Oct. 13, 2007
Recap |
Final Stats |
Notes
UAB 26, Tulane 21
Tulane Game 6
Legion Field
Birmingham, Ala.
HEAD COACH Bob Toledo
On his thoughts following the game
"We just self destructed. On the first drive of the second half, they go down and throw a long pass. We're right there to make a play, but don't make it. They had a kickoff return for a touchdown, and we just self destruct. We have to learn how to win. We have some guys who don't know how to win on this football team. I mean there's penalty after penalty after penalty, and you can't get any drives going. It's impossible to get any continuity when you're doing that. We've got some guys really working hard and doing a great job, and those guys are suffering because a handful of guys are making too darn many mistakes."
On the lag offensively early in the second half
"It happens. We're not doing a good enough job of getting the ball down the field to our receivers. I think they caught some balls tonight, but we're just not making enough plays."
On what tonight's loss means to the team's goals for the season
"We're behind the 8-ball, that's for sure. As far as bowl games and those things are concerned, we'd better just take it one game at a time and see if we can win some games at this point."
On the penalties
"That's what is killing us. We can't keep drives sustained because we keep making too many mistakes. We had so many penalties, and I don't know what to attribute that too. You make a big play, it gets called back and it's third-and-a-mile. Not many plays make a mile. We just shoot ourselves in the foot over and over and over again. That's what I told the team. I told them `you guys have to learn to win.' The guys that don't know how to win, I'm not going to play them. Right now, I don't know who I'm going to put in."
On the 209-yard rushing performance by Matt Forté
"That's what makes me sick. There are some guys out there busting their fannies and a handful of guys are keeping us from winning because of penalties.
Matt Forté is a great football player and I feel for him so bad to be going through this kind of situation. He doesn't deserve this. He's given a great effort and I feel for him. I really do."
On the momentum-changing plays
"I think there were a lot of things. There were so many momentum-type changers. The kickoff return was a big momentum changer. The play where they throw the long pass to start the second half. We're all fired up at the half and all of the sudden, it just deflates you when they complete a long pass and then throw a touchdown on the next play. Too many things happen to give you hope sometimes."
RUNNING BACK Matt Forté
On his performance against UAB
"I really don't care when I have a big game and we lose. I'm tired of going into the locker room, seeing all those sad faces and taking a sad plane ride back home. I'm tired of it. I've been doing it four years, and it's time to make a turnaround. It's like I say all the time, I'd rather have a terrible game with a win than a great one with a loss."
On the team's goals for the rest of the season
"You can't give up. We still have half the season left to play. You have to stay on the younger guys who have to step up and play, and the older guys who havent' been playing as well as they can. You can't just throw it all down the well just because we're 1-5. So what. We have six games left and we have to keep playing hard."
On the play of the team late in the ballgame
"That shows that we don't give up. You have to keep fighting through the end. In those last few plays, anything can happen. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way. It showed a lot of character from our team, to go down there and score, get the ball back and try to win the game again."
On back-to-back heart-breaking losses
"It's very disheartening. That's two games in a row that we thought we feel we should have won. You can't go out there and play against another team and beat yourself. It's hard enough to have to beat them. You can't beat them and yourself at the same time. We've been making it hard on ourselves. We have to stop the mistakes and penalties, and come out and execute the gameplan."
On if Tulane can turn their season around
"It's going to be difficult, but you can't think negatively. You have to think positively. I know that we can't turn our losing streak around. We just have to correct our mistakes."
QUARTERBACK Anthony Scelfo
On his thoughts following the game
"We didn't make plays. I didn't make throws. It isn't very hard to see. That's all I have to say about that."
On how disappointed he is
"It's ridiculous. I'm tired of going into the locker room and saying we beat ourselves again. It's time to grow up - everybody, myself included. We have to stop doing this to ourselves. Our goals are still in tact. We can still make a bowl game, but we can't do it playing like this."
