Danny Barrett was just on the postgame with Jerry O'Neill. Here's what he had to say following the 45-30 loss to Tulsa:
"They did (rally back)," Barrett said. "That was the key coming out in the second half. Obviously from the start of the game we wanted to make sure we gave ourselves a chance. They got up on a pretty good lead, but our guys in the second half came out and made it a game. Two costly turnovers there in the fourth quarter, who knows what the outcome could have been."
Jerry talked about the surge in the third quarter and UCF forcing turnovers.
"We did. That was the key coming in, try to get more turnovers defensively and make them punt. I thought the defensive guys for the most part did a good job except some big plays on the run there and not hitting our gaps and everything. You look at the effort that was put forth and you look at some of the things we got corrected from the week before. I think we've got a chance in these last two games to come up with some W's."
The turning point, as Jerry noted, was UCF's defense forcing a three and out and they could have possession for the potential go-ahead score, but Blake Tiralosi muffed the punt.
"Unfortunately for Blake (Tiralosi). I know he feels bad about the situation. It's part of football, part of the game. We were able to create turnovers earlier. That was one that got away from us, unfortunately for him. At the same time, we had a chance. Eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, that's as close as we've been all year, especially on the road."
QB Justin Holman completed 22 of 41 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
"I thought for the most part he did a good job. Again, bad throw on the one that got away from us. The guy takes it down to the end zone. Again, it makes it now a three-score game as opposed to a two-score game. It's just a tough break. I thought he did some good things. I thought he played better this week than the previous week. Hopefully we can continue to get more out of him."
Did Barrett feel a positive vibe coming into this game?
"I think the previous week there were a lot of things going on with the guys. We rallied as best we could playing against a pretty good football team. We know coming in we'd give ourselves a chance if we could eliminate the big plays, not turn the ball over on offense, not giving them easy possessions. I thought our guys did a good job. They were focused this week. Now we get into a bye week so we can play healthy and play strong these last two weeks at home and get W's for us."
And did Barrett see the fire in their eyes that they want to finish strong?
"I do. I felt it on the sideline. When we started to get some momentum in that third quarter. We got some interceptions. We won the third quarter. You could feel the energy and excitement which we haven't seen in a long time, especially this year. Again, a lot of positives. But there's no moral victories here. We lost the game. We've got to regroup and get ready for East Carolina in a couple weeks."
Jerry ended that it was a "heck of an effort" and that he'll see him on the team plane in a few minutes.
"Thank you so much for having us on. Our guys will continue to work hard. We're going to finish this out the right way."
Link: Postgame Stats
"They did (rally back)," Barrett said. "That was the key coming out in the second half. Obviously from the start of the game we wanted to make sure we gave ourselves a chance. They got up on a pretty good lead, but our guys in the second half came out and made it a game. Two costly turnovers there in the fourth quarter, who knows what the outcome could have been."
Jerry talked about the surge in the third quarter and UCF forcing turnovers.
"We did. That was the key coming in, try to get more turnovers defensively and make them punt. I thought the defensive guys for the most part did a good job except some big plays on the run there and not hitting our gaps and everything. You look at the effort that was put forth and you look at some of the things we got corrected from the week before. I think we've got a chance in these last two games to come up with some W's."
The turning point, as Jerry noted, was UCF's defense forcing a three and out and they could have possession for the potential go-ahead score, but Blake Tiralosi muffed the punt.
"Unfortunately for Blake (Tiralosi). I know he feels bad about the situation. It's part of football, part of the game. We were able to create turnovers earlier. That was one that got away from us, unfortunately for him. At the same time, we had a chance. Eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, that's as close as we've been all year, especially on the road."
QB Justin Holman completed 22 of 41 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
"I thought for the most part he did a good job. Again, bad throw on the one that got away from us. The guy takes it down to the end zone. Again, it makes it now a three-score game as opposed to a two-score game. It's just a tough break. I thought he did some good things. I thought he played better this week than the previous week. Hopefully we can continue to get more out of him."
Did Barrett feel a positive vibe coming into this game?
"I think the previous week there were a lot of things going on with the guys. We rallied as best we could playing against a pretty good football team. We know coming in we'd give ourselves a chance if we could eliminate the big plays, not turn the ball over on offense, not giving them easy possessions. I thought our guys did a good job. They were focused this week. Now we get into a bye week so we can play healthy and play strong these last two weeks at home and get W's for us."
And did Barrett see the fire in their eyes that they want to finish strong?
"I do. I felt it on the sideline. When we started to get some momentum in that third quarter. We got some interceptions. We won the third quarter. You could feel the energy and excitement which we haven't seen in a long time, especially this year. Again, a lot of positives. But there's no moral victories here. We lost the game. We've got to regroup and get ready for East Carolina in a couple weeks."
Jerry ended that it was a "heck of an effort" and that he'll see him on the team plane in a few minutes.
"Thank you so much for having us on. Our guys will continue to work hard. We're going to finish this out the right way."
Link: Postgame Stats
