Tulsa's third-string QB had thrown one career pass before entering late in the third quarter tonight. Enough said. But here are quotes from Willie Fritz, Nick Anderson and Stephon Huderson:
WILLIE FRITZ
"I felt we did a poor job of execution down the stretch. We work on that situation Hail Mary pass the day before games, and obviously we didn't execute it very well. Poor coaching, poor execution. That was a big play. The game would have been over, we win the game and we'd feel good about things right now. When you play a good team like that, you've got to play really well. We had some foolish penalties. We had some missed tackles that would have finished the game for us. As I just got done telling them in the locker room, there's plenty of blame to go around--coaches and players. It's disappointing. It's a game we should have won."
On the Hail Mary, what did you guys go over after calling the timeout and did you debate the decision to rush only three?
"We got a little bit of pressure on there and then he bought some time. We just didn't do a very good job of leverage over on the left side. The guys that were around the ball appeared to be hoping that someone else was going to make the play rather than going up after him and making the play."
Why did you call a timeout before that play?
"We wanted to go over everything, which is what we did, and we just didn't execute it."
How tough is it to swallow the second game of the season you think you should have won?
"Hard. Difficult. You work your tail off and want a different outcome. Woulda, coulda, shoulda had a different outcome. We just didn't do it. Credit Tulsa. They kept fighting. They had a couple quarterbacks get injured and continued to keep playing hard and did a nice job."
Early in the fourth quarter you were up 14-0 and looked like you were about to score more when you got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (Josh Remetich) after a play. How big a turning point was that?
"Big turning point. It was over aggressive at the wrong time. You've got to be smart aggressive. That was a tough, tough penalty."
On the final touchdown you scored, were you between thoughts of trying to drain the clock and kick a field goal or just go for the jugular there?
"I thought it was a good play call and excellent execution. It got us seven and now they have to go the length of the field, so that was all good. They had another timeout left. Well they had three of them (at the start of Tulane's possession), so that's not what got us beat. It's the last drive by them and some others during the game as well. There were a lot of plays throughout the game. We had the 15-yard penalty and a fourth down where we should have tackled the guy short of the first down."
Can you talk about the production from the tight end position? You had touchdowns from Tyrick James and Will Wallace.
"They did a good job. They are both playing well for us."
What happened on the first field goal attempt from Merek Glover (he missed a 28-yarder)?
"He just didn't hit it right."
How difficult is it to adjust midgame to a quarteback that you really didn't have much information on?
"We didn't. Obviously you don't prepare for the third-team guy coming in, and we didn't know much about him. The young man came in and did a nice job. Good speed, runs well, had some options back there. Threw some good balls as well. That was a nice throw when they tied it at 14."
Did the defense wear down at the end?
"Yeah, they just didn't play very good down the stretch. We needed to make a play. The disappointing thing was we had some opportunities to make some tackles and we missed some tackles that would have slammed the door. I believe there were three situations where if we had just tackled the guy, they are short. That's tough."
NICK ANDERSON
How can you put into words what happened down the stretch?
"This one hurts. It hurts bad. I feel like you have to give credit where credit is due. They are a talented team. They have players, but we've got to play better and we've got to finish. We've got to finish. But it's over with. We've got one more left and we've got to take care of business. We've got to move on. It hurts now, but tomorrow we've got to move on."
Could you feel it slipping away in the fourth quarter with their third-string quarterback in?
"I feel like we were in the position to make plays and we just didn't make them. We've got to do a better job of executing and finishing. We had our foot on their necks, and we let it slip. It's not on the coaches. It's on the players. It's on me. We have to execute better and we have to finish. We've just got to finish."
Can you compare the feeling to what you felt after the Navy loss?
"I feel like this is worse. It's worse now simply because of the standards of this game. It was an ESPN game, a top-25 team, so this will hurt us a lot worse simply because. I'm at a loss for words, but this one hurts a lot worse than Navy. We just let it slip, but like I said, we've got to stay together. That will be the main thing is staying together as a team and preparing for Memphis and finishing the season strong."
Was it difficult to go against a quarterback that you had not prepared for at all?
"It was a gray area simply because when you knock the first-string quarterback out and you knock the second-string quarterback out, a lot of times you are not prepared for the third-string quarterback. I still feel like it comes back to us and execution no matter who they play at quarterback. We've got to play our type of football, play our type of defense, play our style."
What was your view on the final play?
