The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas Tech quotes
09.20.2009 | Football
Sept. 20, 2009
TEXAS COACHES
Head coach Mack Brown
Opening statement: I thought it was one of the harder hitting football games that I've been around. It was a great football game. There were times when things weren't easy for either team. You have to give each team credit for continuing to compete and fight back. It was a slow start, then all of a sudden, we start scoring then they start scoring after a slow first half. That's usually the way the Texas-Texas Tech game goes. I'm very proud of the kids, proud of the coaches, and I thought it was a great football game.
On the staff's offensive adjustments and the effort both teams gave tonight: We weren't doing well, and we thought that we had to change something. You don't just sit there and continue to do what you've been doing, and make the mistakes we were making in the first half. We had no rhythm. We just couldn't get on track for whatever reason. It seems like it was like the first half last week - it was a guy here, a guy there, something was stopping us. We just felt like when we got the ball in the second half, we wanted to go out and score like we did and usually we play really well. I thought it was good that things weren't easy tonight offensively. We were mad at some things last week and scored 41 points; weren't not happy tonight and we scored 34. I think we're a work in progress. We've got a lot of things to do but I'm proud of the way they grew up. I'm proud of the way they worked and fought and hit, both teams. Give Tech credit for the same thing. Nobody laid down. The fans sure got their money's worth tonight.
On the difficulty of moving the ball on offense: Like me, (QB Colt McCoy) was disappointed that we weren't moving the ball and doing what we normally do. I think we need that some. We get in a zone where it's so easy, it's not always easy. Just look around the country. Offense is sporadic, defense usually plays really well.
On the play of the defense: I thought our defense again this week hung in there until we had a chance to get started on offense. The defense probably wore down a bit in the second half and give (Texas Tech QB) Taylor Potts credit for his unbelievable passes. I'd sit there and watch as they'd tip them twice and still catch it. I didn't see any frustration out of any staff member or player and I think that's a credit to the number of games we've won around here.
On QB Colt McCoy: He had a blast. He was laughing. They'd score and he'd say, 'Look out. What a game. We've got to come back and score.' I thought he was the old Colt in the second half. Hopefully we've got that now for the rest of the year.
On if he thought the game would be as low scoring as it was: No, I thought it'd be 70 to 65. In fact, I told (ABC sideline reporter) Lisa Salters before the game when she asked how were going to match their scoring, I said, 'We're averaging 50 (points per game) and they're averaging 46 and a half. I think both teams are going to score a lot.' I didn't want to see her at halftime.
On the difference between this year's game and last year's game: I thought we played much better in both lines of scrimmage than we did last year.
On Texas Tech QB Taylor Potts: Going on the road the first time as a starter, coming in here, playing as well as he did, I thought it was a real credit to him.
On if college football has become a game of survival: I think that's what it is. I don't even think you can compare one week to the next. About the time you start saying we're playing well and we've got it is when you stink. Everybody that brags on one team, you better look out, that's the one that may get beat. I really think it's survival. It's not playoffs, it's not anything else, it is survival. We didn't survive for one half last year and got disappointed. This year, the kids want to play hard every week and they want to play well every week and that's a tremendous amount of pressure. That's just the way college football's gotten. There's not much room for error at the top.
On RB Tre' Newton, RB Vondrell McGee and RB D.J. Monroe: I thought again, he's just like he's been every time we see him. We've just got to keep playing him. Vondrell (McGee) played well early and then he tweaked his ankle again, so he had to come out and he couldn't go back in. He was about 80 percent, I think. I thought Tre' really did some good things. I was disappointed that D.J. (Monroe) had the one return called back on the late hit, and the last kickoff I wanted him to get a hold of it because when Malcolm (Williams) had that big hole, D.J. might have been down there in those fan's laps.
On LB Roddrick Muckelroy, DE Sergio Kindle and the pass rush: I thought he played great. I thought both he and Sergio (Kindle) played great. They were both back there in the quarterback's face all night. I thought they did good. I didn't think we got as much consistent pass rush out of everybody else. We'll watch the film and look at that.
