CINCINNATI – Head coach Scott Satterfield, fifth year quarterback JC French IV, fifth year cornerback Jacob Finley, and fifth year safety D’Angelo Hutchinson spoke with the media ahead of Saturday’s game at Houston.
The Bearcats and Cougars will face off at 3:30 p.m. at TDECU Stadium and the game will be televised on FOX.
Opening statement
“Good afternoon. Just a little bit about the game last week. We didn't play great in the first half, and I think that was disappointing, to say the least. Too many mistakes. The big play, I thought, was the turnover that we fumbled and they ended up picking it up and running it back in. You play a team like Utah, you can't make those mistakes and think you're going to win. The positive is our guys came out in the second half and they really could have just laid down, but they didn't. They played hard, played great in the second half. Too little, too late, but that's one positive you take out of that game. Utah was what we thought. They're a good football team in all aspects, and so you have to move forward now. Going on the road in the Big 12, playing a really good Houston team. Coach Fritz does a great job. I went against him when he was at Georgia Southern, and then of course here at Houston now, he always has a well-coached football team. They always play hard. They're in most every game. I think the strength of their team lies with their quarterback, Connor Weigman. I mean, he's been an outstanding player ever since he was there last year and this year. He's a winner. He can make it with his legs and with his arm. They have some outstanding wide receivers to throw to. A really good tight end that's been catching a lot of balls for them this year, and a very, very good offensive line. They’re excellent on offense. I think one of the most efficient offenses in the country, number one in the country on third down. They've done a really good job defensively. They do a lot of different things defensively. They make you have to prepare for a lot. Kids play hard. They turn guys over. I think it's just a really good football team. Going on the road is always tough in the Big 12, and it's a big challenge for us to go on the road and play well. That'll be key for us. But again, it's about our preparation, about how we go about things this week, get put together a plan, and our guys going out and executing.”
On facing a quarterback like Houston’s Connor Weigman
“We play some really good quarterbacks in this league. They're all a little bit different, I think, as you look at them. Weigman does everything really, really well. I think there's not one thing he doesn't do well. He can make all the throws. He's sneaky fast. He'll make safeties miss. You see it on film when he runs the football. Very smart, and they run the offense through him. He is the catalyst for their offense, and their offensive coordinator and offensive staff have done a really good job of keeping them on the sticks. That's just being very efficient, and therefore they don't ever get themselves out of position. They're always right there, and I think that's why they've been so good on third down as well, but he's one of the top ones in our league. I think in a league with a lot of good ones.”
On whether there's an emphasis to move on from the Utah game completely
“We should do that every week. We really should. I mean, if you go back and look at what you've done up to this point, it doesn't really matter. You have to go out and play this game. You have to do it fully. This game needs our full attention and focus. I think it's human nature to go back and look, see where our record is, and see what we've done against this team, what they've done. The outside world, that's great to talk about. But as players and coaches, we should never do that. We should focus on everything we have on Houston and how we can get this game done. It's the same thing throughout a game. You shouldn't be scoreboard watching either in the game. Whether we're up or down. You should just be playing every play to the best of your ability. But again, human nature steps in, and I think that's what we have to guard against. If you look at everybody right now, where they're sitting in the league and throughout the country, there are four games left. There's a lot of ball left. You start doing that, focusing on that, you'll let these games just slide by. And so we have to do a great job of focusing on this week, today, Tuesday practice, and doing everything we can to be the best we can be today. And I think the teams that do that the best over this next month is going to be the teams when they look back at their record and think man, okay, this team they were focused. They did a great job, and the other teams maybe not. That's what we have to guard against.”