"I watched Pratt dropped back. Jha'Quan ran the drag route from the 3, and when it left Pratt's hands, I thought it was a touchdown. I actually closed my eyes. I thought it was a touchdown and I was getting ready to go back on defense, and then I see No. 23 running down the sideline. But like I said, if they don't score, they don't win the game, so defensively me and the other defenders take the responsibility. If they don't score, they don't win. Kudos to them. Defensively we've got to execute better. The third string quarterback was very talented. Very talented. But we've got to play better and we've got to execute better."
STEPHON HUDERSON
Can you put into words what the feeling is like in a game where it looked like you had it in the bag?
"Unbelievable, man. We still have yet to play a full game. We're getting tired of these almost games. We've got to come together as a team and finish strong. We didn't finish like that."
It was 14-0 in the fourth quarter and one of your teammates got a penalty that knocked you back and forced a punt. Was that a moment where you sensed the momentum changing?
"We just told the guys the Wave can't beat the Wave. That's a little saying we have. We just told them we can't put ourselves in situations to play behind the chains. We should have kept cool heads and just moved on."
How difficult was it to mentally move on once you got to overtime after that Hail Mary throw?
"You just have to say we are in position. We had guys around the ball. We just didn't make a play right there. Moving on, that's a situation we've got to work more in practice. We've just got to want it more actually. The play is there for us to make. We are in position to make a play. We've just got to finish. Moving on is tough, but that's going to make us better as a team. Going forward we have to fix it."
How disappointing was it to not score a touchdown on your first possession of overtime when that would have won it?
"It's tough, but I wouldn't say it's disappointing because knowing Merek (Glover), he's very confident, so we know if he got a field goal on the board we were going to be back on the field to try again. So a lot of pressure right there, but then again, we knew we were about to go back on the field and try to score again."
What was your view on the final play?
"Almost, man. We've just got to finish right there. We were in position to finish it right there. We just have to finish. That's it."
You did a good job of bouncing back from the Navy loss. How do you get back from this?
"Just knowing that we will get back in the film room tomorrow and fix those things like we did against Navy. Come together as a team and just put all the mistakes out there on the table for everybody to see and things that we can and cannot do. That's how we get better as a team, just knowing and learning from our mistakes in the last game."
What can you say to Pratt to console him?
"He's probably thinking the game is on him right now, so our job and my job especially because I think I'm a leader on this team is to just keep him going and tell him that the reason we lost this game is not his fault. We had plenty of plays that could have been made before that play happened. It probably shouldn't have gotten to that point right there. My job as a team leader is to keep Pratt going and keep his head up."
WILLIE FRITZ
"I felt we did a poor job of execution down the stretch. We work on that situation Hail Mary pass the day before games, and obviously we didn't execute it very well. Poor coaching, poor execution. That was a big play. The game would have been over, we win the game and we'd feel good about things right now. When you play a good team like that, you've got to play really well. We had some foolish penalties. We had some missed tackles that would have finished the game for us. As I just got done telling them in the locker room, there's plenty of blame to go around--coaches and players. It's disappointing. It's a game we should have won."
On the Hail Mary, what did you guys go over after calling the timeout and did you debate the decision to rush only three?
"We got a little bit of pressure on there and then he bought some time. We just didn't do a very good job of leverage over on the left side. The guys that were around the ball appeared to be hoping that someone else was going to make the play rather than going up after him and making the play."
Why did you call a timeout before that play?
"We wanted to go over everything, which is what we did, and we just didn't execute it."
How tough is it to swallow the second game of the season you think you should have won?
"Hard. Difficult. You work your tail off and want a different outcome. Woulda, coulda, shoulda had a different outcome. We just didn't do it. Credit Tulsa. They kept fighting. They had a couple quarterbacks get injured and continued to keep playing hard and did a nice job."
Early in the fourth quarter you were up 14-0 and looked like you were about to score more when you got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (Josh Remetich) after a play. How big a turning point was that?
"Big turning point. It was over aggressive at the wrong time. You've got to be smart aggressive. That was a tough, tough penalty."
On the final touchdown you scored, were you between thoughts of trying to drain the clock and kick a field goal or just go for the jugular there?
"I thought it was a good play call and excellent execution. It got us seven and now they have to go the length of the field, so that was all good. They had another timeout left. Well they had three of them (at the start of Tulane's possession), so that's not what got us beat. It's the last drive by them and some others during the game as well. There were a lot of plays throughout the game. We had the 15-yard penalty and a fourth down where we should have tackled the guy short of the first down."
Can you talk about the production from the tight end position? You had touchdowns from Tyrick James and Will Wallace.
"They did a good job. They are both playing well for us."
What happened on the first field goal attempt from Merek Glover (he missed a 28-yarder)?
"He just didn't hit it right."
