The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
10.11.2014 | Football
TEXAS
Texas Head Coach Charlie Strong
Opening Statement: I love the way our team came out today, and loved the way we competed and how hard we played. In the first half it was the penalties, it was the kickoff return, the kicking game, the interception for the touchdown, the mistakes that we made. As you watch we are down 17 to 3. We battled back to get it to 17-13 after half. Then we come back after halftime and we get some plays and battle back. We get a fight back and get it to a two-point conversion. They have the ball there and we just need to make a third down conversion. Overall, just very pleased with the way we played today. We just can't give away opportunities against a good football team… We will just continue to build on this one and get back to work and get ready for Iowa State next weekend.
On the difference in Oklahoma in the two halves: Well like I said, our offense held the football, and we were able to keep their offense off the field. Then we just got a third down and we were able to get off the field. In the second half we were not able to keep the ball away from them. Then our drives were stopping. They were able to get a throw there on a wheel route.
On the third quarter for Texas: We just have to be consistent, and offensively we have to get first downs and execute. We didn't execute. We dropped a ball or two. We had some opportunities to make it happen, and we just did not make it happen.
On how Tyrone Swoopes can build on this game: Well, you would love to see the whole team build on it, not just Tyrone. You look at it so that on defense, I think they ran 14 plays in the first half. I don't know what they had yardage wise. Just the whole team, you look at special teams we need to get better. Tyrone had a good game, and you look all around, our offensive line played really well. We had to target (Eric) Striker. I think he might have gotten some pressure, and a sack or two. We knew what we had to do. We established the run game and did a good job of pounding that football.
On Alex Ross' kickoff return: The wind didn't contribute at all. You look at it and the ball was kicked with the wind in the second half. We had two guys just fall down. They have to get up off the ground and go make a tackle. He just ran right past them.
On the environment of the Red River Showdown: Well it is a great environment and when you come into the stadium and see all the fans lined up. And just like the way our team went out and competed, this is one of those games where record really doesn't matter, you put the records aside. And I knew this that we were a step quicker and a step faster and we were.
On the play of the defense: It's not so much offense or defense, we just have to get better at all three phases. We have to get better offensively and have to get better defensively and with the kicking game. So all three contributed, it wasn't just the defense; we know we played well and can get better. Reason why we played well in the first half is because the offense held the football. Just look at the numbers they put up in the first half. So when you have that and your offense is playing well, which is good to have, defensively we can sit there and rest. In the second half we needed to go out and make stops and play better defense.
On if a bowl game still seems realistic: Well, we are just looking at it one game a week and not looking too much into the end. We are just going to be ready for the next one.
Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson
On his biggest takeaway from today's game: Just how hard the kids fought. I thought they fought hard today. Their effort was certainly there. Offensively, we make some youthful errors at times, it's lack of experience. But, they overcame those. We are starting to build some resiliency that you need to become a championship program. We all know we are in a process right now, but I like what those kids did today. Today I asked them to do one thing, I asked them to compete and just play, and they did a great job of that today.
On Tyrone Swoopes performance today: I see this in practice. Ty took a major step today, because, last week he wasn't satisfied and I wasn't either. What I saw in his style of play was he was trying to be perfect. When you start doing that, you start guarding your play. You aren't playing, you're processing and thinking. I had a simple message for him this week, I said, 'Listen, we are going to prepare you in every situation known to man. Them defensively, situational football, so when you arrive on Saturday, you just go out and compete.' It comes out like one-on-one basketball, that's how I tried to equate it for him. Just go play, and he did that today.
On using a timeout prior to the failed two-point conversion: My headphone went out is what happened. They didn't hear the personnel come out of my mouth, and that's why we started eating up clock … [the headset] was in and out most of the day, I actually had to switch seats with a GA [graduate assistant] to get it fixed.
On using more of an up-tempo offense: As we continue to grow him and grow our offensive line, there are a lot of people we are considering, we've played well in it, but we've also hit some speed bumps in it. We dominated the clock, which is part of what we try to do. The speed aspect, we have to be able to stay on the field and execute. That's why you see us in and out, because that's part of our defense too, us possessing the ball and keeping the ball. So, Charlie [Strong] and I are back and forth during the game of when to and when not to. So, as we grow our guys, we are gaining more confidence in it with them.
On the offense stalling in the third quarter: They fought their way back and found their way through it. It is really execution. We had some dropped balls that could have kept us on the field. We didn't get some push at times in the offensive line. It's just part of the process. Football, on both sides and both teams, is never clean. You can try and make it clean, that's our job to make it clean, but it's a process. You have got to keep working.