I was so happy that we got something going. I thought our kicking game was really good tonight. The punts down inside the 10 a couple times, the punt return for the touchdown, another good punt return and then our kickoffs. We had some bad ones where they got it out to the 40, but most of them were at about the 30, and our kickoff returns were good as well. I was really pleased. They had been kicking the ball more consistently as a kicking unit than we had.
On the flexibility WR Dan Buckner gives the offense: It really saves us in there. We had to go to that same formation last year with Jordan (Shipley) and right now Dan's doing a great job. In fact, Jordan said (Dan) kind of took his place with his height. I will say this, we were trying to discuss what play to run on third-and-3, and Colt (McCoy) and Greg (Davis) came together and Colt really suggested to throw to Dan because he trusts him so much.
On the win: I thought we played good. I really did. It's funny when you walk in after the first half, we're used to being 24 points ahead and we weren't but I told the team at halftime, 'What a great game. I think both teams are playing great. The defenses are playing lights out, I think the defenses are going to lose their edge and the offenses are going to light it up.' And that's really what happened.
Offensive coordinator Greg Davis
On Tre' Newton's 20 carries tonight: Tre' has good patience. He has good vision. We just felt like he was healthy and playing well. I did not realize that he had 20 carries, but he did, and I thought he played really well.
On WR Dan Buckner: Dan is doing a heck of a job. He is a really tough match versus backers, which is what he gets in that area a lot of the time. He is playing with more confidence every week. He is just playing faster each week because he is more confident in the way he can use the field to get open.
On Buckner being able to make plays: We felt like throughout three ball games that Dan [Buckner] has been a really tough match. They were really sitting out on some things underneath and that is why Dan was able to get open a couple times down the middle of the field, and he made a great play for the touchdown.
Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp:
On the defense's play: We really played well. We got them off rhythm in the first half. We really felt like, as pattern matches were concerned, that we were where we needed to be. In the second half, I got impatient on two drives and that was my fault. I was real pleased with the first half. We just have to come out and continue to play our game instead of getting impatient.
TEXAS PLAYERS
RB Tre' Newton
On if he was more comfortable as the game went on: My line was doing a great job for me. They made it easy on me. It was a lot of fun.
On the team's offense: We can always get better. I made mistakes, and I'm sure other guys made mistakes. We've just got to watch film on Monday, try to learn from our mistakes, and on Tuesday come ready to work because UTEP is going to be ready for us. So, we've just got to go back to work.
On if Colt McCoy relaxed in the second half: Colt is always relaxed. Colt is a great quarterback. He's always on top of his game. The first half didn't go the way any of us wanted it to really, offensively. But, our defense had our back, and was there to help us out until we got going in the second half.
On what Texas Tech's defense did to cause the offense problems: We've got to watch film tomorrow. We were just trying to execute like we always should've been. We just had to keep fighting. Tech is a good team. You've got to give them some credit too. They came out playing hard and ready to play too.
On getting 20 carries against Texas Tech: It felt good. Going into the game I was backing up Vondrell (McGee), just ready to do whatever they asked me to do. I just try to make sure I'm always ready for when the opportunity comes.
On if he knew he would play as much as he did in the second half: No, I didn't know. They just put me in, and I just stayed in. So, I had no idea.
QB Colt McCoy
On whether he was disappointed that there was not an offensive touchdown in the first half: We were winning at halftime. You have to give credit to the defense. Sometimes everything is not going to go our way, and to give us credit on the offensive side of the ball - we came out and played a completely different game [in the second half].
On Texas Tech's defense: Their front four played really well and their linebackers are aggressive. They are a match football team. We did not handle that in the first half, but in the second half we came out and played pretty well.
On the team's first half: We just had to keep fighting as a team. It was a tough first half. Not everything is going to go our way every time. We just regrouped and came out in the second half and played football.
DE Sergio Kindle
On his fourth-quarter sack: I kind of just ran right by him. I timed up the snap well. I got right by him and the quarterback was there for the taking.
LB Roddrick Muckelroy
On tonight's game: We knew we would have a good battle going into the game, and that is what they gave us all 60 minutes. It was good for the team that we had a battle like this and got a great win. It was a great team win.
