The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
West Virginia quotes
11.08.2014 | Football
TEXAS QUOTES Head Coach Charlie Strong
Opening statement: It's a really good win for our program. We just, week by week we continue to get better. I was just challenging them. I told them we have three weeks left to go play, guys, and if we can't give it up for a game each and every week where we can improve and just improve and just get better in all phases, offense, defense, and then the kicking game. You look at us offensively the way we've played the first half was unbelievable how we ran that football. We had some stalls there in the second half, and then weren't able to get the score until late in the game. But just overall very pleased how hard our running backs ran, and then just how the offensive line just opened up holes and we were able to just run the ball so well.
Then defensively, it was just one stop after another, challenge our defense. We had to go stop this offense, and knowing how well (quarterback Clint) Trickett could play and they had the receiver there that was very dangerous. They ran the football, which we knew they could do, and they had the long run there at the end. But just very pleased with how we just went out there.
Cedric Reed came alive tonight. I told him, he gets the one sack, and the one before he gets a safety. We ran that same pressure, and he kind of hesitated because he saw the guard, and the guard didn't, and the guard ended up (Indiscernible). If he had come through, he would have gotten another sack. So he ended up getting it at the right time where we get the safety and it looks great.
Kicking game, we know we've got to continue to improve that. We can't miss the kicks, and know the punting game we've got to improve with that. But just this is just a total team win where we didn't flinch at all. We kept battling, kept battling. We wanted to make it a physical game which we were able to make it a physical game, but we know we have two left. We're not concerned about the bowl right now. We just want to enjoy this one this evening, and get ready to go play Oklahoma State next week.
On continuing the process and the significance of the win: It was a really big game against a ranked team. I don't know exactly the stat, but I was told we had not beaten a ranked opponent since 2008 at home. It was just really big for us to go out and play well tonight. It is a process. We know it's a week-by-week, and we may play one half of it very good, and the next half we just want to make sure we get a big enough lead where we can hold them off. But we know that we can really improve. We can get better, which we still have some areas where we can really improve in.
On effort plays, especially from Marcus Johnson and Jordan Hicks: They were tonight, and it's right. They're big-time effort plays. You get Marcus, and he stopped about two yards short of a first down. He continues to drive his feet and get it. You look at even the big play where we were able to they throw the ball out in open field, and Mykkele Thompson made a big time hit there and able to square the guy up. He made two good ones where he squared the defender up and got him on the ground. It was a total team effort. You just see it coming. I think the guys are beginning to trust in one another, because we need everybody, and everybody has to show up. It's all about, it's not an individual effort, it's all a team effort. We go team, individualism will come, but we've got to make sure it's a team effort.
On the key to shutting down West Virginia's offense for three quarters: It was a bunch of crazy guys going nuts, but it was also a great combination where Coach Bedford just did a great job mixing up the coverages. We didn't want to give them anything. Just make them drive the ball. You mix it up with zone and man and give them different combination. Wanted to make sure that on third down we had to get off the field. We had to win on third down, and we were able to win on third and fourth down.
On the offense in the second half sputtering: We just didn't execute. It comes back to execution, and we didn't execute. We know we can improve and get better, but we know we can get that solved. It's just execution. We just didn't get it done.
On crowd surfing in the locker room with the team: They didn't air that in the locker room, did they? No, I just walked in there and they just grabbed me. I don't know how that ever got out. West Virginia's going to be mad. That is the second time that's happened, I think.
On changing punters: Last week, I opened up the competition because I told Will Russ that he has to punt better. Then you look and we had some bad punts last week, and then the first one and since we had opened up the competition so let's give (Michael) Davidson a chance to go in and put the ball down on the 1-yard line twice. But it's always an open competition. If you can't get it done, that's why we need that. We have to have guys who can compete. In your positions, you have to understand, if you want that position, you have to play well to keep it.
On if the first half performance is the identity he wants for the program: Eventually that's who we're going to become, and that's going to happen. I hope it happens a lot sooner than later, but that will happen within this program where we're going to be able to just physically pound the football and defensively go play physical. The game is all about just being physical. We know that that's the only way we can ever be who we are because we have the players, we have the talent, it's just all about putting it together.
