Quotes from the UH-Army game 9/11/10

UH = Official University of Hawaii Athletics site
Army = Official Army Athletics site
HSA = Honolulu Star-Advertiser
AP = Associated Press

-----------------------  Quotes from the UH coaches -----------------------------

About how this was an exciting game, Mack said:
"It was an exciting game. Both teams played their hearts out. Army has played a lot of games like that, right down to the wire. It looked like we controlled the first half, but they came back and controlled the second half. To take it back and get the field goal, it's a thrill for our guys. It's great to win a game like that, especially on the road, and I'm really proud of them." (Army, UH)

"Army has played a lot of games like that, right down to the wire. To take it back and get the field goal, it's a thrill for our guys. It's great to win a game like that, especially on the road, and I'm really proud of them." (AP)


About how they weren't going to just settle for overtime after getting the ball back with 30 seconds left in the game, Mack said:
"There was no doubt that we were going to march down the field. We actually should have had 12 to 18 seconds more. That's why I was talking to the officials. When we recovered the football it should have been dead right then and they kept running time off the clock. Then, when we did get the fumble the white hat official said you don't get any more time. So we had what, 21 seconds, to go down. Our offense executed a couple of great plays, got us down within field goal range, then Scott Enos kicked it through and it was a dream come true." (Army, UH)


Asked for an update on Spencer Smith's condition, Mack said:
"Spencer is one of our best players and he broke his forearm so I'm not sure how long he's out, but I'm sure he's out quite a bit. That's a real loss. He was one of the captains of our first game. He's a leader and a great player. He's going to be greatly missed." (Army, UH)


About how they came back after Army scored 21 straight points, Mack said:
"We have a trademark that we're going to come out fighting and we're not going to retreat and they didn't. They didn't quit. The second half - we let them in the game with a couple penalties, had a couple of fumbles. Then in the fourth quarter we stiffened up and got a fumble ourselves and finished it off." (Army, UH)


About how they left their others kickers back in Hawaii for the road trip, Mack said:
"You only need one kicker if you have the right kicker. He's the right guy. He does the right things." (HSA)


About how Royce Pollard kept suggesting throughout the game that they call the hitch-and-go route for him, where he runs a few yards, stutter-steps to the outside, then sprints upfield, Offensive Coordinator Nick Rolovich (Rolo) said:
"It's not something we really work on a lot." (HSA)


About how Pollard lobbied for the hitch-and-go before their final drive, Rolo said:
"He wanted to run (the hitch-and-go)." (HSA)

HSA Note: "Pollard ran the "hitch" portion, catching a pass and stepping across the sideline, where he was hit by linebacker Steve Erzinger. The 15-yard penalty advanced the ball to the Army 45. From there, Rolovich signaled for the hitch-and-go play. Pollard ran about 8 yards, baiting cornerback Antuan Aaron to move up. Pollard then ran downfield, catching Moniz's pass. The 41-yard gain moved the line of scrimmage to the 14."


About calling for the hitch-and-go to Pollard with 24 seconds left when they got the ball at the 27 with the score tied, Rolo said:
"Royce is such a bright player, and we needed a big play. [Army was] giving us a cushion (in the coverage). It was the right time to call it. That's what we talk about all of the time: Communication. Bring some information back." (HSA)


About how last season Bryant Moniz converted only 10% of his fade passes, Rolo said:
"We talked a lot about his eyes. We want (Moniz) to keep an eye on the receiver, not watching how pretty his pass is coming out of his hands." (HSA)


Praising the throw Moniz made on the hitch-and-go, Rolo said:
"Great throw. I thought Bryant hung in there against some pressure. He kept it in bounds. That was the big thing." (HSA)



About how the hitch-and-go has been part of their offense for "a long time", Mouse Davis said:
"How do I know it's a good play? It just won us the game. That's how I know it's a good play." (HSA)


About how Army adjusted its offense because they were effective against Army's triple-option, Defensive Coordinator Dave Aranda said that Army:
"stopped running the option." (HSA)