On how they prepared for this game: All week long we had been practicing hard. We took everything we had from practice and took it to the game.
On the team's thoughts at halftime: We were uncomfortable. We had to go back out for the second half with 30 minutes left, and we knew that Texas Tech, with the great offense that they have, we had to get the defense going and keep our composure for the rest of the game.
On Sergio Kindle's fourth-quarter sack: We definitely felt that. It gave us a boost of momentum. I was happy for him. That is what we needed, and I'm glad he came through with a big play.
On the win: It's good to be 3-0. We got up and played football. We've got another game next week at 2:30 and it's good to be 3-0, but we've got to focus on the next thing.
WR Jordan Shipley
On tonight's win: I think everybody was out there having fun and playing hard, but once again, just didn't quite execute the first half. I think everybody was having fun.
On his touchdown punt return: I love getting to punt return. I have to give credit to all those guys blocking. They do such a good job of opening up lanes and they did great, and it was fun.
On how the first half of the game was unexpected but finished as expected: They played hard and well. They caught and threw well, and when they are playing well offensively, it's tough to beat them, and I felt our defense did great. They made a lot of stops, but Tech continued to play well. You've got to give them credit; they're a great team.
On playing UTEP after Texas Tech: That's the great thing about coach Brown, he doesn't let us think about those things for a long time. Last week we were thinking about Wyoming and the week before that, Louisiana-Monroe. It is just the way we approach games. It's one game at a time for us.
DE Sam Acho
On Texas Tech's response touchdowns: We weren't worried. We knew what we had to do, so we just kept on fighting and grinding and tried to make it happen.
On Emmanuel Acho: He did a great job. Emmanuel had two or three forced fumbles; he recovered one of them, had a lot of tackles and played a great game. We just give the glory to God for all that.
On Texas Tech's offense: We know they're going to complete some passes. Potts is a great quarterback, so we know they're going to complete some passes and get some first downs. We just had to hold, and keep them out of the end zone.
On Dan Buckner: Dan's a goofy guy. You'll see it on camera. He's a character. Everything Dan does is crazy. He's just one of those guys who loves to entertain, and he's always making the team laugh. He's a great guy. We knew he had the potential last year, and he kind of grew into that role last year. This year he's stepping it up and making it happen out there.
On Sergio Kindle's fourth-quarter sack: Sergio just blasted that quarterback. The whole crowd erupted after that, so it was good to see. We've been working on trying to get to the quarterback, put pressure on him and get in his face, but we didn't get any sacks until later. Finally, Sergio put that hit on him and it changed the game.
On Texas Tech QB Taylor Potts: Potts is a great quarterback. I watched a little tape on him, and he looked good on tape, but in real life he's a great quarterback. Their whole line is really good as well, so we knew it was going to be a challenge. Potts was impressive, and he played great under this pressure.
S Earl Thomas
On how the secondary played: I felt like we grew up again. We knew they were going to throw the ball a lot, but overall, I think we did pretty good. We had a few busted coverages, but we will get that together.
On playing a big game early in the season: We are just happy we are 3-0. They fought hard. I give a lot of credit to them. Their receivers were catching everything, balls were bouncing off their helmets and they were still catching it, but overall we did pretty good. Everybody was playing like it was the last play. Everybody was swarming the ball and this game means a lot to us.
On having an early conference matchup: We needed this game, it was good for the whole team. We played from the heart and we pulled it out.
On his interception: I was just like, "It's about time." I had a lot of chances, but I'm just thankful I got one.
On pressuring the quarterback: It was very important because if you let Taylor Potts just sit there, he is going to find the open man. Our defensive line played big for us and they helped us out a lot.
On the expectations of the game: I knew it was going to be a big game because they throw the ball a lot and their offense is kind of hard to guard because they have so many screens and deep balls you have to watch out for.
DT Lamarr Houston
On the excitement of the game: We're just out there trying to play football. We were excited, we had high intensity and we were ready to go. There were 101,000 people and College GameDay was here, it was too much fun out there.
