TicketsPOSTGAME QUOTES
CINCINNATI VS. UCONN
Oct. 24, 2015 | Cincinnati, Ohio | Nippert Stadium
Attendance: 40, 124 (UC on-campus record crowd)
// CINCINNATI HEAD COACH Tommy Tuberville
Opening Statement:
"We actually looked like a football team tonight. If we can have any complaints, we missed a field goal, we turned the ball over one time and we left, I think 11 points on the field in the first half, I didn't count in the second half but we made too many mistakes. Obviously, the snap over the head on the punt. It was disturbing that happens in weather like that but other than that I thought we handled it pretty well. I am proud of the defense, gave up the opening drive, that kid last week did the same thing at South Florida, we dropped back, pulled it down, did not go through his reads and just start running the ball and we wanted to do it and when you hit a quarterback 10 or 15 times in the first half it kind of takes a toll. He is not a running back and so it's tough for a quarterback to do that and I thought our guys did a good job of not giving up the big play. Huge play, I think Tyrell Gilbert on the go route had to take the ball away from number 5 (Noel Thomas), who is I think their best player on the go route. But the coaches did a good job and it was good to come back home and have homecoming. I thought the uniforms looked very good and kind of prestigious. Homecoming went great. It was good we at least got all the homecoming in other than the football game. They got the parade and all that in so we sacrificed and took all the rain. So, just a great day for the Bearcats, we got better, we're a better football team. We are much better than we had played in a couple of games and we played well the second half."
On his decision to start Kiel:
"Last week Hayden got hit a bunch and he wasn't quite the player this week. He has got some tendinitis in several areas and he wasn't 100 percent in practice but I told both of them, "You are going to have to go hard." We charted it and Gunner had much more focus, but Hayden practiced hard and practiced well but I thought Gunner's zip on the ball was much better and then I probably would have changed it even if I had gone the other way to Gunner once I saw it raining because Gunner throws a good wet ball. He has a pretty good size hand and throws a wet ball well and that makes a huge difference for a quarterback. We will go back to the drawing board and get back into competing next week. I just saw Gunner in the elevator and I think he is going to be really hard to get that position away from that number one spot. But again it's great for competition. It's great for everybody involved."
On Kiel's performance:
"He made good decisions, there are a couple he'd like to have back down in the red zone, but again, the sack and the fumble wasn't his fault. They outrun him, read the runner tackle on the outside and we have just got to get better at that. But in weather like that, I don't know, we had to have close to 650 yards on offense, that's a lot of offense. I thought our offense kept their focus and a wet ball is very hard to play with, very hard and it was their advantage for it to rain tonight. It wasn't our advantage. We handled it and we got to run a game. Mike Boone, it was good to have him back running almost 100 percent and then Hosey obviously had run 150 yards and Tion. So we are getting better. We need to. We have already got three losses. We can't afford another one so we will come back next week and have another home game and see how much better we can get."
Gilbert's emergence over the past few games:
"He is a great athlete from Princeton High School. He had a huge hit on number 86 (Alec Bloom) across the middle in the second quarter, knocked the ball loose and that was a huge play. He has got a lot of ability. He is just one of those guys sometimes he gets too aggressive and safeties can't get real aggressive in some games, but last week he really played well against BYU. He just gets better and better. Coach is playing a lot of guys playing back there and we had a whole new secondary other than the ones we started. But we got to do that. We got so many young guys. We've just got to get them in the game and live with it and hopefully they can learn on the run."
// CINCINNATI PLAYER QUOTES
#11, Gunner Kiel, QB
On what sitting out the past few weeks has been like:
"For me they were really tough, getting hurt was a really big setback. But Hayden Moore stepped up. It was really good (playing tonight) and it feels good to be back and being a captain and our QB. We came out with a big win and it was really good for us."
On his attitude while sitting out:
"I was really mad. To me, I thought I was doing everything right and competed and thought I had some of the best practices I've had. And I always have a mindset that God has a plan. I just kept busting my butt and believing that good things were going to happen and they did."
On how it felt when he learned he was starting this week:
"It was a huge feeling to finally be back and playing is awesome. I live, die for football. It's my life. That's all I ever do and to be back out is the best feeling ever."
On if he feels Shaq Washington is always going to catch the ball:
"Shaq is a freak and that goes for all the wide receivers. I just have to throw the ball and give them the opportunity. I have a great group of wide outs that want to compete and want to get wins."
On Shaq Washington's specialty:
"Shaq is such a good route runner and is very quick and agile and makes it hard for a defender to tackle him and see what he's going to do. As a quarterback, we just have to see where he's going to be and get him the ball. He is very fun to watch."
#4, Zach Edwards, S
On the performance of UC's defensive line:
"Our D line really stepped up tonight. We knew they had to do well tonight because everything starts and stops with them."
On if he is surprised at how fast some of the younger guys are coming around:
"No, I'm not really surprised because they had it in them the whole time and they just needed experience."
// UCONN HEAD COACH Bob Diaco
On the biggest disappointment from today:
"The score. You know, too many yards, too many points, not enough points on our end. That is disappointing. There were actually, you're not going to watch it, you're not going to see it in the game, you're not going to watch it at home and see it. There were a lot of things that I was very impressed with and pleased with as it relates to the players and how they responded, how they continued to respond, how they fought, how they continued to fight. We're a developing program, we are new, and from a demeanor standpoint, from an attitude standpoint, from a perseverance standpoint, there were a lot of things tonight that I saw even better than last week that they focused on and tried to improve upon. We go work to do. We have a lot of foundational things to build on."
On UC's wide receivers and the play of quarterback Gunner Kiel:
"They were too open. We needed to tighten down the coverage which we did in the second half, and that was all the answer. It was a different second half until the end. You are trying something and you're busting it, holding them to field goals, whatever it was. It was 24 points at halftime for the lion's share of it. They scored. They had two field goals in the second half until the very end. There was a change and they responded well and it worked. We were just too loose in our coverage."