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UNIVERSITY OF TULSA MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 5, 2013Bill BlankenshipRICE – 30 COACH BLANKENSHIP: Trey has done it as long as he's been here. He's a warrior. He's a guy you want to be touching the ball when it's a critical time of the game. He's had a really solid game. Q. You talked earlier in the week about battling (inaudible). It looks like you kind of focused more on the running end. COACH BLANKENSHIP: Well, it's one or the other. We made the decision that we felt like that was going to be important. Q. After your defense got (inaudible) which was really early, there in the middle of the game you got extremely conservative. COACH BLANKENSHIP: We got extremely conservative? Yeah. Q. Offensively. COACH BLANKENSHIP: Correct. Well, you really can't do it both ways. You've either got to try to run the ball or not run the ball. If we're trying to emphasize the running game, try and get that going. If that's conservative, then we got conservative. We came into this game saying very clearly as a staff, and me, make sure we wanted to run the football, and if we felt like if we did it enough we would break some big plays. Q. How much of that decision was based on the (inaudible)? COACH BLANKENSHIP: Well, it all plays in. Obviously if we were really doing a great job throwing the football, we would keep doing that. You know, those are the discussions we have all week, every week, and we felt like our personality has been at our best in the last two years when we were running the football, and so we just said, look, we're going to not get into that trap again of giving up too quickly in the running game. Q. (Inaudible) if you're able to actually clear your head and consider your options at the time, what were you thinking about the two picks? COACH BLANKENSHIP: Well, it doesn't matter to anybody else because I'm pretty sure the Tulsa fans were booing me, not one of our players, because I can't believe a Tulsa fan would boo one of our players, but if you actually knew what was going on you wouldn't replace the quarterback when he did exactly what he was supposed to do and the route he was running all week long, and it didn't get run that way. From that standpoint it's hard to say just because everyone wants you to go make a change, when the quarterback is doing what he's supposed to do. It's the whole team, I keep saying that over and over again. We have to execute as a team. But I have no‑‑ that's just what it is. Q. So are you saying you're fine with him throwing the ball under pressure and everything else that involved in that play? COACH BLANKENSHIP: He was expecting the receiver to break inside just like he did in practice all week long. And you can't wait for a receiver to break to throw it on time. And so when he threw it at the timing that he did, that's one of those things that I don't hold him accountable for. The second throw might have been a little high, might have been a little hard. It did go through our receiver, but that was definitely not as good a throw. But the first one, that was a critical thing at our end of the field with a turnover, and they ended up turning it into points as far as I remember. Q. What did you talk to the guys about after the game? This was a hard‑fought one. COACH BLANKENSHIP: How incredibly proud I was that they fought, that it was a kick in the gut. It is. There's nobody that hates losing ‑‑ nobody will hate losing more than me, no matter what you think. And while that's a huge disappointment, it is tempered by how we fought to the very last play. And you never get over the hump with a team until you learn how to fight, and this team fought incredibly hard. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH BLANKENSHIP: Again, I think everybody has the right to boo a coach, boo an official, do all that stuff. But if you're a Tulsa fan, don't tell me you're a Tulsa fan if you boo our players. I'm just telling you‑‑ I don't know who it was directed to. If that's the case, then they know who they are. Q. You set the bar really high, and then‑‑ COACH BLANKENSHIP: Hey, boo me. No question. There is no question we set the bar high. I've never accomplished anything great in life setting the bar low, and we won't ever set the bar low. But are we incredibly disappointed? Absolutely. Absolutely, and I think folks should be deservedly disappointed and upset with us. I've got no problem with that. Q. Considering all the pressure (inaudible) and considering that this isn't just a today deal, this is a this season and beyond deal, is 2 percent of you thrilled with what you accomplished on defense after you got gashed‑‑ COACH BLANKENSHIP: Yes. I'm a lot‑‑ I don't know what percent, 2 percent, whatever. I'm telling you, the loss is tempered by the fact that we fought hard offensively and defensively and in the special teams until the end of the game. We will win a lot of games down the road if we continue to fight like that. It does not make it any easier to deal with. Q. It has to be a combination of a lot of things. COACH BLANKENSHIP: Coach Bailiff and his staff I think do an incredible job. They understand how to game plan, they understand how to work match‑ups and do what they do, and they got us early on, and I thought we did a good job of adjusting as the game went on, talking about defensively. I thought they did a good job defensively adjusting and then playing with that little bit more energy there at the end. That was a very nice play on their part at the end to run trips at the boundary and send a wheel to the running back. They executed and we didn't. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH BLANKENSHIP: If the quarterback had thrown bad picks, I would have changed it. In my opinion, I don't know how you bench a guy for somebody else's mistake. That's what it comes down to now. The quarterback is responsible for all of it, so is the coach. I've said that from the beginning. But when people just see a result of a play and say, oh, bench that guy, they have no concept of what happened in that play. That's all I am saying. Q. It seemed like there were a lot of yards after contact. Is that‑‑ COACH BLANKENSHIP: That's what he says. He has done that all through his career. He is able to take hits, spin, he accelerates, he gets a lot of yardage, and that's what make you want to get him the ball. Q. How was the route on Roberson's‑‑ he ran that corner‑‑ COACH BLANKENSHIP: No question. We were actually trying to get the ball to Trey down the middle, their safety came off on Trey, and then he went to his next read. Q. You had a headset on the whole time. COACH BLANKENSHIP: I had a headphone on one ear. I don't want to make a big deal about it. I'm just saying that's just what it is. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH BLANKENSHIP: Yeah. Very frustrating.  Disturbing. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH BLANKENSHIP: Preliminary, I haven't heard from anybody after the game. Preliminary was that he had a fracture, upper leg. I thought they did a good job in handling it. Apparently when that happens you have to be really cautious about making sure you've got (inaudible) getting to the lower part of his leg. I thought they did a good job with that. I have not heard any confirmation. Q. Don says it had been like over 20 years since there had been an ambulance on this field, now it's three times in 10 games. COACH BLANKENSHIP: Yeah, not a record we like. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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