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Nov. 11, 2008

New Orleans - Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo previewed the Green Wave's upcoming game this Saturday against UAB and talked about the state of the team and the senior class who will play their final home game at the Superdome today during his weekly press luncheon with the local media.

Opening remarks:
I have to say that right now we're a struggling football team. I honestly believe that it's mainly due to the fact that we've lost 15 football payers. We don't have the luxury to lose a few players, let alone 15. Obviously, the most recent one is Joe Kemp. He is in surgery right now as we speak so we'll know more about him this afternoon but the doctors seem to think that by putting the plate in there and putting a couple screws, he'll be fine. We're just thankful it's not his throwing shoulder. Hopefully he'll be able to come back and be ready for spring. You know, we practice hard, we give good effort, but we're just not performing. We're not performing in games. I don't see a carryover sometimes from practice to games. We make mistakes in a game that we don't make in practice and I told our players, `that's why you practice. You practice to be able to play the game' and you shouldn't make mistakes in the game if you're not making them in practice. Those are correctable things. Anyway, we're making too many mistakes and most of them have led to critical errors on our football team.

On the offense:
I look at our offense...Andre Anderson is out and Jeremy Williams is out and since they've been out, we have not been a productive offensive football team. We're not running the ball real well and of course, they are stacking the box a little bit on us and we're not throwing the ball very well. Without Jeremy to threaten deep, people are kind of squashing us a little bit. On the defense:

Defensively, people have kind of figured out our Achilles' heel, if you want to call it that. We're not stopping the run, we're not stopping the pass. They [Houston] run a draw on third and 12, make a first down, throw two screens and run for touchdowns. We're just really struggling. We're doing a poor job of tackling, again we tackle every day in practice, we stay up, we wrap up, we do all those things and we get in a game and we dive at people, we leave our feet way too soon, we're missing a lot of tackles, it's been very frustrating.

On special teams: Special teams-wise, we've actually improved in all areas with the exception of field goals. Our field goal percentage is 44% but our kickoff team has been better. Our kickoff return has been much improved, our punt team has been pretty good, we're punting the ball well, and our punt return has been adequate so it hasn't hurt us; we're not in the bottom of the conference like we used to be; particularly in punting. When we started out, we were the worst team in America because we had a punt blocked and punt returned for a touchdown. Since that time, we've gotten considerably better so we're better in special teams.

On the future of the program:
Having said all that, I still believe that we're practicing hard and that we're working extremely hard to correct our mistakes. We're coaching as hard as we can, we know what our deficiencies are, we're trying to give the players good plans and hope that they carry out the plans. But again, once it becomes game time, we've got to do the job and we haven't been doing it. I don't want lose track either, that we are building a program. We came here and it was very difficult. We don't have a lot of seniors, we don't have a big group in between, we have a lot of younger players. But we're trying to build a program and as we all know, it takes time. We don't do it over night. What happens is that you play with some seniors or older guys and they get hurt and all of a sudden you're playing with young inexperienced players. I try not to lose sight of that. I honestly believe, I really do believe, that the injuries have taken its toll on our football team. It's hard to move the ball or stop people when you've lost the amount of people that we've lost and it's taken its toll.

On the youth of the team:
Right now, we have 12 true freshmen that are playing. They are playing. And we've had 10 redshirt freshmen that have played and are playing, so we're playing with a bunch of young guys. Anytime you play with young guys and inexperienced guys, they make mistakes. It's like young rookies that go in the NFL, they made mistakes and get you beat. That's one of our problems right now.

On this week's game against UAB:
This week, we play Alabama-Birmingham, it's the last home game for 16 of our seniors and they will be amongst family and friends. Hopefully they will bring some people with them so we can get some people in the Dome to see the last home game. But I feel bad for our seniors. They are a group of players that have gone through an awful lot, and you know as well as I know the problems that they have had, but we couldn't get them a championship...we couldn't get them a bowl ring and that's the thing that is really bothersome. Hopefully they have laid a foundation for the young guys in this program for the future and that's all we can ask for at this point.

Questions
On switching up the linebackers:
Devin [Holland] has been struggling a little bit, he doesn't quite do what he's asked to do all the time. He's missed some tackles and doesn't cover his area like he should so we're going to...Rhymes is a very good tackler and he's a young guy and we want to see what he can do. They [Evan Lee and David Kirksey] will both play. Lee is better in a run situation, Kirksey better in a pass situation. Actually Kirksey didn't play last week, he was ruled, basically out, before the game. He did go in on a couple of punt formations but Kirksey didn't really play last week. But he's better in passing situations.

