The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
09.14.2014 | Football
Head coach Charlie Strong
Opening statement: Just like overall how we battled. Just can't give up the big plays. You look at it, we go up by a touchdown, we get the ball back. We just don't take no time off the clock. And then we end up punting the ball from our territory, and guy has a really good return and get up our hitch and go. But I just like overall how this team bounced back from a week ago. I told them, I said we just keep fighting, keep battling and good things are going to happen. And in these close games, it's just hard right now. And it's tough in the locker room because I just know that they just laid it out there and they gave it everything they had.
On running a quick offense after recovering the fumble late in the fourth quarter: Well, what had happened, we'd been moving the ball, and that's how we were getting energy and we were moving and then we thought that's the way we could move the football and establish a drive. Before that we went down and scored. And you think about it, first run we hand off and we get positive yards, five or six or so. But then you just missed a throw. But it's just -- that's the way we were moving the football.
On if UCLA QB Brett Hundley going down changed the gameplan: Oh, it didn't change at all because they kept running what they were running so we didn't change our game plan at all.
On how he assesses the play of QB Tyrone Swoopes: He just continues to get better and better. You look at him this week, and he made really good throws and just managed to -- if you are offense and the team is all behind him and you like it if -- you know, he's big and strong enough where he can make the plays and with pressure, you can run. He has good enough people you can run away from it. But he's just getting better and better week by week.
On the trouble they had stopping the run: Well, we didn't stop the run, and you're right. If you look at the start of the second half, you have a big run, missed a tackle, and it turns into a big run. We make that tackle, you know, second-and-7 and whatever, and that's the thing. You can't miss tackles. We missed a lot of them, and they were running the ball. And they were mostly boundary runs where we weren't getting our gaps in and getting off blocks and we just weren't able to establish the running game.
On the confusion over the coin toss at the beginning of the game: I think that what happened, one of our guys got nervous. Because I said to him, I said, "What happened?" He said, "I don't know, Coach. I was just so hyped up and I just… they looked at me, and they said, "You want to receive the ball or do you guys want to play defense?" And he was like, "Oh, we want to play defense." I said we lost the toss.
On if he wished the last punt that resulted in a long return was a little bit higher rather than a line drive: What happens is it was a line drive and we just out-kicked the coverages. And you're right, we weren't able to get him penned inside, so they were able to get down the sideline and then had a wall set up. And then when that happened, you have them coming back and making blocks for him. You'd like for the ball to hang a little longer and give him a chance to get down there and cover it. It was a great punt, but just outkicked the coverage.
On what message he was sending the offense when he decided to go for it on fourth down in the first half: That we are going to go for it on the break when it was 4th-and-8 and just try to get something established and get something going. And just where the ball was, you could go for it. And, like I said, you're going to be punting it because at that time it was on the 38-yard line. So even if we sky kick it and go into the end zone, it was 13 yards. So I said that let's just go for it here and let the defense come out and have a play.
On the way they played last week and bouncing back this week: Well, last week it just wasn't our football team. And today was just an indication of how well we just go out and play and play as a team and just stay focused and prepared how, well we can play. But last week, that wasn't us.
On the three-and-out after they forced a fumble in the fourth quarter: Well, what happened is we had been moving the ball with good tempo so we just felt like we could move the ball and get it done and take some time, because if we didn't get first down, we were going to milk the clock and run it down and didn't get the first down, but just the tempo of how was we moving the football, so we stuck to what had us going, and that's how our offense is. People think we can go score, and it just showed this evening.
On not throwing the deep ball and why they haven't done that more: Well, right now, the ball is thrown down the field maybe once or twice. But really, the thing is what the defense is going to give you. And the thing is that they got to back off and played us coverage. And we had some plays called, and [Swoopes] just didn't -- with the defense playing, he just didn't let the ball go. But he overall set it early. He just continued to get better and better. He just continues to improve.
On what he does as a coaching staff to make sure the team doesn't get too down: They will be. And the thing is that when we come back up for that bye week, conference play again. So now everything counts. So we just got to get -- it's only three games now, so we just got to pick ourselves back up, and you just got to know how to handle adversity. And there's going to be some tough losses. So we'll just see what type of team we are and how we bounce back. We bounced back last week, so we can continue to get better and better.
On if he was happy with the way the team prepared this week as opposed to BYU: It was much better. We were much better, improved this week. And it just shows by the way we played this evening. Yeah. We were prepared this evening. And we were a lot more focused.
On if these are positive steps in the process: Well, it's positive the way we played, but it's not positive the way we finished the game, and now it's just about finishing and just having the opportunity to -- I mean those opportunities, you've got to take advantage of them. The good teams take advantage of those opportunities. We'll get there. We've just got to continue to keep playing and just continue to just make sure that when you get a chance to go make a play, go you make that play and just make things happen.