On Texas Tech's offense: They changed up some things on us over the week and we fixed it with coach Muschamp. It was fun to play out there and know that we can stop an offense like Tech's that has so much to cover and can be confusing sometimes. But we were out there playing defense like coach Muschamp wants us to.
On Texas Tech's offense getting hot: That's what they're made to do. That's how their offense is designed, to make quick plays, to make quick passes and be able to score. It wasn't anything surprising, it was just that they finally got in a rhythm.
On the win: It's only game three and we have a lot more to play. We're excited about this one, but we're looking towards UTEP right now.
On this game being a redemption game: Things happen and that was last year and this year we are trying to make sure we have a complete season and a complete 60 minutes of football.
WR John Chiles
On the overall game: I think the defense played lights out. The offense had a few mistakes. I'm always very critical of the offense, but we had a few mistakes that we need to work on and get fixed for next week and move forward from there.
On the defense: They did great. They got turnovers, they were knocking balls down and getting fourth-down stops, so overall, I think the defense did pretty good.
On the new formation: It's called Wild Horn. We just have a few plays in it right now. I think coach [Greg] Davis and coach [Bobby] Kennedy are developing it right now as we speak.
On getting to run the new formation: I was pretty excited. I called my dad, I called my cousins, trying to let them know that we had this little package going on, but the whole week I was kind of jumping around getting excited.
On getting more comfortable at wide receiver: I'm getting more and more comfortable as the season goes on. More repetitions are making me a lot more comfortable.
On treating each week as a survival: We don't take these types of game for granted. We don't take Wyoming for granted, we don't take Texas Tech for granted, we don't take any game for granted. When you see teams losing each week, you have to make sure you go out and fight.
On facing a tough team: We needed it. It was a great test for us and it showed us the character that we have on this team that no matter what, we are going to keep fighting.
On Dan Buckner: He's playing great. He has a lot of mismatches in the inside, so he's making it easier for us outside guys and for Colt McCoy to be able to throw the ball inside and outside. He's doing a great job.
WR Dan Buckner
On how they were able to settle down in the second half and make the offense work: We came up to a slow start versus Wyoming. We kind of did the same thing, but we always just regroup at halftime. We talk to each other saying we've got to get it going. I think we were up 10-3 and we were winning the game, we just have to keep it that way - put some points on the board.
On the mood of the team at the half and how they turned it into points in the second half: It wasn't a bad mood at all. We were just like, "We're in the game. We're in the fight." Obviously the score is zero-zero, go in the second half and you know, we went and did that.
On whether or not it's like survival from week to week in college football: Always, it's always about survival. You know, you can't take a week off because it can jump up and bite you and then your whole season might be over.
On how he feels about the flex position: Very happy, it gets me on the field. I just want to play, contribute and win.
On the transition from an outside receiver to the inside: You know it just got me on the field, and I told myself I'm going to make the best of my opportunities and that's what I'm trying to do. When Colt puts the ball there, you know he's going to put it where it needs to be, and I'm just going to try and make plays for him.
On the change from wide receiver to flex: It's just like 10 yards inside the ball, we're just running routes and doing the same thing.
On how the switch to a fast-paced offense in the second half helped him relax a little bit: You know the whole team worked real hard this summer and so we're just trying to make the defense tired. I think we did that pretty well. The offensive line is in great shape, receivers, Colt, running backs, everybody, we're just trying to keep it moving.
TEXAS TECH QUOTES
Head coach Mike Leach
On the third quarter being similar to last year: Yeah I guess it was. I think there was a point where it was, although I thought our defense really played pretty well the whole game. There's probably some situational stuff we'd like to improve on; our third-and-longs maybe. But our defense played well the whole game. I thought it was back and forth on special teams. There was some good, and some stuff we can work on. We didn't do much offensively the first half. If we could get another quarter out of our offense- we got a half out of them, but if we could get another quarter out of them, our chances would be better.
On running the ball on third and nine: I mean, they know its third and nine too, and they were dropping everybody. I mean, football in general is risky.
On their penalties: I think they hurt. I think we tried to do too much early. Early on we tried to make too much happen. And I thought that that that's where we got a lot of the penalties; just somebody over-trying.