On the process and the impact the final stop had on the defense: Oh, it's great because they moved the ball down there. We wanted to make sure they didn't score, and then they end up making a big tackle and keeping the ball out of the end zone, which was good because you don't want to see us give up 23 points as well as we've played. You didn't even want us to give up 16 as well as we played on defense.
But they kept battling and somebody just stepped up. I think about it, and look at the play that (Quandre) Diggs made there early with the guy that ends up running a post route. He ends up breaking on the ball, makes an unbelievable break. But you remember the first play of the game he got called for pass interference on the very same play, and the next time he kind of baited him. You could just see. Looking at Quandre, you saw the quarterback's eyes come, and you saw Diggs just go and make that play.
On winning when Tyrone Swoopes had an off-night: It's all about just us playing together. It's not just one individual player because it has to be a total team effort. You look at it like the first half was just everybody, just everybody being a part of offense, defense, and even the kicking game. Then you look at the second half, defensively we had to step up, and we kept putting on the defense. They always stick to the defense. In order for us to win, we've got to play great defense and we have to. Guys have to step up and make plays.
It was just fun watching Ced Reed finally come alive tonight. It was amazing to watch him, the plays that he made. Then he ended up with three sacks and came in with a safety. I told him, there were two more still sitting there that you would have gotten if you hadn't just come on and just go rush. He said, "I know, Coach, I thought I saw this." No, just believe your eyes, just go play.
But it's all about us. It's just playing as a team and knowing that even if one phase doesn't play well, hoping that the other two phases can lift them up.
On apparent injuries to Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray in first half: Well, they just popped up. They'll be okay. I know when Malcolm went down, I went out on the field and he was laying there, I was like, Are you okay? He was like, I don't want to lay here, Coach. I've got to get off the field. I said, you got blown up. You need to kind of sit here for a minute. So we were kind of joking out on the field and laughing about it. I said, he blew you up. He's like, Come on, Coach. Can I get out of here? And I said no, just stay here for a second. Then I told J Gray, just go make one long run and all of a sudden you come down with some injury and nobody even knows what it is. But it's good to see them bounce back the second half.
On Diggs covering West Virginia's top receiver Kevin White: What we did, is we knew that White played the last sack, so we wanted to make sure he was the left corner, and we put Duke on the other side, and just because it was just a match-up with speed. The thing about Diggs, he's not very tall, but he plays so smart and plays within his ability. He knows what his limitations are, and he plays within them. It's just fun to watch him because you look at that match-up and all year long White has gone up over guys, taking balls away from them. But it was just good to watch how well he played.
On Johnathan Gray's performance: You look at the one run he made down the sideline and he dove for the pylon. That was an unbelievable run. It was good to watch both of those guys run the ball. When we first started the season, they just didn't have that confidence and faith in their offensive line at that time. You're looking at a line that never gets it, but none of those guys have really played that much but Sedrick Flowers. So it was all about just doing the confidence with the offensive line. Then that offensive line starts gelling, and they start believing and trusting in them, and now they start making the runs. You look at last week with the hundred yard spread, and you look at this week, I think both of them were really close. But it's just fun to watch.
On if he feels the team is starting to turn a corner: I won't feel that way, because you know what happens and what we've got to do, it's still a process. It's still also about just us putting it all together. We didn't put it together two weeks, can we go put it together again? Can you go repeat the performance that you just had? The mark of a champion is being able to repeat last week's performance. Can we do that again and put it all together? We don't want to go and all of a sudden you go up there and it looks like you've never played before and things don't go well. You know you're going to be in a hostile environment. But we need to go continue to play well and just piece by piece, week by week, just improve and get better.
On the frustration of running backs Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray had earlier in the year: They aren't really set, but a lot of times you can look at guys just their body language. They won't just vocally come out and say, you know what, Coach -- and I told them, it's going to take some time. But you're going to have to trust these guys. That's all we have. Eventually they have a really good coach, and what he's going to do is drive them, drive them and drive them and that line is going to come alive. When it does, we've just got to take advantage of it.
