Texas Tech University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
September 02, 2006 | Football
Sept. 2, 2006
Texas Tech Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Mike Leach
On the team's confidence
"I've wondered about our confidence level; we did some good stuff together in spurts. I'd like to see us more consistent with it because we had some lapses. I didn't like the lapses.
Our defense probably was our strongest side of the ball today. Our back was against the wall a couple of times and they rose up and got out of it, which I thought was impressive on their part. The other thing is I think SMU is a good football team; I think they have played real well. In several aspects I think they played better than we did.
We played smart for this early in the year. We had some composure for this early in the year. I didn't see a lot of hesitation for this early in the year, but we didn't maintain our tempo for a particularly long period of time. We did play together with 11 at times, I think it's a starting point. It's an average starting point but I don't think it's a great starting point.
We had some young players Shannon (Woods), Graham (Harrell), Jake Ratliff, Darcell McBath and there is a couple more. They played early and for starting significantly for a first time they did some good stuff; we'll see what they do from there. Some of the older guys think they have it figured out and they better keep that perspective. Some of the young guys that have had some initial success need to keep that perspective if we're going to be any good. The guys in the middle are the ones that I feel most secure about. "
On Graham Harrell's play
"I thought it was pretty good; I thought he had pretty good composure in there. He needs to maintain his tempo at times because there are others following him. As the starting quarterback, there needs to be the recognition that given the fact that you're a lot of the talk in the huddle, there's some attention on you where you can raise the level of tempo.
On Jake Ratliff
"He's been emerging since spring football and continues to improve and carve out a role here. I think today he showed some things where he's going to be a force for our defense if he continues to improve."
On Shannon Woods
"I thought he did pretty good, especially early. Later in the game I think he could have played better; I don't know that he didn't go a little bit soft. Although, I did like his explosiveness, when he hit the hole he was real fast. I think it was a good first game for him. I'll have to look at the film but he needs to make sure he keeps the foot on the accelerator."
On Robert Johnson
"He's a more consistent guy than he was last year. He plays more consistently and he's where he needs to be and where you expect him to be more. As a result of that, he ended up with quite a few catches. We'll see if he can make any catches against the next opponent and then if he continues to improve on turning straight up the field, I think he'll probably get more yards after the catch.
Senior, Receiver, Robert Johnson
On the single-game receptions record
"Generally, it feels good, I'm going out there and making plays and helping the team out. With Coach Leach we have a tempo, and tonight I thought we had a really good tempo."
On Quarterback Graham Harrell
"Graham looked good tonight; he did a real good job. He's a Tom Brady: he's a calm guy, he's cool."
Sophomore, Running Back, Shannon Woods
On Competition at position heading into workouts
"The competition pushes all of us to be better players. I just pushed as hard as I could every day in practice and eventually that will help us in the long run."
On taking over the starting role
"I've been waiting for a chance to play and I just tried to play hard for my teammates and for everyone else."
On his mind-set throughout the game
"I try to set high expectations for myself every night. I'm striving to get a hundred yards every game; that's just how I play.
SMU Postgame Quotes
SMU Head Coach Phil Bennett
Opening Statements:
"I wasn't disappointed in our effort at all. Believe it or not, I saw some bright spots. I'm disappointed offensively; when we would get something going we would have penalties and then late in the game we had the fumble in the exchange. I thought Justin (Willis) handled himself well for a guy who in his first game of playing college football, he was not intimidated whatsoever. He didn't have great numbers, but I definitely see a future for him."
On SMU's special teams:
"I thought our kicking game was very good. I thought our kick coverage, our punter, our placekicker, our punt return, I thought we did some things."
On his team's inability to convert third downs:
"Obviously the biggest part of the game that was disappointing was our third down conversions. They were able to convert third and longs, and we weren't."
