The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
11.04.2013 | Football
Texas will make its first-ever trip to Morgantown on Saturday
Head coach Mack Brown and players met with the media Monday afternoon to preview this Saturday's game at West Virginia. Texas improved to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12 Conference with a 35-13 win over Kansas last weekend. The Longhorns' game at WVU, which will be their first ever trip to Morgantown, kicks off at 6 p.m. on FOX.
Head coach Mack Brown
Opening Statement: First we'd like to start by saying our thoughts and prayers go out to John Fox and Gary Kubiak, two of the great coaches in our business that had setbacks physically this weekend. Sounds like both are doing well but it's a very stressful business and a tough business and we sure hope that for them and their families they recover very quickly and 100 percent.
As far as the weekend, I am proud that we're 5-0. We have four great games left for us and the Big 12 has never been more exciting. I think right now this league race down the stretch is going to be the most exciting it's ever been in our league, but also I think it'll be the best in the country because there's so many good teams in this league. Everybody is going to be playing each other here at the end and it's going to be a fun-filled five weeks and four games for us because it'll be really challenging but something that everybody can enjoy watching.
David Ash had some symptoms reoccur, so right now he is obviously out for West Virginia, but they've worked him out some outside of practice just with the trainers and the symptoms have reoccurred. We'll have to wait and see if he is available for next week and as we said he would have to come back and work himself into shape anyway. I'm not seeing him coming back very quickly.
Some other injuries, we had some guys banged up during the game, but they seem to be in a good place. It seems like all will be able to practice on Tuesday and should be ready for the game on Saturday. The one question mark was Tevin Jackson. He had a sore knee and they will check him today to see if he's okay or not.
We're very excited about our trip to Morgantown. West Virginia had a big win at TCU in overtime this weekend but I've never been to Morgantown, West Virginia. We looked it up. It will be a high of 54 and a low of 41, so our big guys will like that after all the sun and the heat they play in in Texas. They'll be pumped about it. We've heard so much about the atmosphere there and how great the fans are and how much they love football and love their team, so it'll be a fun challenge for us, but the guys are sure looking forward to it.
On stressing that the only thing that matters are wins, what toll does it take on coaches: It really takes a toll on coaches and what you have to do is try to be really, really careful and try to get some sleep. Coaches stay up most of the night and you leave here at 9:00, 10:00 at night and then you get up at 5:00 or 6:00 so you're not sleeping very well. You've got to really watch what you eat and watch what you drink because caffeine is a killer. I used to sit and drink Diet Cokes all the time and eat a bag of M&M's while I was watching video at night. You're so into the video you don't even realize what you've done, and I have cut out the caffeine and I cut out the candy, and it's better. But it's a tough business and there are a lot of tough businesses out there and coaches handle it.
Sometimes when we all get wake-up calls like (Denver Broncos coach) John (Fox) and like (Houston Texans coach) Gary (Kubiak) this weekend, it helps everybody because everybody knows we've got to really take care of ourselves.
On with a pretty rare occurrence to be traveling to a school you have never been to, is there anything you do differently to manage it: No, we usually just call people that have been there and that have either coached there or coached against them and have traveled. (Defensive coordinator) Greg Robinson will be a really good resource for us this week because he coached at Syracuse and they were in the Big East with West Virginia so he's been there a lot and we'll lean on him heavily. I think we're staying 45 minutes from the stadium, so knowing what kind of traffic will there be, do you have to leave earlier, will we have an escort since you're in the mountains, so that's different. So we'll be talking about all those type things.
On is DC Greg Robinson the only person on the staff who is familiar with Morgantown: He is. I really haven't asked a lot of the others, but I knew Greg had done that and we'll talk to other coaches in our league. Coaches, specifically football operations people in the league, really work to help each other so anybody who has been up there in our league last year or early this year we will call them and ask just what came up. It's a hard place to play, is there anything specific that we need to know about that are traps or things that might happen that we can try to avoid to help our team.
On will the team do a walk-through there on Friday: We will not because we will be an hour from Pittsburgh and then another 45 minutes to the stadium and then you have to go back and you'd be traveling more than you would be working out. So we'll just go on game day and have fun. We'll probably go a little earlier and get there maybe 30 minutes before we normally would, just in case traffic is an issue and make sure they have a chance to walk around and get a feel of the stadium.
On thoughts of figuring out the balance between Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown: We do. Larry Porter does that and he and Major work on it because obviously certain play calls Johnathan is better or Malcolm is better and you want to know which one is in the ballgame. Malcolm is healthy and he's playing at a very high level, and he and Johnathan both are really being productive right now. What we've got to do is continue to run the ball like we're running it but we've got to have fewer no gains or two-yard gains. We've come up with too many 2nd and 8s and 2nd and 9s. We've got to make four yards on those plays and then give Major an opportunity to have his whole playbook on 2nd down and 6 or 2nd down and 5. Our big concern Saturday was we had too many plays in the running game that were less than four yards, and that will be our big emphasis this week and what do we have to do to stop that.