And the quarterback, once the quarterback starts playing better, then the O-line will play better, and we can throw the deep balls to get people to back off and then we can run it. But you look at this afternoon, it was just fun to watch. One of the throws that Malcolm had, it was just gaping open, and he hit it, and just watching it happen and just watching that line come together.
On Jordan Hicks' performance and his two stops in the red zone: Hicks has had an unbelievable year. He's had great leadership ability. The first red zone play we go to man coverage, so he's matched up on the wide receiver. So they run a shallow dig all the way across the field, and where he was smart, just get him on the ground. Don't try to make a great play, just get him on the ground, and you end up tackling him and getting the fourth down. Then they come back, the thing about this offense, when they have a big play and they see mismatches, they try to match it up where you saw the receiver, same thing, so they came back with similar -- it wasn't the same play, but now they brought it from the other side and ended up making a big- time play. But we were playing man coverage, so we had doubled the two outside receivers, so that was the match-up. The thing about Hicks, he's athletic enough where he can cover in the open field and he can match him up on the receiver. Just can't hold it for very long, but I think what also happened with that, with the pressure we were applying, he had to get rid of the ball and it felt like he had the pressure on. So he dumped the first one he dumped right away, and then you see Hicks was trailing and just getting down, which was two big plays down in the red zone.
On his thoughts on the team finishing tonight: Well, you love to see this. You get more going on offense, just make plays on offense, just drive the football. We had the ball down there plenty of times. You think about it, they gave us the ball, gave us our opportunities and we didn't get the score. But we just need to play a lot better on offense. Then defense, we knew we had to finish the way we put it on. I love doing it. I love putting the game on the defensive shoulders. The way we play this game, defense plays well. If defense doesn't play well, we have no shot at all.
On getting a win like this when a lot of recruits are present: Well, it's always big because now when you win at home and the crowd is into it, their enthusiasm and the passion, and they get an opportunity to see it, and they see just a great game day experience. It was in the stadium. It started early. We got out there early and they drive the ball. Get a couple of throws in, and we get them backed up and they get a big third down. We were able to get off and the juice was in the stadium all day. So now they can walk away saying it's a lot better than what I thought, lot different than what they thought, but it is a great program, and they want to have that opportunity. This is a great place, so when you bring in recruits and you have a chance to go win at home like we did, it just makes it even better.
Assistant head coach for offense/QBs coach Shawn Watson
On how he feels about the running game: The running game has come a long way. We've worked hard at it. I loved what those guys are doing up front. We've taken a philosophy of bringing the ball downhill to the tailbacks because that's who they are, and it just really plays into what helps us make football and helps Ty and the quarterback.
Can't say enough about what Johnathan's doing and what Malcolm's doing because they've had to be patient this year. It's really gratifying for me to see the success come their way.
On how hard it's been for them: I would imagine, you know hard, frustrating probably at times. Those guys have epitomized what you want as a coach and leaders on your team. They've been great teammates. They've probably been inspirational people to the offensive line because they were growing them and finding guys we were going to play with. So a lot of what's happening is due to them and just their perseverance and the type of character people they are.
On the success of the offense in the first half: Yeah, we did a nice job. The answer coming into halftime is max blitzes. It was a blitz fest second half. You know, then you've got to make some throws, and we didn't do that. We've got to keep growing Ty, keep working with him and keep working with our receivers. Our protection I thought was good. I can remember one time Ty had some disruption in the pocket with that situation, but he's got to continue to grow. He's got to keep growing. He's a great character guy, and we'll keep growing him and he'll keep getting better.
On some of the moves Johnathan Gray made: Yeah, I think Johnathan is really finding confidence coming off his injury. He's really playing explosive. His change of direction, each week he's made change of direction runs in tight places. So you can see his confidence is back from the injury.
On getting a signature win: It's very gratifying because that's a good football team. They're a handful on defense. They're a handful on offense. They've got a pretty solid group of veteran players who know offense and defense and know what to expect, and they played really well this year. They have. For us to go out and get a win like that where we're at and what we're trying to develop and really get our program started here, it's a very gratifying win.
