The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Oklahoma State Quotes
10.15.2011 | Football
Oct. 15, 2011
TEXAS COACHES
Head coach Mack BrownOpening Statement: Oklahoma State's got a great team. We congratulate them on their effort. I thought our defense fought hard, but [OSU] can score so quickly because their receivers are so good. But I thought the effort throughout the game was pretty good. We kept [OSU QB Brandon Weeden] at bay some, and then he'd come right back and just stick it. He's so good. He made some great throws, and those are not college throws, those are pro throws like last week. We'd have some guys covered, but he would just hit them. I was disappointed in the drive right before the half. Again, like last week, we were sitting there in a position where we can go in a good spot at halftime, and then it ends up 21-10. And then obviously really disappointed with the kickoff return they had to start the second half. I was proud that our guys responded and answered, and they came back. I'm also disappointed we're not getting turnovers. That's two weeks in a row. To beat those two teams we had to force turnovers, and we didn't get that done. You can see the guys aren't quitting. They continue to hang in there and fight in the fourth quarter. Offensively, we ran the ball well. We dominated time of possession like we wanted to. We got them off the field. I think they were 2-for-12 on third downs, and we were about 50 percent. So we did a better job in that area, but we still didn't score every time we got in the red zone. I thought on fourth-and-three we were in a position, we had [RB Foswhitt] Fozzy [Whittaker] open, and the ball was inches short. Then even when we come back and get the interception for the touchdown, it happens to be a safety. So we didn't get the breaks, or make the breaks we needed to in the second half to win the game.
On if he feels differently about this loss compared to last week's: You can't feel good. You're still 4-2. But I thought in fact, this one was more disappointing for the players, because they were in it with a chance to win it in the fourth quarter. And they saw opportunities, so they'll be more hurt. Last week, we weren't ever in it. Even though we thought we were, but we weren't. So I thought the coaches did a better job this week. I thought the players did a good job of picking themselves up and competing. They tried really hard. Just understanding how good this bunch is, it gives you something to build on for the future.
On WR Jaxon Shipley being held to three catches: You'll have to ask [offensive coordinator] Bryan [Harsin]. I'm like you - I'm watching. I'll know more tonight, honestly. He didn't catch the ball, so either we didn't throw it to him or they took him out.
On QB David Ash: We felt like he did a good job in the Oklahoma game. He made some plays with his feet. He did that again today. We're not protecting him as well sometimes as we need to, especially when we got behind last week. So those are part of the reasons why we felt that he would give us a better chance today.
On the long plays OSU had: They're killer. A 64-yard run last week. A 74-yard run this week untouched. And the other was a fourth - and - one. So those are game-changing plays. That's what is disappointing.
On the running game and freshman RB Malcolm Brown: We're obviously better at running it than we are at passing it, and Malcolm's a big part of that. I think you can see that in time, we can go and accomplish the things in the running game we need to. Right now we're not near where we need to be in the passing game.
On sophomore WR Mike Davis: I thought Mike did a good job. He was tougher today, [and] he took care of the ball. And I think again, a young quarterback, if you're talking about [WR] Jaxon [Shipley] and [WR] Marquise [Goodwin] going out and getting the ball, young quarterbacks usually don't spread it around very much. They find a comfort zone, and he'll be better at that in two weeks. But I thought Mike did a great job. He dropped the one third-down-and-four. But we had to play near perfect to win.
On if he feels the team is making progress: I do. I feel like the coaches made progress together, because they have to work together. These things, very often, we're sitting here six games through the season, and we know more a lot more about ourselves than we did six weeks ago. And we're really lucky to have an open date, so we can pull everything together and get ready to play Kansas in two weeks. It's unusual to have two open dates this early, but I think for us it's really needed.
On if he has ever seen back-to-back kickoff returns for TDs before: I have not. I have not. Some really bad coverage. Or really good returns. But thank goodness [co-offensive coordinator] Major [Applewhite] has done a great job with our kickoff returns. You saw [OSU] squib the next one because they were worried about it. [RB Foswhitt] Fozzy [Whittaker] has done a tremendous job returning it and even as I said, [RB] D.J. Monroeis doing it. We're going to have to score some points with our kicking game and our defense until we can pick our offense up.
On if the team's goals have changed after two losses: No. I think you're still with the same goal. You don't have the [Big 12] South anymore, which used to be a part of it. But your next goal is to get to a bowl game. We didn't do that last year. That's something we didn't talk about around here for a long time. But when you miss it for a year it's just as important to get your six [wins]. And then what you want to do is - obviously, the motto is "step by step, brick by brick" - and you want to get better each week and you'd like to have a chance to win the rest of the games.
