Quotes from the UH-Cincinnati game 12/6/08

HA = Honolulu Advertiser
HSB = Honolulu Star-Bulletin
UH = University of Hawaii Official Site
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--------------------- Quotes from the UH Coaches --------------------

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About their offense and defense in this game, UH Head Coach Greg McMackin (Mac) said:
"It was a game that in the first half we made some adjustments offensively. We went down and scored at the end of the first half and we were not as aggressive as we usually are. Then we came out at halftime and moved the ball. Defensively we only allowed them three first downs in the second half. They couldn’t run against us, they couldn’t throw against us and they’ve thrown and ran against everybody this season. When Cincinnati ran the ball we went to an eight-man front when they were in their running sets. You got to give them credit, they made plays. They took the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. Then they got the safety, we kicked off and they got a big return. You have to give Cincinnati credit but I’m really proud of my football team because they played their tail off against a good football team. We played really hard and were ready for the game. We showed we could play with them. They made plays in the end and we didn’t." (UH)

Proud of the team and their seniors, Mac said:
“I’m proud of the team and I’m proud of the seniors who’ve led the team all year long. We have one more ball game so I’m not going to sit around and pout about this one. I’ve felt that we’ve played good enough to win. But they made plays. I’m proud of our seniors and I’m proud of the way they came out in the second half. I’m proud of the way the defense came out in the second half. Like I said, they gave up only three first downs. So I’m proud of things, but we lost so that’s the pits and disappointment. But we can play in front of our Hawaii crowd for one more ball game and do a better job. We have to play better and finish better." (UH)

Giving credit to UC, Mac said:
"You have to give them credit -- they made plays at the end. I don't know if we gave it away or they took it away. ... They're a tough football team and that's what great teams do. We're a good football team, but not good enough to finish. Hopefully we'll learn something from this and be able to play better about the bowl game." (HSB)

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Praising Alexander's play in this game, Rolo said:
"He played good, very good. He did exactly what we asked of him. He played hard and he played smart out there. He's a great leader and allows other people to make plays." (HA)

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------------------ Quotes from the UH Players --------------------

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Blaming their offense for this loss, Greg Alexander said:
"Put this one on the offense; the defense played a hell of a game. We just didn't execute." (HSB)

"It was just bad execution tonight. Their defense did a hell of a job, but we let it get away from us." (HA)

About their mistakes, Alexander said:
"We gave them the game. We (bleepin') gave away the game." (HA)

"The No. 13 team doesn't need much help, and we helped them." (HA)

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Praising Alexander, Lane said:
"He's just solid. He's solid every game. He's very smart, and very good at running our offense. I'm proud of the way he played tonight, just like I'm proud of all of our guys." (HA)

Feeling bad for their seniors, Malcolm Lane said:
"That's what I really feel bad for. This is a wonderful class of seniors. Great leaders. That's why it hurts so bad. We still have another game left, but this would have been a big night for the seniors, to beat the No. 13 team." (HSB)

Giving credit to UC, Lane said:
"Anything possible that could wrong, we did. I give a lot of credit to Cincinnati. It wasn't meant to be. They're No. 13 in the nation for a reason." (HA)

Blaming their conservative play calling for the loss, Lane said:
"We beat ourselves at the end. We got too conservative. That's what hurts so much. We had the game won. It was right there in our pocket, and then we threw it away. We did everything wrong we could have done." (HA)

About how they stopped playing hard at the end, Lane said:
"A football game is not 55 minutes long. It's 60. You have to play all 60 minutes hard. We didn't play all 60." (HA)

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About how they wanted to win for their seniors, Jon Medeiros said:
"We wanted it so bad, the last (regular-season) game for 34 seniors. We had a chance to come out here and do something special tonight. It just didn't work out. This senior class is incredible. They're a big impact on this football team and we're gonna miss 'em next year. They were outstanding this season." (HSB)

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About the loss, Solomon Elimimian said:
"Its a tough loss, I feel like we played really well, it was just meant for them to win. They're a great team and I just thank God we still have one more game to play to redeem ourselves." (HSB)

