OPENING STATEMENT: “After looking at the tape, it’s one of those games where there were opportunities there for us and we just didn’t take advantage of them. To start out from a defensive standpoint, when you give up 13-plays for 302-yards, that’s not something that is going to help you win. They had 51-plays for 201-yards. Giving up the big plays was hurtful for us. On 3rd down, we had opportunities to stop them and we didn’t. We gave up 60% on 3rd downs, they were 6-of-10 and 1-of-1 on 4th down, that doesn’t bode well from a defensive standpoint. As I said after the game, we weren’t able to make plays on the quarterback. We had four sacks, we probably should have had 8-or-9, but not being disciplined enough in our rush lanes and also understanding the athlete we were going against, that created some issues. You get down in the red zone, we give up 5-touchdowns instead of making them kick field goals, so that wasn’t good from that standpoint. When you give up 154-yards after contact, it’s not good. When the quarterback scrambles 6-times for 82-yards, that makes it hard to play on defense, but we did get some turnovers, we had four sacks. As I told the team today [Sunday], we come out, start the game, make them punt and come out in the second half and make them punt, but we need to be consistent throughout the game.” “Offensively, we just weren’t consistent enough. When we did have some opportunities, we just didn’t take advantage of them. We did execute our screen game well, we ran the ball downhill with some production, but gave up too many hits on the quarterback, so we have work to do.” “On special teams, we weren’t disciplined enough in terms of the coverage on the long kickoff return, we didn’t do a good job of reading our keys and the fake field goal, that’s on us as coaches, but you just go back and work to get better and keep doing the things that you know how to do and do the things that we know these guys can do the best.” ON FACING QUARTEBACK MOBILITY: “We see quarterback’s that are pretty mobile all the time. The biggest thing is you need to keep the contain. One time we had a guy up the field with his eyes towards the quarterback and the guy inside that was in the inside gap, he rolled back inside, but if he stayed outside, we would’ve been ok. We are going to face a lot of these guys. It’s just a matter of being disciplined in your rush lanes. One time we had a call on where we were doubling guys and he took off and got a big run on it. It’s one of those things where you are trying to play coverage and we don’t stay disciplined enough up front and gets through the middle. We had a guy unblocked one time and instead of being under control, we go so hard and we miss him. We’re going to see those guys, but it’s just being disciplined and playing with good fundamentals and technique.”

DO YOU EXPECT TO HAVE DONOVAN WILLIAMS BACK SOON AND WITH JAY ROSE GETTING BANGED UP, IS DEPTH A LITTLE BIG OF CONCERN AT TIGHT END?: “We’ll see where we at the beginning of the week, but you play the cards you’re dealt, whoever is up to play, it’s our responsibility to put together a game plan that allows us to be successful offensively, defensively and on special teams. We’ll see where we are on Monday and start the game plan for Tulane. Whoever is available, we’ll put together the plan, whatever the position, whether it’s tight end, linebackers or secondary.”

ONLY HAVE HAD 3 TOUCHBACKS IN 2019, IS THAT BY DESIGN OR IS THAT A STRUGGLE EXPERIEINCING WITH THE KICKING GAME?: “Our kickers are working hard and doing the best they can, but they don’t have the leg strength to put the ball in end zone. We weren’t getting the placements that we needed, so that’s why we made the switch to try to get the ball pinned into the corner a little bit, but at this point, we just don’t have someone that is capable of kicking the ball through the end zone or to get touchbacks.”

CB BEBE OLANIYAN SAW ACTION, INCLUDING THE INT, BUT ALSO HAD THE NEUTRAL ZONE INFRACTION THAT MAY HAVE BEEN A TURNING POINT. WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN FROM HIM?: “Bebe is in our dime package. He’s a good kid, a hard worker. He’s a guy that does some things we feel is good in dime situations. With what we were going to see offensively, Lou [Spanos] decided to play some dime against them and these are the things that really hurt you. We had 3rd and 10 stopped and he lines up in the neutral zone, gave them another opportunity and then they get a 1st down and then they go down and score. We aren’t good enough to give people second chances like that. You need to be disciplined, have to know where you are on the field, need to line up accordingly, but he put himself in a position when we play a dime package, he’s going to go in there. Now what he needs to do is play disciplined and do the things where you don’t make those mental mistakes. That’s a concentration lapse, you can’t have that. Same thing in the two-minute drill, we had a false start by Matt Peart when we go on one in the two-minute drill and our quarterback called it on two. Things like that, these little things that I talk to the team about, you need to be disciplined all the time and not let a situation get you so you lose that focus or concentration. We had some that on Saturday.”

CAM DEGEORGE GOT THE START AT LEFT GUARD AND PLAYED THE WHOLE GAME, IS THAT GOING TO BE A CONSISTENT BATTLE BETWEEN HIM AND ROBERT HOLMES?: “Rob tweaked his ankle and that’s why he couldn’t go, we didn’t feel like he was healthy enough. It’s one of those things where every week we are going to evaluate it. I talked to the team today. They need to understand that I’m trying to get them prepared for life. If you get a job somewhere and you don’t perform, don’t show up on time or don’t produce to the standards that company or organization has, you are going to get fired. This is no different in football. If you aren’t producing or not doing what you’re supposed to do, you are going to lose that opportunity to be out there playing. If guys that are 2nd team, if you want to get on the field, you need to go out there each and every day and earn the right to be out there and if someone slips up, you are going to take their job. As I told them, some of you guys are making it a lot more difficult than it is, but if you don’t learn this stuff right now, when you leave here, if you think you are going to flip the switch and start to do things differently, then you’re fooling yourself. That’s the biggest challenge I think because a lot of these young men have never been held accountable to the standards we are holding them to, or the standards that we are trying to get them to exceed, it’s hard for some of them to understand that. That’s kind of what we are going through, especially with so many young guys. And you have the physical aspect to go with it. So you just keep sawing wood, just reiterate and reinforce all of those messages. We as coaches can sit with, talk and show you how to do everything, but you have to want to do it yourself. If you don’t, you’re wasting your time and everybody else’s time. It’s like the old saying, you can lead the horse to water, but you can’t make him drink, so we’re going through some of those issues with some of our guys. Some of it is they are still not big enough or strong enough yet, but you just keep working with them and keep showing them what hey do right and what they do wrong each and every day, that’s all you can do.”