Co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Bryan Harsin
On the play of QB David Ash: Going back to the last game and this week of practice, he played really well. And some of the stuff we had planned in this game plan fit him. He has gotten better and better each week and he needs an opportunity to go play. I thought today he led out there well, and I thought he did a good job getting rid of the ball. We still had the turnover. The turnovers we have to get rid of. That continues to be part of decision making. The more opportunities he gets, the better he is going to get at that. He corrected his mistakes from the last game, and there were new ones that came up.
On David Ash's chemistry with the wide receiving corps: I think he has chemistry with all the receivers, and they had opportunities to get themselves open. I thought Mike [Davis] did a good job tonight hanging on to the ball and getting himself open in the concepts we had for David. And David did a good job putting the ball on him. That's what you need. You want completions there when the opportunity is there. That's what we need to continue to do.
On whether or not the quarterback position is settled now: It's always competitive. Every position is competitive. You go back and you review the film each week in practice, and you have guys competing at every position.
On the play of Malcolm Brown and the other young players: [We had] no specific goal for Malcolm preseason. We knew that he's a guy that we can get the ball to to make things happen. He's done a nice job of getting himself out on the perimeter with some of our inside run game. When it gets taken away, he can bounce it out there and make something happen, break the first tackle. He continues to get better and better like a lot of our young guys out there. There are more opportunities, and they continue to go through the process in practice and games. They're going to get better and better. These experiences are invaluable to them right now.
On what Texas can take from the loss: Like [RB] Fozzy [Whittaker] said, we rushed for 231 yards. Our goal is 200 yards a game, and I thought those guys competed. It's never perfect. No position is ever perfect. But those guys competed and they put some yards up and ran the football. The key is finishing. That's what it comes down to. We have to be able to finish. We have to be able to put those drives into the end zone, avoid the negative plays, whether it's turnovers, whether it's sacks, whatever it might be. It's all about finishing. Those guys were competing. Those guys have fun. They're working their butts off. The backs are doing a great job of breaking first tackles and getting up to the second level. The wide receivers downfield are keeping guys up. There were opportunities there, and that is what we have to continue to keep doing. We have to keep that same mentality, and we have to keep getting better and better. We have to finish those drives. But guys are competing. The guys are out there hustling around and playing fast and competing.
On the decision to play David Ash over Case McCoy: I think both guys have their own qualities. There are never two quarterbacks the same. In this particular game from how we felt in practice, we thought David had a nice week of practice, threw the ball well. He has his ability to run the ball and do those things that he has done for us in previous games. In that position, it comes down to decision-making. It comes down to toughness and accuracy. We were there. We were better on third down conversions this game. Again, we just need to finish. If we convert those third downs, it gets to a point where we are in the red zone or past the fifty. Now we have to find ways to finish our drives. I know we had some negative plays in those situations, and that's what I have to look at. We need to see how we can eliminate those and get in scoring position.
On failing to cross the goal line on fourth and goal: Right there, I thought Fozzy did a great job on the throw. They brought some pressure and just half a step quicker on the throw there gets it in his hands and we score there. He did a great job. It was a great effort by Fozzy on that. When the momentum changes like that you have to be able to capitalize on it. I thought our defense played very well tonight as far as getting us the ball and getting us in situations where we could take advantage of that. We need to do that. We need to take advantage of what our defense is giving us. We have to find ways to score, and that's really the key from the offensive side is taking advantage of those opportunities.
On the decision to throw more later in the game: I thought we tried to take some shots. We still ran the football in there. We tried to take some shots down the field and get the ball out on the perimeter a little bit, try to get some one-on-ones. They were putting more guys in the box, and that's what happens when you run the football like that. They bring some guys down and then you get some one-on-ones outside and try to take advantage of those opportunities. You get one guy to make a big play on the long ball or get the ball in his hands quickly and he can shake the guy, and you have an opportunity for a big play. That was part of the plan, just getting down there and trying to take advantage on the outside, and that's what we have to be able to do. We have to capitalize on those opportunities and those situations.
Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Manny Diaz
On the big plays by Oklahoma State: That was two different situations. One was short yardage and still have #81 [Justin Blackmon] on the field, and we're looking at a double on him so it sort of puts in a bad situation and creates a gap issue, and gap issues once it's close let them go all the way. It's frustrating. It's correctable, but we need to give ourselves a chance on that play. With the second one we were trying to do something to help with their passing game. We had a stunt that we didn't execute which allowed him [Jeremy Smith] to bounce outside. We created a couple self-inflicted wounds on plays that have to be correctable in that game, and that's on me to make sure that those things don't happen. Our kids fought their tail's off, but that was an unbelievable offensive football team.
