really, really good. I mean, if you look, they're both celebrating with each other, they're the first ones when they're coming off the field, and that's what we want on our football team. We've got to be unselfish about what we're doing, and those guys, it starts with them because everybody is going to ask questions about them.

But they did a great job, a tremendous job of helping each other on the sidelines, talking through stuff, and that's the way we got to continue to be.

Q. I know you always celebrate wins, but what is this one like, this celebration?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Well, it was rockin'. We had a lot of -- and I did too -- a lot of pent-up frustration, and it got to come out. It was one of those locker rooms that you won't forget because, boy, guys are having fun, hugging each other, and this was a big family win for us.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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