Houston Nutt Press Conference Transcript
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The following is a partial transcript of Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt’s Sunday press conference.
Opening remarks:
“I felt real good in the first half coming in at half time. Besides the opportunities that were missed, I really felt like we were in control of the game. I thought our defense had a great plan on keeping Brandon Cox off balance with pressure and we stopped the run.
“Offensively we had them off balance a little bit without being able to move the ball. The opportunities that we had inside the red zone were discouraging. To have that many opportunities and come up with three or miss a field goal or get one tipped, because there’s not enough height on the ball. If you go into halftime 21-6 or 17-6 or 17-3, with the crowd that we had and the atmosphere, that’s what is disappointing.
“A guy like Sam Olajubutu continues to lay everything on the line. He’s the smallest guy on the field besides Reginald Fish, who incidentally made a huge block and huge RBI for Darren McFadden. They play hard and that’s what you appreciate. Kyle Roper is banged up and plays 58 snaps and doesn’t complain a bit.
“We’ve got to be consistent and score better. When we’re given the opportunity, when we get turnovers take advantage of it. That to me was the biggest thing of the game.”
On the problems the offense had in the red zone:
“We have got to be able to make some plays and control the ball very accurately under some pressure. Stay consistent. I feel good about our running game. Just like what Auburn tried to do. They came out throwing and mixing it up and you’ve got to be able to handle that, where as last year’s quarterback would have handled it.
“Robert does some very good things, but there are times when I want him to make a few more plays and you’ve got to be able to do that consistently.”
On injuries:
“Anthony Brown is probably our worst guy. He has an ankle injury. It’s pretty bad. He’s wearing a boot this morning.”
On how to motivate the team:
“This is where we have to do our greatest job. We have to keep believing and keep fighting. I’ll tell them today it’s so easy to hear the negative if you want to hear it. It takes a real man to stay inside this family and keep working. There are five games and a lot can happen. There can still be a turnaround. We still can go to a bowl game.”
On how the Auburn defense adjusted after the first half:
“The biggest thing they did was move those linebackers and followed Peyton Hillis. Wherever he was they adjusted to him. That’s why he got stuffed on some isolation and stretch plays. They were so fast. The two seniors linebackers are so good and fast. There were very few teams that made first downs on these guys. I still thought we went after them pretty well and had a good plan. We need 21 points going into half time.”
On Georgia:
“Georgia is another talented football team. They are very fast on defense and very stingy. They are No. 1 on that side of the bracket and you can see why. They have a quarterback that has confidence and very, very good receivers and fast backs. They are very similar to Auburn, except a little more experienced quarterback.”
On Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley:
“He’s running some option and bootleg and scrambles. He’s real athletic. He can go 40 or 50 yards on a bootleg or dash. He can fake an option play and run down those boundaries for 50 yards. He’s that type of quarterback and when he’s hot throwing, he’s hot.”