On how big of a struggle have these last two years been for Malcolm Brown trying to get healthy: Malcolm is a great young man. He's been raised right. He's from a military family and they're very disciplined and they're great parents. He is a guy who says very little. It's yes sir, or no sir, and that's the way he was raised. He's had a very difficult time because when he's been healthy he's played really well and then all of a sudden he's been lost for weeks, too, like a severe ankle injury that cost him about six weeks. He's happy right now. He's excited for the success of the team. He's really a team guy, and he, Johnathan (Gray) and Joe (Bergeron) are really getting along well. It's all working right now and I hope he can stay healthy the rest of the year.
On while Kansas was a trap, is being on the road for West Virginia going to be a tough game: Yes, I thought the trap was this Saturday because the emotion we had spent, the delay at TCU and the emotion we had for Oklahoma, I thought this would be a tougher win because people weren't giving Kansas the credit and they've got better players than credited and they've played in games better. They haven't finished games but they have improved especially on defense and against the run. They've had their trouble through the air and we didn't throw the ball consistently well on Saturday, but because we didn't play as well on offense Saturday as we wanted to, parts of the kicking game still weren't as good. Anthony Fera struggled some with his punting and he hadn't had that happen, and we didn't kick the first couple out on kickoffs. There are enough things that we can work on. These guys understand they are in like an NFL playoff for four weeks and there's not much room for error, and they have as good a chance as anyone of winning the Big 12 Championship. They've just got to be good enough and to know that you've got to play good enough. There's no room for letdown in these last four weeks.
On feelings about the defense who were suffering with at the beginning of the season and how that transformation has been: I'm really happy for Greg Robinson that he's back in coaching and he's had such a positive effect on our staff and on our team. He's really done a great job for us. I'm still sad that Manny (Diaz) had to leave and really and truly, I've said it many times, Manny is a great coach. For whatever reason, the chemistry wasn't working so I want him to get another job and have great success in his future. Greg is the old gray-haired guy that's been around and he came in smoothly and he put things in place. We were talking this morning about it was sad that he wasn't here a little bit longer for Ole Miss because that's one we'd like to have back with him but since that time we've played great defense most of the time.
The question was number one, would the defensive coaches buy into (Robinson) and Manny had friends on the offensive staff so would the staff get into him in such a short period of time. Duane Akina has been a savior for him because Duane had worked with him before and they've been so close over this I guess it's seven weeks and six games now that he's been here, which seems amazing that in that short period of time we've improved this much. Greg was just talking about how comfortable he's feeling now and how much the kids believe in what we're doing. And how the other three guys in the room have really reached out to him and brought him in, and what they did is they put all personal things aside for the best of this team and I'm really, really proud of them. And the offense has done the same. We're doing a better job of tying the offense and defense together and that's where they're running to the ball and keeping the defense off the field. There's things that are working really well right now, and it's a fun time.
It's fun to watch the guys handle the adversity, pull together when everybody says they were through, come back, fight and overcome all of the things they had overcome and now they've got to handle success and we've got to improve. So it's really a tremendous amount of life lessons for coaches outs there, for our team, for our coaches that don't ever give up. Keep your head up, be proud, and don't let people talk you into giving up. You just keep working and you keep doing the things you need to do, and it's no different than our life every day. We've all got stuff, and we can't quit. We've got to continue to move forward with it and get rid of the distractions and move on, and that's what these guys have done.
On what kind of a spark does he think Chris Whaley provided once again with that great scoop and score: It's funny, Chris Whaley knew this would be a game that there wouldn't be as much excitement around because of Kansas' record. We just got back from big wins at TCU and Oklahoma so he actually pulled them up in pregame in the dressing room and started preaching to them, and then at halftime he preached to them and we all said at halftime that somebody has to spark this team since the offense is just doing okay. They're really not doing what we've been doing. We were not as sharp. Somebody has got to pick it up, somebody has got to make a play, and then all of a sudden your great guys up front on defense, Jackson Jeffcoat forces (Jake) Heaps to step up, Cedric Reed hits him and strips the ball out. It was funny that the ball hit the official's knee and pops up straight for Chris and Chris says he's getting used to this now. He wants us to feed him more. I said, well, the ones that you're getting you're making it happen on your own. But for him to be the only defensive tackle in the history of Texas football to score twice is really unbelievable. Of course he said he's not done and then he started asking me about maybe touches on the goal line as a tailback or fullback. I told him he's getting enough touches now.