On the team's confidence:
When you struggle offensively, and of course struggling defensively, the offensive thinks `I've got to score every time I get the ball' and the defensive thinks `our offense isn't going to score, we can stop them.' It's a mentality. That's the reason we're struggling too. We've lost so many players that there is a lack of confidence right now. We don't think we can score. We can't stop anyone from scoring, therefore it's hard to win a football game. And you see a little look on the sidelines and the coaches are on them, telling them `hey forget it, move on.' We watched the film yesterday. It was 7-0 in the first quarter, I mean, 7-7. It's 7-7 going into...midway through the second quarter. And all of a sudden, on third and 11 a draw play happens and boom, here it goes. That play really set the stage when we talked to our players yesterday.

On maintaining positive attitudes during the game:
It's hard but it's part of our job. You show them the film, you say `hey look guys, this is how close you were and if you would have just not given in to it or given a little bit more effort, maybe things would have been different.' One of the first series, we run a little flea-flicker, we got a receiver five yards behind everybody and we under throw it. It should have been a touchdown. It could have been 7-0. Things like that...we've got some plays , we try to manufacture plays to create some momentum and try to score some points and we try to do some things to stop them but you know, we miss a line, we miss tackles, we do things that hurt ourselves. I think we could convince them if you do what the coaches tell you to do and what you practice, you will have a chance to compete and we're not doing that right now. We're not taking it from the practice field to the game. And again, we can complain about injuries and about athletes and this and that, but when it gets right down to it, you've got to do things right and we're not doing things right right now. We run a draw play and our back goes the wrong way, runs into the quarterback. Now, he's a freshman but you can't have those kinds of mistakes. Instead of being on the 31 and running the draw and getting to maybe the 28 or 27, we lose yardage and now we've got to kick a longer field goal. Things like that. We've got to correct those mistakes. We can't do those things in the game that we don't do in practice.

On focusing on the positives:
I try to tell them, as a coach, and Liz [head volleyball coach Kritza] can tell you this, coaches are always coaching. `You do this wrong, you've got to do it this way, you do this wrong, you've got to do it that way' and what happens is when they do it right, you don't say much because they are supposed to do it right. So we have to go over a little bit and compliment them when they do do things well so they realize that if you do things right, we can do things well.

On C-USA's response to Joe Kemp's injury:
Nothing's going to happen. We've moved on and the player has apologized and there won't be any suspensions or anything like that.

On not having Kemp:
It sets back his development more. That's what bothers me the most. How much he was going to play or how much more he was going to play... we didn't know yet but it was obvious that he was going to play more and that's how you get better: through experience. Now his development has been set back because he's not going to get that experience so it's hurt him.

On senior leadership:
I think the group itself, you know....if you look at the seniors, I would venture to say that probably over half of them are actually playing and contributing and doing a good job for us and that speaks volumes for them because they could very easily belly up and not put forth the effort. I'm pleased with the attitude of our seniors. They have given us good leadership and they've tried hard and they've gone through, like I said earlier, a very trying time...the football program almost being dropped, going through Katrina, having coaching changes...they've gone through a lot. I think it's made them bigger and stronger and it's made them mentally tougher. They've got great character and all those things. I just feel for them. But they have given us as good an effort as they can.

On quarterback Kevin Moore:
When I took Kevin out [last week against Houston] I said we were going to put Joe [Kemp] in for a while but be ready to go back in. I didn't say `you're done' I said `be ready' because I don't do that because I always want them to be ready and he would have been ready. I think he felt a lot of pressure on him. I think he feels a lot of pressure. I think if you talk to Kevin, he'll tell you he feels like we almost have to score every time we get the ball. There's a lot of pressure on him to produce because he knows that he started out pretty well this season and then he's not played as well recently so he feels pressure. With Joe gone now, maybe he won't feel as much pressure. He is the guy. He's got to do it and we've got Scott Elliott backing him up. I don't want to bring any of those freshmen out of redshirt years. So it's his team right now and he's going to get three more games to see what he can do it and it's important that he does perform well.