On how nice it was to see Geoff Swaim catch a TD pass: You know, it's good. Geoff quietly does everything. He really does. He's a guy that we depend on to do multiple things on our offense. When he sees plays, on the tight end he plays a moving tight end. He plays receiver at times. So for Geoff to have that touchdown was really nice. He did a great job executing the play. It's just who he is though. He's a very detailed player.
On not using much up-tempo: A lot of that is due to our lead, where we were at. It was a decision that we made just to basically -- we wanted to eat off the clock. Defense was playing really well. We needed -- it was a blitzfest, and we had to handle the pressures too. I think looking back all of the third downs were zero pressures. So I think with the exception of maybe I think two. So as we keep working with these guys, the tempo really gives us a lot. Our kids played well in it. I think we'd all sit back. You know, we hopped in a little bit, but we didn't get a good start. When we didn't get a good start, we had to pull ourselves out of it just because we didn't get a good start because of the pressure.
We'll look at film and keep getting better because there are some things that I think we can obviously improve on, but some things we can all grow from it.
On Tyrone Swoopes' interception: Yeah, Ty's basically -- I think he's seeing the rush. He didn't set his feet and make the kind of throws he was making in the first half. He's having to deal with a lot of pressure, and young quarterbacks they see a lot of pressure, they don't set their feet. It's one of the things we've got to grow him through. It's part of the process he's going through. He's got to gain confidence.
I thought, again, I thought our guys did a great job in protection. I can only think of a couple times that we had some disruptions in the pocket that caused him to have to move or invade a rush. I thought they did an excellent job. So it comes down to stepping in there and making throws.
On if he's stopped progressing: No, he hasn't stopped progressing. When you get a young quarterback in there everybody's going to do what? Blitz him. So he's got to grow through this process. He's got to stand in there and make some throws.
On whether he was going through progressions: No, he had one misread. He actually had one of our receivers misread. He didn't execute the play, and then he had a chance to hit Jackson for a touchdown there in the third quarter. And you know, those he's got to make. He just tried to guide it in there instead of throwing it in there. All things he's got to grow through.
On Coach Strong saying he felt the team coming together this week and if he also felt that way: Yeah, we've been growing. I think it's been happening in the last three weeks from what I've seen. The guys have hung in there. We've made our way through some difficult times. I think what happens is you grow together, character begins to grow, and you get an attitude and a chemistry amongst the team and everybody's for each other. You just find ways to win football games and keep working and keep growing. They understand we're in a process. The seniors have been excellent in leading us and the younger players and following.
On Daje Johnson: Well, we've got to keep finding ways to get him touches. I think that's one way you can do it. There are other ways. We always look for ways to include him in the game plan with those kind of plays. We want him to have it the conventional way too, but those are things that he does very well. What we try to do every week, whether it's that type of actually reverse or if it's a made sweep, we're going to try to always get him involved. Then we can use him. He really helps set up that touchdown run by Johnathan because they're chasing him, so he can help provide us in this direction also.
On if he's substituted any offensive linemen: No. I think maybe Jake [Raulerson] played one snap, two snaps when Taylor [Doyle] had something. He got something in his eye, one of those pebbles or something, and he had to come out for a play.
On if he's ever seen anything like this in his career: No, we've never been through anything like this in my entire career. You know, a lot could be set good for those kids. I keep telling them that this is going to be a great life lesson for them. They're going to take and become better men period, better fathers, better husbands, better people for what they're going through, because they certainly have served this perseverance, the test of perseverance, the toughness that they've had to go through.
They've been remarkable because they just keep giving it to us. And those kids get a lot of reps during the week. That is an outstanding crew of people.
On if the o line needs a day off: They need a day off. Those poor guys. We wear them out. They've had to shoulder the load.
If Darius James is done for the season: I don't know that yet. We don't know that. We're waiting to get final analysis on that. As you know, that is a process that goes through the team doctors and let things kind of settle down and then we'll get it.
On what he's seen from Camrhon Hughes: He just keeps getting better. He's gaining confidence in his play. Knows, as all young guys do, he's got a lot to work on. Wick has been real honest with him and I've been honest with him. He's such a good person, and he wants to be a good football player. He every week gets better at something. He really does. I mean, he's come a long way because in the beginning he wasn't even in the initial thoughts. He's come a long way. He really has.
Senior RB Malcolm BrownOn the run game tonight: Oh yeah, it was great. The offensive line just did an outstanding job. We were finding holes everywhere and J Gray [Jr. RB Johnathan Gray] did a great job. I would like to believe I did a great job as well. Those guys up front, they just made it so easy for us.
On the win: Oh it's great. We went out and got a win against a ranked opponent and that's something we haven't done in a while. So it was great for this team and great to go into next week off of a win. We are going to go in and fix some corrections that definitely need to look at and just go into next week.
On the frustration in the beginning of the season: I'm human just like the rest of y'all—I get frustrated. It wasn't just me, it was the whole offense. We were kind of out of sync. We just weren't playing like we needed to be playing. We have a lot of athletes on this team that are just great players. Just to have us go out there and play like we did was definitely frustrating. We got it turned around. We just had to stay persistent and keep grinding it out.
On the atmosphere in the locker room: It was exciting. Like I said, it has been a while since we have beat a ranked opponent. We have a three-game stretch that we need to go in and play great in and we got one done tonight. So it was definitely exciting for us.
Junior DT Malcom Brown
On defensive plays in the third quarter: You just got to keep on playing and I mean we made a lot of mistakes in that quarter too, they did start scoring a little bit on us. We got to get better on our third and fourth quarter defense. We had held them to three points the whole game until at that point and they started scoring, so we just have to get better at that.
On Cedric Reed's performance: It was great. I was just so happy for him. I just want everyone to do good on defense, it's not all about me. When everyone makes plays I'm happy for them.
On if he was surprised they dominated West Virginia's offense: No, because we have been downing a lot of offenses the whole season, I mean we have a defense. There are still mistakes though. Everybody still has to get better.
On the energy from the crowd: It fuels me. It makes me play harder; it makes me play better when I hear the crowd. If it's our crowd or the other teams crowd. I hear all the noise in the stadium, it just makes me play better because I'm like oh yeah everybody's here now, all eyes on us.
On if beating a ranked team is a relief: Not really. I mean we could've been beating ranked teams; we just never capitalized on the victory. We always just said oh and let them take off on us. Like I said our third and fourth quarter defense wasn't good. I mean Baylor, Oklahoma; we could have beaten all those teams. But we just never finished on it.
Senior CB Quandre Diggs
On his pass interference: You're going to have bad plays, he's [WVU's Kevin White] a great receiver. There's not too much that can get me down in a football game. I'm a very confident player. I just use the techniques that the coaches tell me and they put me in great position. I've played this game for a long time, you're going to have ups and downs, I bounced back and I think I played well.
On Texas' journey to bowl eligibility: We've just got to get ready for the next one, you know. We can't look to the bowl game, we've just got to get win six coming up next Saturday.
On his interception: It was the first play that they ran of the game. I knew I was going to get another opportunity and in my head, you're going to beat me one time but the next time I'm going to go make a play. That's just what I did and it comes from great film review, great study. Coaches give us these great tip sheets and you know, you read those things and you watch that film and great things happen.
On the team's performance: Collectively we came out and we said this week that we wanted to go out and make plays, we wanted to win this game on defense. We had great turnovers, we had safeties, we did what we wanted to do and we dominated. We have to continue to get better, we can't just settle on this. At the same time, we're going to celebrate, we're going to have fun, we've just got to be ready to regroup tomorrow and be ready for Oklahoma State.
Junior RB Johnathan Gray
On how it feels to get a ranked win at home: It feels great to play well at home. We got our opportunity to beat a ranked opponent and we did that tonight. We played a great ball game from special teams to offense to defense and we came out with a win.
On how he feels: I feel better coming off an Achilles injury. It felt great getting better each and every day. The sky is the limit now.
On if he has more confidence now in regards to the cut he made: I could have made that earlier in the season. It's just getting the feel for the game. You know I was out for so long and now I'm getting back. It's just getting my flow of game and it felt great tonight just getting better each every week.
On the progress the offensive line has made: Going through the changes in the first of the year, these guys have done a great job at practice getting better. Each and every week they are doing what they are supposed to do and getting better at it. That's what we need from them and we are trying to help them out.