On thoughts about West Virginia's Texan running back Charles Simms: We know a lot about him because he was at Houston and we've watched him throughout the last couple of years. He's a top pro prospect and a really good football player and that's where it all starts for him. Their running game is different than last year. It was all the passing game last year and then Tavon Austin in space and this year they're going to line up and hammer the ball, and they've got two or three prospects on their offensive line. It's an older offensive line with juniors and seniors, and this will be a really good test for our defense, our front seven, to stop him and them.
On thoughts of how good is Cedric Reed and is he finally getting to that level: Ced Reed has come so far from this time last year when he stepped in for Jackson Jeffcoat. He's quiet, he's kind of shy, not going to say a whole lot, but what he's done is he's gotten so much stronger. With his length he's become one of the better pass rushers in the country and he can get there, but he's got that knack of stripping the ball and hitting the quarterback. We're really excited for Ced. He's playing at such a high level right now, and with he and Jackson both, and we've got two of our better defensive tackles in our history inside, so they're pushing the pocket back, and those guys are caving it in. So we're really doing a great job since early of getting pressure on the quarterback.
On how does he describe the development he has seen among those four defensive tackles: I think, again, the combination of Greg Robinson and Oscar Giles and Bo Davis have all worked so closely together that they have really -- they have been critical of each other to a point that Greg has come in and said we've got to do this better and we've got to do this better and that mesh has worked really well. Those guys now are in great stances, they're playing with a low pad level, and that defensive room has got a tremendous amount of confidence and pride right now in what they're doing and they're pumped. They're fun to watch and they're fun on Sunday and nearly everybody on defense created a winning performance and they played really hard. I think at 35-7 they were like 59 yards on 24 carries at that point in the game so they did a great job of stopping the run again. And then we were disappointed when our seconds came in there in the fourth quarter that they didn't stop them quicker. But a lot of pride in that room and that gives us a chance to be good here the last four games.
On how different will this game be compared to last year with the way the offense is playing now: One of the things that you learn about games is you have no clue what's going to happen. It's one of the fun things about sports, but specifically college football. And about the time you sit there and say that last week's TCU-West Virginia game would have been a 10-7 game, it ends up with an overtime game of 30-27. So you just don't know. You've just got to go play the game and let it play out. You can't even anticipate. We sit there and anticipate what's going to happen and then you just have to shelf everything if it doesn't happen that way and start over and West Virginia intercepted the first play of the game against TCU with a tipped ball to get it started that way.
Like we've said, we need to do a better job on offense of no negative plays or very few less-than-four-yard runs. We've got to go back and do that. We were better three weeks ago and two weeks ago than we were Saturday and that's important. We've got to do a better job with play action because we had our first sack in nine quarters the other day and there was more pressure on Case (McCoy), so we've got to do a better job in those areas and not get so we feel so good about ourselves that we don't continue to get better. It's what Stacy Searels was talking about, we did rush for 255 yards and the guys up front played well, but still that's not the expectation we have right now. We think we can do better than we're doing in the running game.
Junior RB Malcolm Brown
On which one of the four touchdowns was his favorite: I guess the longer one. It was pretty -- I don't know, yeah, I guess that one. That one was. I hadn't had a long one in a little while, but yeah, that was pretty fun.
On coach Mack Brown said that Chris Whaley has been angling for some goal line carries, is he nervous that Whaley might take his job: He's been doing a good job. I don't know, he might come into that goal-line package. But yeah, Chris is doing a great job and it's fun to see him out there running and I hope he gets a touchdown every week. You see that running back coming out in him; he has that ball right inside, he's kicking his knees up. It's fun to watch him. The whole defense has been doing a great job.
On what has taken him so long to have a great season: I don't know. I had a couple injuries, had a couple things happen, but that's just the game of football. That's what happens to players. I just keep my mind right, stay focused, try to do all the right things, and it's coming together pretty well for me and I'm just hoping to continue that.
On how frustrating has the process been with his injury just continuing versus getting over it quickly: It was very frustrating, but you know, I feel like I did a great job of just trying to keep my focus. I talked to my parents a lot, talked to my dad a lot and my siblings, and they just always kept my head straight and just told me to keep praying and I did that. I just kept my faith and did all the right things, stayed in the training room like I was supposed to, did everything that my coaches wanted me to do and the trainers wanted me to do. Just trying to do all the right things throughout the whole process and stay right and it's working out pretty well now so I am glad.
On how much support did he have from Johnathan Gray, Joe Bergeron and other Texas running backs during the process: Definitely a lot. Definitely a lot. I mean, those guys in that running back room, they're my brothers now. I mean, even last year Fozzy (Whittaker) was gone and he was still texting me saying to keep my head up, I know you want to get out there, and stuff like that. Jeremy Hills and DJ Monroe, (Ryan) Roberson, those guys, they're always behind you, and that running back room, it's really turned into a family for me.