On what they learned against playing Utah
“They were six for six in the first half on third down. You have to get off the field. It was like that in the second half of West Virginia as well. We didn't get off the field on third down. It's a little bit of everything, really. When you go back and look at all these games. When we're really good on third down on defense and getting off the field, it gives us a great chance and opportunity to win these games. I think a little bit of it is not getting enough pass rush at times, tighter coverage. If you get loose coverage, then those guys can catch it, and right there at the stick to get the first down. I think in one-on-one matchups we have to win. We've lost a few of those. Second half of this past game, I think they did a really good job on third down. We got off the field. We got and then fourth down as well because these teams are across the 50 and are going for it on fourth. We held them twice on fourth down this past week, but I do think it's a little bit of both. I think this week will be imperative. First down will be critical this week against Houston. They're so efficient. They do a great job. If you go back and look, they don't have any negative plays. So if we can try to knock them off a little bit on first down to make that third down a little bit longer. It's these offenses these days, when it's third and three or four or less, they do everything: run, throw, whatever, and it makes it a lot more difficult to stop them. If you get them in that long yardage scenario, then you get a little bit better idea about how to get off the field.”
On coaching against Willie Fritz and how his teams typically
“They don't give up a ton of big plays. They keep everything in front of them. When you get to third down, they're going to pressure you and try to make the ball come out fast. It's a lot like what you'd expect from a Coach Fritz team. Fundamentally sound, doing what they're supposed to do, keeping everything in front, rally, make the offense make mistakes, and they've done a good job of creating turnovers. They don't have the number in front of them, but I mean, they've got, I think maybe 11 picks this year, something like that, and several fumbles. You look on the film, you don't see just 50-yard touchdowns. I mean, you see a defense that's going to rally to the football and cause havoc.”
On if there was anything Utah presented defensively that led to offensive struggles in the first half
“Honestly, not really. They're a really good team, but most of our mistakes and when we were stopped, it just came from us. I thought we moved the ball pretty well, and just can't turn the ball over twice for points. That's huge, we have to score touchdowns.”
On whether it’s fun to have a high scoring game
“Absolutely. We're really excited for this opportunity to play another really good team in their stadium. I think all the boys are fired up get back to practice this week and get up and get away.”
On moving on from a loss
“For me, as I've gotten older, it's gotten easier. It's just one of those things. You just have to watch it, learn from it, flush it. That's what I learned from. In all my years there's no reason to dwell on it for too long because it doesn't help anything. It's good to learn from it. Obviously, you get upset because as a competitor, you hate losing. But it's just something you can learn from.”
On his pick six against Utah and where that ranks in his career
“Probably number one. That's my second one. Well, fun fact, when I was in Northern Illinois, we were playing Kent State in the last game. They had thrown a lateral pass backwards in the end zone, and I caught it and scored a touchdown. It counted as a touchdown, but in stats they called it a forced fumble and fumble recovery. In my book, I call it a pick six. You can technically say that two interceptions turned into touchdowns in my college career.”
On the changes made between the first and second half vs. Utah
“Just being on our assignment and our details. We had a couple mess ups in the first half, and then the second half we were in the locker room and had to regroup. We said we don’t care what the score is. We’re just going to go out there and finish how we started. The game’s not over, so we still had a chance. They scored seven points in the second half.”
On Utah’s offense
“They definitely had a good scheme, a tricky offense. However, we had a good plan for them on defense, but it is all about you knowing your job and sticking to it. We had players for them, but sometimes it does get confusing out there, as you see it on the field. A lot of misdirection. You never know when he is going to pitch the ball. He will run the ball for 10 yards and fake a pitch, like he is going to pitch it because the running back is following him the whole way. So you have to have good eye discipline. They have a great offense, a great scheme, so it is going to take them the long way.”
On what he’s seen of Houston on film
“Houston’s a very good team. I know some of the players out there, definitely have great talent on their offense. Running backs are good, and great quarterbacks as well. He makes the plays and goes through his progressions. It is going to be a good game.”
On getting more snaps on defense
“That’s what I have been waiting on. Just to put it all together, just a lot of time I have been stacking. I’m happy to have the opportunity, it felt good.”
On reuniting with head coach Scott Satterfield after being recruited by him to go to Louisville
“I was happy to get the call from Coach Satterfield. I talked to him and they signed me freshman year. Coming back it felt like a full 360 again. I am just happy to have gotten the call and given the opportunity.”
On his first few weeks at UC and how he got ready to play
“When I first got on campus, I knew I had two weeks before the first game. It was just getting straight to business, just diving straight into the playbook, running as much as possible. Getting as comfortable as possible to commit the rep and then keep going from there.”
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