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About how they knew that they had to keep fighting even when they were up by 14, Ryan Mouton said:
"It was tough, we kept fighting, and we thought we had it won, but sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way. Even when we went up by 14 we knew we should keep fighting, because that's a good team out there. They're not ranked 13th for no reason, and made a couple plays to get back in the game. We gotta get ready for the next one." (HSB)

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About the loss, David Veikune said:
"It's really tough to lose a close game like this. To lose really hurt, but we just have to bounce back." (HSB)

Asked about not being selected to the All-WAC first team after getting 7 tackles and a sack in this game, Veikune said:
"I don't think about (the snub) a lot. I just try to go out and play my hardest every game. Tonight we played tough, and that's all I can ask for." (HA)

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About the loss, Keao Monteilh said:
"We played our game and we played well, but they just made one more play than we did." (HA)

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About how UC ran the ball a lot more than they had expected, Keala Watson said:
"It was a different offense that the one we studied on tape. But we made our adjustments and I think we played them tough." (HA)

Proud of how they played, Watson said:
"We played our heart out and I'm really proud of all the guys out there tonight. We didn't get the win, but we played a great game against a very good football team. You have to give (Cincinnati) credit. They came up with the plays they needed, but I'm happy with the way we played." (HA)

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About their defense in the game, Joshua Leonard said:
"We just had a few bad possessions that they were able to take advantage of. We stopped the pass early, so they started running it. We made adjustments, but they hurt us with all their screens and draws." (HA)

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About UC's winning 69-yard TD pass, Desmond Thomas said:
"We were in a two-man under and the quarterback looked like he was going to get sacked. He was scrambling so we tried to shift our zone over, but then he came back and threw it. (Gilyard) was in kind of a dead zone, but he caught the ball and made a play." (HA)

About how future Warrior defenses will carry on their style of tough D, Thomas said:
"We might not be known for having the kind of athletes you have in the SEC, but we come to play. We don't back down, and that tradition is going to carry on here." (HA)

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About how they wanted to win the game for their seniors, John Fonoti said:
"We wanted to go out with a bang for our seniors. I guess it didn't go that way. But we played our butts off." (HA)

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About how the seniors wanted to win their last regular season game in front of their family and friends, Fale Laeli said:
"We knew it was our last game and we just wanted to make our family and friends who came to see us proud. It wasn't the result we wanted, but I thought we played hard and did ourselves proud." (HA)

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About the loss, Dan Kelly said;
"We were heartbroken. But we were also heartbroken after that Florida loss (to start the season). Cincinnati's a good team -- that's why we played them to the very end and why they're 13th in the country. They're that good." (HSB)

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About recovering the fumble (forced by Guyton Galdeira) on the kickoff after the Warriors tied the score at 10 on Farmer's TD, Jayson Rego (who returned the fumble to the 5-yard-line) said:
"I was just in the right spot at the right time," said Rego, who stands 5 foot 9, 215-pounds. "Everybody was just chasing the guy and I think it was Guyton that came up with the hit and the ball was right in front of me and I picked it up, tried to run it in." (HA)

HA Note: "Alexander found Malcolm Lane on a two-yard shovel pass three plays later to give the Warriors their first lead at 17-10."

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About his personal foul penalty on a FG attempt that gave UC a TD instead of a FG, Tua Mahaley said:
"I'm not sure about that penalty. It's whatever." (HA)

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------------------ Quotes from the Cincinnati Coaches -----------------

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Praising Mac and the Warriors, Cincinnati (UC) Head Coach Brian Kelly said:
"First of all, my hat’s off to Greg McMackin and the Hawai`i football team. They played hard, they played physical. We played Oklahoma and I’ll tell you, this football team in Hawai`i hits you as hard if not harder. In the second half, they took it to us. The forced fumbles, made plays when they needed to and we, obviously, were behind them. We had to make plays defensively and we did. We made some plays, as we did all year, and found a way in the end to ‘eek’ out a hard fought victory." (UH)

"We played Oklahoma this year and I will tell you this football team in Hawaii hits you as hard if not harder." (HSB)

About being behind in the 3rd quarter, Kelly said:
"Well, certainly at that point we were kicking ourselves for the miscues. But as been with this team all year, we don’t stop the game in the third quarter. You keep playing. The one good thing about this group is they keep fighting and they keep playing. And they overcame a lot of the miscues you were talking about." (UH)

