Sept. 5, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
George O'Leary
On his team's performance:
"I give Samford a lot of credit because they came in here and played a good game. I think we went out and left too many points on the field. We had the ball inside the five twice, and one time we fumbled it. We just can't leave points like that at all. I thought basically our defense gave up a couple of plays that were double moves and got the best of our guys. I thought the defense didn't get too much pressure on the quarterback. I thought our special teams game was good and our return game in general. Quincy McDuffie did very well back there for us returning a few nice kicks. I saw some scores from today and it seems a lot of teams are just slipping by, and we certainly have to be able to put more points on the board. I thought we did very well today, and Brett Hodges played very well today and I think the team really gathered around him."
On the quarterback position:
"I think when we made the change we were pretty stagnant at that time. The intent was to put Brett in and then go ahead and put Rob Calabrese back in at the beginning of the second half. Charlie Taaffe wanted to stay with Brett and maybe put Rob back in the game. I was pleased with what Brett did for us in the game. As far as I'm concerned, I'll talk it over with Charlie and make a decision going into next week. Overall, like I said before, I still say its Rob's team. I think it's a long season, and I don't see a quarterback controversy. I think we'll continue rolling them both in and have them both realize that they have to be ready to go in and play."
On seeing the quarterback change as good for the offense:
"I feel that it's definitely good for the offense and they're both good friends. They continue to pick each other up and help one another out. Rob was the first to congratulate Brett on a couple of very good throws, and I don't see Rob as being down. I know he's probably disappointed that he could have made a couple of good throws. But overall, I think I'll address the coordinators tomorrow and watch the film and keep looking at using a couple of very good quarterbacks."
On the kicking game and special teams:
"We missed a long field goal in the first half that could have added a little more momentum and points on the board. But I think they could do much better next week in that aspect. I was definitely happy with Nick Cattoi's kicking and I feel he did a very nice job for us. The return game and the special teams in general gave us some nice momentum with a couple of nice returns both in punts and kickoffs."
On slowing down Samford's Chris Evans and the play of UCF's defense:
"Their running back was a good back and I think when we threw a few extra players in the box, it opened up their passing game. They had a couple of nice throws that really hurt us on the defensive side. I think we could have done a better job with the pass rush and getting after the quarterback. But we'll take a look this week and see what we can improve on. We'll get those guys up front to get more pressure on the quarterback and to help out our secondary a lot more to not give up the big play."
Senior safety Derrick Hallman
On his initial thoughts of the game:
"We started off strong, we didn't get the three and out we wanted on the first drive, but we bounced back and they eventually punted. Overall, I feel that the defense played well, I just have to play better."
On this game and improving moving forward:
"Definitely. You have to improve and watch the film and correct your mistakes. I had three or four mistakes myself, and that is uncharacteristic of me. I feel like I really have to play better. It was a great game to test us and keep us level-headed and to never underestimate an opponent. They're a great team, and they have some great athletes over there. They made plays at times that we didn't."
On expecting Samford to come out and giving this kind of game: "I was very impressed. I was impressed before we even came into this game. They were a heck of a team on film. They had some great receivers, and we knew that coming into the game."
Senior defensive tackle Torrell Troup
On Samford's offense doing anything that UCF wasn't expecting:
"We knew everything that they were going to do. That's just something we have to work on big time, we can't let them get outside the pocket. We had that problem last year, and we have to get that under control for this year."
On any positives that can be taken away from the game: "We didn't give up. We should have played a lot better. It was the first week so we have a lot of time to improve. Hopefully we can improve in all areas starting Monday at practice."
On next week's conference game:
"It's going to be a good game. We're going to be ready. Offensively and defensively, we're going to be ready. Especially defense, I'm going to do my part to get ready."
Sophomore tailback Brynn Harvey
On the play of the offensive line:
"They had some great pushes. The quarterbacks were able to get some time in the pocket and make some plays."
On if you feel better with one quarterback over the other:
"No, not really. I feel comfortable with either Calabrese or Hodges. I know they're going to execute plays and do their job."
On his play tonight:
"Great. I felt good being able to get two touchdowns tonight and help the team out with some rushing yards. Always nice to get some points on the board."