On what is the dynamic like in that room, considering Joe Bergeron was the last guy to get four touchdowns in one game a year ago: I mean it just kind of shows you the talent at Texas that we have. This team has just been blessed so much to have so much talent on this team and so many selfless guys that whoever scores, it doesn't really matter. We're just all out here trying to get wins and just trying to do good for the team and everybody is cheering each other on and that's not just with the running back room. We have so much talent all the rooms, the QBs, the offensive line. Everybody is just working together.
Senior CB Carrington Byndom
On without all their star players at West Virginia, do these guys still have the same firepower or is it going to be a little easier this year: I haven't seen any film yet but I'm still pretty sure they'll be pretty capable of putting points on the board. Without those guys they had there last year, I think they'll still be pretty productive on offense.
On does it get personal when a team did what West Virginia did to Texas last year: I guess you could say that. We know that's one of the four losses we had last year, and we don't want that to happen again this year. We're kind of just taking one game at a time and just making sure that we continue on this road that we're down of winning games.
On what he knows about Morgantown: Nothing at all. I know it's going to be cold, that's for sure. I've heard that already. But no, I've never been there or never really been to West Virginia. But I heard it's going to be a pretty crazy atmosphere, another great away atmosphere for us, so we'll see how we handle it.
On does he like going to games at a place he has never been before: Yeah, for sure. It's always cool seeing the different atmospheres. It's just kind of an eye-opening experience just to see what they go through, what it's like for them being at home. It'll be fun.
On is he excited about the challenges of facing the better offenses in the conference in their last four games: Yeah, I think it'll be good for us. These last four games will be a good test for us as a defense. To be able to hold up these last four games then I guess you could say we've been pretty good. This upcoming game will be the first of many tests throughout the rest of the season. To be the complete defense we know we can be, it involves stopping the pass. We've been doing a good job of stopping the run, so I guess the next four weeks we'll see how we are improved on the pass defense.
On is he bothered Texas isn't ranked after winning the last five in a row: Doesn't matter really. Keep winning games and it will all sort itself out.
Junior CB Quandre Diggs
On if he was expecting a different game against West Virginia than last year: Well, we run the ball a lot now, so you never know. It just depends on what happens, but those guys are going to come out and do what they do, and we're going to do what we do. Hopefully we get a win. It'll be fun going down there.
On the challenging games coming up and the road to the Big 12 Championship: Oh, yeah, no doubt. I'm excited each and every Saturday I get to go out and play the game because it's a blessing, first of all, but it's going to be fun. These next four weeks are going to be a lot of throwing the ball around the field and a lot of covering by the DBs and a lot of pass rushing by the defensive line. It's going to be fun. I'm always up, ready for a challenge, and just got to continue to stay focused and worry about this week first of all.
On if he's excited about putting themselves in this position, given their early losses: It's good to be in this position. It's always good to be undefeated in the Big 12 and have an opportunity to win the Big 12 Championship. It's one of the goals we set out at the beginning of the year, and just to be able to have that goal still intact and the opportunity just to accomplish it is one of those things that you do all that training for in the off-season and all the focus you do each and every week for these games.
On if the pressure increases with each game they stay undefeated in Big 12: Each and every week you go out and play the game of football, you've got millions of people watching you, watching every move you do. It's just part of it. You're sound enough to play this game, that's a consequence that comes with it. You've just got to continue to remain focused and just continue to play as a team.
On the difficulties of handling outside comments and how they handle it: Oh, yeah, no doubt. We live life and we pay attention to things just like everybody else. At the beginning of the year everybody doubted us, nobody believed, and now you have people saying we're playing some of the best ball in the country. We've just going to continue to stay focused on what we do and quit worrying about the outsiders. They're going to do what they do and we're going to do what we do, and that's play football games on Saturday. We're going to continue to go out and compete, play as a team and go out and play football.
On what it took to make the turnaround mid-season: I feel like everybody is just doing their assignment. Playing assignment football, everybody is in the right spot, the right place they're supposed to be. We don't have guys trying to do too much and trying to execute other people's assignments. Everybody is focusing during the week, and we've got to take it serious. The focus has been crazy the last five or six weeks. You can definitely see a team that's maturing at the right time and continuing to grow as a football team.
We've just got to continue to -- like I said, we've got to continue to play team ball and continue to believe in each other and have faith that we can do this each and every week.
On Cedric Reed's defensive play: Like I said earlier, I'll put him up for the defensive player of the year award in the Big 12 just by the way he's playing. He's got to continue to go out and do what he does. He's always in the right place at the right time. He does his job and doesn't try to do too much. Everything is happening for him, and heck, he's leading the team in PBUs [pass breakups]. He does a little bit of everything. He can stop the run, also, and he gets after the passer.
On if Cedric Reed is really as quiet as he seems: He can be, but don't let him fool you. Y'all think a lot of guys are quiet until you actually see them. He has that personality where he can be open but he can also be shy. But on the field he's a monster, and he's going out there and just competing and playing the game like he's supposed to.