"There's no question at that point we were certainly kicking ourselves for the miscues. As has been the case with this team all year, they don't stop the game in the third quarter. You keep playing and one great thing about this group is they keep fighting and keep playing and we overcame a lot of the miscues." (HSB)

About their comeback, Kelly said:
"Obviously, we needed something good to happen. We got them backed up. (Kevin) Huber the punter backed up Hawai`i and gave us an opportunity, but we had to make a play. Like I tell my kids all the time ‘Listen we need to make some plays here,’ and we made the plays defensively that gave our offense enough momentum that we could ‘eek’ out the win today." (UH)

HSB Note: "It was already without Goodman, running back Jacob Ramsey and left tackle Jeff Linkenbach when Pike left the game with an arm injury."

About their 11 victories this season, Kelly said:
"You don’t want to come here and look at all the turnovers, and not to take anything away from Hawai`i because they caused most of them. But to get the 11th win on the road against a very good football team, and a bowl team, feels good." (UH)

About how their backup QB Grutza entered after starting QB Pike was hurt, Kelly said:
"One thing about him is he's a fifth-year senior who has played a lot of Big East football. He's not a guy who's going to get rattled." (HSB)

About how they needed to make big plays on D to come back in the game, Kelly said:
"We had to make some plays defensively and we did, as we have all year, and found a way at the end to eek out a hard-fought victory." (HA)

"Obviously, we needed something good to happen. We got them backed up, (Kevin) Huber, the punter did a great job of backing up Hawai'i, gave us an opportunity but we had to make a play." (HA)

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----------------- Quotes from the Cincinnati Players -------------------

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About throwing the winning TD pass this game, senior backup QB Dustin Grutza said:
"When I first got hurt I didn't think (I'd play). I've been rehabbing as hard as I can and I owe it to the training staff and all they've done to help me back." (HSB)

About scrambling before throwing the winning 69-yard TD pass, Grutza said:
"I tried to go to the boundary side, it wasn't open, felt a little pressure and escaped out and saw Mardy wide open. It's a great feeling." (HSB)

About how their defense got the momentum back for their team, Grutza said:
"Our defense was great. There was no doubt that they would do it. Our (offensive) momentum was down and they totally flipped that and got us back in it." (HA)

"That pick-6 was big. It got the momentum back." (HA)

About how things looked bad for them when UH was ahead 24-10 and the UH fans were chanting "Over-rated, Over-rated", Grutza said:
"Our momentum was completely gone." (HA)

About winning at Aloha Stadium, Grutza said:
"This is a hostile place to play. The crowd really got into it. We were down. We had to handle adversity. We had to come through." (HA)

About how they lost senior WR Dominick Goodman on the first play from scrimmage in this game, Dustin Grutza said:
"It's hard when you lose a player of that caliber. He's such a great senior leader. I think it hit the team harder mentally than it did physically." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Goodman entered the game needing seven receptions and 23 receiving yards to become the Bearcats' all-time leader in both categories."

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About his game-winning 69-yard TD reception, Mardy Gilyard said:
"I had to make sure I made a play. They gave me an opportunity to make a play, and that's all I could do. That's what we do. We're playmakers. I trust my speed against anybody in the country. Coach (Brian Kelly) called the play, and it was run perfectly." (HA)

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About how they reacted after being down 24-10 in the fourth quarter, Brandon Underwood said:
"We just had to calm down and make sure that everybody was on the same page. It was all odds against us and after (the interception), I felt a whole shift in the momentum for the whole game." (HSB)

Crediting his DL for his INT, Underwood said:
"My defensive linemen, they got their hands up and batted the ball, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have made that play. We made a point to go out and play four quarters." (HA)

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About how UH's offense had 3 punts, a safety, and an INT for a TD in their last 5 drives, DE Connor Barwin said:
"We knew our offense was struggling and our defense is the backbone of the team. We've got a lot of seniors and we were just waiting to do something to switch that momentum." (HA)

About the game, Barwin said:
"We prepared for this game like every other one and we tried to come out here and play like we did in every game and that's what we did." (HA)