The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Arkansas quotes
12.30.2014 | Football
<blank>
Texas Quotes
Head Coach Charlie Strong
Opening statement: It's been a season that's been up and down. You go out here tonight and you play against a good Arkansas team. You would have thought that we would have come out and just been better prepared. It falls on the head coach and the coaches, but at some point too, we've got to develop and we've got to get the pride back in this program. Texas has got to mean something. Right now, it doesn't mean much. We have to play with passion. We got to play with energy. You have to have an edge to you. We don't have that right now. We go into the offseason. It's always great. Now, there's nothing great about it, but the season is over. Now we're going into the offseason, you see we have a lot of work to do. We got to get better on offense. There are no playmakers. You look at the quarterback position. We got to get better with the offensive line. Defensively, you can't give up the big play. You've got to play better. You've got to play smart. You have to be able to go out and stop. It doesn't matter what happens on offense. Defensively, you have to make plays. We just didn't do that and dint get off the field. We see there's a lot of work to be done, which is great. It's a great challenge. I don't mind it. I don't mind accepting it. I'm so happy for it, but you see it and we see it. We keep talking about it. The last two games is just so frustrating because you look at the TCU game and you look at this game, that's not an indication of what this football is and what this football team is all about. For that to happen, it's an embarrassment to the program. That should never, ever happen within this program. But we got work to do. We just got to get it done.
On the team being unprepared after having a month to get ready for this game: It's a mystery to me. It should never happen. When you go out and you practice for that long, you have to go out and practice. I saw them go through the motion. You don't act like you don't want to be there. I think that the way that we like to get things done. I don't know if they were kind of used to the way I like to do things. That's probably a part of it.
On what the team could have done differently offensively: Just executing. We didn't execute on offense. What happens if you're watching so much, when we have one bad play it leads to another bad play. It's like we can't retain our focus. We can't get back on track. Nobody's making a play. We're not blocking anybody. We're not running the ball. We're not protecting the quarterback. There are no playmakers.
On if the quarterback competition will be open this offseason: We got to get better at that position. We got a young man committed. You like to go get another one if we can. It's going to be a competition there. It's going to be a competition at all positions. I mean, where can we lay our hat on right now?
On the adjustments he tried to make in the game: It's about execution. It's nothing that another team does to you. Its what you do to yourselves. We go out there the first drive. Number one, the ball is punted and we don't field the ball and then you get backed up right away with a motion penalty. All of a sudden you get behind the chains and you can't get behind the chains. When you're playing a good football team, it can't be first-and-15. You got to get to second and you got to be able to manage the down. We weren't able to manage it.
On the Arkansas defense: Well, the played well on defense. You got to give it to them. Their team was prepared to go play and they did a great job on offense, too. I never think it's anybody else. I think we create our own mistakes. You look at the fumble for a touchdown. We go to hand the ball off on a wide zone play and we don't place the ball on their hip. A defensive lineman comes clean and then all of a sudden the ball is on the ground. We don't fall on it. They fall on it for a touchdown.
On what the coaching staff says when the players look like they have lost faith in their quarterback: I don't think they lost confidence in the quarterback. I mean, they have to look at themselves too. He's not the only one out there. Who else is making plays? I know the ball is in his hand. When he plays well, he gets a lot of praise. When he plays bad, he gets criticized a lot, but it's not on him. It's 11 guys on the field. It's not just one particular position. I don't ever look at it like that. I know he can play a lot better, but also we can run the ball and we can block better. We don't block anybody either. If I'm sitting back there at quarterback and nobody blocking for me, that means you can lose a little bit of confidence. You have to have confidence in all 11 guys and they have to have confidence in each other.
On the message to the players in the spring: It will be a strong message. I really thought about it now. I just don't want to say something to them that I may regret later, but the message will be very clear to them.
On if he was expecting this game: You don't ever expect to go out and go get hammered 31-7 in a bowl game when you had a month to go prepare.
On why the offense has struggled with QB Tyrone Swoopes: You're right. We only had 58 yards tonight. We just didn't play well. Throughout this season, we had some games. We had some moments where we did play well on offense. You have to have playmakers and you have to have guys up front. Everything starts when you look at a football team, it starts with the offensive line and the defensive line. If you can't move people on the offensive line, if you can't create seems in the defense, allow the running backs to run the ball, and then you protect the quarterback when we drop back to throw it, you're going to have issues and that's what we had. On defense, the defensive front's got to play well, which we've done all season long. We talk about the quarterback because the ball is in his hands a lot. We know that and we see that. He doesn't always make the perfect throws, but also you got to have somebody around him who can help him out sometimes.
Senior LB Jordan Hicks
On what Arkansas did to win: I think for us, we just didn't execute. We weren't able to get off on third down defensively and that was huge for us. It extended their time of possession. They had the ball for way too long in our eyes and I think there were a few key third downs that we weren't able to convert on. They did a good job. I give credit to them.
On if team wanted to be here: Absolutely. We went 6-6, which definitely is not our standard, but at the same time we were facing a great team, an SEC team, with a great opportunity to go out there and prove a point and it's just disappointing, especially as a senior to go out like that but, you've got to hang high, you've got to continue to work, you've got to tell these young guys don't end like that in the future, don't end like that. You've got to keep working to get this program back where it's supposed to be.
On frustration with this game: I mean, honestly, what's disappointing is that we were in a position to make plays and we didn't make them. There were a few times on a few passes and a few times on those runs, you know, we had a few third down penalties. It's little things like that, that pile up and end up killing you -- especially on third down. You can't have those types of mistakes on third down and that's what we did. They made plays and we didn't. That was the key.
Sophomore QB Tyrone Swoopes
On what Arkansas did to win: I feel like we knew that they were going to be physical and we just didn't match how physical they were with us.
On what went wrong on offense: We just didn't execute. At the end of the day that's what you've got to do. You've got to protect to get a push. Our receivers have got to run their routes, get off the line. Running backs have to run hard and, I mean, we just didn't execute.
On an open quarterback competition for next season: I mean, that was going to be the situation either way this game went, either way the season went. They said that they always do that, so I'm just going to go in and compete. I don't have a problem with competing and just like I said just go in and compete and try to get the job.
On season as a whole: Just a learning experience. A lot of things happened, some good, some bad, I just learned how to handle things.
On teammates still having confidence in him: We don't put it all on one person. We know offenses consist of 11 people. Not just one person is out there making mistakes and we all know that. Like I said, they don't really put it on one person.
