University of Memphis Athletics
Justin Fuente Weekly Press Conference
Oct 06, 2014 | Football
Memphis Game Week Notes: Kickoff for the Tigers conference home opener is slated for 6:04 pm on CBS Sports Network ... Tank Jakes was named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Jakes led a Memphis defense that limited preseason American Athletic Conference favorite Cincinnati to 14 points and just three third-down conversions in the Tigers' 41-14 win on the road. Jakes had a team-high 10 tackles, with three tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and a forced fumble that set up a touchdown. Jakes is the national leader in tackles for loss (2.4 per game) and is ranked sixth nationally in sacks (1.2 per game) ... QB Paxton Lynch was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll. Lynch threw for a career-high 311 yards with two touchdowns on 18-of-25 passing and added 45 rushing yards and two more TDs ... Houston kicker Kyle Bullard was the American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week. Bullard accounted for all of Houston's scoring in the Cougars' 17-12 loss to UCF with his four made field goals.
Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente
Opening Statement
"Obviously we're coming off of our first conference game and victory. We have a fantastic challenge ahead of us. We are turning our attention toward Houston and all of the problems that they can create. They have played fantastic defense. I'm sure you all know, they've at least announced a switch at quarterback to (Greg) Ward (jr.), who can certainly cause all kinds of problems. They've had a few extra days to prepare. They're coming off of a tough defeat in their first conference game; a game in which they probably should have won. They were essentially six inches away from winning. We're going to have a heck of a challenge. We're looking forward to playing at the Liberty Bowl Saturday in front of a great crowd for our second conference game."
What has Houston been doing on defense that is so much better?
"Well they changed up their scheme a little bit. I don't know that the scheme is any better than what they used to do, but it fits. They've done a great job of matching it to their people. That's a big key in coaching - trying to find the talent level of your kids and what they're capable of and matching your scheme to your kids. They've done a great job of matching it up. They're very aggressive. They're very good in the front end and back end. They have an active front seven. They've played really good defense against some very good people. You look at the games - UTSA has 36 seniors on their roster. You open up your roster against a UTSA team with 36 seniors, that's a difficult task. They beat Grambling and they went to BYU with that QB in front of 50,000 people and had every chance to win. You think about the UCF game. They shut out UNLV. They play very good defense week in and week out. We'll certainly have our hands full."
How do you keep momentum going?
"Well that's the challenge, right? To continue to play at a high level on a consistent basis, and that's a lot easier said than done. We still know that there's a fine line - we're not going to just roll our helmet out there and out-talent anybody on our schedule. We've got to pay attention to detail and do a great job of preparing and play at a high level in order to give ourselves a chance. Just to have a chance to win any ballgames left on our schedule. We understand that. Executing that part of the plan is part of the trick."
How important is it for fans to come out and create a hostile enviornment for Houston coming in?
"I think it's tremendously important. This is an opportunity for us to play in front of our people. I know this sounds obvious, but instead of going to the Rose Bowl, instead of going down to Ole Miss, instead of playing in someone else's backyard in their hostile environment handling their crowd, somebody has to handle ours. I think it's important for us. It's important for this community and it's important for this university that we do a great job and play an active role, much in the same way that our fans did in the Middle Tennessee. You know, `Let's come out to the game and play an active role. Let's try to help the Tigers win the ballgame by being loud.'"
It's just the fifth game of the season, but does it validate the hard work when you beat a team like Cincinnati the way you did?
"I think validation comes, and this is the same thing I asked of the kids and everyone else, `Let's search for validation at the end. Let's get through the entire thing. Let's see exactly where it's at.' The bottom line is that we're about to play Houston, and in our first six games it's another really good football team. This is a tremendous challenge for us. To me, we are a ways way from patting ourselves on the back and saying, `job well done.' We've got a lot of work left to do."
Memphis Senior Linebacker Charles Harris
On being part of a team getting national attention...
"It feels amazing. Coming into this, a lot of Memphis guys always said that we came to the university to change the perception that the city had on the team. It feels great to know that all of our hard work is paying off. We are doing something special and we plan to keep this thing rolling."
On preparing for Houston...
"It's going to be a difficult challenge. Coach Odom and his staff will do a great job coming up with a game plan as they always do and we will have to go out and execute it. Coach Odom does a great job week in and week out, creating a scheme that works best for us. We have to do our job of coming to practice prepared on Tuesdays, watching film on Mondays and just going over the plays day in and day out. He puts a lot on our plate, but we do our job and communicate and get the job done."
On attacking Houston early...
"We don't want to underestimate any team, so we're going into the game with an understanding that Houston has a team full of explosive athletes. They have two great quarterbacks who could come in and play. We just know that we have a table set and we have to go and conquer it. Like Coach Fuente says, we aren't sneaking up on anyone now. We've set the stage, made our statement and we are here to play. We know Houston is going to throw everything they have at us and we are ready for it. We just have to keep working hard and preparing. We are looking forward to a good game."
Memphis Sophomore Wide Receiver/Running Back Sam Craft
On playing running back...
"Sunday after the Ole Miss game when Doroland Dorceus went down, we really didn't know what happened to him until the following week, but coach told me to be prepared to play running back. When he told me, I got my mind right and was prepared to play that role. I just knew I could play the role and when he asked me, he asked me with a serious face was I tough enough? I said, 'yes sir.' I knew he had faith in me to do it. I came into the game ready to play and take care of the ball."
On talk of conference championship...
"As a player you feel like you are on top and that just comes with our confidence. We all know that we have a lot of work to do and we have a long way to go. We are taking it each game at a time. We took care of Cincinnati and now we are trying to focus on Houston. We just have to go in with the mindset that we are going to win and that's with each and every game."
On defeating Cincinnati...
"It gives us another motive to build off of. Just to have a win like that helps us a lot coming into this week because we realized that we can beat a good team. It makes us want to work that much harder because we know how good we can be."
On preparing for Houston...
"We have to keep doing what we've been doing. We have come to practice every week and prepare every day and stay focused and play hard. We have to keep doing our assignments and play as one. We don't have one player out there that is just totally dominating the game; it's more so that everyone is doing their job. When everyone does their job, we have a pretty good offense and defense."
Memphis Senior Wide Receiver Adrian Henderson
On personal performance...
"I was excited mainly just to be out there with my team. The most frustrating part about being here in my earlier years was dealing with injuries and having to sit there and watch my team go out there and work and not be able to contribute. I'm glad that I had a good performance, but my excitement just came from being able to contribute to the win with my team. I try to stay even kill and not get too up or too down about it. I maintain my faith and do what I know how to do and that is work."
On depth of receiving core...
"We definitely have a lot of depth at receiver. We have a lot of talented guys, a lot of talented young guys like coach mentioned. Anthony Miller is going to be an amazing player when he comes back. We're looking good at receiver and my hat is off to Sam [Craft]. That's not an easy transition, but he did it. We're confident in him and he is confident in himself."
On catching first touchdown as a Tiger...
"I really didn't know what to do. I was just so happy that I got to contribute and the fact that we scored and made a statement coming out after they had a big play, we were just trying to get back into the swing of things and it looked like it contributed well."
On the win against Cincinnati...
"We definitely cannot get a big head about this. We played a good team and we had a good team win, but our focus is on Houston and getting a win going into the bye week. We have confidence in ourselves as a team. We feel like when we come out and play our game, we can beat anybody. We just have to take it one game at a time."