On if the team cares about not being ranked, despite winning five in a row: I hope they keep us unranked. It just makes us hungry in the locker room. We really don't care about rankings. We've got four tough games coming up, and I feel like we've got to take care of ourselves. We've just got to continue to go out and showcase what we can do and continue to get people on board because, like I said, these next four games are going to be real tough.
Junior C Dominic Espinosa
On if he's looking forward to playing in colder weather this week at Morgantown: Yeah, I think so. You're so used to playing in 100-degree weather all summer, all camp and early on in the season, so definitely as an offensive line you're excited to go play somewhere cold where you might not be sweating as much as you might normally.
On giving up a sack in the in the Kansas game: Yeah, it's always tough, especially after you all start bringing it up. You don't even think about it until somebody starts saying stuff about it. It definitely hurt giving up a sack, but it hurts every time you let somebody touch the quarterback. You don't want that to happen in any game, especially when you haven't been doing it for a while. We've got to get back to not letting him get sacked at all. We look forward to doing that next week.
On the success of the running game, and how that makes the O-Line feel: Oh, it's great for us. It just shows that the work we're putting in is working out. It definitely goes back to running hard, and they're getting in the end zone, and that's our plan. That's what we want to do every week. For us it's very rewarding, and we're glad it's happening, and we love seeing those guys get touchdowns like that.
On if they aren't satisfied unless they run the ball 200 yards: Yeah, we're not satisfied at all with how we ran the ball [against Kansas]. Yeah, we ran for more than 200, but that's not where our goal is at anymore. It used to be, we want to run 200 yards. That's something we might have said two years ago, but now we're trying to run for 250, 300 yards a game. That standard has changed with us running the ball and we want to run for more than we did against Kansas. We want to do that this week against West Virginia.
On the expectations of Malcolm Brown, and if things are much better for him now that he's healthier: I think it's a lot for him, and also I think he's one of those guys that probably doesn't think too much into those expectations that are put on him. But he's hard working. He works hard every practice, works out in the weight room, and obviously it's showing right now that all that hard work has paid off. You're seeing that Malcolm Brown that everyone put him up to be. But he's running great for us, and we want to continue to have him do that. We're going to keep blocking as hard as we can for that guy.
On if Chris Whaley is tough on the O-line in practice: I was explaining that to someone earlier. Yeah, those guys, they've been great ever since I've known them, every time we're in practice. That's why we're doing so much better is because we've practiced against those kinds of D-linemen every day, especially Whaley and Malcom Brown. But I think it's just a matter of him; he's getting these big plays now that are allowing everyone to see his name up there on the board. So I think he's always been a great player like that, but I'm just glad he's getting the recognition he deserves now finally.
On if he expects a shutout against the Mountaineers: Oh, I would love to have a shutout with them. I'm such an offensive guy, we want to get a lot of points, but I'm thinking our defense is going to be able to do what they've been doing the past couple weeks and stop them. So I'm excited for us to get some points on the board, but I'm going to have a great time there regardless.
Senior OT Donald Hawkins
On how happy is he with this running game right now: Not that happy. I think it could be much better than what it is. You just can't settle for -- the standard is so high, if it's not 250 yards a game, then we didn't do our job. It could be much better.
On what he knows about Morgantown: Nothing besides the only thing I heard about Morgantown that it gets loud up there and that the fans are crazy. They have good fans.
On thoughts that there is more importance to keep running the football the way Texas has just to kind of play keep-away and help out their defense from facing great offense: Like I said, the standard is high here, so I think the defense can handle themselves, and I think the offense could do much better in scoring points. I think the sky's the limit. We can do so much more.
On how tough is it to go against Chris Whaley: I don't see Chris often. I usually see No. 90, Malcolm Brown, but Chris, when you go against him, he's going to always give his best so you've got to bring it.
On thoughts about Chris Whaley: Chris is a good guy, and when he does great things, he lights everybody's face up.
On thoughts about the upcoming games and being near to getting the conference trophy: You can't -- this next game is one of the most important games there is, and if you want to get the trophy you've got to take care of this game this weekend. West Virginia is the only game we're worried about.
Senior DE Jackson Jeffcoat
On if he enjoys playing in colder weather: I personally like cold weather. I mean, you don't have to worry about overheating or anything like that. It's exciting. It'll be fun. I lived in Buffalo, New York, for a little while, so it'll be good to get up in the cold a little bit and see it again. It doesn't get too cold down here.
On when he saw Cedric Reed take the step toward becoming a really good player: This summer. He was just working his butt off, working hard, always trying to do extra and do as much as he can. He likes to say that good is not good enough; he wants to be great. And as you can see, he's going in that direction. He's making plays, he's just flying around, and I mean, he's a guy that he just wants to be the best he can.
On if he remembers a specific moment when he thought that the two of them could be great defensive ends: When he first got that first sack in New Mexico State and got all excited. It was like, 'Looks like we're going to have some fun this year.' During two-a-days he was doing real well, also. It was like, okay, we can have another duo going on here.
On what it is about his game that is so good: Well, with him, being a long guy he's able to use his length to his advantage, and he just sticks his arm out there, keeps linemen at bay, keeps them away from him, pushing them back into the quarterback. He's good with his hands, as well. He and I work hands a lot and try to improve our hands together, so he's real good at his hands and turning the corner to get to the quarterback.
On if there is any rivalry between the two of them: Not really, not right now. We haven't really talked about that. We're just trying to win.
On how excited he is for the stretch of games coming up: It's exciting. This is going to be a great time. We've got West Virginia, and then we've got some pretty talented teams coming up. We've got to come prepared. It's going to be a fun little trip up there. I heard their fans like to get rowdy. Like I said before, we like going into hostile environments. It excites us and energizes us.
On if the team is excited to be able to go up against some of the more prolific offenses within the league: Oh, for sure, for sure. There are still people out there that kind of doubt us, so we've got to show that we can do it against anybody.
On what Chris Whaley said to the team before the game and at halftime: He just said that this is about us, this game is about us. We need to go out there and play the way we know we can play. It's most important not to forget that every game you play is important, and if our goal is to win the Big 12 Championship, you can't take anything lightly.
On how fun it has been to see Whaley get two touchdowns: Well, it's been fun for me to see how much fun he's having. He always has a big smile on his face, and he's always excited and energized to go. We feed off of that, we feed off of his energy, and it's always good to know you have Chris Whaley around.
On if this is a game where they can get even with West Virginia after last year's game: It's not really a game of getting even; it's just the next conference game. We need to get a win. We need to go out and get another win. It's very important for us to go out there and win.
Senior QB Case McCoy
On what he has heard about Morgantown, Va.: It's a hard place to play, and they play well there. It'll be a colder game. It'll be a challenge for us to go down there and get a big win there. They've shown that they can play there. They upset Oklahoma State early. It's our job to prepare and be ready for a shootout up there, so that's what we're looking for.
On if the cold will affect their play. No, I've played a lot of ball. I've played in a lot of playoff seasons throughout high school and played in a lot of cold weather, so I mean, cold weather, I think it's mental. I think how much your mind can overcome it, and once you start running around it's not that big of a deal to me. I think we'll be fine. I think the offensive linemen will play good, my backs will run hard, and we'll just continue to play the game plan that we had the last few weeks.
On if he cares that the team is unranked, despite winning five straight: I personally don't care. I think a lot of these guys would like that on the team, and I think a lot of them deserve it. That is a goal for us. We would like to be ranked, but obviously there's a lot left out there that we need to prove. I think you always hear, you can only make a first impression once, and we made our first impression and it wasn't what we needed to make. There are voters that it's hard for them to overcome. We beat some good teams. We beat teams that have beaten other teams. Our job is just to keep playing consistent. I think that's what they're looking for through us. If I was looking at this team, I'd want to say, okay, are you consistent, can you continue to play at a level that you're playing at? That's our job as an offense and a defense is to continue to play at the level that we need to be playing at, consistent at playing that way and just continuing to get wins. There's no playoff, none of that, but the bottom line is if you keep winning you'll be covered. I'm not worried about it; I don't think anyone really is. We just understand that we need to keep winning, and if you keep winning you'll keep beating teams that are ranked, and you will become ranked.
The goal here is to win the Big 12 and win out and go to a BCS bowl, and if we do that everything else will take care of itself.
On the running backs as an asset, and how the team contributes as a whole: Yeah, those guys, it starts up front. That offensive line is -- when they were recruited, they were recruited to be a lot of pass protection guys, and they've stuck with this. They've stuck with this program, they've stuck with the coaching changes, and they've stuck with changing our identity. So those guys have become dedicated to this run game blocking, and it's different for an offensive line. I'm the most happy for those guys because they've bought in, they've decided to go to work, they've worked year-round, and they've become an offensive line as a group that is blocking up with the standard of -- if you look at all these power teams that run the ball. It starts up front with those guys. They're playing incredible. They're going to continue to play well. That's the way they are. That's their mindset. But in the backfield with those three backs, I think all three of them could go somewhere else and start at major schools throughout college football, and it's crazy to think that we have them all at one school. It's our job to find a way to get each of them the ball. For me that becomes preparation, that becomes getting in the right run game checks throughout the whole game, seeing the defense. Whenever I'm able to do that and the offensive line gets the call, they're going to make the plays in the right situations, and those backs, once they get to the second level, they make guys miss. They make plays. That's why they're here. That's why they're playing the way they are, and it's fun, once a play starts to see those guys work and execute the way they're supposed to.
On West Virginia's defense: Yeah, I've gotten into them a little bit. Today is my big day, so as soon as I leave here I'm going to get into them. But they're a defense that has played in big games already. They played some high power offenses and have held them to a reasonable amount of points. They don't want to let the big plays happen. They're very secure in that area. They also understand their offense, and their offense can put up points. That's where they are. I'll get into them more, but they're a team that is on a lot of momentum right now. I look at a lot of stuff like that. I look at a team that just won an overtime game in their home stadium against Oklahoma State and a team that came to this conference to beat the University of Texas. That's what they want. That's the game that's circled on their schedule every year because you heard them say it last year. Those are things that I look at before I ever get into them.
I know that it's a challenge, but that some people would call it a trap game, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard because we're looking at this team as being as good as the remaining three on the schedule. It's a game for us that I think is a huge challenge that is presented to us, and you know I love challenges. I love being in situations like that. I love going on the road in a hostile environment, wearing all white with your backs against the wall feeling like no one is with you down there but your teammates. That's how we're preparing for this. It's going to be a cold game. It's going to be a loud game, and our job is to go down there, prepare like it's going to be a shootout and prepare to win the game in the end. Their defense is going to play hard, their offense is going to play hard, and their coaches are going to coach hard. That's become their identity They're going to take risks, they're going to take chances, and we've just got to play four full quarters and keep sticking to what we do, and at the end of the game I think it'll be all right.
On the position they've put themselves in to win the Big 12, and how much he looks forward to this next stretch of the year: Yeah, we have, we've put ourselves in a situation that is basically right where we want to be. We've decided that it's all about this Big 12 conference and it's something that these seniors have never done, and we want to put numbers on the wall in our team room. We want to win a Big 12 conference. We want to go to a BCS bowl game and win a nice bowl game and play another high-level team in that game. We have put ourselves in a situation where we want to be, and we understand that all that is fine and dandy and it'll be awesome when it comes, but all that matters is this week against West Virginia.
That's the fun part of this game [football], and that's the fun part of the game on Saturday, that you've got to win every play. You can't just start talking about the end goal. So we understand that's the next step in the direction we want to go, and we need to go get a big win as a ball club.
On if he ever talks to his brother Colt McCoy about tough games that he was a part of while he was at Texas: Yeah, I mean, he did. He played in some awesome, awesome games, and his story was a lot of fun. Yeah, we talk. I was fortunate enough to have him and Rachel in this weekend. My family was all here. I think it might have been the first time since we've all started this gig that we've been all together in one room. That was fun to have all of us in and watch the game, be able to hang out after.
No, he's doing well. I even got some San Francisco 49ers gear for the first time, so I'm a 49er fan now. No, I talk to Colt a lot. He is very mature in that area, he's played a lot of ball, he has won a lot of games. He always has some interesting things to tell me, and he's pretty hard on me, too, so I've got to take it for what it's worth.
Yeah, I'll be talking to him for sure, but the main thing is he can tell me what he wants, but I understand that we've got to beat West Virginia, and after we beat West Virginia I understand we have to beat the next team, Oklahoma State. I understand it's a game after game, and I can't start trying to beat Baylor right now. That's not part of this deal, and neither can my team. So my job as the leader and the quarterback of this offense is to keep us prepared, to keep our mind right, to make sure we understand the challenge that's on our plate, and we have to go perform. We have to put up points. We have to play for four quarters. We have to start fast. We need to manage the weather, and we need to play like the mature ball club that we're claiming to be.
Junior DE Cedric Reed
On how he said after the Alamo Bowl that he could take that next step to become an elite defensive end and if he feels like he is getting to that point: Yeah, I feel like I am. I'm playing with a lot of confidence right now. I'm getting a lot of plays coming towards me and just reading the ball a lot better. Everything is slowing down a lot for me since last year and it's finally just coming together.
On when did that light come on for you: I want to say the Alamo Bowl last year. It's just a football game and when you finally figure out it's just a football game you just play the game you love and that you've been playing your whole life and just put it all together. It's just football, and it's not just 100,000 people staring at you. It all just comes together for you.
On what is it about the fourth quarter big play knack he has had this year: I wouldn't say it's just a knack. I think it just has had good timing honestly. I don't know why it's been the fourth quarter or it's just been a point where we needed a turnover, but I've just been playing football within our defense. Coach (Greg) Robinson is putting me in great spots, whether it's support or whether it's to guard or rushing the tackle. I think the D-line, we're all just playing so well that they can't just double-team somebody and leave one person one-on-one. It just helps all of us a lot.