On QB Taylor Potts: He's really tough. He got hit hard a number of times and got up. I don't think it affected his play to the negative. He's a rare, rare, rare quarterback. There are a lot of great quarterbacks out there that ultimately have great careers that can't do what I just described, and that is; getting hit really, really, really hard, and then come in the next play, the next series, and march down the field at 10 yards a clip, and he did that twice. I think anyone that had any doubts about Taylor Potts not being able to be a good Division-1 quarterback, I think those can pretty much be dispelled.
On some of good players not being able to play tonight: We played with a few defensive ends tied behind our backs. We wanted to give them a sporting chance, but I guess we over-did it.
On how his players played: I think Eric Stevens played really well. One of those young guards is going to have to step up. It's not physical. Physically they're fine. I thought Brandon (Carter) did good. I thought he was probably one of the most solid guys on out team. I thought our defense had a very courageous effort. They were playing very fast.
On what they learned from the loss: You try to learn from wins. I don't know how to quantify that. I think avoiding losing would be a starting point.
DT Richard Jones
On stepping up with a lot of the defensive ends hurt: It was hard with us not being deep at D-line but we had to suck it up and step it up and do what we had to do. I'm proud of everybody that played D-line, I think we played good and we fought until the end, that's all we could do.
On the team's penalties: It hurt us but we couldn't just sit back and let it get to us. We've got to PNP, "play the next play." If we get a penalty then we have to step it up and play the next play and make something happen then.
On the difference between the halves on defense: Texas' tempo, they came out and ran a lot of cowboy, which is something quick and we had some misunderstanding as far as the D line goes, like we weren't lined up right and then they would hit us and their guys would be open. We weren't communicating the way we should as far as the D-line goes.
On any confusion because everything is so new: It wasn't really anything new, we practice that at practice. The tempo was just so fast and we weren't getting lined up fast enough. So they were able to hit us because we weren't lined up. People were still standing up and we were getting knocked off the ball, that's basically it.
On whether it's difficult to play against a team of this caliber: Its just like playing any other team, we practice, we prepare for it, and its just like any other team we play, I don't think there is a difference.
On losing early in the season: We were actually talking about that a few minutes ago. It's like Coach Mike Leach was telling us, "if we would have lost early last year then we would have been playing for a national championship." As far as OU losing this early last year and they still went to the national championship, we still have the ability to do the same thing, just take it one game a week and if we win every game then everything else will take care of itself.
SS Brett Dewhurst
On the team's overall performance: Overall we had some turnovers but I'm always hard on myself. I should have made some more plays, it wasn't anything really, just communication a couple times. I wish we had those plays back but that's just the way it is. We need to get together as a team and watch the film and just move on to next week.
On experience like for you being a walk on and starting against the No. 2 team: I don't think of it as the No. 2 team, I think of it as another game, but I have confidence in myself and I go out there and practice like I play. It happened to be Texas, a conference game and everything but I didn't think of it like that, I just came out here and played the game.
WR Alex Torres
On the Texas secondary: They are really strong, like any Big 12 secondary. They went out there and had a game plan and executed well. It wasn't anything different than what we saw on film. There were some things we should have capitalized upon, but overall, my hat's off to them. They did a good job.
On what Texas Tech will learn from this game: We're going to take it as a learning experience. We had adversity on the field that we overcame. We pinned our defense in spots they shouldn't have been. We shouldn't leave them out to dry. They bounced back and got some turnovers. We had ups and downs throughout the game, and playing in a place like this, there's going to be some adversity you're going to have to face. There's nothing to do but learn from it, try to execute well and take something to learn from this.
QB Taylor Potts
On the differences in the two halves: I felt in the first half, I didn't lead the group as well as I thought I should. Looking back, we were a little sporadic in the first half, and we didn't play like ourselves. In the second half, I thought we played like ourselves, and that showed. We know what to fix now, know what to do to have a great game next week.
On the Texas defense: They didn't change anything up defensively. On offense, we kind of settled down and played our style of football. With this team, our style is really fast…flying around, catching balls and making plays. We'll just have to look at it, think about it and correct it.