Senior WR John Harris
On assessing the game offensively: In the third quarter, we're just going to have to play a little bit better. We finished the game, but we didn't get a last chance to finish it how we wanted to. As an offense, I think we played great. We just have to keep it up.
On offensive possessions at the goal line: We've just got to be more precise and just take advantage when we're down there. We just can't have missed cues like that. We got the ball back and got a field goal, but we would've like to put up seven on the board. It changes the whole momentum of the game and makes the game different.
On frustration with inconsistencies: We're not too frustrated. We're just trying to lay off of the penalties and limit that more. You can see a little bit of that, but next week we'll have to do it more and just grow in these last couple of weeks.
On offensive confidence moving forward: Once you get your quarterback going, it's all about rhythm. Once you get into a rhythm as an offense, then you're clicking. There at the end we were clicking, so if we would've gotten the ball back, I think we could've finished it off. We just ran out of time.
On if he is personally coming away with more confidence than Tyrone Swoopes: I personally come away with confidence in general. Just watching how we played as an offense, that feels good. Being down 30-13 to having it be 30-26 with five minutes left and the chance to maybe go back down and score to win the game, as a person on the offense that feels great. Hopefully we can just build from it and win these last six games.
Senior LB Jordan Hicks
On team confidence: I speak for the whole team when I say we have a lot of belief in who we are and what we can accomplish. We've got six more games left. Every big game that we've lost, except for BYU, we've given up. I feel like we've lost the game. We've just got to continue to grow, continue to get better and learn how to finish. That's the key, we have to finish.
On outlook moving forward: I think you look at this game, and you say 'they fought, they believed.' We were down at the end, and what we did at the end, what the offense did – there's no quitting in this team. We're not going to quit. There's no disbelief in who we are; there's none of that. We believe in who we are, and we're going to go out and execute.
On discouragement being down at the half: I think it's encouraging. On one end, you could look at it and say defense is playing. We've got to go out there, and we can hang with these big guys. They're supposed to be one of the best offenses in the country, and we were shutting them down. Offense was playing well. That's great that they were keeping them off the field. But then you look at special teams. You look at our turnovers, and we've got to learn how to finish – that's what it is. We get in big situations, we get in key situations, and we've got to learn how to convert.
Senior DE Cedric Reed
On if this was the defense that was advertised that Charlie Strong was going to build: I think we're getting there. I think we have a lot of gaps to fill and we still gave up a couple of big plays, some big runs, we gave up a 60-yard drive, which is unacceptable in our defense but we're getting there.
On the frustration of playing so well but it not showing up on the scoreboard: It's frustrating. You know that we put in all the work all week and then we come out here, it just doesn't work out for us, so yeah, it's definitely frustrating for us.
On if a bowl game is still possible: Bowl game is very possible. We've got Iowa State next week and we've got them at home and we're going to go play them and get things rolling from there, man, trust me.
On if this feels like a 2-4 team: It doesn't feel like a 2-4 team. We're headed where we need to be. We're just making minor mistakes and we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We just need to capitalize on some of the opportunities that we have.
On how tough it was to lose to a rival: It's a tough one, man. I really wanted to go out with a win against OU for my senior year, but I feel good about this. It's just the little things. We defeated ourselves in this game, I really believe.
On what's going on in the third quarter to not finishing games: I don't know. I think we came out a little better today though. In the past, we haven't come out worth anything in the third quarter. I think we came out a little better today. They got one little run, a little sweep play, that we haven't seen all night but we were well prepared for it. They just ran that. The third quarter, it's a big quarter because everybody's a little comfortable. Everybody's not as juiced as they were in the beginning of the game. The crowd's not there, everybody's still getting into the stands. It's just a big quarter that you've got to get yourself pumped for.
Senior WR Jaxon Shipley
On the offense: I feel like we had something going for us at the end of the game and it's been a heck of a game. Our offense, we played really good, except for in the third quarter, we dipped down a little bit. In the fourth quarter, we really picked it up and had a few really good drives and thought we had a chance there at the end but we didn't have quite enough time. I think this team has come a long way though. Even though it's a loss, it's very disappointing and we're not happy about it, but we've got to look at the positives of it as well. Offensively, Tyrone had like 330 passing yards, which is unreal. Tyrone in his first game at OU, that's pretty impressive. We had some drops at the wide receiver position and that's not okay and doesn't help him out at all. Some key drives that were cut short, if we could have got some of those, there's no telling how it would have ended up. And some of the penalties we had in the first half and just random stuff that didn't go our way -- but looking back at it, I feel like we really competed and worked hard the whole game but we just didn't finish the game. That's the thing. We've got to come out in the second half and finish.
