"Coming off an 11-day road trip, I really want to recognize my players and coaches for handling themselves so well. I would also like to credit the equipment people, the trainers, and the academic coordinators. We traveled (100) people that had to be there in relationship to getting these athletes their degree and also winning a football game." (UH)
About their missed opportunities were the biggest factor in the loss, Mac said:
"In my mind, when you analyze the UNLV game, it really didn't come down to that last play. We had our opportunities to win that game, the last play just happened to be the last play. The problems we faced in winning this game, number one, was in the red zone. We had opportunities to score, dropped the ball in the end zone. We got three points when we should have gotten 14. We were late coming on to the field to kick a field goal and missed it. It's not the kickers fault.
We've got to finish." (UH)
About UH's high-powered offense, Mac said:
"But don't get me wrong because our offense is firing on all cylinders. Our entire offense is playing well. We just got through with a staff meeting where we graded all of our players and they're doing an outstanding job! The receivers, obviously, we have three guys over 100 yards. Our quarterback is nationally ranked. The running backs are doing a good job blocking. We want to get them loose a little more, but as you could see in the game they were stacking everybody in the box, that's why we were throwing the football." (UH)
About the third quarter was the key to the UNLV game, Mac said:
"The third quarter was the key. Defensively we couldn't get them off the field. They drove for 14 or 16 plays in a drive, and that's keeping our offense off the field. Our offense is really in-sync. Our job on defense is to get the offense on the field; however, their offense controlled the third quarter. To get them off the field we have to do what we did in the first half. We had two interceptions. Also, third down plays are the key. Converting on third downs is one of our goals. For the last two games we're at 32%, which is up in the top 20 ranking. However they were 10-16 which is not good at all for our defense. I was running 8 and 9 man blitzes at a certain point and taking a chance because we weren't stopping them. We had them in too many 3rd down and 1 situations. And that's tough to stop." (UH)
About his overall assessment of the game, Mac said:
"I'm proud of the team, they played hard. We were on the road for 11 days, there were no excuses. It was hot, 97 degrees, but we were ready to play. I think the defense wore down a little bit, but it's our own fault because we have to keep their offense off the field. We have a long road ahead, and much to improve on. For example: red zone, third down, and keeping our offense on the field. We have to keep getting better." (UH)
About UNLV's game-winning TD, Mac said:
"I have to give the Rebels quarterback a lot of credit. Also, people ask if we should have double teamed Payne (the receiver who caught the go-ahead touchdown pass). Personally I felt there were three guys we could have double teamed, Wolf being the first. You can always second guess. It would have been a good idea to double team him in that play but if you double team Payne, you got Wolf running around and that's a tough call." (UH)
About how UH fans were about 40% of the crowd at the game in Las Vegas, Mac said:
"The fans were great! The fans that were at that game were unbelievable. Their attitude towards everything is unbelievable. We have the best fans in the world. I know they are disappointed in the close loss, but we are too and they were right there with us." ( UH)
About their team's goals this season, Mac said:
"Of course you never feel good about a loss. But it didn't take any of our goals away from us. We can still win the WAC and we can still go to a bowl game. The players were a little disappointed in the coaches. They wanted to be 3-0. However we're fine, it doesn't hurt us other than that it knocked us out of the BCS, but I don't think we're a BCS team this year." (UH)
About playing Louisiana Tech on a Wednesday, Mac said:
"It's on national television, its our third game on the road, and you have to do what you have to do, so I'm not complaining. People say we have a bye. We don't have a bye, because the next week we play Fresno State. We may not have a game on Saturday, but in my mind, we don't
have a bye. Being away for this long creates a lot of work for our academic people. Our players are in class in September, nine times. We're working very hard and our academic people are working hard. It's tough on everyone. It's tough to win on the road. But we're going to do what's best for these players and this program. I have no doubt that we are going to take care of it." (UH)
http://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2009/9/21/FB_0921093553.aspx
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment