Gary Patterson Media Luncheon Quotes
11/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 23, 2004
Quoting Head Coach Gary Patterson
On Tulane:
"They've been an up and down football team and of late they've won a lot of football games. One of their biggest question marks is their quarterback, but he's played a lot of football. He is very talented and can throw the ball all over the place. They have good running backs and one of the top two wide receivers in this league with Roydell Williams."
"Defensively, they've been running to the ball really well and statistically they probably have the best punter in the league. He really hangs the ball up in the air."
"They don't have a lot to lose as they have us and Louisville to close out the season. They probably look at us as the better chance to win a ball game."
"I don't think it matters whether it is Tulane or Southern Miss right now. Our position hasn't changed much as our backs are against the wall. We have to come out with the same kind of effort that we did last week for us to be where we want to be."
On Tulane's freshman quarterback:
"One of the things about the freshman quarterback is how much of their offense they can run. They've had two weeks to prepare and when they've had time to prepare in the past they've done a lot of shifting at the line of scrimmage."
On the TCU/Tulane rivalry:
"If you go back and look at the history, TCU and Tulane, they get after each other. They (Tulane) have a lot of Texas kids on their roster and when they come back home to play after Thanksgiving a lot of things will go into this ball game."
On pressuring the quarterback:
"I think the biggest key last week is we were able to hit the quarterback a lot. Marvin (Godbolt) had three sacks, but aside from that, we had a lot of big hits to take them out of their rhythm. If you don't stop the run then it hard to do those things."
On injured players Mark Walker and Lonta Hobbs:
"It will probably be Saturday before we know. With Mark being a senior, he doesn't need a lot of reps. It will probably be the same with Lonta. It will be a lot like last week, whoever is on that itinerary when we go to the hotel is who we'll go to battle with."
"We've known that our backs have been against the wall the last four weeks. The kicker is besides the Houston game, we didn't play at home for seven or eight weeks. We've won 17 of the last 19 games at home over the last three years."
"We've played better here and that's what we know our advantage will be going into this week. Our fans have to be our trump card. The energy of playing at home in front of our fans will make a difference against Tulane just like it did last Saturday."
On why Hassell is starting at quarterback:
"There is no other reason other than that he's a senior. I fully expect that if something happens to Brandon, Tye (Gunn) will come in and do the things he does. Both of these kids are team players. They are competitive and I am sure that in the back of each of their minds they wish they were the guy in there. They both are going to prepare the same way to be the guy. If it takes one or both of them to win this game by one point then both will be in the mental state to do it."
On which TCU team shows up:
"My biggest concern is not Tulane. I am concerned with what they do, but my biggest concern is which TCU team shows up. As a head coach that is what you always worry about. I have had confidence in this group from the very beginning and I've told people that if certain things didn't happen we'd struggle and it did with some injuries. Now we are getting some people back and we're playing better."
On the bowl talk:
"We've been in this situation before. The `b' word, they aren't even allowed to talk about. The `T' word they can talk about the `b' word they can't. On Sunday that is all anybody wanted to talk about I am telling you right now, we have to beat Tulane. If we don't beat Tulane then it makes no difference about anything else."
On the importance of closing the season strong:
"The bottom line is how you finish. I've been telling people for a long time that it's not what they talk about in August, it's how they talk in December. We're 60 minutes away from being 6-5 and going to the `b' word. Winning breeds success, confidence and a lot of different things."
"The biggest thing that I've told my team is we haven't put two games back-to-back together since the beginning of the season. The thing I've wanted to see from my team was the same one that played the first two weeks of the year. The swagger, the running around, the effort, the playing until the last second runs off the clock and us hitting people in the mouth - the team that did whatever it is to win, which is what we call TCU football."
"That is what I saw last Saturday and that's the only thing I am looking for now. If we come and do these things then we'll have a good chance to win the ball game, but if we come thinking we don't have to play hard against Tulane then we'll be sadly mistaken."
On deciding to wear black-on-black:
"They've been asking me for years to do that. If my kids believe they are going to play better in it and look better in it then we're going to do it. We saved it for a special game and now we have one more special game to play."
"We have to go and take the game this Saturday like we did last week. As high as we were last Saturday, it will be the opposite end of the spectrum if we lose this week."
On energy from the younger kids:
"I felt like for the first time with our younger redshirt players they carried themselves with a lot of emotion and they felt like it was their team now. At some point in time every year with kids from this high school and that high school and that junior college, they all have to cross over the line like the movie "Miracle". At some point in time they have to step up and all say that they play ball for TCU. I felt that on the sideline last Saturday."