On if it's panic time for the Longhorns: No, there's no time to panic. You don't have time to panic when you're in this league. You've got to come to play every single day and it's just something that obviously we're disappointed but you've got to look at it and bounce back. You've got to watch your mistakes. You've got to also watch your positives. People, a lot of times, just think, 'Oh we're going to watch the negatives.' There were a lot of positives in this game. A few plays here and there and we win this game. I feel like we played a pretty good game, but like I said, we've got to finish. That's something that we're really going to need to work on is that third quarter. We have to stand where we want to be offensively in that third quarter and that's something that's ultimately got to be our focus going into these next upcoming games.
Sophomore QB Tyrone Swoopes
On his performance today: I kind of got to talk to Coach Watson after the game and he said I played good, but of course we've got to watch some film and see what happened.
On what the offense needs to do to improve: I feel like we need to be more consistent. We played really well in the first half, then in the third quarter it kind of dipped, and in the fourth quarter we picked it up again. I feel like we play even keel the whole game and play well we will be fine.
On the comeback in the fourth quarter: Coach Strong and the coaching staff always tell us that it's not over until the clock hits triple zeros, so we just have to play. We knew we had time and we knew the defense would give us an opportunity to get back on the field, so we just kept playing. We played well and went and scored.
On if he is gaining confidence: Definitely, because guys are playing well around me. [The receivers were] going and getting some balls, the running backs are running the ball, the line was blocking. So, when everyone is doing their thing around me, I try and do the same for them.
Junior CB Duke Thomas
On the defense: Coach always tells me in the first half to come out and play well, but we've got to come out the second half and leave the same amount of yards out there. We've got to figure a way to finish the game and put two complete halves together.
On the emotion and mood in the locker room: We know what we've got to get to. We know what we've got to work to, so everybody understands and pull together, like I said, one game at a time.
On the confidence Coach Bedford has in him and Quandre Diggs to play man: We're going to play man, we always play man, so when go out there, that's what we're trying to be known for, DBU. When we get our one on ones, we've got to make plays.
On the mistakes: We've just got to pull all three phases of the game together. We aren't just defense and offense, special teams as well, so we need to figure out a way to pull all three teams together and we'll be good.
On the frustration of the team: Pretty frustrating losing like this, but we know what we've got to do and work towards.
On if there is anything the defense can do to help the special teams: We have defensive guys on special teams. We understand that we can't let special teams be a play off, so we've got to continue to work and continue to work on special teams and continue to get better.
On holding OU's offense to one first down in the first half and what went right: We came out expecting to dominate regardless of who's out there, so that's not a surprise to us. We've got to continue to do what we're doing and capitalize on plays and continue to put two halves together is all we've got to do.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops
Opening Statement: I would first like to, again, compliment Coach (Charlie) Strong, his staff and the Texas football team. They played a really hard-fought game today. It was an exciting game. We made our plays and they made their plays. I think Charlie is doing an excellent job there. I'm excited and pleased to have won the game. I thought overall that it was a good team win in that we scored on special teams, had a defensive touchdown, offense gets a touchdown in the second half when we needed it. I'm pleased that we were able to run the ball on them and run the clock out at the end of the game when we needed it. Those kinds of things were all positives. Everybody had a hand in it. Again, there are some parts of it that we need to improve on, but any time you come down here and win it's a positive for us and we will try to keep building on it.
On why teams kick to Alex Ross: It's not easy. Where you are going to kick it, out of bounds? Or are you going to kick it high and give it to us on the 40 or the 30? I get that. We have been in that predicament before. It's just not that easy. You have to kick it somewhere. If you are not able and you're not into the wind it's hard to force a fair catch. Then someone catches it on the 30, tucks the ball away, and the ball is on the 40-yard line. You can't do that every time either. Fortunately, Alex had a huge day.
On if the third down pass to Samaje Perine late in the fourth quarter was the ideal call: It was. The coverage they were in, they were in man coverage, and they didn't key on the back so Samaje did a great job there and Trevor (Knight) put a nice ball on him and picked up a third down there when we had to.
On making plays in the second half: We're resilient. The group has a great attitude and great team chemistry. We just have to keep fighting. We made some mistakes and bad plays throughout the game but you have to keep after it and make other plays to make up for it. We did that.