Senior LB Jordan Hicks
On the game as a whole: That was a complete game. You look at offense, defense, and special teams, that's a complete game. Defense was able to get turnovers, offense was able to move the ball and keep the defense off the field when necessary, and special teams, we pinned them down there multiple times so, like I said it's a complete win.
On his first home win against a Top 25 team: It's awesome. Like I said, this was a team win, it feels good, we've just got to keep the momentum going into Oklahoma.
On the effort to become bowl eligible: We're not done. This was obviously the first stepping stone to getting that sixth win at the end of the season. We're not going to let this carry over and have a hangover, whatever you want to call it. We've got to be ready to play, especially with the environment we're about to step in to at Oklahoma State.
On Cedric Reed: He played. Everybody knew it was in him, we've been waiting for it to come out. Credit to him, not only him but the DBs as well for covering. When you've got guys like Quandre [Diggs] and Duke [Thomas] and Mykkele [Thompson], [Dylan] Haines covering their butts off. The quarterback has got to hold the ball, especially with the wide receiver core they had, it's a tough duty to do. When you've got the quarterback on the ball, you're giving him time. When you've got guys like Ced Reed and Malcom Brown giving pressure the way they do, somebody has got to make a play.
Senior DE Cedric Reed
On how it feels to have a breakout game this season: It feels great. I knew it was coming, and my teammates and coaches knew it was coming. Someone just had to have the right scheme for me to go out there and play against, and it happened to be West Virginia tonight. It feels great.
On his three-sack performance: After I got that first sack I told [Assistant Head Coach for Defense / Defensive Line Chris] Rumph, "Sacks come in bunches, so you better watch out." I told Malcom [Brown] and Hassan [Ridgeway] [to watch out] because they are the ones leading in sacks, and that's what happened.
On beating a ranked team at home and if this was a signature win: That was definitely nice. It's another tombstone on our wall. It's something that we need to get to doing more around here. I wouldn't say [this was a signature win]. It's just another win, another Big 12 win … we're just playing one game at a time, and West Virginia was just one game on the schedule.
On what sparked his performance tonight and the safety he recorded: A lot of stuff was working for me. The coaches came to me last Sunday and said, "we're going to give you more plays and put you in spots for one-on-ones." That's what happened tonight … it just opened up like the red sea. It was right there in front of me.
Sophomore QB Tyrone Swoopes
On the first half compared to the second: It felt great, we were moving the ball really well, just moving the ball down the field. In the second half, we just kind of stalled out a little bit. I don't really know what happened, we will have to see tomorrow. But in the end we got the win so I feel like that's all that matters.
On the running backs performance: From the start of the year we knew that we had two great backs and kind of just had to get them going. It took them a little while, but now that they are going it helps us a lot as an offense.
On their bowl chances: If we just keep playing well as a team, I feel like we can go get at least one of these maybe, maybe both of them. I think we just have to keep playing the way we've been playing.
On Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray's back-to-back 100-yard games: It helps us out a lot. Just being able to play-action, get out on nakeds (bootleg route). When they can't stop the running you just keep running at them until they stop it. I feel like that's what we did and we did a good job of it.
WEST VIRGINIA QUOTES
Head Coach Dana Holgorsen
Opening statement: First half was a good old fashioned butt kicking. That's what it was on all three sides of the ball. We got outcoached, got outplayed. We did not play good. We have to give our guys a little bit of credit for at least going out there in the second half and competing. I don't think we competed very hard in the first half, but at least we did in the second half. Whether it was a little bit of a hangover or so to speak from last week, I don't know, but we weren't ready to play. I take responsibility for that. That's my take.
On the team playing through adversity and how they responded: Well we lost three very close games. We didn't have to go out on the road in front of 100,000 people after those losses, with the exception of the TCU loss. I didn't handle that one very well. The other ones I thought we handled a little bit better but under different circumstances as well. I imagine you have got to take the opponent into consideration a little bit. Obviously Texas has great players. They have done a good job on getting better each and every week.
