The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Oklahoma game quotes
10.07.2006 | Football
TEXAS
HEAD COACH MACK BROWN
On the game: I was standing on the floor of the Cotton Bowl before the game looking at both groups of athletes. Two great programs. Two of the best programs in college football over the last seven or eight years. I was thinking about the job Bob's done and looking at their athletes and they've done an amazing job with who they are. And I was thinking about our coaches and their coaches and how proud these two states and these two schools must be of their programs.
When we came to this game in '98, it had lost some of its luster, and it's got it back. The fans are back, TV's back, the game was a great football game. It was even a closer football game than the score indicated. The thing that we liked was that we won the rushing war, and that's a very difficult things to do because Adrian Peterson's one of the great backs in the country. But I was really proud today of our offensive line and Jamaal and Selvin because they both did a very good job.
On the turnovers: When we come out of this game with a huge deficit it's usually been because of turnovers. Today they lost five turnovers and we lost none and that's why the game got to what it was. Turnovers and kicking game, rushing yards and explosives are always critical in a game like this, but today the turnovers were absolutely huge.
On momentum: The other thing that we're so proud of with our team was we had a great first quarter and they took the momentum away from us completely in the second quarter and scored right before the half. And 91 percent of the time when somebody scores right before the half, the team that gives up the score usually loses the game. So we were so proud of our staff and our players that they went back to work and really played as good a second half as I think I've seen us play.
On halftime adjustments: We talked to our guys about not having much fun. This is a game, because of the nature of the game and the two programs and the importance and pressure, that momentum changes in this game. And in some years and in the Ohio State game, when momentum changed we didn't change it back. Really good football teams answer. When we played really good in the first quarter, Oklahoma answered our first quarter with their second quarter and played better than we did in the second quarter. And we told our team we can either do the same thing we did against Ohio State and get beat by a really good football team, or we can answer and have more fun and have more excitement and better body language and have more confidence. To these guys' credit, that's what they did. They enjoyed themselves in the second half and they had more fun. From the first three and out until the end of the game they played a great second half and it's all a credit to them.
We also thought, offensively, we started trusting Colt more and allowing him to throw the ball down the field. We had great protection and some guys made some really big plays and that opened up the running game for Selvin and Jamaal.
The only thing we talked about at halftime was that the OU team is way too good for us to not make some explosive plays in the passing game. We have to. We can't line up and throw underneath, we have to get the ball deep and, to their credit, they did.
QB COLT MCCOY
On the pass to Jordan Shipley in the third quarter: It was great. The offensive line gave me a lot of protection. Jordan came in and played a great game. He got in and played that whole series, played the whole drive, so he was tired. He ran a great route. I saw one-on-one coverage, so I gave him a shot and he made a great catch and it really feels good. I give all the credit to my teammates. It is all about them. This team came together and played great and the results were good.
RB SELVIN YOUNG
On his performance against OU: It is actually something that I have been dreaming about all week. It is a great game, a great rivalry. I have been watching it since I was a kid and to be able to play my senior year and come out with a victory -- it's great, it is a great feeling. But I have to credit (Justin) Blalock, the offensive line and Colt (McCoy). He is maturing. And the confi dence level is just going through each and everybody on the offense. And I am excited about that. That is something that I try to preach to all offense. As long as we continue to grow as a team and not individuals we are going to make it as far as we want to go and that is our goal. We are getting close to that. I feel that as long as we strive for that the best is yet to come.
CB AARON ROSS
On defending Oklahoma: I have to credit that to the scout team. They have been running those plays everyday in practice.
On the fumble return for a TD: (Coaches) teach not to ever give up. I wasn't sure if that ball was going behind him or not but I was going to let the ref make that call. That's all I did. It was either make a play or get called on. I chose to make a play.
On beating OU: It feels great, especially with it being my senior season - in the Red River Rivalry. I really can't explain it. Our defense was getting hurt a little bit on the play-action, but at halftime, coach made some adjustments and we came out an executed our defense.
We limited AP [Adrian Peterson], who is a great, great running back and I have to credit our defensive line for doing a great job against them.
On the defense: I think we showed that if we get out there and play, we can really stop the run when we're executing our defense. As a team, you can just see that we've grown. You can see that Colt [McCoy] did a tremendous job out there - picking up the blitz and everything else. The team has just made tremendous strides since week two.
On the physical nature of the game: That's something that Coach [Brown] preaches. We don't just want to be known as a defense with speed - we want to be known as a physical defense as well. We bang each other everyday at practice and we just transfer that to the field.
On the later return for the TD: Honestly, I didn't look behind me, I just focused on the ball and "scooping and scoring" just like we do in practice. I was given the opportunity, and I just made the refs make a decision on the play.
On having a winning streak against Oklahoma: It's a tremendous feeling, because OU is a great team and this is a tremendous rivalry. Anytime you can get a victory against those guys it's a great thing. This being my last go-around with these guys it's a great feeling.
