University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis-ECU Postgame Quotes
Oct 27, 2009 | Football
Oct. 27, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
East Carolina 38, Memphis 19
October 27, 2009
Postgame Quotes
Memphis Head Coach Tommy West
Q: Opening Statement
COACH WEST: We didn't do any of the things that we thought we had to do to win the game. We felt like we needed to win the rush; our front had to beat their front. We did not do that on either side of the ball. We also thought that we had to protect the ball and we had to win the turnover battle. We lost the turnover battle. We thought we had to be even with East Carolina in special teams, but we fumbled a punt on the nine yard line. At this point I can't say we are even in special teams.
East Carolina does a really nice job of being a team that doesn't make mistakes to lose the game. We couldn't be that team to beat them. We made too many mistakes.
Q: How disappointed are you to lose the game given that you had extra time to prepare for the game?
COACH WEST: It's disappointing. I don't think Chris (Hobbs) meant to drop the punt. He was just trying to make a play and the ball came out. We can't do that. I don't think Will (Hudgens) meant to throw it high and I don't think that Duke (Calhoun) meant to drop it. That is kind of what is happening right now.
Q: What do you tell your guys going into the next game and beyond?
COACH WEST: That is what grown guys do. Grown people that have got any kind of guts to them at all, keep trying. Cowards quit. That is what I'll tell them. That's what happens in life. It doesn't always go the way you want it to go. It's not going the way I want it go right now. We really felt good going into the game. We had nine excellent days of preparation coming into this game.
We take it down and we don't get anything in the red zone on our first time down there and it's almost like `Oh, here we go' and we fumble a punt. It is 14-3 all of a sudden. At that time I didn't feel like we were out of the game because we were moving the ball offensively.
I wish I had an alternative, but you keep playing. You keep trying to find away. We are going to do everything we can to win in Knoxville. We've never done that in the history of the school. We're going to try to find a way to do that.
ECU Head Coach Skip Holtz
Q: Talk about the importance of road victories in conference play.
COACH HOLTZ: It is a good win, especially against a very talented Memphis football team. I was really proud of the way the defense played. We were really able to keep the ball in front of us. We pretty much kept them out of the endzone. And, from an offensive standpoint, we were able to run the ball and finally make a few big plays in the passing game, which was nice to see.
Q: Talk about the offense's performance
COACH HOLTZ: I thought Patrick (Pinkney) did a much better job of throwing the deep ball in the second half. We only threw a couple in the first half, and they were just rolling their safeties down. Giavani (Ruffin) really stepped up and did a nice job. It was really nice to see (Darryl) Freeney step up and play the way he did tonight.
Q: Talk about Darryl Freeney
COACH HOLTZ: Well, to turn and get the celebration penalty and drop the ball on the guy's lap wasn't good. We're classier than that. It's not fair to this football team to score a touchdown and have to kick off from the 15 yard line and give them solid field position. So it's a good lesson learned. I thought he did a solid job today. I thought he competed and made some great catches. But those are the things we have to learn, and he will learn a valuable lesson from this.