HSA Note: "The Black Knights turned to a formation they did not use before — "the twins," in which there are two receivers to one side, one on the other side and two backs. They also ran power-blocking plays, fly sweeps (in which an in-motion receiver takes the handoff on a misdirection route) and play-action passes. On defense, the Black Knights switched from a five-man front to a 4-2-5 scheme. The reasoning, according to Army coach Rich Ellerson, was to create a pass rush with four linemen, allowing the Black Knights to drop another defender into pass coverage. In particular, defensive end Joshua McNary was disruptive with his ferocious pass-rushes."


About the win, Rich Miano said:
"I think somebody up above was watching us, and they didn't want the Warriors to be 0-2." (HSA)

"Football never ceases to amaze you," Miano said. "It was so exciting, it stops your heart. There were so many changes in emotion. We were up early, and then they got the momentum. And we finally make a play at the end and get the ball back. We worked for 59 minutes and didn't get any turnovers. And we get our turnover in the 60th minute. That's amazing." (HSA)



About how they was an isolation play to get Hardy-Tuilau a chance to block Army's FG attempt, Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tormey said:
"We created a short edge, then brought him from the short edge." (HSA)


--------------------  Quotes from the UH players  ----------------------------------

Asked if he had any doubt that they would get into scoring position in the final drive, Bryant Moniz said:
"Pretty much the whole second half, all they did was hold on to the ball and run out the clock, so I was a little worried if we were going to get the opportunity to get on the field. Our defense and secondary fought them the whole second half and created a fumble, their only one of the whole game, and it just worked out. We always practice our 2-minute drills - 20 seconds left is a lot of time, and it was enough time today." (Army, UH)


Asked what Rolo told him after the fumble recovery, Moniz said:
"Same thing as in practice: 25 seconds, no time outs, get the ball out towards the sideline, get the ball out of bounds, and I just went in and told our huddle that and we went out and did that." (Army, UH)


Asked how they got their confidence back after Army scored 21 straight points, Moniz said:
"It's just one of those things where you have to let the last play behind you. All the other plays where we didn't get it - our fumble, all the bad stuff that happened to us - put that behind us and took it one play at a time. When it came down to the last drive, we weren't negative at all, we were confident in our abilities, our plays, our coaches, our talk, and we just did what we had to do." (Army, UH)


About how Army changed their defense in the second quarter, Moniz said:
"They changed up our fronts, giving us a little harder time. We had less time to let the long routes develop. We had to get the ball out shorter." (HSA)


About how he and Pollard worked out extensively together this summer, Moniz said:
"That's where it paid off." (HSA)


About the 41-yard gain to Pollard on the hitch-and-go to set up the game-winning FG, Moniz said:
"I didn't want to hold onto the ball too long because of the pressure (the Black Knights) were giving. I put a little more air on it, letting Royce make his move. It worked." (HSA)


About how he called for the hitch-and-go all day, Pollard smiled and said:
"I called for it in the beginning of the game. I called it before the game even started. The whole game, I was like, why aren't they running that play? I kept trying to put that in (Rolovich's) head." (HSA)


About how their first play on the final drive was for a delayed hitch to him where he ran a few yards and then cut to the outside, Royce Pollard said:
"I knew I had to get out of bounds. I didn't see anybody there, so I took a few steps up. When I stepped out of bounds, that's when (linebacker Steve Erzinger) hit me. I suckered him a little bit. Got a little personal foul called." (HSA)


HSA Note: "The 13-yard play was adjusted to an aggregate 28 yards because of the 15-yard penalty for the late hit.:


About how their next play was the hitch-and-go that went for a huge gain, Pollard said:
"The next play, I set them up again. The corner (Antuan Aaron) came down more, anticipating (the hitch). As soon as I saw him come closer, I knew it would work. I wanted to get him to bite down. When he bites down, I take it over the top." (HSA)


About the 2 passes Pollard caught to set up their game-winning FG, Kealoha Pilares said:
"That was Royce's drive right there. He put everything together." (HSA)


