Sept. 22, 2009

Tulane Head Coach Bob Toledo:
Opening Remarks:
Obviously we softened up BYU for Florida State there's no question and we probably did the same thing with Tulsa because Oklahoma beat them too, but I'm tired of softening up people for other opponents. We're going to have to take care of our own business. You look at that BYU game and it seems like a long time ago - and that's good too.

Last week, we obviously had a bye and a lot of people have asked what did we do. Obviously we worked on fundamentals. We're trying to get better; blocking, tackling, and kicking game, those types of things. And in the first two days we worked hard on Army and the reason we did that is because they run a wishbone type attack, which we don't see. They cut block you and we had to work on fundamentals of cut blocking. Plus, they run a flex defense - which is very unique. Their head coach was out at Arizona when I was at Oregon and UCLA and it was a very difficult defense to attack. So, we wanted to spend a couple of days on that just to get our players acclimated a little bit so that the following week when they come back to it they've already had some exposure to it.

The next few days we worked on McNeese and actually it was a day and a half. It was a day and a half because the players really didn't want to practice on Wednesday and I decided to give them the last half of practice off. I didn't want to wear them out, I didn't want anybody to get hurt and I wanted to save their legs a little bit for the game. So we gave them half a practice off, but we actually worked two days on McNeese.

This week we started like a typical game week except that we were in full pads on Monday. Normally we wouldn't do that because we had the day off on Saturday and I gave them three days off. So, we practiced really hard on Monday and we'll practice hard today and then I'll take the pads off on Wednesday and we'll concentrate more so on kicking game and scouts for McNeese.

And then Thursday is game-plan rehearsal and Friday we get ready to go and Saturday we play the game.

As far as McNeese, I tell you what; they're a good football team. They are 3-0 right now. They're No. 8 in the nation and I think those polls come out today...they might even be higher than that at this point. They've won 12 league titles. Last week I'm watching them play Savannah State and they beat them 56-0. I don't think we could score that many points in a month to be honest with you. But they've done a great job. Two weeks ago they beat Appalachian State 40-35. Appalachian State was ranked 2 in the country at the time. We all know they did two years ago they beat Michigan - so they have a good football team.

McNeese and Tulane have never played against each other, so this is the first time that we will tee it up against each other. In my opinion I look at it like an in-state rivalry. We ought to compete against these people in this state. I think it would be fun to get a whole bunch of people playing together like some of the old days. Obviously we played Southeastern Louisiana a couple years ago, we beat Louisiana-Monroe last year. So we've played some people in the state - and we obviously play LSU.

You look at their team...they have a really good quarterback; he's 8 in the nation in passing efficiency - Derrick Fourroux. Their tailback Toddrick Pendland, he's their leading rusher and receiver and he's leading the nation in scoring right now. He's third in the nation in rushing. And he's the guy you have to take away. The very first play in the first game he breaks it and goes 80 yards for a touchdown. So he has really quick distance and has a lot of speed. So we have to contain him and not let him catch a lot of balls and make a lot of long runs on us. And their punt returner is 6th in the nation in punt returns.

Captains for this game - Ross Thevenot, he's from Lake Charles so I made him one of the captains along with Nick Landry.

As far as injuries Kasey Stelly got hurt on the kickoff against BYU and we had a lot of things planned offensively for that game with Stelly at fullback and he didn't play a down in that game. He hadn't practiced all week and hasn't practiced this week because of the shoulder. It looks like he's out for the game so that's a big blow to our fullback position - he was our starting fullback. Cody Ledford tore an MCL in his knee. They claim he might be able to return by the end of the year. J.T. McDonald has a hamstring- he's out. Cody Sparks has the kneecap - he had an MRI yesterday it doesn't look like he'll be able to play this week either. And then Oscar Ponce de Leon is kind of questionable. He tried a few snaps yesterday and he may be back.

Questions:
On Tulane's quarterback situation:
Joe has obviously made some mistakes and we knew that coming in that being a first year starter he'd probably make some mistakes and he's made several in the first game. He made one big on last week when he threw the interception just before half. But he actually improved. His game management, the clock - those things improved. Completed passes. But the game got out of hand so we decided to play the other two guys. What we did this week is move Ryan Griffin to number two so Ryan has moved ahead of Kevin Moore. Kevin has had his opportunities; he also threw an interception in the game. We also think its time to see what Ryan Griffin can do. Basically what we told Kemp is hey, you're the quarterback...now you need to start winning some football games. The sign of a successful quarterback is to get you across the white stripe and score points and win. And we haven't been scoring points and we haven't been winning. So, it's not all on him, obviously. But he needs to start performing better and he knows that. And if he doesn't, then Ryan Griffin will be given a chance.