On Sterling Shepard: Sterling continues to make big plays in every game and like I said, he's special.
On how he felt going into halftime: I was a little bit frustrated. You have to remember that a little bit of that, the rhythm of it, you lose offensive possessions when you get a pick for a touchdown. The offense loses a possession. You return a kick for a touchdown and the offense loses a possession. That contributed a little bit to being off rhythm. I'm not complaining about the touchdowns, but it does throw you off a little bit. It can throw you off a little bit.
On what the defense did in the third quarter to stop Texas:
We didn't bust. We still have mental errors that we shouldn't have. A lot of it, again, Texas made some nice plays that took advantage of some of our mistakes. It's a guy not containing on a run that bounces around everybody. I could go out there and still do it. Or our coverage breaks down and the safety isn't in the right spot on the field and therefore, the middle of the field is open. We have to do a better job coaching and they have to do a better job of paying attention to the things that we have covered and make sure that it gets done. We have just been inconsistent.
On if the complete game they displayed in the third quarter is what they are looking for and expect: Yeah, we're going to try to get better, improve, and be more consistent in everything we are doing. We did it well enough to win the game. I am always pleased when the defense makes plays and gets a touchdown, we get a special teams touchdown, and the offense got it together in the second half and got a nice drive when we needed it. When you play another good team, they are going to have their times too. Fortunately, we made more.
On if the time of possession discrepancy in the first half concerned him about his defense: I was a little bit. Again, like I kind of said earlier, you lose possession time when you have a kick return for a touchdown, or an interception for a touchdown. You're eliminating a series for your offense. It wasn't too hot out there, so I wasn't concerned. It wasn't a tough day as far as temperatures go.
On what it says about Samaje Perine as a true freshman that they can rely on him late in games: Samaje is mature beyond his years in everything that he does. The way he handles himself off the field and in the classroom, the way he works. Physically, the power that he has for a young person, he's different. You feel good giving him the ball late because he takes care of the ball too. He has great timing to hit his holes and run through people.
On if they have regressed the last two games or if it was a step up in competition: Well, you have to give people that you are playing credit. They were good football teams. I feel like we are improving as a team. Do I like everything that happened today? No. We have a lot to work on. That's obvious. It feels good when you win and didn't play very well and you know you have things to correct. Again, don't take anything away from Texas; I meant what I said earlier. Charlie (Strong) is doing an excellent job and they have a lot of good football players on that team. They played well. They are going to have their spots too.
Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator Mike StoopsOn the defense: The second and fourth quarter, some things could have gone better. I think the second quarter we had a mental breakdown and some wrong rotations in the secondary. We have some young guys playing and not being able to execute on third down is not good. In the fourth quarter, we had them third and long three times in a row. That's what happens, you start playing below and you lose momentum. We just couldn't come up with a play. It's the little things and execution that we are not doing as well as we need to be; as we should be.
On Devonte Bond: Devonte has been progressing in our systems. He had a bad ankle injury coming [into the season], which really prohibited from being ready, coming onto his first year from a junior college. You could see he was starting to give us something a little different out there and he has really worked hard to get on the field and split time with Geneo [Grissom]. He has had some great plays and understands our concepts and what we are trying to do. He has really improved as a player. He is a big, strong and fast guy that is starting to really grasp our concepts and what we are trying to do.
Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Josh HeupelOn Sterling Shepard: We had planned on getting him the ball early in the ball game but we really weren't able to get him involved and using his hands. Obviously, he has been a big playmaker for us in this first half of the season and we want to give him the ball.
On problems in the first half: I mean when you go 1-for-11 on third downs you are not going to have a very efficient offense during the day. We were going third-and-long early. We were not running it very efficiently on first and second downs. We were more efficient during the second half, but obviously want to be more efficient all the time. We did not play the way we are capable of or want to.
On defense and special teams scoring: The kick return was huge that early in the ball game and at that time it made it 7-3. That was a huge play in the ball game. Obviously, the defensive touchdown was another momentum [swing]. I think in the first half, you are struggling.
On different formation for the third-and-complete to Samaje Perine: We are a highly connected, 11-person offense and at the timeout we got a chance to see where things were and how a different formation would change up what we were doing.
Oklahoma's Trevor KnightOn getting momentum in Sterling Shepard's touchdown drive: We got some momentum going there. We got some plays in quickly and got the momentum going. We hurried it up a little bit and kept driving down the field. When we're in a rhythm and playing well and everybody's doing what they're supposed to do, things are going to happen for us. We sputtered there in the first half. We just couldn't get things going. It's about finding that momentum and starting off that way. We want to start fast on offense, and we didn't do that today, but I felt like there in the second half we picked it up and I'm just really proud of our guys for doing that. We got some big scores down the stretch.