DE BRIAN ROBISON
On the physical aspect of the game: The type of game we like is to go out there and out-physical the other team. OU/Texas is always a game about who can be more physical. Today I feel in the fi rst half, in the second quarter, they started to gain momentum because they were being more physical. After halftime, we just went out there and showed them we were more physical.
On his hometown: I hope they are saying I leave everything out on the fi eld, week in and week out. When I leave that fi eld I have no excuses for what I have done. I hope they are proud of me and know that I am representing them.
On having a winning steak versus OU: It's nice to not have to answer the questions this year. It's something that they're going to hear next year and they're going to be in a position a lot like we were last year. They're going to come out playing hard like we did this year, and it's going to be a battle - every year is a battle.
Next year I hope these guys come out here and keep it up, but it feels good to leave as a senior without a losing record against these guys. I would have hated to lose to these guys and left with a losing record.
On what he learned about the defense today: We learned that us stopping the run is for real. We knew we could do it, but knew today would be a big test, and if we could do it today that we were going to be the defense we thought we were. I think we went out and proved that today.
It was the same scheme - that never changed (between halves). The only thing we went into halftime and knew we needed to do better was tackle. In the second half, I bet we cut our missed tackles by about 75 percent. There weren't a lot of missed tackles and we were making some big hits at the same time - so it was really just a better job of tackling.
On Colt [McCoy]: He's a competitor. He went out there and had a great first quarter, was up and down in the second quarter and then in the third quarter he picked his game up, and it's going to be good to see what he can do the rest of the year.
OT JUSTIN BLALOCK
On the excitement of the offensive line: We did a good job from what we have done in practice. At anytime you can have success on the offensive with a quarterback and you have to get excited about especially when you pride yourself around the ball. We are very fortunate that we have a lot of guys that can play both football positions without missing a beat.
WR JORDAN SHIPLEY
On beating OU: It's a great feeling, something I've been waiting for since sitting in the stands and watching Texas get beat 65-13 (in 2003). It's a big win and one we definitely needed to accomplish the things that we wanted. Hopefully we'll move up, but I feel like we've put ourselves in a position to do what we needed to do.
On his touchdown: Obviously it was a great throw by Colt [McCoy]. He threw it where he was supposed to and put it in a good spot. It's a great feeling to be able to come down with it. There were a couple options on the play - but with the coverage they were running, that was the right place [for the ball to go]. It was the right end zone to catch it in also. We were talking about that earlier, because no matter where you score, you're going to be around some fans - so it good to be down there with our people. I'm finally feeling more comfortable now and I'm just really grateful to be out there.
On scoring on the first drive of the second half: That was huge; we needed it. We came out and set the tone for the second half. People made some big plays and it set up the second half, which we dominated.
OKLAHOMA
HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS
On the game: I'd like to congratulate Texas on an excellent football game and a really heck of a game in the second half. They did a great job taking care of the football. We did not. A lot of times you can break a game down a million ways and nothing's ever more important than that. They made the plays and had the turnovers, and we didn't. Again, congratulations to them. We need to do some things better to win. You can't turn the ball over (five) times and have 11 penalties. Penalties killed some drives when we had some things going. Those were the biggest factors in the game to me - turnovers and penalties.
We've got a good team that will continue to get better. It's only our fi rst Big 12 game and we've got a lot of season still in front of us.
On Texas quarterback Colt McCoy: He did an excellent job. He threw a great fade ball there (in the third quarter). He managed the game for them in a really good way. They all took care of the football and that's a big factor in this game.
On running back Adrian Peterson: I thought he played excellent - tough hard running, made some big plays. He played really well.
WR JUAQUIN IGLESIAS
On his offensive performance: I thought I played well until I turned the ball over. You can't do that and win ball games. Coaches told us if we won the running game battle and controlled turnovers we could win. I thought I played well, but you cant turn the ball over and win. Give Texas credit, but we kind of shot ourselves in the foot.
On his fumble: Paul (Thompson) was pressured on the play, so the ball came in a little high. The defender hit me right on the ball as I was coming down.
QB PAUL THOMPSON
On the turnovers: Unfortunately we had a lot of turnovers and self infl icted wounds that we could not recover from in the second half.
On preparing for the game: I knew where to go and make the competitive plays, it was just about ball execution today and we couldn't do it.
On overall pressure: We were playing against the strong quick defensive veterans. They were disrupting the plays. We had plays to fi ght against them, but they just were not executed right.
RB ADRIAN PETERSON
On the fumble: Looking at the play, I was thinking it was a forward pass, but they saw it differently.
On the game: Coach said to keep pounding. It feels like we moved the ball real well, but turnovers and penalties just killed us.
On the loss: It's frustrating how we lost. We played hard, but could not execute the ball.
