The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Rice quotes
09.04.2010 | Football
Sept. 4, 2010
TEXAS COACH
Head coach Mack Brown
About the win: I'm really excited to have won the opener. Your goal is to win the opener. I told the guys that I was excited that we were 1-0 with a lot of things to work on.
On Rice: First I'd like to give credit to Rice, I thought they played better than they had at anytime last year. They started a quarterback that we didn't anticipate, they ran an offense that we didn't anticipate and Sam McGuffie is going to help them. He is a good back and he made some yards against us. I think Rice is a better football team than what we saw last year.
On our game: I remember two dropped interceptions for touchdowns, a tipped ball for a touchdown right before the half, a 4th and 1 we that didn't make at the one-yard line, a 3rd and 2 that should have kept a drive going; and, I remember a dropped punt and two missed field goals. Those are a whole season of things that we need to get fixed.
What he told his players: I told the guys congratulations, I was excited that we're 1-0, but they need to quit talking about the end, they need to quit talking about how good they're going to be and they better get a bunch better before Wyoming or we'll have trouble winning next week.
TEXAS PLAYERS
QB Garrett Gilbert
How he felt to be out there: It was a lot of fun to get out there and compete against someone other than your own defense in practice.
How did the offense do? As an offense I think we did a good job taking care of the ball. I thought the receivers did a good job being able to make plays whenever they presented themselves. Offensively there some things that we need to work on but it's something that we can build on.
LB Keenan Robinson
I feel like we came into the game with a good scheme on defense. Everybody was in the right place. It's a team effort out there. I feel like I was doing my part inside the scheme and those are how those plays were made (interception and fumble recovery for TD).
RICE COACH
Head coach David Bailiff
I was pleased how that thing started, how the team played, the drive, the defensive goal-line stand. You know, we gave away the cheap seven, gave them almost too-good field position too many times, the interception, the punt returns.
I thought we went toe to toe with a giant and finished that game strong and finished it hard, and I'm really pleased that our freshman quarterback came out and played and effectively moved the offense.
I was most pleased with our offensive line. All five of those guys moved some bodies tonight, opened up some run lanes we didn't have.
Our defensive line really did an effective job of stopping the run. Overall, this is a game we can look at, we can build on and improve, but I'm very pleased with the effort.
You eliminate your mistakes, eliminate your penalties, that could have been a different game.
On QBs: We have a great quarterback situation. We have three very talented quarterbacks and I think they could start anywhere in Conference USA. That's how good each and every one of them are.
On Taylor McHargue: He did some great things and he did some freshman quarterback things. I think, if he wasn't here, I'd call him a bonehead! He'll get better every week as he grows up. You've got to remember, last year he wasn't even shaving right now.
He's got four more years to grow, and we think he's going to be something really special.
On goal-line stand: That just builds momentum in what we've been talking about. Making the plays, tackling in space. When the guys are seeing their efforts paying off, you can build on that kind of thing. You play to win, but you can build on this game.
You saw us tackle in space, and that's something we have not been able to do. You saw a bunch of Rice Owls moving at a high rate of speed, keeping leverage on the football. We tackled well tonight. I know we played better defensively just by the way we tackled.
RICE PLAYERS
QB Taylor McHargue
Preparation was the same for all three of us. Even if we named a guy, all three of us were still prepared to start, so that didn't change much.
The first drive, we had a pretty good idea of how they were going to come out. On that first drive, we had a few plays that, had they gone the other way, we would have had a touchdown. It was definitely a good opening drive.
I didn't have to do everything by myself. I've got 10 other guys on my side that I believe in to the fullest -- a great offensive line and guys that, if I can get it into their hands, they'll make the plays.
We did have them on their heels a little bit, with the tempo, but it comes down to putting it into the end zone. So we're not going to make excuses about that.
On biggest transition from HS football: It's a little bit faster. Playing against UT for the first game is challenging any week, much less your first collegiate game.
On TD pass: It was intended to Vance and I thought we had it, for a second, and then it got tipped up. You get lucky every now and then. Randy made a great play. He's a ball hog.
WR Randy Kitchens
I was running right down the hash, and I saw the ball, I was looking back, and then -- Vance is a great athletic guy, and I saw him go up for it -- and I was expecting to get a block or really just help him out. I was expecting him to break a tackle, but the ball just fell right there and I grabbed it.
As soon as I had the ball, that's all I really focused on. I secured it, saw the end zone and I was just trying to get there as hard as I could. Luckily I made it there.
We had some unfortunate turnovers, but we played with a lot of heart and we never gave up, no matter what the score was. So we'll try to keep that rolling.
S Travis Bradshaw
There were four guys around every tackle. I feel like we were just flying around. It was really getting physical and that's something we lacked the last few years -- not as many people around the ball. Today really showed that we can play with anybody. We really took a big step today.
We really worked on simplifying the playbook. Coach B says, 'Small menu, big understanding.' That's something we focused on.
When you know all the little details, you can play fast. And I feel like that showed today.
That goal-line stand gave us some momentum. We were excited about that. That just showed us we can do this.