On CB Carrington Byndom's performance against Justin Blackmon: He was fearless. He was up there in press-man. He did what we expect to do as a player. He has a great future and did a great job holding Blackmon to seven receptions for 74 yards. Sometimes we gave him help and sometimes we didn't give him help, and he really responded and I think it gives him a lot of confidence going forward. We've played an all-star team at wide receiver the last two weeks, and Carrington Byndom has really stepped up.
On dropped interceptions: Our trouble defensively is going from good to great, and I think that's what we're going to take a look at tomorrow. Bottom line is that they [Oklahoma State] are a top five team and to win those types of games you have to make those plays. Blake [Gideon] made a great play that got wiped out where we got two instead of six, but we have to continue to try and strive to understand the impact that turnovers have on a game like this. We were close on a bunch of them today, but we have to capitalize. When you have a team like this, they will only give you so many chances, and you have to capitalize.
TEXAS PLAYERS
RB Fozzy Whittaker
On his fourth down catch that fell short of the end zone: It was a quick throw. We thought that they were going to pressure us, and that's what they did. I put it on myself. It was a low ball. I have to try and get it up and try to take it to the end zone. Ultimately I fell short, but we have to have those plays.
On whether or not the goals of the team have changed with two losses: Ultimately we wanted to go undefeated at this part of the season, but we understand we are going to have some ups and downs. This is the same team that came out at the beginning of the season.
On the play of the offense: Going into this game, we wanted to test the interior of their defense. Our game plan was just pound it at them, run it. Whoever was in, just run it at them as hard as we can and get the yards. I thought we did a good job pushing down field for all the backs that were in there. Rushing for 231 yards was our goal offensively, just pounding the ball.
On the play of quarterback David Ash: I think he did great. He is still a young guy. You can't expect him to come in here and play lights out and be a super person. Everybody played out on the line.
On the importance of the kick-return game: I have to give all the credit to the team blocking out there for me. We always talk about it on the field - the fact that this play could be the play that changes the game. That's the mentality. I trust all those guys that are out there. As a team, they make holes for me and all I have to do is get it.
LB Emmanuel Acho
On the two long touchdown runs: We have to make sure to read their runs right, but we have to be able to prevent the big gains.They are heavy passing team, but we just have to make sure we fit their runs better.
DT Kheeston Randall
On coming so close to a win tonight: It's more frustrating that we lost than anything. We could play bad and win. I'm sure we'd rather have that, but we're just getting so close. We have a bye week, so all we can do is look at film and move forward.
On the OU and OSU offenses: They both were good but we have to give them credit, they both put up a lot of points on the board. They also had two big plays that we wish could have taken back, but they earned every single yard they got out there.
QB David Ash
On the game: First off we had to eliminate the turnovers. That's what's been plagueing us, and when you turn the ball over like that you can't win a game. I was told I was going to start earlier in the week. I worked in practice and felt mentally prepared. I knew I would have to make some critical passes and decisions.
On chemistry with WR Mike Davis: I was just going through my reads and getting it to whoever was open. Mike Davis did a great job today running his routes, making the right reads on his routes, and catching the ball. He had a great game and I'm very proud of him.
WR Mike Davis
On chemistry with Ash: It all started in the summer and through practice, we get the ball to everybody. Everybody gets a chance to get the ball.
On improving from OU game: I guess I did. I just looked at the film from last week and realized I had to play harder and be tougher, especially with my blocking.
On Ash's performance: He did pretty good, but we still have room for improvement.
S Blake Gideon
On the interception/touchdown that was ruled a safety: It was a rush of emotions.You are thinking the game is turned around and you just scored a touchdown, but you turn around and everybody stops. It's one of those deals where it's a game of inches. He stepped out by a couple inches so it turned out in a positive way for them. You have to deal with those things and credit to the D [defensive] line up front for pushing them so far back.
On the team's improvement from last week: I think it was important for us to come out here and learn from our mistakes from last week and not let the same mistakes happen twice. Being able to put last week behind us no matter what the deficit was, win or loss, you have to put last week behind you. I think we all came out and competed, and we expected to win today.
CB Carrington Byndom
On his game against Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon: Coming into the game, our goal was to limit the number of catches [Justin] Blackmon had, and I think we accomplished that.
On the missed opportunities: We have to take advantage of the opportunities that we get. We don't get very many back there, but when we get them we have to take advantage of them. Maybe three picks in the back end, the score would be a little bit different.
