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UCF-Rice Postgame Quotes

Quotes

Oct. 21, 2006

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HEAD COACH George O'Leary
Opening Statement:
"What can you say? I think it is tough to win any game when you are not stopping anybody. We had opportunities to pin people in as far as the quarterback was concerned. We continually do not make plays when we have the opportunity to do it. Offensively, we were probably playing well enough to win except for a couple of miscues. I think we are moving the ball well and doing some things. However, I think defensively we are not making plays on third downs which are critical. It is a work in progress with the defense. We have had many opportunities to get the ball back and we did not capitalize on them."

On QB Kyle Israel's performance:
"I thought Kyle played well. A lot of the times I thought he was looking to throw. A couple of the times pass protection broke down and the routes were short. I feel he made plays. Nothing is ever perfect on offense, but I thought we moved the ball and did some good things. You cannot stall in the red zone and settle for field goals. I thought we moved the ball and got some yardage. The way Kyle Israel played his first start, I thought he went out and made plays. I think on the last pick he just forced the ball."

On deciding between Israel and Steven Moffett:
"I thought Kyle was in there playing really well. Again, every week I think it is a new situation. I did want to get both quarterbacks into the game, but I did not see a situation to bring Steven [Moffett] in. Kyle was not playing badly and I do not think I would change anything."

On defensive performance:
"I saw people in position to make plays and not make them. That is a constant problem, which is why it is a constant progress that needs to be made. I did not see anything where they were outranked. When he throws the ball 26 to 30 yards balls in the air, rushing should take over too. It is not always coverage. At times we did some good things against the rush. Obviously when you look at it, we have a speed problem at some of those positions."

JUNIOR QUARTERBACK Kyle Israel
On offense's production:
"I thought we did some good things. We had some opportunities and we took advantage of them. It comes down in the end to turnovers. We had a crucial turnover late and we did not convert in the red zone. That is one thing we have been harping on is scoring in the red zone and we did not do that. That is something we have to work on this week in practice and improve on."