About recovering the fumble (caused by Kamalu Umu) on Army's final drive when they were in FG range, Mana Silva said:
"I just jumped on it. I held it like it was a newborn baby." (HSA)


About how he wasn't worried about making the game-winning FG, Scott Enos said:
"I wasn't worried at all. Right when I hit it, I knew it was going through." (HSA)

"I've been visualizing this since last week."  (HSA)


About his block of Army's attempt of a go-ahead FG, John Hardy-Tuilau said:
"I told the guys I was going to get it. I didn't even feel (the block) because of the adrenaline." (HSA)


About snapping the ball on their game-winning FG, Luke Ingram said:
"I tried to stay as calm as I could." (HSA)


About holding the ball for their game-winning FG, Shane Austin said:
"I was a little nervous. Catch. Hold. That's all I was thinking. We just said, 'Make it,' and he did. He listened to us." (HSA)


----------------------- Quotes from the Army coaches -----------------------------

Proud of how he team battled back in this game, Army head coach Rich Ellerson said:
"It was a hard-fought contest. I'm proud of how our team took some shots early and bounced back. We kept believing, and we just battled and battled and battled. That character will give us a chance every week we play. We need to build on that. We need to find another play; we need to find another play on offense, defense and in the kicking game. Every phase of the game had a chance to make a difference there. We're not talking about two plays or 10 plays, we're talking about a play. We need to make sure we don't get too myopic and just try to put it off that one play that goes to be reviewed 47 times. That's not the game; that's not football. It would be too easy if that was the game. There were 1,000 chances for us to win that game, and we're going to find that win. If we can get into an uphill fight like that physically, we can dig a hole for ourselves and battle back like that, then we can win some football games." (Army)

"We need to find another play. Every phase of the game had a chance to make a difference. We're not talking about two plays or 10 plays. We're talking about a play. ... We're going to find it. We're going to find that win. If we can get into an uphill fight like that physically, and we can dig a hole for ourselves and battle back like that, we can win some football games." (AP)

"I'm proud of how our team took some shots early and bounced back and kept believing and battled. That character, in the absence of a little bit of execution, will give us a chance every week we play." (AP)

"I'm proud of how our team took some shots early and battled back. ... We had chances, not just at the end. We had them all the way through. We'll get better. The beautiful thing is where we're at as competitors." (HSA)


About changing the momentum of the game in the second quarter, Ellerson said:
"We kind of gathered ourselves as the second quarter wore on. We settled down and we stopped them once and then we got a drive. We came out to start the second half with a nice drive. Then we got some  turnovers, and the takeaways, as always, will give you an opportunity. That's the best thing we could do with the Hawai'i offense, and that is keeping them over there (on the sideline) watching our offense. We were able to do that with a takeaway in the kicking game and a takeaway on defense. We got the ball in scoring position, and we got ourselves back in it. Frankly, that's what it was going to take against an outfit like that." (Army)


Asked to talk about the play of their backup QB, Max Jenkins, who came in when starter Trent Steelman was hurt, Ellerson said:
"We run our offense, and Max can run our offense. Max is a bright guy. He knows what we're trying to do. He can fix plays at the line of scrimmage as well as anybody. There's no substitution for being in a game. He's well-prepared and he's a poised individual, but there is no substitute for being out there between the white lines with the game on the line. That will be a great experience for him, and that will help us. I hate to say that with the way we feel right now, but having Max be in that situation and guide that team as well as he did will come back to us during the course of the season." (Army)


Asked about the delay of game penalty on their final drive, Ellerson said:
"We just took too much time. There was too much discussion. I'm at fault there. It wasn't like we were trying to do anything especially tricky." (Army)