On if this is a make or break week for Joe Kemp:
Well, it's a shorter leash. As I started the season saying that he didn't have to look over his shoulder - I didn't want him to in the first couple games, but that can't go on the whole year. At some point you have to say the leash is getting shorter. I don't know if this is the make or break week for him, but he does need to perform much better this week.

On how important is it for the Tulane psyche that they win this game:
I think it's really important. We've gone on a long skid and we've practiced hard. Our coaches have worked hard. We need to see some rewards. We need some dividends. This is an opportunity for us to go out and start to change things. We need to do that. The whole key for us is we need to stop beating ourselves. I always talk about how before you can win you have to stop losing. We've been beating ourselves we need to go out and execute. We need to do things in a game, hopefully like they do in practice. They should practice well which should carry over in the game.

We're eventually going to catch up. I hate using the excuse for having a lot of young players, but almost 50 of our players that are playing are freshman and sophomores. So we are a young football team. There was a point in that game where we had a junior center and all the other ten guys were freshmen playing in that game against BYU. Young people are going to get you beat sometimes and people don't want to realize that or go on and mention it. It's a fact. Young people make more mistakes than experienced people and I would just hope that we're gaining on it and hopefully this is a game we have an opportunity to be competitive in.

On what he believes to be the reason why Tulane has started off 0-2:
I think it's a combination of things. Number one is they have to get off the field. BYU had 35 first downs. Didn't punt once time. But on the other hand, we had one receiver who fumbled twice that BYU recovered. We had 2 quarterbacks that threw interceptions. We had one 16-play drive but we self-destructed when we got down there as well. So we need to be able to run the ball better so we can keep our defense off of the field and then defensively they have to do a better job of getting off of the field. We've played two pretty good offensive football teams and just pretty good football teams in particular. But again, we've got to start changing that mentality and I think our players have practiced hard. I think our coaches have worked extremely hard and its time for us to show dividends.

On what he does to make sure Tulane takes McNeese State seriously - even though they have great stats, they are from a lower division:
I think it gets back to respect. You better respect your opponent because each and every week somebody sneaks up and beats somebody they have no right beating. So, respect is very important. We need to respect our opponent because they have a lot of good football players. And what have we done? We haven't beaten anybody yet. And they're 3 -0. But we're 0-2. We need to change the program. We need to start winning some games. Hopefully these guys realize that. They realize also that they've got some good players as I mentioned. We can't just go out there and hope that it's going to happen...we have to make it happen.

On the offensive line:
There are some guys that should be playing better, but aren't. Andrew Nierman is really the only guy who has been consistent. Even our two older tackles have not performed well. Our two guards have been very disappointing. As a matter of fact, we're going to start two true-freshman guards this week...now how long they can go remains to be seen too...one of them about passed out at practice yesterday. We just have to wait and see. If you keep losing you have to do something. You have to straighten some things out and that's what we're trying to do. I am very disappointed in the performance of our offensive line. Up to this day they haven't played well.

On what Ryan Griffin bring to the quarterback position:
Well, obviously, he doesn't have that athleticism that Joe (Kemp) has, but he has a calming effect; he doesn't get rattled. He doesn't get excited - Joe's an excitable guy...his feet are always all over the place and he doesn't set his feet and throw - where Ryan, is more of a settling guy. It's not up and down, it's kind of a claming effect and he's very accurate. He doesn't have quite as much arm strength as Joe or athleticism, but he's very accurate. I'll be curious to see here pretty soon what he can do. I think he'll do well if we put him in the game.

On Joe Kemp:
Joe needs to be given an opportunity. We can't run the ball. We don't protect for the quarterback well. There's a lot of pressure on him. We need to get into this game and see how he handles this game and if he handles it well then it's still his job and if not, then I'll be willing to change.

On if Ryan Griffin will only see action in the McNeese game if Joe Kemp is not productive:
I think that is safe to say. If Joe (Kemp) is playing well and we're winning the football game and he's moving the chains and we're scoring points then he'll stay. But if he's putting us in a bad position and losing the football for us and not producing then I will make a change.

On this being the third great offensive team Tulane will face and what it means for Tulane's defense:
We've faced two really good teams and we're going to face another one...one of the leading teams offensively in the nation over the last few years...they've got some weapons; they really have some good players. But I think number one, is we have to do a better job offensively in keeping the defense off the field and not turning the ball over and giving them a short field to work on. And then defensively, we have to do a better job of getting off the field. I really believe that this game boils down to people up front. Both teams have excellent skilled athletes, but this is going to be won upfront with the offensive line and defensive line.