On how Tyrone Swoopes has matured: Just watch how he's grown and you think about it. We had [David] Ash, our quarterback, and he's just kind of sitting back and the ball was placed in his hands. He's done a great job of managing and directing our offense, and just to see his energy and how he's stepping up and he's getting guys going and the way he plays, everyone else is playing better around him.
On if he saw growth going into the bye week: Well, you saw week one we end up winning, and week two we didn't play so well. And you get into this week and you have a chance to go out there and finish this game. We just didn't finish it. And it was a top opponent. And you like to get it done, but it's still about growth and the process. And we've got to continue to move forward and just get better and better.
On UCLA's game-winning touchdown: Well, we've been talking about it because the game is all the bubble, the bubble, the bubble. We knew at some point it's going to be a bubble and go. And you're right, he shut down on the guy and ended up running past him. And it was after a big play. Because anytime you get a big play, the punt return that they had, then you just figure, hey, they're going to come with something so we've got to be ready and just don't give him anything. They have to score to win the game, and we end up [giving a big play] there.
Defensive coordinator/secondary coach Vance Bedford
On what happened on the big run early in the second half: We had a missed tackle. We were at the point of attack and there was a one-on-one tackle and we didn't come down with it, but I felt like down in the red zone we had a chance to make a play. We ran into three backs and we had a coverage call. We were trying to make it. We were in the position to make it – to intercept the ball, and we missed that opportunity. And then, of course, at the end the double move. We cannot give up those plays in the game. We gave up two big plays in the second half and that's the game. That's 14 points. That's the difference in the ballgame.
On the effect of the loss emotionally: I feel for the kids because they fought their butts off. I think [Tyrone] Swoopes and the offense did a tremendous job. They gave us everything they needed to win and at the end we didn't make it.
On what this game says about the team: They have a lot of fight. Last week we started out great but we didn't finish strong. We didn't finished strong today because we didn't win the football game. When the defense was on the field we had a chance to win and we didn't get it done.
Senior RB Malcolm Brown
On how much this loss hurts: It hurts. It hurts just like the rest of them. I take all of them the same. I don't like losing at all, so I take every loss the same.
On if he felt the team was more prepared: I try to refocus and take a little more on with the leadership role and get the offensive guys rolling. They all did a great job of refocusing as well. As an offense, we're refocused.
On why there was confusion during the coin toss: I don't know what happened. I don't want to speak on that.
On if he feels the team made a statement today after last week's blowout loss to BYU: Yeah, a little bit. We definitely played a little harder. Coach (Charlie Strong) told us he liked our effort. We still came out with a loss. That's the bottom line. We have to get better.
Senior CB Quandre Diggs
On if he sees this game as a missed opportunity: There is no doubt this is a missed opportunity. We didn't capitalize on what we should have capitalized on. We have to do better in those situations, and we just have to get back to grinding.
On how the game changed when Jerry Neuheisel came in at quarterback: (Neuheisel and Brett Hundley) are two different quarterbacks. One guy is up for a Heisman and the other guy is someone we've never heard of. Those guys are different players. They adjusted, and they won the game.
On if he was happy with his team's effort: That doesn't mean anything. We lost. You play with all the fight and lose; what's the point of coming out here and fighting? What's the point of going to practice? All that fight – that stuff is for the birds.
On how he plans to keep the team motivated: Lead by example. All that talking goes out the window. It's time to lead by example and go out and do what I'm supposed to do, and those guys will follow.
Senior WR John Harris
On the fourth-and-8 conversion that sparked the first touchdown drive: Fourth-and-8 we had to keep the drive going, so I had to step up in a big moment and make a play. I did, and [the drive was] something that me and Tyrone [Swoopes] got going.
On how much losing that game hurt: This one hurts a lot. We had that game right there, so it hurts everybody in the locker room especially. It was a hard loss for us. The heartbreak is there, that hurts. It hurts bad.
On how he felt about Tyrone Swoopes performance: He grew up a lot tonight. He stood in the pocket with a lot of poise. He is just growing up real fast and that is a good thing. He can do great things here at Texas.
How important is it to refocus heading into the bye week: It is real big. I will try to step up and help us out with that. You know, [we] finally broke through that wall, the luck just hasn't been on our side. We are just going to keep fighting and try to get it back on track just like we did last year. We will try to get into Big 12 [play] and get a Big 12 title. Get back to those 30 minutes [from a title] like we were last year against Baylor."
Sophomore QB Tyrone Swoopes
On if this loss hurts a lot: Of course it hurts, but we fought hard and we will build on this; build confidence and move on. Our next game we have a bye week which will be good; we will get some people back.
On if he felt more comfortable than last week: Yes. I felt a lot more comfortable. I played last week and with that I built confidence. I came in a little bit more confident and I can build off that next week too.
On how he felt he played: I thought I played well but at the end it is not about me. We still didn't win, so we have to build confidence off this and try to get the win next time.
