Dec. 6, 2008

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East Carolina Head Coach Skip Holtz

Opening comments:
"I am really proud of this football team and everything that they have overcome just to be able to get into this game. When you talk about the significant amount of injuries to our starters and the way that one player after another has had to step up on this football team during the year, I am very proud of this football team. We had a very difficult early road and had a lull there in the middle where we lost three games in a row, but once we got back into the conference this football team and these seniors really drew a line in the sand. They said that all of the out-of-conference stuff is done and now we want a conference championship. It is somewhat ironic that our low point was here at Tulsa four years ago when we got beat and dropped to a 3-6 record. It is a real tribute to these players about the way they fought to get back to this point.

"We have been really close to this game but have never had the opportunity to get here and to be able to get here and see what they did out on the field today I couldn't be more proud to be the head football coach of these young men."

Did you think that when you inherited this program you could have turned things around this fast:
"Honestly, I felt like we could have got here even a little quicker and I say that because we had our opportunities at Rice two years ago. Coach Graham did a great job down there when they beat us and knocked us out of this championship game. Then last year we had our opportunities at Marshall and we stubbed our toe there. We never really put a timeline on getting here but we knew we were close to getting here in the past. I feel like we have learned from each lesson that we were given, and we just climbed forward and kept competing."

"We are very excited to bring back the Conference USA Championship to Greenville. It has been the first time since 1976 that we have won a conference championship."

Was that first goal you set when you came in, to win a conference championship?
"The big talk was that we wanted to be champions. There are five different types of championships and we talked about being one of those. Last year we accomplished one of them in becoming bowl champions, and we weren't afraid about putting it out there about becoming conference champions this year. We went out there and got it done."

What can you say about your defense with you having to piece together a lineup with so many injuries
"Tulsa has a great offense and they had 97 plays today, and we were running out of bodies there at the end to put 11 guys on the field. I think our defense played physical and we really challenged our players with the cliché that offense wins games and defense wins championships and we are going to find out what is true. I think the defense went out there and won that championship. I don't want to take anything away from our offense because they put together two big drives especially with the one at the end of the game. It was a total team win and everybody contributed today."

What was your defensive strategy today:
"We wanted to keep the ball in front of us and just make them snap it again. We put pressure on our front four to stop the run and keep the ball in front us and don't give up anything cheap. As long as we keep the ball in front of us and make them snap it again, we felt like we were winning on defense."

The first play of the day was an interception by your defense and that kind of set the tone for the day. Talk about all of the turnovers your defense created:
"I think David Johnson is a great quarterback and he has seen about everything you can give him. When you can throw the ball like Tulsa and do what they do offensively, you come into this game knowing that you are not going to give them anything they haven't seen. I thought our secondary did a phenomenal job of disguising things and mixing it up. Coach Rick Smith does a great job with this secondary, and they tried to check our oil early with the big pass down the middle of the field. We gave up a big pass against Southern Miss to start out the game and they tried to do the same thing early. All day our defensive backs did a great job of staying home."

EAST CAROLINA PLAYERS

Cornerback Travis Simmons:

On how playing UTEP helped to prepare the secondary for Tulsa:
Both of them have great offenses and great skill players as well. Basically, UTEP kind of helped us out to get ready for a team Like Tulsa. UTEP has a great quarterback and Tulsa has a great quarterback as well. Basically it helped out a lot. We saw a lot of deep passes thrown last week and it basically helped us to prepare for what we saw today.

Defensive End C.J. Wilson:

On the sacks, interceptions and defensively squeezing the life out of them and turning up the heat in the second half:
They have a great offense and they are a great team but coming in, we said that our front four had to play our best game this season. It was max protection the tapes a lot and sliding the tapes a lot but getting pressure on the quarter back a lot. At the end of the game they had not changed their game plan so I think we did.

On getting to play an SEC team:
You know it is a great feeling. I remember my freshman year when we in my freshman year when we went to Virginia Tech, and when we lost that game Coach Holtz called us all together and said `We belong out here with them. Believe that." That is what we have been doing ever since. And to get an opportunity to play against a BCS Conference team means a lot to me and were just going to work hard and hopefully we can make it happen.."

Kicker Ben Hartman

On your mental approach to late game kicks:
I try to keep the same mental makeup throughout most of the game. Some games where I've had a deciding kick I have struggled throughout the game and some games I have been pretty solid. After I missed that one coach Holtz came up to me and gave me some words of confidence and I put it past me as soon as I missed it.

On how this last second kick compared with other ones of the same nature:
It was good to come back and get another chance and help put us in the lead. We still had a great defense and with their offense we knew we had to stop them with the amount of time that was left on the scoreboard. In relating this one to other ones, I try to not put one in a greater spot than the other one. I am out there to do one thing and that is put it through the sticks pretty much.

Quarterback Patrick Pinkney

Coach said he had a little "Heart to Heart" with you and can you put perspective on this season:
Well the Hear to heart talk . . . when you are the leader of the offense your head coach expects a lot from you and he expects you to produce. He told me he was putting the game on my shoulders and I led the offense and played my game and did my job and I accepted that. But you know our offense had a lot of injuries but at the same time our backups stepped up this year. They made a lot of big plays for us. We did not get our rhythm. Tulsa had 97 plays we had 59 and we could not get rhythm in the 3rd and fourth quarter, but we finished the game. We got that drive, Ben hit that kick, and that sealed it for us.