On the performance of the defense in the second half and what he told them to adjust: Stop the run. In the first half they blocked better, they ran the ball between the tackles. We couldn't run very well, we couldn't run between the tackles. Everything happens up front. I don't think our offensive line did very good and that's where you get exposed. Our defensive front didn't do a very good job in the first half. They really responded in the second half. Our offensive line responded in the second half running the ball a little bit better.
On the missed opportunities in the first half to get back in the game: We moved the ball pretty good. Our drives stalled. Honestly, our field goal kicker was not good, special teams in general were terrible. You can't point a finger at anybody, it was all three sides of the ball, and obviously the finger gets pointed at me.
On if he thought the officials might have missed the call on the fourth down and inches play in the first half after failing to convert: That's just part of it, that's not anybody's fault. We were close to the goal line and we didn't get in. We could've done something about the push to get in on third down. We go for it on fourth and then we get stopped. The referees were where they were supposed to be. We couldn't score on that one and then the false start came.
On if there was a point where his players were losing their temper: I mean it was an emotional game. It's hard. It's challenging. It means a lot to our guys. There's going to be guys that are going to challenge each other. I would be disappointed if that didn't happen. We have a very tight football team and that's the way it is.
On the performance of QB Clint Trickett and if he was surprised: I was. He came in and gave us a spark a week ago. He's done a good job of knowing what his role is and making the most of his opportunities. Without studying the tape and looking at the stats, I thought he went in and gave us a spark and made some plays when we needed it.
On getting QB Clint Trickett more involved in the offense: I thought Clint did a good job on that. When people play zone, and they played zone the whole game, you've got to have a progression, which means you've got to have time to throw the ball. I thought Clint was much more comfortable in the pocket tonight, even though he got pressured and he got hit. He did a great job of going through his reads and getting the ball to his receivers.
On what his job is in the bye week after the first back-to-back losses in the season: Get this game over with tomorrow. It's going to be a normal bye week. We need a break because it's been six long weeks in a row. We will use this as a way of regrouping and try to get some guys healthy, do a little recruiting on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and then back to work on Sunday.
Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Shannon Dawson
On the missed opportunities: Yeah that's the storyline of the game, really. We got plenty opportunities, got the ball down there plenty and didn't get enough points out of it. That's nothing to do with moving the ball in between the 20's was not an issue. The issue was when we got down there. On film, they're a good defense when you get down there, but we obviously didn't do our part.
On if they change up the offense if it's not working against the defense: Yeah you do. There were times when we thought we could have ran it a little better against the look they were giving us and we wasn't. At the end of the game, obviously it looks like we had some yards rushing but when you get the ball down there, the field shrinks, and obviously you've got to either run it or create lanes in the passing lanes. You just can't keep beating your head against the wall if it's not working. You've got to change something.
On the momentum change when they reviewed the near touchdown: It would have been seven points. Obviously it's a big deal. Did we get a field goal out of that one? [Yes] We needed seven though. You can't control things like that. Obviously it's unfortunate.
On red zone execution: Yeah, obviously it gets tougher in the end zone because the field gets shorter but that's probably not a very good excuse for why we played poorly. I thought they came out and at times, just played harder than we did. That's evident when you get to play in situations like that in the game. You got to bow your neck and push them off the ball and you got to create some opportunities for yourself. So they won those battles.
On Texas' rush defense getting to Trickett: Yeah we're trying to protect him as much as possible. Our tackles get in a bind every now and again, and we don't want to put them in the situations where obviously they know we're throwing it and they're going to be able to get a pass rush. We tried to stay out of those situations as much as we can, but when you're down 21 points, you got to be able to throw the football. At times, our protection was good but it broke down a couple of times in critical situations and it hurt us.
Defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Tony Gibson
On the difference between the first half and second half: We decided to play in the second half. That's the bottom line. It's our fault as coaches. I'll take full responsibility for the defense. In the first half, we came out sluggish and couldn't stop the run. That's 100 percent on me. They controlled the line of scrimmage and did what they wanted to do.
On if he sensed anything during the pregame: They were a little bit down. I didn't know if they were locked in or if we were down a little bit but a couple of coaches brought it to my attention. They were just better than us today.
