The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Oklahoma Quotes
10.08.2011 | Football
Oct. 8, 2011
TEXAS COACHES
Head Coach Mack BrownOpening Statement: I think you have to congratulate Oklahoma. They've got a great football team. I can see why they're number one in the country. [QB] Landry Jones played like a Heisman Trophy winner today. We had to get him off his rhythm, and we could not. Those two receivers are great players. They're not [just] good players. We hit [Jones]. We blitzed him. We gave him different looks, and they answered the bell. I thought our defense continued to try really hard in the second half, and even [S] Christian Scottknocked the ball loose late. So I thought they tried, but you can't have five turnovers, and three of them for touchdowns. I don't think I've seen that in many years. It's a ball taken out of our receiver's hands, which is credit to them. [OU DB] Jamell Fleming had run it back for a touchdown. [Also] an interception for a touchdown and a fumble by a quarterback for a touchdown - you don't give yourself a chance to win. But credit should go to OU. We've got to go back to work. We play a top-five team again next week so we don't have any time to sit back and feel sorry for ourselves.
On if the team's performance today surprised him:I don't think I'm shocked about anything much anymore. I'm disappointed for the players.
On the difference in experience between Oklahoma QB Landry Jones and Texas QB David Ash:Usually in this game the experience at quarterback has been an issue, and I thought [Ash] played like an older player today.
On if this game will help QBs Case McCoy and David Ash gain experience:I think a game like this will help them. The speed of the game, [and Oklahoma's] got great players. They did a great job mixing up their coverages and their blitzes, and were around them a lot. So it'll have to help them down the road. And they'll be more ready for this next week when they see a really good Oklahoma State defense.
On if Oklahoma did anything to take advantage of the young Texas QBs:They snuck around pretty good and blitzed a lot. And we didn't handle the blitz very well. And that's what we thought they would do.
On if Oklahoma's speed was a major factor in the game result:Yes. Our defense is really fast. We've got a long way to go on our offense. But yes, they are real fast.
On what the biggest disappointment of the game was:Turnovers. Can't have five turnovers and win games. We had said we needed to win the turnover ratio coming in. We had to win the penalties coming in. We had to win the red zone coming in, and we had to win third-downs and I'm not sure we won any of them. I think we lost all of them. And those were the four chances for us to win the game.
On how this game racks up against other Texas-Oklahoma matchups he has coached:It's my fifteenth. I had one on the other side. I think they're good. All of them have been good. It's usually a great game. I was disappointed today that we didn't live up to our side of the match. This is one of the greatest games in college football and our players were so excited, a lot of our new coaches were so excited, and we didn't live up to our side of it. So we've got to go back and do a better job next week.
On if Oklahoma's hurry-up offense was an issue:I don't think it bothered us that much. They were hitting us with plays when they were going slow too. They're just good. I thought last year the tempo really bothered us. I thought the players responded to tempo well today. In fact, we got some negative plays on their running game. But they're just really good. Overcoming third down and 18, those kinds of things just kill you. They just break your back.
On the loss:We don't have enough time to feel sorry for ourselves. Oklahoma State throws it like this bunch.
On Oklahoma falling in the rankings:The Coaches [Poll] still has them at number one.
On the quarterbacks' performance today:I'll let [co-offensive coordinator] Bryan [Harsin] talk to you about the quarterback play. We had too many turnovers at quarterback, obviously, and just can't do that. You can't turn the ball over, and the guys had protected the ball until today. I'm sure we'll know more on Monday after we watch the video tonight and tomorrow. But you can't turn the ball over like we did, you just can't. That's basically for touchdowns. Our defense is good enough. We got a chance, and we turned it over at the 35, the first one at the 33, and then made them kick field goals. But we just gave up 21 points.
On Oklahoma QB Landry Jones: He was as good as anybody in the country today. He got pressured, he got hit, and he still made throws. He did a tremendous job. I told him that after the game.
Co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Bryan Harsin
On the overall game: When you have five turnovers it is very difficult to win any ball game. I give credit to OU's defense. They took advantage of our three turnovers with three touchdowns, and that cannot happen.
On execution: We felt we had a good week of preparation going into this game. The guys playing in this game, we talked about it and we really need to focus on ourselves and take care of business. What happened with the turnovers, that wasn't the case and that was the big key of this game.
On preparing for next game against Oklahoma State: I think our plan is to get up from this point. What we've done is work well, and we are going to go back and assess this game and why it didn't work in this one and reevaluate.
On maintaining intensity when down: I think they hung in there. Each guy on the phone was very good and positive, and that's what I'm looking for. We had a struggle towards the end there, and it's hard to get back into that game. But each guy was positive, and we need to continue to do that.
On Texas/OU atmosphere: It's an electric atmosphere, an exciting game to play in. And the experience was great and that's the point of the pregame, but after that it all just becomes a game. And I am disappointed with the outcome of this game and why it happened. We will try to get back and look at it as coaches and see how we can get better and help our team.
Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Manny Diaz
On the ability of Oklahoma's passing game: In the second quarter, [OU QB Landry Jones] caught fire. We knew that the whole key would be getting him off his rhythm and for about 20 minutes there, we didn't get him off his rhythm and he made us pay. Part of the credit goes to him. He's a very good player as we knew he was. Their receivers made play after play down the field. But I think we'll be disappointed in knowing what was required to win the football game and the decisive stretch of the football game when we didn't play as well as we thought we could.
On the game plan for stopping Landry Jones: The whole key was that you had to mix things up. You had to mix pressure. Sometimes you had to play full coverage too. Because no matter what you do against him, he's going to know what he's getting. To his credit, when we played man, when we played zone, when we went back and forth, we brought pressure, didn't bring pressure, he did a good job of managing the down and getting the ball into his playmakers' hands. They did a really good job with that.
On planning for Oklahoma State next weekend: I think our players will watch film and there will be things that we will see that we had in hand. They are really good players and they played an outstanding game today, but we probably didn't make it as hard on them as we maybe should have. You just go back and fix your defense. When we win, we fix it and when we lose, we fix it. We just have to keep getting better.
On the play of his young players: They still fought, and they still made plays. That's why we have to look back at the film. You know that when the ball goes down the field with the type of players that Oklahoma has, the spotlight always goes on the one DB, but playing the pass and playing the run is an 11-man job. So we have to look at our pressure. We have to look at the way we rush. We have to look at the whole picture and make sure that we all get better for our challenge that we have next Saturday.
TEXAS PLAYERS

LB Emmanuel Acho
On the mindset of the players following the loss: We know we have a big game coming up next week so we have to put this one past us. We have a 24-hour rule, win or lose, and it's on the seniors to make sure the team has a good mindset going into next week, and that's what we're going to do. We have to put this one behind us and start planning for the next opponent.
QB Case McCoy
On inexperience playing a part in loss: I'm not sure that's the case. I think we've played well, way better than this. It's turnovers and you can't turn the ball over in the game like this, especially five times, and win a game. Especially with Oklahoma playing like they did, the exact opposite. Oklahoma's a great team, great offense and great defense. They deserve every bit of ranking they have.
CB Adrian Phillips
On OU's tempo: We knew coming into the game that they were going to be good and going to be fast. Part of our game plan was to beat the tempo and get our calls in. Every day is not going to go your way, and I knew that from the get-go. This is just proof of that, today just wasn't our day.
On getting defensive plays in with Oklahoma's hurry up offense: That's always the strain with up-tempo offenses. Being on the defense it's hard to even work on that, and that's what we've been working on this week in practice but OU just did a great job.
DT Kheeston Randall
On turnovers: We're definitely disappointed we didn't create any turnovers. Oklahoma forced five turnovers, I believe, and scored three times and we didn't do any of that. That's very disappointing for us. We just have to move forward and get ready for practice on Tuesday.
On playing defense against a quick offense: Well, when you're lined up and doing what you're supposed to do, it's not very hard. It got very hectic in the second and third quarters and things started to go their way, but we just have to weather the storm.
RB Malcolm Brown
On Oklahoma's quick start: We had a slow start and they came out on us, and we had a couple turnovers that hurt us in the beginning and they kept it rolling. I give them props. They had a great team. Like I said, the turnovers kind of hurt us a little bit.
On surprises from Oklahoma: No surprises. We had those turnovers that kind of gave it to them a little bit. They had a great team and a great defense but no surprises. They just executed.
RB Fozzy Whittaker
On the physicality of the Oklahoma defense: They came out ready to play, and that's one thing we had to make sure we were prepared for. As you can see, we didn't execute to our ability that we wanted to. We had three turnovers for touchdowns, and then ultimately five turnovers overall. That's just one of the things you grow from, but it's a great learning experience for us. When their defense comes and hits you in the mouth, you have to answer back and respond.
On the appropriateness of Oklahoma's national rank: The way that they played us, that's the best that they've played us. They were just out there flying to the ball, playing faster than us. It's one of those things where you just have to stand back and give them credit for doing what they do best. They came out here ready to play and were prepared defensively. It's just one of those things where it's kind of hard to see why they slipped down [in the rankings] when they played us so well.
S Blake Gideon
On overall defense: We went in with a pretty good game plan that we felt confident in. The unfortunate thing is you drive down and they've got all the athletes and stats for a reason. Good receivers, good quarterback, and a great offensive line protecting them.
On maintaining intensity when down: [We need to] keep fighting regardless of the score. I think that speaks a lot to the type of team we have, the type of character we have from the seniors leaders and true freshmen. We don't have to be convinced to play hard.
On the mentality during the game: Speaking for our defense, it really doesn't matter what the score is. We don't have to be convinced to play hard no matter what numbers are on the scoreboard. It is our job to have a short memory and go back out there and get stops and put our offense in great field positions.
CB Carrington Byndom
On Oklahoma's intensity level: They played hard, and we expected that from them. I think we needed to match that a little bit better.
On what he learned from playing in this game: It's tough. It's two great teams battling it out. There is always going to be adversity, and you just have to learn from theses types of things and you have to move on.
