The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Tracking the Longhorns: Tuesday with the media
09.02.2014 | Football
Assistant head coach for offense/QB coach Shawn Watson and players met with the media
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Following Tuesday's practice, assistant head coach for offense/QBs coach Shawn Watson, along with junior running back Johnathan Gray, junior tight end M.J. McFarland, sophomore defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway and senior wide receiver Jaxon Shipley met with the media. Quotes from the media availability are below.
Texas assistant head coach for offense/QBs Shawn Watson
On how dire the situation is: It's just called opportunities, man. These kinds of things happen during the season. You've got to be a good example to your players on life lessons. That's part of what the game of football taught me and this is what it teaches all of us. It teaches us perseverance and how to find your way through difficult situations and rise above them. And we will. We've got a great group of kids and the core group of kids down there is just awesome and they're buying in to everything we're asking them to do.
On if Tyrone Swoopes is ready: Yeah, Ty[rone Swoopes] is ready. Your backup is always the most important player in your program. That's a lesson I learned from Coach [Weeb] Ewbank a long time ago and I've shared those things with Ty. He's done a nice job of improving himself through training camp. We've accentuated a whole new skill. He allows us to do some things we couldn't or wouldn't have done with David [Ash] that we actually have in our package, so we'll be able to open up some of that stuff.
On how Swoopes' strengths as a quarterback are different from Ash's: First he's very athletic. He has a physical presence, he can hurt you at running the football, he's got a very strong arm, and he can fit a ball in a very tight window. David had a lot of ball speed and he certainly had the same type of arm, but we're not giving anything up in arm strength, ball speed. He's done a really nice job of learning how to manage what we do. We'll keep it comfortable for him. I'm not going to ask him to do what I did with [former Louisville QB] Teddy [Bridgewater] last year. In fact, it'll be very similar to what I did with Teddy year one.
On how developed Jerrod Heard is: I just had that talk with him, the same talk I had with Ty a couple of weeks ago. He's progressing. He understands the language and knows how things work now. He's got to polish his game, but again, we the coaches, have to ask what they can do and what they can execute. That's what you always look at.
On if there's just as much pressure on the offensive line this week: The offensive line losing Dom[inic Espinosa] has done something really cool to that group. They've really galvanized themselves. They know what they've lost in Dom. [Redshirt freshman center] Jake [Raulerson] has taken a great sense of responsibility on and making sure everybody's on the same page. They're watching film together, they're communicating in the room together. Jake knows he's got to captain those things and making sure the communication is up and down the line. That's been pretty impressive seeing those guys work together.
On how he would grade the offensive line on Saturday: We played so many combinations in there. I thought just looking at the film that Dom was having a great game. He was playing a great game. I felt like Big [Kent] Perk[ins] played well. I thought he played really well. You can see that as a whole group, they were good. I know [offensive coordinator/offensive line coach] Joe [Wickline] expects so much out of them. He expects a real high standard of play out of them and as a group they were really solid though. They covered up and created some nice running lanes for the backs. I've got to throw the tight ends in there because I thought [Geoff] Swaim played really well. Guys that just popped off and played well and covered up people and finished up blocks. Those are the guys that really stood out.
On if he wants Tyrone Swoopes to feel like he has a huge responsibility or if he downplays it: I just talked to him. Basically, his first transition he develops is he's got to be a part of why we win. I said a part; he's got to understand what he's got at his disposal. He's got two great tailbacks, he's got a really gifted corps of receivers, he's got really good tight ends, he's got a really good offensive line, so he's got to let those people help him. He does not need to put an "S" on his chest and a cape on his back and try to do it all by himself. It won't work that way. In lieu to experience I had with Teddy getting him ready. That was one thing I was able to get across to Teddy and he basically learned to let the game come to him and trust his preparation and react in a game.
On describing Tyrone's demeanor and body language: He's been the cool, calm customer he is. I think he is a very well liked player on this football team and a very well respected player for his work ethic and his character and the person he is and what he puts in and what he's working to accomplish here. So he has a lot of team respect and the guys will rally behind him because of that. His demeanor hasn't changed. He's a very poised young man.
Junior RB Johnathan Gray
On what they need to do with Tyrone Swoopes to win: It doesn't matter what quarterback is in, we feel like. We feel like any quarterback can get the job done. We're behind either quarterback, and whoever's the starting quarterback that's who we're playing behind.
On how he felt being back from injury: I felt great. It felt great just to be back with my team and run around with those guys and for the most part, get a W and help those guys win. So it felt great and I'm glad to be back.
Junior TE M.J. McFarland
On how he's become a better blocker: Just consistency. Just being consistent in the run game. When it comes to passing, the passing game comes natural for me, so just being consistent in the run game.
On what the last few years have been like and how he fought his way back up: I've just been relentless. I've just been coming to work every day and having faith, knowing that my time will come. This is a big time school and big time players come here, so coming in, I understood that. I just had to come here and go to work and finally it's paying off.
Sophomore DT Hassan Ridgeway
On where he's improved his game and where he's at now: Well I had a lot of people pushing me, like Malcom [Brown] and Tank [Desmond Jackson]. They came back and they were the ones helping to get better. I just try to be like them. That's my main goal is to be as good as them. When I come on the field, I don't want there to be a drop-off from anybody else. I want to be just as good.
On how often he remembers what Taysom Hill did last year against BYU: We don't really look back on last year that much. We looked a little bit but we try and focus on this year and what we're going to do this year.
On what the defense needs to improve for this week: Do the exact same thing. Clean up the little, small mistakes we made and do it 10 times better. Do it with more effort, energy; everything we did but more.
On how much defensive line coach Chris Rumph has helped improve his game: He's an extraordinary coach. He's one of the best coaches I've had. Just the way he talks, shows us what we need to do, how he teaches us is a lot different. I've had good coaches before but he has a different approach to us and that's all it is. Just a different approach to us, which made us learn differently.
Senior WR Jaxon Shipley
On Tyrone Swoopes managing the game: That's the thing is what they ask him to do is just manage the game. You don't have to go out there and make all these heroic plays and stuff. You just need to make sure you don't turn the ball over and make sure you're making some pretty good throws. That's pretty much it. As long as we can move the ball down the field and get some points on the board, we're good.
On what he's seen behind the scenes that gives him so much confidence in Swoopes: It's with both David and Ty. The thing with Tyrone is that he's a leader. A lot of guys don't see him on the field, but in the locker room, all of the guys love him. He's one of our good friends. We have a lot of respect for him. He's an extremely hard worker. He's becoming more vocal as he's been here. He was pretty shy when he first got here but he's become more vocal. I think mainly just out there at practice every day, especially when the cameras aren't around there, he's proved himself to us.
On the defense: Our defense played unbelievable. Having a really good defense can make an offense that's not playing so well make them look really good. Obviously, we want to have a great offense, but I think our defense is definitely going to help us out. Like I said, we have confidence in both of those quarterbacks and us as receivers, it shouldn't matter really who the quarterback is anyways. We need to do our job regardless.
On if anything can rattle the team: We've been through a lot since Coach Strong's came in. We've lost some of our friends, some of our teammates. We've really had to go to work this offseason. I feel like we really proved some stuff to ourselves that we can put in a lot of hard work and we feel like, looking back, we had an awesome offseason. It was one where we really put our head down and were really working. So we feel confident because of all the work that we put in. A lot of stuff that goes unseen to the outside people, I feel like, has given us a lot of confidence.