On if there's anything the coaches can do about it: Not really. You motivate and coach during the week and on game day, you go out and call the game. If we have to motivate them to come play in this venue and in the Big 12 and other Big 12 games, that's not a good thing.
On what they work on going into the bye week: Everything. It's disappointing. It wasn't a big secret what they were going to do. They were going to get in double tight end sets, they got big backs, and they were going to try and pound us, and they did it. They controlled us up front. They ran through our linebackers and ran through our DBs but again, that's not on the kids, that's on me.
Junior LB Nick Kwiatkoski
On the change of performance in the second half: We just cleaned some things up. Us Linebackers talked with the defensive linemen to get on the same page and figure out exactly what they were doing. We just needed to be clean and get them on the ground.
On if they thought coming in that Texas was going to run hard: We thought that. They are a run team and have a great back. We had a feeling that they were just going to come out and pound the ball up front and mostly they did that. It wasn't a surprise that they did that and we just couldn't stop them in the first half.
DL Noble Nwachukwu
On what happened in the second half that didn't happen in the first: We just executed more in the second half. Just little things we did, we didn't do in the first half. You got to put it all together.
On coaches challenging players at halftime: Just told us to go out there and play hard. That wasn't how we play. That didn't look like us at all. Just finish. It doesn't matter what the score is at the end as long as you fight until the end.
On now being able stop Texas on the ground: Going into the game, we knew they were going to try to run the ball. We knew they had a lot of formations and a lot of checks. We knew they were going to run the ball and we just couldn't stop them in the first half.
Junior DL Kyle Rose
On tonight's performance: You can't win a football game like that. You get down 24 points in the first half, it's half to come back from. Defense fought hard in the second half, made too many mistake in the first half. We just weren't…whatever happened, I'm not really sure yet, I haven't watched the film.
Junior WR Jordan Thompson
On mindset of the offense: We didn't feel right. It was just like we were out of rhythm. This bye week is definitely going to benefit us. We're going to attack it and look to improve on all three sides of the ball.
On how much more the team has to prove: We still have a lot to prove. Coming off back-to-back losses, people are like 'maybe it's going to be a .500, 6-6 season.' It's not going to be a 6-6 season. We're going to come out, prove everyone wrong, and try to reach our ultimate goal: to reach a good bowl game. You never know what's going to happen in this type of league, so we just got to keep playing hard.
Senior QB Clint Trickett
On a potential TCU hangover: To be honest, I didn't think there would be one going into it. Obviously the first half wasn't what we normally do in the first half of football games. Offensively, defensively, and special teams they came out and they wanted it more. They are one win away now from a bowl game, so they are fighting for a lot. We are too but they wanted it more a little bit in the first half and we just ran out of time in the second half.
On the team being down in pregame: Not that I could tell because if there would be something it would have been addressed. They just came out and played one hell of a first half and one hell of a game. It was just right in the mouth in the first half.
Sophomore CB Daryl Worley
On not being able to stop Texas on the ground: There was slight confusion on why we weren't making the plays. It felt like all the right calls were being called, so it was on us to go out and execute. We weren't doing that in first half. It doesn't matter that we did good in the second half because we didn't come out with the win.
On missed tackles: Everyone was just lunging. They were just shooting and hoping for the best. We weren't running for the ball. We should have had all eleven hats at the ball like we had all year.
On heading into the bye week: We definitely feel a sigh of relief. We wish we would have been going in on a different note, especially if we would have been coming off of a win it would have been better. I wouldn't say we are banged up. When you play consistent football six weeks straight, it does take a toll on your body.
Senior WR Kevin White
On the frustration level of the missed opportunities: We're very frustrated because that's not who we are, that's not how we practice, that's not how we play. So when we go down the field and don't finish or don't connect on opportunities that we have, it's very frustrating. We just lost to a good team today.
On if they were surprised on how quickly Texas came out: Yeah, they started off really good and we didn't start off fast at all. They just took advantage of their opportunity.
On if he feels like there was something lingering from the TCU loss: Not too much, no. I'm not sure why we started off so slow, but things weren't going our way. We didn't take advantage of the opportunities, they did, and they won.
