Opening Statement:
Everybody is going to want to talk about the last play of the game. We didn’t lose the game on the last play of the game. We had multiple chances to win the game, but we didn’t do it. I’m not very pleased about how we played in two out of three phases. Defensively and special teams. We did not play good enough, we absolutely did not play good enough. Where we lost the game was discipline. That’s what’s gotten us to this point, and we weren’t a disciplined team tonight we had eight penalties. I don’t know how the game was officiated; I’m not even criticizing them because we didn’t play very well. But the celebration penalty after the last touchdown was kind of a microcosm to me of the game. We don’t get that celebration penalty which is completely asinine for us to take our helmets off. They’re going to give you the benefit of the doubt they don’t really want to call that. If you take your helmet off it’s pretty clear and I don’t understand that. That gave them an opportunity to get in scoring position. We would have squibbed it regardless. It worked out. But I think our lack of discipline and we didn’t win on the line of scrimmage. We didn’t run the ball great offensively. Probably the most we’ve struggled to run the football and they did. You look at their yards per carry and our yards per carry it’s not close. That’s disappointing because on offense we kind of controlled the game you look at the time of possession 36-23, we were 14-19 on end of possession downs, 391 yards, had 82 plays to their 53 if you look at the stat sheet it doesn’t make sense but that’s why you play the game. We absolutely did not play well enough on defense and special teams to win the game.
Houston offense getting it going:
Credit to them. Donovan Smith is a good player and he’s been a good player. He’s dangerous and we knew that coming in. Our guys were prepared, they didn’t do anything tonight that we didn’t expect them to do. Our guys were prepared. We just struggled to tackle, they’re really fast at wideout and we knew it was going to be a tough matchup for us. We did not tackle well. Anytime you don’t tackle well it’s going to be a struggle and we did not tackle well. They made us miss and they broke tackles and they just won.
On kickoff return:
I don’t even know if we missed tackles on that, they just blocked us. To me, blocking comes down to allowing people and we didn’t tear off. Every press conference, on the radio show, they are a threat on kickoff return. We hit the ball right on the hash which is not where we wanted to place it and we stuck on blocks. They blocked us and he hit it pretty well.
Wheel route for interception:
That’s what I’m saying. Everybody is going to talk about the Hail Mary play and we did not play that well. I don’t think our guy timed up his jump. I’ve got to see it. I saw the ball in the air and said we lost. We practice that and he just didn’t time his jump well. Instead of getting up and getting at the high point and knocking it down he mistimed his jump and hit the end of the ball and it floated and he caught it. This isn’t a deal where I’m heartbroken we lost the game on the last play that’s it, we didn’t play well in two of the three phases. We didn’t play well. We win as a team and lose as a team and we didn’t play well. We had a touchdown that turned into a fumble. They call that an interception, it’s a fumble. That would have been a play to go up 10. We had multiple chances to take control of the game in the second and third quarter and we did not.
On Garrett Greene:
He was special tonight. I told you I thought he was going to have a breakout performance, he did. You can’t get the penalty. He’s got to grow up, he’s got to mature. But he was special. Who was better on the field tonight? I felt he was really close to a breakout performance, and he did. He threw for 391, he rushed for 53. He had 440 yards of total offense, he was special. I knew he was close to doing that.
People were going to ask they had an attempt there; they were just going to take a knee. There were all kinds of fans I didn’t think it was safe for our kids to go back out there and take a knee on an extra point. There was no time to get a kickoff. That’s why I declined that.
Penalties:
I don’t understand. The rule is clear. Just don’t take your helmet off. We can celebrate all you want on the sideline. I’m not saying that decides the game because maybe they throw a little deeper out cut but that’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous and there’s probably nothing I’m more upset about that. He was our best player tonight.
Run game:
Defensively, I knew the interior part of their defensive line was good. And we didn’t play well. I thought that lack of discipline and I’m really talking about a couple penalties we got, and I thought our tackling technique was bad. We should have been much better on the line of scrimmage on both sides. Our yards per attempt were not what they needed to be.
Offensive line injuries:
We protected the passer well we’ve just got to be better in the run game. This is a no excuse operation we didn’t have our left tackle, left guard and the band keeps playing. I hate it for them, but we’ve got to continue to move.
Fourth down play:
It’s a play we’ve ran. We didn’t execute it, it was the sixth or seventh time we ran the play. Phenomenal throw, Garrett was just a little more patient in the pocket because we’ce been throwing it to the outside guy and he had some patience. And Hudson made a great run after the catch. I hurt for him because that would have been a special moment. West Virginia kid comes and wins the game but it wasn’t meant to be. I think offensively I was excited how we played. I think it showed the potential of what I felt like in fall camp.
Defense:
We’re better. We played better through four games. We didn’t tackle well. It comes down to blocking and tackling and we didn’t block as well and we didn’t tackle. Some of it is their skill is really good, but we didn’t tackle well.
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