He's the guy. He's got to go in there and do the job. But he wasn't looking over his shoulder against Army and those people, he just steadily stopped performing as well. Again, I don't know if it's because of injury or what. But after we lost Kemp, the next play he went down and I thought we lost him, but he's a tough kid and he's very mature and he's got his act together and came back.

On dressing multiple quarterbacks:
We have the two freshmen, and we've told them that we will not play them unless it's an emergency. I don't want to do that to them. But if we lose two, we're going to have to do it and I don't want to make a decision [on] who right now but I just hope it doesn't happen.

On converted a running back to quarterback:
We've talked about it. I don't know if Casey Robottom can do it, but we've talked about Casey. Dominque Dade...but he's playing defense and having a tough enough time just doing that so there's really not...yeah, we'll take a snap to end the game but that's really all we can do. But we don't want do to do that [burn a redshirt]. We hope it doesn't get to that and if it does, we've already talked to the freshmen and told them 'if it happens, you have to play.' You have to play and burn a redshirt year.

On the last time backs were shuffled into different positions due to injury:
Actually it happened when I was at Oregon. We lost two quarterbacks: a kid named Jorgensen and a kid named Moore. We lost two of them against UCLA the first half. And we had the rest of that half and two more games to play. We had Stanford at Stanford and Oregon State. And I had to put in Chris Miller, who we were redshirting, and Chris ended up being our number one draft choice to the Atlanta Falcons but he played two and a half games. He went in that game and actually threw a couple of touchdowns, and we made it competitive at the end. We went to Stanford, we beat Stanford and then we got back against Oregon State and it was a 0-0 tie I believe it was. It was like ice bowl, nobody could score but I believe we tied that game. Anyway, the point is, I've been there, I've done it, I hated to bring Chris Miller out of a redshirt year but he had to do it. We didn't have anybody else.

On what the quarterback situation will be like in the spring:
Right now, we've have two guys, obviously Moore and Kemp, who I think will be ready to go, they won't get hit in the spring and then we've got the two freshmen: Ryan Griffin and D.J. Ponder and they both have a lot of ability so I think it will be competitive in the spring. I would like to say that it will be a situation where we will let the young freshmen compete and see what they can do.

On the projection of Kemp's spring practice:
They [the doctors] are saying he'll be ready to go. We're not going to hit him, obviously, but as we mentioned before, Joe's got a lot of physical ability. He's very mobile, he's got a great arm, he's got a pretty accurate arm, he's just got to learn what's going on. He's got to eliminate mistakes. He doesn't understand the offense completely right not.

On Kemp's injury and prognosis:
Joe broke his collarbone in two places. So he is getting operated on this morning. They are putting a plate in with some screws and they say within 4-5 weeks he can probably be throwing the football and that he will be ready for spring practice so it's a pretty fast recovery from what I understand.

On Kemp's mentality after coming off an injury:
I think in talking to him yesterday, he was excited. You know, Dr. (Buddy) Savoie is going to do the surgery and he is outstanding, particularly with shoulders and they've kind of assured him [Kemp] that it will be stronger than it was before and Joe is excited about it. He's excited about coming back. He said `I wish it would have happened earlier in the year, I'd be back right now.' That's the mentality that he has so I think he'll be fine. But until he gets that first hit, you know, it's always...wondering what's going to happen. I'm just glad it wasn't his throwing shoulder, he got his from this side.

On UAB giving up 45 points or more in five games:
We haven't scored 45 in a month so I don't know. I would say it gives us a better chance to score some points. But they have some good players too and they are coming off a real difficult loss to Southern Miss and of course they had a bye so they are probably resting up a little bit and watching us and will have a good plan so I think it will be an interesting football game. We are both struggling football teams right now.

On being favored against UAB:
I think we've been favorites before and we've been underdogs before and it doesn't work out the way you want it to so I don't worry about point spreads obviously.

On senior Scott Elliott playing QB in the last home game:
That's one of the reasons I played him the last quarter, last week. He's from Houston, I made him the captain last week. We even talked about starting him but we're not going to do that. We don't think that's right either right now, but I think he'll get a chance to play. He's been a great kid, a great leader...if there's one person who could have a sour look on their face, it would be him. I mean, he started for us at the start of the season last year and then was basically benched and he hasn't played much this year. He knows his role, he's been super. He's a great kid.