On what he learned about his game from going against the Oklahoma receivers: Each week to keep improving. I still have a long way to go to get where I want to be. Today, I faced some pretty good receivers.
On Oklahoma's quick lead: They got up pretty quick, and we weren't expecting that. But you have to put all that stuff behind you and you just got to play.
QB David Ash
On his thoughts of the game: You can't turn the ball over. We can't put our defense in that kind of situation. Our defense played hard and they fought, but whenever you give them 21 points, it's going to be a tough game.
On what he learned from this game: That's the great thing is you learn so much from a loss like this. You learn what it takes to play at the level Oklahoma plays. They are a great team and you get exposed to that. We are a young team and the great thing is we have so much potential. We just have to keep working and sticking to what we believe in, which is hard work and getting better every day and doing what Texas football stands for.
On being overwhelmed: No, it's not overwhelming. You have to sit back and realize it's a game and it's fun.
WR Jaxon Shipley
On the Texas' offense: Oklahoma is a great team, and we didn't come in the way we would have liked to. Next week, we need to be more consistent and start off a lot faster.
On the offensive turnovers: Well, we had a lot of turnovers. We had a lot of mistakes that we need to fix this next week. That's one of those things we will focus on in practice and hope we can get better.
On the play of both the quarterbacks: I thought they did well. They made several mistakes but they kept their heads up and kept that confidence.
On playing catch-up all game: Obviously that's tough, but we are trying to play hard the whole game even though we are down. We are not just going to give up, but we are going to play hard the whole game.
OKLAHOMA COACHES
Head coach Bob Stoops
Opening statement: I'm very pleased with the overall play and preparation. I want to compliment the players. They're the ones that got it done and made the plays when they had the opportunities, and they made a bunch of big plays today. I thought they really played smart and hard, and did a good job of taking care of the ball. Defensively we adjusted with them and tackled well. Did a good job of being strong and taking away the run game. Got pressure. Got turnovers. So really it was an excellent day. The players deserve the credit. The assistant coaches did an excellent job in having them prepared, so I'm proud of those guys as well and the job that they were able to do. It's a great win. To come down here in that situation, and to win like that is really pretty special.
On getting pressure on the quarterback: We've worked all those blitzes at different times through the year, so really we were just doing what we do. I thought the guys did an excellent job executing them, and then forcing turnovers and making the plays that they did. We played more of a four-man front this week then we have the past couple of weeks, but other than that the pressures that we used were the ones we've been using.
On the play of WR Kenny Stills: I recognize his competitiveness. As a coach that's one of the things that sticks out to me. And Kenny is really a great competitor.
On Travis Lewis wearing Austin Box's number 12: Travis has been a great leader, and kind of an assistant coach on the field. He's a smart player who really works hard, and he always does a great job. I know he took a lot of pride in wearing Austin's number. He and Austin were very close coming into school at the same time together and both playing [line]backer, so it meant a lot to him and really inspired the team.
OKLAHOMA PLAYERS
QB Landry Jones
On Kenny Stills' recent improvements: He's grown as a receiver. He's gotten in the weight room and gotten a lot stronger, and he's using his body pretty well right now. I'm putting those balls up for him, and he's making plays.
On the third down play of WR Jaz Reynolds: Jaz just made a really good play right there - got past the corner. I put the ball out there for him, and he made a pretty good catch. Just the way he's been coming along, as well, being that third guy and playing some really good ball. [He's] making competitive catches.
On Jaz Reynolds and the other wide receivers today: He just makes my job a lot easier. I don't have to be as accurate as I need to be. I can miss a throw every once in a while, and they're going to make the play on it. So it just takes a lot of pressure off me knowing that I have receivers that I can put the ball up to in tight coverage and they're going to make a play.
On today's tempo: I felt like in that first half we played pretty well. The second half kind of slowed down a little bit, but all-in-all, a pretty good game. No turnovers, which is huge for a quarterback.
WR Ryan Broyles
On preparing for today: We watched the film. We felt like we had a pretty good game plan coming in. They like to isolate their corners out there, and we felt like we had athletes to compete with them.
DE Frank Alexander
On preparing for Texas' shifting offense: I felt like the biggest thing this week was preparation and not getting caught up in all the shifts and trades that they do.
RB Dominique Whaley
On playing in this rivalry game: It was exciting. I enjoyed it. The rivalry - I can't wait until the next one.
FCB Demontre Hurst
On preparing to match Texas' shifting offense: The main thing for us this week was to prepare well and just focus on what we had to - just keep our eyes on the right spots. We went out there, and we competed well today. We came up big for the defense.
WR Kenny Stills
On preparing for today: You know, I just kind of got to the game plan. I felt like the coaches prepared us well for the game and we just went out there and made plays when Landry [Jones] put the ball up for us.
On Texas/OU being `just another game': It definitely is just another game, I feel. But you know, just coming down the tunnel before the game, it is totally another atmosphere. There is totally a different feel out there. It is just so exciting. It is a little bit overwhelming. We love it. I cannot w
