The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Q&A with Selvin Young
08.31.2003 | Football
In Texas' 66-7 win over New Mexico State, sophomore RB Selvin Young shined on special teams as he ignited the UT scoring frenzy with a 97-yard kickoff return (the second-longest kickoff return). Young's score was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown by the Horns at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium since Johnny "Lam" Jones returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against SMU in 1978. He also ended the Texas scoring with a 39-yard punt return for a TD in the fourth quarter, establishing himself as the first player in Longhorn history to score on a kickoff and punt return in the same game. Fresh off his big-play game, Young sat down with to talk about the game and his weekend leading up to the exciting day.
What are your thoughts on the first game? I thought it was a great first game. We had a lot of fun and got a chance to get a lot of young guys in there, even though I'm young myself. We had a little adversity at first because we started out kind of slow. But we've learned that no matter how we start, we have to come out and finish - that's what our motto was during the summer and still is now. We did a great job finishing tonight.
I bet you didn't expect to return two kicks for two touchdowns in the season opener did you? Never in a million years! Coming into this game my goal was to run the opening kickoff back. My first touchdown was our first kickoff return, and I got a chance to take it back. I'm just thankful. I've got to give it up to my blockers. They had some great blocks and it just opened up like the Red Sea. Then the punt was the icing on the cake.
Was that your first collegiate game you played entirely in the rain? Yeah, it was. It was kind of fun, actually.
What was the atmosphere like on the sidelines? It was more relaxed, yet focused. Everybody was in the football mode. It was raining, so it was typical football weather. Everybody loved it because we were able to get down and dirty. It was a good thing for us because the weather is pretty unpredictable throughout the year. We may have another game where the weather is bad, and I'm glad we got a chance to experience it now.
What movie did you see with the team last night? I saw S.W.A.T. I'm an action guy so I liked it. It was a pretty good movie. Some of the guys watched Jeepers Creepers 2, but most of them saw S.W.A.T. with me. I didn't really like the first Jeepers Creepers, so I didn't want to see the second one.
Since it was a night game what did you do all day today? We stayed in the hotel and I just relaxed. I watched a couple games on TV and we had team meetings to go over the game plans.
Do you have any routines you go through during the day of the game? Not while I'm at the hotel. When we get to the locker room, I like to take a shower. But after that, I'm just like an old-school player. I don't like to wear wristbands; I don't like to wear gloves. The receivers - Roy (Williams), B.J. (Johnson) and Sloan (Thomas) make me wear gloves, so I have to wear the gloves.
Aside from football - how did the first couple days of school turn out? I've got a lot of books to read already, but hey, I've got to come down from the big game, get back in school mode and do what I've got to do. I took a couple classes during the summer sessions, so it wasn't too hard to get back into things.
What are you doing tomorrow for Labor Day? We will come in and watch film a little bit. The people who have some bruises and injuries go and see the trainers. But I can get some rest since I don't have to be here until 2 p.m.