On with the history of great defensive ends at Texas, did he follow those guys: Yeah I followed all of them. I followed Brian Robison mostly. He's from Splendora, Texas and I'm from Cleveland, Texas. They're probably about 15 miles away from each other. I kind of knew him in high school and I heard about him and watched him on the big screen in the NFL and stuff. The tradition of the D-ends here is a great tradition of great guys. Cory Redding, I was just watching him last night and Brian Orakpo, everybody knows him. Everybody, the D-end room just kind of sticks together and we all know each other.
On saying how it is just football, was it lot of pressure or what was it like for you before: No, sometimes you get out there, like you say, you think a lot more than you play. If this time does that, you don't actually react. Like I said, it just clicked for me. It's just football. This is what I've been doing since I was knee high and it just all came together.
On how would he explain to people how hard it is to achieve what he has been able to achieve in one season: It's hard to lose two games to start the season or two games early in the season, and then go into conference play and just start winning a lot. It's very hard. It's almost like just falling real low and then you've got to help yourself get back on the highs. But the way we broke down our season, we broke it down into seasons instead of having one big season and that helped us out where we flushed all that out. We started over again and we'd go from there, and then once we'd complete that season we'd flush it out and start over again. It was hard to do, but we're getting it done.
On what has it been like to have a front row seat to Chris Whaley and the excitement he has brought: I still haven't told you all about the last time. I can't believe Chris got another one. It's amazing to see. Once I got up off the ground and I saw Whaley running like that, it's just amazing. He's just a great guy and I love it that he's getting those.
On which touchdown of Whaley's impressed him more, the OU or the Kansas: I'd like to say the OU. Running at the same time and trying to get Blake Bell out of the way and stretching out for the end zone, that was pretty nice.
On thoughts about the Mountaineer offense without Geno Smith this year: Oh they've got the same firepower from what I've been looking at. Their running backs are nice, they've got a nice offensive corps, their quarterback was at Florida State and he's a nice quarterback, and their offense, they have a nice offense. I haven't watched too much film on them but the games I've seen this year, they're good. They're going to be tough to beat.
Senior OG Mason Walters
On his excitement toward playing in the cold: I'm excited to play in what I've seen on the forecast, but I don't want to say I'm way too excited to play in the cold and then you go up there and it'll just be a blizzard. If it stays like it looks right now, it looks like it's going to be a great day for football from an offensive lineman's perspective. And again, I hope it doesn't get too cold and snow. We need to stay away from that because there's no reason to get the extremes.
But it's going to be a lot of fun. I've never been to West Virginia. Morgantown is supposed to be a great place to play football. It's going to be a good atmosphere. I'm really looking forward to a lot of different aspects of it.
On the challenges of playing in the cold: I think everything hurts a little bit more when it's cold, especially like fingers, your toes get stepped on, things that happen in a normal game, but when it's really cold it does hurt just a little bit more. And I think as an offensive lineman you kind of know that; not just an offensive linemen, but big guys who play down in the trenches, linebackers, so it's something that you're going to be able to challenge the guy across from you a little bit more and see if he's got what it takes to stick it out. Like somebody stepped on my hand in a normal game; that's something, but if it's cold, I'm telling you, it does hurt a little bit more. Those are things that will wear on you as the game goes on, and any great competitor you want to look at that not as a challenge, but as an advantage because when it comes to toughness, there's no question who has more of it. That's an attitude we're going to take into the game, and I know we're going to go against a really good front, but the challenge will be there Saturday for top dog to come out.
On the next stretch of games and the good offenses the team will be facing: Yeah, I think so. You can't score when you're not on the field. At times of the year I've felt that, and it can be a little bit demoralizing when somebody is running the ball and you're having to sit on the sidelines. Maybe we can try to replicate that the other way.
Yeah, as you said, there are some good offenses in this league, and we're about to have to play a few of them. I really think the only thing we're concentrating on right now is how to beat West Virginia because if we can't get that done, nothing after the fact matters.
On how excited he is for the next stretch of games: It's exciting, but like I said, it's one game. None of the rest of them are really going to make a difference. I think right now we're all excited for West Virginia, and if we get that done I know we'll be looking forward more and more to the rest of the season. Right now we've got to take care of business this week in Morgantown.
On Cedric Reed's play: He's helped us out a lot. I know Jackson has played really well and received some attention, and Cedric is a guy right there that is an offensive line. When you watch film you think, okay, you've got a really good defensive end every year in Jackson Jeffcoat, then you turn your protection over there and get some double teams and help yourself out. The problem is when Cedric Reed is in the game, he's almost just as good. He creates that mismatch on the other side, and then you really don't know where to turn your protection and get help because you also have two really good defensive tackles in the middle. I think that's the thing our defensive line has done the best; they've been able to give them a problem on match-ups or somebody has got to mismatch every time, and that one person is able to jump away make plays. I think they all continue to play at a high level and you start to have more and more of them with household names, and Cedric Reed is coming on this year.