On if he is feeling discouraged at this point with Joe Kemp:
I'm really not discouraged. I mean, people look at it and they might get discouraged, but I don't know what the word is...he really only played a half a game because he threw a bad interception just before half when its 13-3 and we're in the game and he throws a bad interception. But then that's about the only bad thing he did. The one he threw away that he got called for grounding, the back was supposed to turn up the field and he threw it out there but the back stopped...so that's really not his fault. And then getting pressure like he is - that's not his fault. He's completed a lot of passes. He's completing in the high 60 percentile. We haven't gotten the ball across the goal line and that's the big thing. But that's not all on Joe. I don't want to put it all on Joe. But I think the time has come he now has to start performing better.

On starting the season 0-2:
It's frustrating for coaches and it's frustrating for players. The players go out there and put a lot of time in lifting weights and running and working out and us coaches, we're putting in 14, 15 hour days looking at video, watching practice film and organizing practices and getting game plans together and to keep losing...yes, its very frustrating. Very disappointing in that sense, but I'm just hoping it's going to turn. I've said before - I think this is the best football team we've ever had. We've played two difficult people to open the season with...so the scheduling was very tough. Morale can go down, people get discouraged because of a bad start...but we have to put that behind us - as I told the players Monday too...right after the bye week...this is the start of a new season. We are starting a new season and we told you coming in that we thought we had a good freshman recruiting class and some of these kids are playing and some of them are going to be starting more too.

On changes in the starting lineup:
I think you'll see more guys moving second string into starting lineup positions. Right now, the receivers are set. The tight ends, Cody is not ready to play yet, so those are set. The tackles, we feel those tackles are not our best guys but they have to perform better. Our center is playing really well. Our two guards have not performed well at all and so that is where we're making changes and putting freshmen in there. And then the running backs and fullbacks...(Kasey) Stelly was supposed to be the starter and he got hurt in the opening kickoff, so he didn't even play against BYU and (Antoine) Duplessis is a good player but he has a hard time playing 50, 60 plays. So on the defense and defensive lineman-wise we were missing (Oscar Ponce de Leon) Ponce, who was our starting nose guard and missing Reggie Scott, who was our starting tackle. Our two defensive ends are playing well, but when you're out there for that many plays they get worn down too...so we've played a freshman and sophomore as backups there. And our linebackers...we don't have a lot of linebackers. Ledford was going to start playing and he hurt his knee last week. So, we have two senior linebackers and we're playing with a nickel back, a true freshman Shakiel Smith, who is really a defensive back - he's 190 lbs playing a strong side linebacker in our base defense. So when we play more nickel people he'll be better suited. But we just don't have any linebackers left. And then from a secondary standpoint the corners are playing okay. Our safeties are playing really well; (Chinonso) Echebelem and (Alex) Wacha's playing really well and then we have some freshmen playing behind them. So freshmen are playing a lot and there are a lot of sophomores playing, but very few seniors playing on this football team.

On if he's trying to send a message to his players to step it up or he will give opportunities to other players:
Guys that have had opportunities and if guys that have had opportunities and we've lost 10 games in a row now then somebody else deserves an opportunity. So we're starting to look at them and if they're not performing...they're not performing in practice, they're making big mistakes in games...then we're going to move forward with other people.

On losing 10 games in a row:
I've never lost 10 games in a row. This is the first time. I've never had a season where I'd only won two in a row. But I have kicked a football team off the field before. We opened up in 1997 with Washington State up in Pullman and lost by one point. And then we came back home and played against Peyton Manning, Tennessee, we lost by six points; threw a pass into the end zone, last play, should've been a touchdown to beat them but didn't get it. We were 0-2. And we started practicing and we were going to play Texas the next weekend who were ranked in the top 10. And on Wednesday our players were practicing, a lot like our guys were last week, so I threw them off the field. They came back Thursday and had a good practice. Got on a plane that Friday and went to Austin and beat them 66-3. We won 20 games in a row after that, so I don't know if we're going to win 20 games in a row, but I hope I'm sending a message.

On self-scouting:
We self-scout every week. We always look at what we're doing on both sides of the ball and who we're playing and how many plays a guy is playing and how many balls he's getting. We do that so when we game plan we make sure this guy is going to get at least this many touches and this guy is going to do that. In that BYU game it got out of hand. We just substituted freely that whole second half. We took most of our players out...it was futile at that point. Our players felt like we weren't going to win; everybody knew we weren't going to win that game at the end with the score being what it was. So you look at the game up until that point. But yes, we self-scout ourselves. I'm not about to tell you what it all is, but we look at ourselves. We do that every week.