About how they had a chance to win and what he told his team after the game, Ellerson said:
"We had chances all the way through. When the game comes down to a single play, you have to count all of them. You can't just count the one that catches your imagination at the end. There were 100 chances, and what we need to do, as empty as we feel right now, is to be excited about how we competed. We need to be together. We talk about this brotherhood. Well, that will pay off for us. We'll hold onto each other. Each and every one of us will be accountable and will take responsibility for that. We'll get better. Our most experienced guy has exactly one year and two games of experience in this offense and this defense. The beautiful thing is where we are as competitors, and where we are as a team. If we make sure that is not jeopardized and we find a way to dig our cleats in a little bit deeper and we find a way to make one more play, this team will win some football games." (Army)

"We had chances all the way through. When a game comes down to a single play, you got to count all of them. You can't just count the one that catches your imagination at the end. Certainly we need those, but there are a 100 chances." (AP)


Asked about how his defense played and the challenge of facing UH's offense, Ellerson said:
"We're rushing the passer and they're protecting the passer. There are some things that you do against their protection stuff, and when the guys were settled in doing it, we're pretty good. The difference in the game defensively was that when we played well we got some four-man pressure. In the absence of that, look out, because we didn't match up with them very well on the back end. Their quarterback (Bryant) Moniz is an outstanding guy. He's accurate and he throws the ball with great timing. The only equalizer there is pressure, and when we got pressure we had some success. In the absence of that, we had none. They're outstanding; they do what they do and they do it especially well." (Army)


Asked about the play of their running game and the difference in the game, Ellerson said:
"We like our backfield. It was a shame that Raymond (Maples) had all of one play and twisted his ankle. We were anxious to see him in a game, and we saw in the one play he was in there that he has a little magic and we think that's going to show up in the future. We're much more physically mature at those positions and we have a little bit of depth. We, frankly, have a little bit more there. We had those three and outs early in the contest that put our defense right back on the field, and those guys were feeling it. And when you talk about the difference in the football game, you don't have to look much further than that. You have to look at both ends of the equation. You can't just dismiss what was happening in the first quarter and just focus on what was happening at the end of the fourth. There were a lot of opportunities to win that (game)." (Army)


Asked about the injury to starting QB Trent Steelman, Ellerson said:
"He's banged up, and he's been injured before. He's obviously a tough guy and would have gone back into the game in a heartbeat. The training staff just thought that he may have been in too much jeopardy until they know more about it. My guess is that he'll battle back." (Army)


Asked about causing turnovers on defense and special teams, Ellerson said:
"That's something that we really pride ourselves on. We know that will give us a chance to win, if we can take the ball away. Frankly, that was probably our only way back into (the game). As I said, the best way to control their offense was to keep it on the sideline watching us, and being productive at the same time. That was the lesson; not only were we holding onto the ball and causing turnovers, but we were productive with them. That gave us a great chance." (Army)

"That's something we really pride ourselves on. We know that will get us a chance to win, if we can take the ball away, and frankly, that was probably the only way back into that thing." (AP)


About taking UH's offense out of its rhythm, Ellerson said:
"They're on the field with us and we're well-enough conditioned to fight through that stuff. But we don't want to let a quarterback like that to get into his rhythm. As you can see, when they're on the sideline for 15-20 minutes just playing catch they're not the same group coming off the sideline. If you let them stay on the field and get into their rhythm and feel it, they're really something. Just keeping them on the sideline and keeping them out of their rhythm and making them a little bit nervous about the clock all helped us. Early on in the game when they had their way with it, they had the ball as much as they wanted it. They were throwing the ball with good timing, and there's a reason why they're as prolific as they are on offense." (Army)


Asked about playing on the 9-year anniversary of 9/11, Ellerson said:
"Today is a special day. Once we start playing the game, we're playing the game. But, we're at West Point and 9/11 is never far from our guys' consciousness. Those events, and what those events led to; our guys are definitely dialed into. We were conscious of that, but we're three-quarters conscious of that 24/7." (Army)

"Once we start playing the game, we're playing the game, but we're at West Point -- 9/11 is never far from our guys' consciousness. Those events, and what those events have led to, our guys are absolutely dialed in to." (AP)