How difficult is it to adjust midgame to a quarteback that you really didn't have much information on?
"We didn't. Obviously you don't prepare for the third-team guy coming in, and we didn't know much about him. The young man came in and did a nice job. Good speed, runs well, had some options back there. Threw some good balls as well. That was a nice throw when they tied it at 14."
Did the defense wear down at the end?
"Yeah, they just didn't play very good down the stretch. We needed to make a play. The disappointing thing was we had some opportunities to make some tackles and we missed some tackles that would have slammed the door. I believe there were three situations where if we had just tackled the guy, they are short. That's tough."
NICK ANDERSON
How can you put into words what happened down the stretch?
"This one hurts. It hurts bad. I feel like you have to give credit where credit is due. They are a talented team. They have players, but we've got to play better and we've got to finish. We've got to finish. But it's over with. We've got one more left and we've got to take care of business. We've got to move on. It hurts now, but tomorrow we've got to move on."
Could you feel it slipping away in the fourth quarter with their third-string quarterback in?
"I feel like we were in the position to make plays and we just didn't make them. We've got to do a better job of executing and finishing. We had our foot on their necks, and we let it slip. It's not on the coaches. It's on the players. It's on me. We have to execute better and we have to finish. We've just got to finish."
Can you compare the feeling to what you felt after the Navy loss?
"I feel like this is worse. It's worse now simply because of the standards of this game. It was an ESPN game, a top-25 team, so this will hurt us a lot worse simply because. I'm at a loss for words, but this one hurts a lot worse than Navy. We just let it slip, but like I said, we've got to stay together. That will be the main thing is staying together as a team and preparing for Memphis and finishing the season strong."
Was it difficult to go against a quarterback that you had not prepared for at all?
"It was a gray area simply because when you knock the first-string quarterback out and you knock the second-string quarterback out, a lot of times you are not prepared for the third-string quarterback. I still feel like it comes back to us and execution no matter who they play at quarterback. We've got to play our type of football, play our type of defense, play our style."
What was your view on the final play?
"I watched Pratt dropped back. Jha'Quan ran the drag route from the 3, and when it left Pratt's hands, I thought it was a touchdown. I actually closed my eyes. I thought it was a touchdown and I was getting ready to go back on defense, and then I see No. 23 running down the sideline. But like I said, if they don't score, they don't win the game, so defensively me and the other defenders take the responsibility. If they don't score, they don't win. Kudos to them. Defensively we've got to execute better. The third string quarterback was very talented. Very talented. But we've got to play better and we've got to execute better."
STEPHON HUDERSON
Can you put into words what the feeling is like in a game where it looked like you had it in the bag?
"Unbelievable, man. We still have yet to play a full game. We're getting tired of these almost games. We've got to come together as a team and finish strong. We didn't finish like that."
It was 14-0 in the fourth quarter and one of your teammates got a penalty that knocked you back and forced a punt. Was that a moment where you sensed the momentum changing?
"We just told the guys the Wave can't beat the Wave. That's a little saying we have. We just told them we can't put ourselves in situations to play behind the chains. We should have kept cool heads and just moved on."
How difficult was it to mentally move on once you got to overtime after that Hail Mary throw?
"You just have to say we are in position. We had guys around the ball. We just didn't make a play right there. Moving on, that's a situation we've got to work more in practice. We've just got to want it more actually. The play is there for us to make. We are in position to make a play. We've just got to finish. Moving on is tough, but that's going to make us better as a team. Going forward we have to fix it."
How disappointing was it to not score a touchdown on your first possession of overtime when that would have won it?
"It's tough, but I wouldn't say it's disappointing because knowing Merek (Glover), he's very confident, so we know if he got a field goal on the board we were going to be back on the field to try again. So a lot of pressure right there, but then again, we knew we were about to go back on the field and try to score again."
What was your view on the final play?
"Almost, man. We've just got to finish right there. We were in position to finish it right there. We just have to finish. That's it."
You did a good job of bouncing back from the Navy loss. How do you get back from this?
"Just knowing that we will get back in the film room tomorrow and fix those things like we did against Navy. Come together as a team and just put all the mistakes out there on the table for everybody to see and things that we can and cannot do. That's how we get better as a team, just knowing and learning from our mistakes in the last game."
What can you say to Pratt to console him?
"He's probably thinking the game is on him right now, so our job and my job especially because I think I'm a leader on this team is to just keep him going and tell him that the reason we lost this game is not his fault. We had plenty of plays that could have been made before that play happened. It probably shouldn't have gotten to that point right there. My job as a team leader is to keep Pratt going and keep his head up."