LB Keenan Robinson
On the defense's improvements from last week: We still let some big plays happen. There were two big runs right before half and a long one in the third quarter. We can't let that happen. Both of those plays, we had two busts [coverage], so we got to clear that up to make sure that doesn't happen again.
On defending OSU's passing game: Coach [Manny Diaz] put it on the front five to play for third down and to stop the run letting the back guys do what they do. We didn't get it done today.
RB Malcolm Brown
On his performance: It was a pretty good performance, but having that performance and not coming out with the `W' isn't satisfying. We have to keep on working.
On playing with just one quarterback: David [Ash] is a great quarterback. Case [McCoy] is a great quarterback. I guess Coach [Mack Brown] just wanted to give him a shot. We are still going to have them out there, and Case [McCoy] will still be rolling in like we did before. But they are both great quarterbacks so who knows which one will be playing.
OKLAHOMA STATE COACHES
Head coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement: That was a good win for our team. I thought we played good, not great. One thing is we forced turnovers, and we were able to not turn the ball over ourselves. We were plus three in that category. I thought Texas had a good plan and played well. They match up good against us. Texas has a lot of fast guys at skills positions who can cover passes. There weren't a lot of receivers for us who were running free. We dropped more passes today than we have in any other game this season. I think five. Some of them were pretty big plays. I thought the defense continued to make big plays in the second half like they have done all season. We forced turnovers and had a couple of sacks. We took a blow to the face there when we got the safety. But then our defense came right back out and got a big stop and turned the momentum the other way. That was a really big series for us. I was proud of the way at the end of [how] our offense was able to move the ball and get a couple first downs. I would have liked to convert the fourth and one at the end, but it was a good win for us. It's not easy playing down here. It's a tough environment to be in, and I thought it was a really good win for this team.
On two straight wins in Austin: I know in Coach Brown's eyes they don't feel like they're where they want to be. They are really young. They are going to have a really good chance at being pretty good next year as they mature. They are a much better football team this year than they were last year. Last year when we came down here, they seemed like they were really reaching. This year they have made a lot of changes and gotten much better. They went with one quarterback, and he's really athletic and tough to get your hands on and get him down. I thought for the most part, for a young player he played really well.
On OSU's defensive play: Our defense did great especially in not allowing them to score in the red zone on that last drive. We had two big stops on third and fourth down, and they were really key. And we always want to win the turnover battle, and we obviously did that today.
OKLAHOMA STATE PLAYERS
QB Brandon Weeden
On the play of both teams today: I don't think we played great. No doubt about it. I think you've got to give those guys a lot of credit. I really think their defense played outstanding. I think offensively speaking those guys did a great job. Their secondary is good. They've got guys who can really run. They play a lot of man coverage. They just challenge you and run the football.
On winning on his birthday: This is the best birthday present I got, without a doubt. I said on Monday, a win would be the best I could get. Six and 0 win down here, you know. You always hear about Mack Brown's record of 13-0 [after] the Red River Rivalry, but this is sweet. This is the best a birthday present I can get.
On RB Jeremy Smith: He's a beast. You know, he's just one of those guys wants to protect the football. The touchdown, I mean they just sold out on the pass and left a good five yards in the box, and we have two great backs and great offensive linemen who can get some seams. When you guys watch highlights, you can see the hold and he ran 70 yards. It's unbelievable. It was pretty impressive. They played great upfront.
On beating Texas at home: I think it says a lot about the character. We finished. That's the main thing. I was here in `07-`08 when they beat us in the fourth quarter. We finished the game out on the road in a tough environment. I'm really proud of the guys. This is not an easy place to play. That's a really good football team. They were better than they were last year.
DE Jamie Blatnick
On defense forcing turnovers: I mean, it's one of those things. We came in here and we were like, "We've got to get some. We have got to get turnovers to get the ball to the offense."
On the forced fumble at end of fourth quarter: I mean it's just one of those things where when it's time to go, we get it done. I've got a lot of confidence in this team. We work hard.
On whether today was his best game statistically: I believe so. That's what people keep telling me. I obviously don't keep up on what I do or what I get on stats.
CB Justin Gilbert
On the rhythm of today's game: It was just one of those games. They came out prepared. They came out swinging. Texas is a very athletic team, and they matched up very well with us. We just tried to do things that worked and execute the game plan.
On OSU's running backs: We knew Jeremy Smith was good. We have two running backs and they just complement each other well--him and [Joseph] Randle. When people expect Randle to come through the hole, Jeremy just flies right through there and hits it hard. They are just two running backs that complement each other well.