Asked about Max Jenkins' fumble that was originally ruled down, Ellerson said:
"Obviously the guys that I was talking to said that he was clearly down, but I was talking to our coaches. Their opinion was that it was not irrefutable." (Army)


About the fumble call being reversed by the replay official, Ellerson said:
"You just bend your knees and take what you get." (HSA)


Asked about the mindset of his team after the game, Ellerson said:
"Our goal each week is to win the game, so we're as frustrated as the dickens right now because we failed to achieve our goal for the week. Our guys love to play and our guys are competitive. Certainly they're frustrated, like anybody would be, but we'll take from this what we need to. There's a lot of good stuff we can take from this. There's a lot of things we have to correct, and a lot of things that we can look at each other and like what we see. We'll move forward and be fine. We didn't expect it was going to be easy; we didn't expect everything was going to go our way. We decided a long time ago that when one of these days happened that we would pull together and handle it exactly the right way; that we'd use it as a launching pad for the next effort." (Army)


About the play of UH's offense and how Army came back in the game, Ellerson said:
"I'm not surprised that they were being prolific, not at all. What you do in those situations, is you look at the next snap. If you stood back and looked at the scoreboard and look at the clock, you'd go 'Oh my goodness, they're going to break that sucker.' But we don't do that. We just find a way to win the next play, and when you get to that next play, you clear from that and get onto the next one. And, one play at a time we fought our way back into it. Nobody panicked, nobody freaked out. Everybody knew what we had to do. There was no mystery out there. Some of the challenges were physical, some of them were X's and O's, and the guys managed it beautifully, I thought. We fought our way back into it. We made the challenge a little bit harder than it needed to be, and we'll hate that we couldn't find one more play. But that's okay as long as we clear and take that lesson forward. Our goal next week it to be 1-0." (Army)


Asked if they had planned to control the clock and tire out UH's defense, Ellerson said:
"Getting them tired was not the plan. We wanted to control the football, but you have to be productive doing so. I think we were convinced we were going to find a way to win, and I think we were starting to convince them maybe that we were going to find a way to win. That's a sign of a good football team, when you can start to impose your will on another good football team, because (Hawai'i) is a good football team. That speaks to our character, but give them credit, they needed guys to step up and make plays, and they had guys step up and make plays." (Army)


About how they cannot focus on just one play for the loss, Ellerson said:
"Don't be myopic. We had a thousand chances to win that game." (HSA)


About the 21-0 deficit they had early in the game was crucial in the loss, Ellerson said:
"Three and outs while they're feeling it. You talk about the difference in the football game, you don't have to go much further than that. You have to look at both sides of the equation. If you stood back and looked at the scoreboard (in the first half), you're 'Oh my, they're gonna break that sucker.'" (HSA)



------------------------ Quotes from the Army players ------------------------------


About how he felt on playing a back-and-forth game, LB Stephen Anderson said:
"It's disappointing. All we needed was one play from anyone. Offensively and defensively, we just didn't come through in a critical situation. We are just looking to take that one step to be the team we know we can be." (Army)


About how this game was similar to their first game, Anderson said:
"Last week was very similar." (HSA)


Asked how he picks the team up after a disappointment like this, Anderson said:
"Grab your brother's shoulder, look him in the eye and tell him everything is going to be okay. We're still here. We still have 10 more games. All of our goals for the season are still there. It's not over yet and all of us know that. We're just one step away from showing everyone that we're the team everyone knows we can be." (Army)


Asked about playing on 9/11, Anderson said:
"We talked about it all week and General (Ray) Odierno was there and talked to us about it. This day means a lot to a lot of people, us included. Just having that behind us when we needed it, it's always nice to have an extra source of power out there and that was definitely there today." (Army)

"We talked about it all week and Gen. (Ray) Odierno was there and talked with us about it, and just the fact that this day means a lot to a lot of people, us included. It's always nice to have an extra source of power out there, and that was definitely a source." (AP)