On Samaje Perine:
We trust him with the ball in his hands. Things happen when the ball is in his hands, so we're going to continue throwing to him. He continues finding ways to get open and make those big plays so we feel confident in him.
On third down conversions:
We haven't been able to be on the plus sides of those things. Today we got ourselves in third and long and you're not going to pick up a lot of those percentage-wise. We have to do a better job on first and second job on getting some yards in those types of situations.
On if the team was frustrated:
I think there is some frustration involved when you're not running up and down the field like you want to. I think we did a good job of responding to that on the sidelines, just keeping the guys fired up. It doesn't always turn out that way on the field, but I think our guys were ready for each and every series, especially in the second half. We may have been a little frustrated, if we didn't pick up a third down or something like that, but overall we had positive energy on the sidelines.
Oklahoma's Chuka NdulueOn Alex Ross's kickoff return:
It was a great boost. Coach always says to snatch the momentum, and that was great to take one to the house. It got the crowd into it and got us into it and we came out and played Sooner football. Oklahoma's Alex Ross
On his kickoff return for a touchdown: Actually we didn't expect the kickoff return this week, but by God's grace we received one. Just read the blocks and took it to the house. When you play with speed like that, good things happen.
Oklahoma's Zack Sanchez
On how the secondary prepared for Texas:
This week was just getting back to the basics. A lot of things with technique and just mental reps, not physical. That's something that we attacked this week, just getting in our playbooks more. Knowing what they were going to throw at us. But the other thing, the shoulder is 100 percent now so it's not an issue any more.
Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard
On the special teams and Alex Ross: I feel like we knew what type of game it was going to be going into it, but the special teams helped us out a lot. Thanks to Alex (Ross) for getting us that kickoff return. It helped us out a lot. It helped us get the win.
Texas Head Coach Charlie StrongOpening Statement: Yes, I love the way our team came out today, and loved the way we competed and how hard we played. In the first half it was the penalties, it was the kickoff return, the kicking game, the interception for the touchdown, the mistakes that we made. As you watch we are down 17 to 3. We battled back to get it to 17-13 after half. Then we come back after halftime and we get some plays and battle back. We get a fight back and get it to a two-point conversion. The have the ball there and we just need to make a third down conversion. Overall, just very pleased with the way we played today. We just can't give away opportunities against a good football team… We will just continue to build on this one and get back to work and get ready for Iowa State next weekend.
On the difference in Oklahoma in the two halves: Well like I said, our offense held the football, and we were able to keep their offense off the field. Then we just got a third down and we were able to get off the field. In the second half we were not able to keep the ball away from them. Then our drives were stopping. They were able to get a throw there on a wheel route.
On the third quarter for Texas: We just have to be consistent, and offensively we have to get first downs and execute. We didn't execute. We dropped a ball or two. We had some opportunities to make it happen, and we just did not make it happen.
On how Tyrone Swoopes can build on this game: Well, you would love to see the whole team build on it, not just Tyrone. You look at it so that on defense, I think they ran fourteen plays in the first half. I don't know what they had yardage wise. Just the whole team, you look at special teams we need to get better. Tyrone had a good game, and you look all around, our offensive line played really well. We had to target (Eric) Striker. I think he might have gotten some pressure, and a sack or two. We knew what we had to do. We established the run game and did a good job of pounding that football.
On Alex Ross' kickoff return: The wind didn't contribute at all. You look at it and the ball was kicked with the wind in the second half. We had two guys just fall down. They have to get up off the ground and go make a tackle. He just ran right past them.
On the environment of the Red River Showdown: Well it is a great environment and when you come into the stadium and see all the fans lined up. And just like the way our team went out and competed, this is one of those games were record really doesn't matter, you put the records aside. And I knew this that we were a step quicker and a step faster and we were.
On the play of the defense: It's not so much offense or defense, we just have to get better at all three phases. We have to get better offensively and have to get better defensively and with the kicking game. So all three contributed, it wasn't just the defense we know we played well and can get better. Reason why we played well in the first half is because the offense held the football. Just look at the numbers they put up in the first half. So when you have that and your offense is playing well, which is good to have, defensively we can sit there and rest. In the second half we needed to go out and make stops and play better defense.
On if a bowl game still seems realistic: Well, we are just looking at it one game a week and not looking to much into the end. We are just going to be ready for the next one.