On how it feels to be on the only championship winning team since 1967 and also the fact that his father was on that team:
It is our program. That's a long time for a Conference Championship game. We have been through a lot and this team sticks together and we had the determination and desire to come out every game and win it. No matter what goes we do not give up. We keep fighting and fighting and you can see it out there on the We give a lot to the program and we are going to enjoy it. And we are taking the trophy all the way back to Greenville.

Tulsa Head Coach Todd Graham

Opening comments:
"Naturally, I want to congratulate Coach Holtz on their win today. We are very disappointed. We turned the ball over seven times. We basically beat ourselves today. Going into the game that was our number one focus. I am proud of our kids, proud of the effort, proud of how hard they played. These guys played their hearts out. We obviously didn't get it done and we are very disappointed because anytime you go into the game and you turn the ball over seven times, that's unbelievable that we would do that. On the same hand, we have to give their defense a lot of credit. They created those turnovers and made them happen, but obviously, we didn't get it done from that standpoint. I am very proud of these guys. I am proud of the character we have on the team. It is very tough to get to this point and then give it away like that. We do give them a lot of credit. You have to give Coach Holtz and them a lot of credit. Their defense is a very good defense. They played extremely hard and with every opportunity they maximized it."

On the ECU pass coverage being different:
"No, we just threw the ball poorly today. It was poor today. That was my observation of it looking out there. We didn't do a very good job with our plan. They sat back on us and we made some bad decisions. Again, I think we had two fumbles and I think five interceptions and still had an opportunity to win the football game. That says a lot about our how hard are kids are playing. I thought special teams did a great job. They played extremely hard and we got a turnover there. I thought our defense played stellar. Naturally, our guys on offense were playing hard. We just turned the football over. You have to give them credit on the one hit on Jesse. It was a big hit. That was a collision that caused a turnover. We had pressure on our quarterback and gave up the other fumble. Then we threw five interceptions and that is basically the story of the day. Absolutely we have no excuses. They lined up and played a little further off at times. That is what people have done to us at times. They have just backed off and obviously we didn't have a very good plan."

On Brennan Marion on the last play:
"I do not know yet, but he had an injury on that last play. He was injured. He planted and twisted his knee there."

On David Johnson:
"Well, we were just trying to motivate him and inspire him the whole game. There was no doubt in my mind that I thought we would win because I did not think they could score or move the football on us which they didn't. We gave up one big play on defense, other than that we played stellar on defense against a team that can run the football for sure. They could not run the football on us today. I always tell them to keep plugging, to go to the next snap, to forget what is behind you and press forward like we do every game. I was hoping at some point that we would click. We tied it up there. Then we turned the football over again. Today's story is simply that. You have to give them credit. Again, a very good defense, but we beat ourselves."

On the offense's troubles being on David Johnson:
"It is definitely not on Dave. We coach him. I think they had a plan to set back on us and we did not have a very good plan to counter that. Obviously, we are getting distress on our quarterback. I thought at times we did protect the quarterback very well. We stepped up and made some plays. They got a lot of pressure on the quarterback and we didn't have a very good answer for the things they were doing. Therefore, they were putting stress on us and we were turning the football over. Its actually not all on Dave. If you are going to put it on anybody put it on us coaches. I thought they had a very good plan on how to defend us and we did not have a very good plan to operated against that. That is kind of what it boiled down to and you have to make plays on the field. Their guys made plays and put pressure on the quarterback and we turned the football over and that was the story."

What's the next step . . . On possibly going to the GMAC Bowl:
"I do not know that for sure. They told me that we wouldn't know until tomorrow. Next step is going to a bowl game. That is the next step. It was our number one goal to be Conference USA Champions. Right now we are very disappointed. We will take a few days off, regroup and then go win a bowl championship. We have a great group of seniors and we did to finish it off with a win."

TULSA PLAYERS

RUNNING BACK TARRION ADAMS

On his last game at Chapman Stadium:
"It is disappointing but I felt like a lot of the guys came out here and gave it a great effort. We played extremely hard but we just came up short. I would like to give their defense a lot of credit, they played great. This is probably the best game that ECU has played defensively. For us we played hard, our defense played excellent and they only gave up one big play. They played lights out pretty much as far as I am concerned. I want to echo what Coach Graham said, about this not being all on Dave (Johnson). We fell short as a team, he faced a lot of pressure at times. Our season is not over, we have a bowl game and we will prepare for that and make corrections from this game."

QUARTERBACK DAVID JOHNSON

On his struggles against East Carolina:
"I just didn't play good today. We turned the ball over six times and we just can't do that if you want to win a lot of games. I put it all on me for the most part."

On the last interception of the game:
"The ball floated on me a little bit. I tried to drift to my left a little bit and I saw the corner come up and I didn't see Brennan (Marion) fall down and I didn't see where the safety was, so I was trying to give Brennan a chance and then I looked up and the ball was intercepted."

DEFENSIVE END MOTON HOPKINS
"The defense played very well today, we came up when we had to, but we did make some mistakes early and I guess those ended up costing us. I am proud of our guys, they played hard for the whole game and it was a great effort."

WIDE RECEIVER SLICK SHELLEY

On the offense struggling to get into rhythm:
"I think we got into a rhythm a little bit. The crowd helped us a lot, we tried to get into it but we had too many turnovers that set us back and it was to much to overcome."