Asked about the momentum swings in the game, Anderson said:
"That's a football game. It's not like we've never been in that position before. Last week was very similar. We didn't face such a huge deficit in the beginning. This team is not quitters. That's not in our vocabulary. We weren't surprised when we came back. We believe in each other. This brotherhood isn't just a bunch of teammates. We play for one another and for all of our fans. We're not going to back down from any opponent. That's the heart and soul of this team. We fight until the end." (Army)


Asked about their offense's mindset when they were down 21-0, FB Jared Hassin said:
"The mindset was very much like it was last week at Eastern Michigan when we needed to score and put points on the board. The team was relying on us to do that. Being in that situation last week and coming into that week, we put that behind that. We got the offense huddled up and said, 'We're going to do this.' We put our best foot forward and it worked out in putting some points on the board." (Army)


Asked about his fumble that ended their final drive, QB Max Jenkins said:
"You just trust that the refs make the right decision. It turned out being a fumble and all I can do now is learn from the mistake and move on. We thought we put a good drive together, but just couldn't pull it out in the end." (Army)


About the loss, Jenkins said:
"You just learn from it and move on. There's no point in dwelling on it."(HSA)


Asked if he knew the ball was loose, Jenkins said:
"It's hard to tell because things are happening 100 miles an hour. Like I said, hopefully the refs made the right decision. You just have to move on. There's no point in dwelling on it." (Army)


Asked if he was surprised when the referee reversed the call, Jenkins said:
"Of course, but things happen and you just have to try and fight back. We just couldn't pull it out." (Army)


Asked how the defense turned things around after giving up early points, DE Josh McNary said:
"Nothing necessary spurred it on. It wasn't a particular instance, but more of just a shift in mindset. We realized we had given up 21 points and it was time to get the ball on the ground and back into the hands of our offense. Besides that, it was total execution from our defensive backs, linebackers and defensive linemen. I can't get back and pressure the quarterback if the defensive backs don't hold their guys for a certain amount of time, and vice versa." (Army)

"It was more of shifting our mindset, and we realized we had given up 21 points -- it was time to get the ball on the ground and get it back to our offense." (AP)


Asked about what he will remember of the game, SB Malcolm Brown said:
"It's going to be a learning experience. We're going to get back to it tomorrow and Monday. We're just going to keep working hard. We know we could have won that game, but we came up short by one play." (Army)


--------------------------- Other Quotes ------------------------------


About how both UH and Army have interest in scheduling home-and-home series in the future, JD said:
"We're open to scheduling them home-and-home and they're open to scheduling us home-and-home." (HSA)


HSA Note: "If Hawaii goes independent after the recent shakeup in the Western Athletic Conference, he would try to schedule Army for games in October or November, because the Black Knights are independent and don't have to worry about scheduling conference games in that time frame."


About watching the game with mixed emotions, Khevin Peoples (who played for UH from 2004 to 2008 and is now in an Army infantry unit scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan next year) said:
"I did have feelings both ways, but at the same time I had to remember no matter what, I'm a Warrior regardless. Win, lose or draw." (HSA)


HSA Note: "Yes, he pledges allegiance and everything else to the flag and the Army in which he's enlisted — everything except his football loyalty. Peoples traveled 275 miles to West Point mostly to cheer on his former teammates, not his future bosses."


About how he saw a lot from the Warriors in the Army game that reminded him of the Warrior teams he played on, Peoples said:
"I was pleased with what I saw against USC and against Army. The guys turned it up a notch when they needed it (yesterday). I couldn't help but think they'd gone 100 percent in the offseason to get that next year better than the previous one. Royce (Pollard) wants it, you can see the fire in his eyes. Kealoha (Pilares), this is his last year and you can see he wants it bad. Lots of guys." (HSA)


About how UH didn't look very good in the game after the 21-0 lead and before the final 24 seconds, Peoples said:
"It's what Coach (George) Lumpkin always says, 'A win is a win is a win.' It's regardless if it's one point, 11 points or 21 points." (HSA)