University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: George Walker/DFWsportsonline
Mike Norvell Weekly Press Conference Highlights – November 19
Nov 19, 2018 | Football
Opening statement…
"To wrap up last week, Friday night was a great game. I was really proud of our football team. It was a game we kind of expected. It was a conference road contest, so some unexpected things happened, some adversity showed up. Once again, I'm proud of how our guys responded. That's been the No. 1 focus, really all season, but since our bye week, the growth I have seen in this football team and ownership in every aspect of our preparation — the relentless style of play showing up on the field and being a team that is driven to improve. We are not focused on anything else other than the Memphis Tigers. That's preparing them to play the 60 minute-contests to respond to the adversity when that shows up. Our guys did everything we needed to do Friday to be successful. (This week) it's the West Division championship against an opponent that has given us some wild contests over the last five to six years. It's been very back-and-forth. We know there is a very talented team coming in here with some explosive playmakers. It's going to be a heck of a battle. Our kids are excited about the opportunity. We're excited it's going to be a national broadcast at 11 a.m. The whole country gets to see what this Tiger team is all about. We are looking forward to the opportunity."
On preparing for Houston without Cougar QB D'Eriq King…
"You have to look at what they do. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Kendal) Briles and how he runs the offense. (D'Eriq) King is a special player and I hate to see him go down, especially on something that was such a freak thing. He's been such a dynamic player throughout the season, but they have so many weapons. Even when they had someone go down, they have had someone step up and take that place. I think the lowest point total is 31 points in a game this year. They are impressive to watch. You see the true freshman come in the second half of that game (against Tulane), and they still scored 17 points with him in there. There were a couple big passes. It's going to be a great challenge for our defense to compete against these guys."
On confidence in team responding midway through season…
"I'm around these guys 365 days a year. I believe in the competitors that they are. They are passionate to be successful. We had some things happen throughout this year with a couple games that came down to one play that didn't go our way. We had some times throughout this season where we got knocked down and didn't perform to the best of our ability. These guys, they continue to go to work. I believe in the mentality of what we do. I know the investment that has gone in to this season. I was confident in how we would respond because that's the standard. There is a culture here of high expectation. We don't want to come up short in a game, but if you do slip and fall, you better know how to respond to it."
On senior class…
"Going into the year, we knew it would be a smaller senior class. We only have eight seniors on the football team, but the journey those guys have gone through — some of them like Sam (Craft) and Jackson (Dillon) were here before there was success and that culture. They were a part of making that happen. You look at Drew Kyser and Trevon Tate, they have been to a bowl game every season they've been here. That is the new standard here. Now for them to have a chance to compete for a second division title, it's going to be a highly emotional game, but at the end of the day it's going to be a celebration of what they have accomplished."
On program culture changing to expecting conference title games…
"We want that to be the minimum expectation, but we are going to celebrate that every year. That's something that is important to this community. It's important to this program. We don't take those things for granted. Having the opportunity to compete for championships, there is a lot of hard work that has gone into that. We want to compete for championships year in and year out. I believe in these young men and that they understand the process of what it takes to be successful. We have to stay at that. It's a joy that over the last three and four years in this program that we're talking about championships. If you get to the last week of the season and you're using the term 'championship,' you've done something. No matter what it looks like or what happened on that journey, we're here."
"To wrap up last week, Friday night was a great game. I was really proud of our football team. It was a game we kind of expected. It was a conference road contest, so some unexpected things happened, some adversity showed up. Once again, I'm proud of how our guys responded. That's been the No. 1 focus, really all season, but since our bye week, the growth I have seen in this football team and ownership in every aspect of our preparation — the relentless style of play showing up on the field and being a team that is driven to improve. We are not focused on anything else other than the Memphis Tigers. That's preparing them to play the 60 minute-contests to respond to the adversity when that shows up. Our guys did everything we needed to do Friday to be successful. (This week) it's the West Division championship against an opponent that has given us some wild contests over the last five to six years. It's been very back-and-forth. We know there is a very talented team coming in here with some explosive playmakers. It's going to be a heck of a battle. Our kids are excited about the opportunity. We're excited it's going to be a national broadcast at 11 a.m. The whole country gets to see what this Tiger team is all about. We are looking forward to the opportunity."
On preparing for Houston without Cougar QB D'Eriq King…
"You have to look at what they do. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Kendal) Briles and how he runs the offense. (D'Eriq) King is a special player and I hate to see him go down, especially on something that was such a freak thing. He's been such a dynamic player throughout the season, but they have so many weapons. Even when they had someone go down, they have had someone step up and take that place. I think the lowest point total is 31 points in a game this year. They are impressive to watch. You see the true freshman come in the second half of that game (against Tulane), and they still scored 17 points with him in there. There were a couple big passes. It's going to be a great challenge for our defense to compete against these guys."
On confidence in team responding midway through season…
"I'm around these guys 365 days a year. I believe in the competitors that they are. They are passionate to be successful. We had some things happen throughout this year with a couple games that came down to one play that didn't go our way. We had some times throughout this season where we got knocked down and didn't perform to the best of our ability. These guys, they continue to go to work. I believe in the mentality of what we do. I know the investment that has gone in to this season. I was confident in how we would respond because that's the standard. There is a culture here of high expectation. We don't want to come up short in a game, but if you do slip and fall, you better know how to respond to it."
On senior class…
"Going into the year, we knew it would be a smaller senior class. We only have eight seniors on the football team, but the journey those guys have gone through — some of them like Sam (Craft) and Jackson (Dillon) were here before there was success and that culture. They were a part of making that happen. You look at Drew Kyser and Trevon Tate, they have been to a bowl game every season they've been here. That is the new standard here. Now for them to have a chance to compete for a second division title, it's going to be a highly emotional game, but at the end of the day it's going to be a celebration of what they have accomplished."
On program culture changing to expecting conference title games…
"We want that to be the minimum expectation, but we are going to celebrate that every year. That's something that is important to this community. It's important to this program. We don't take those things for granted. Having the opportunity to compete for championships, there is a lot of hard work that has gone into that. We want to compete for championships year in and year out. I believe in these young men and that they understand the process of what it takes to be successful. We have to stay at that. It's a joy that over the last three and four years in this program that we're talking about championships. If you get to the last week of the season and you're using the term 'championship,' you've done something. No matter what it looks like or what happened on that journey, we're here."
Players Mentioned
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