The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
09.14.2016 | Football
Defensive Coordinator Vance Bedford met with the media on Wednesday in advance of Saturday's game at Cal
Defensive Coordinator Vance Bedford
On leading the conference in sacks: I'm excited about that. Did I expect that at this time in the season? No, I didn't. The guys are playing hard, and that's the key. When you give great effort, especially when it's getting to the quarterback, good things can happen for you. Eight sacks right now, I'm excited about it. Hopefully going forward that will continue to happen for us.
On Malcolm Roach's progression as a player: He's a coach's son. When he got here on campus this summer, first thing he asked, 'Coach, where's the playbook? Can I go watch video?' So he's worked at learning what to do and how to do it. He's taken coach Haley's teaching to the field. He's a lot like [Breckyn] Hager, I mean, from his effort. He gives you great effort all the time. And that's something special that he brings to the table. So what you saw this past weekend, that's who the kid is. He'll give you everything he has. Even if he doesn't know what to do, he'll go 100 miles an hour and he'll make a play doing that same thing Hager does. So I think the kid has a bright future for us.
On the performance of backup players against UTEP: I told our guys on defense this: versus UTEP, we had a better team. We really did. We should've done what we did, to be honest. We gave up that one big play we were disappointed in. We didn't fit the run right, we miss a tackle in the back end. But we were supposed to go out there with our D-line and our linebackers and control the line of scrimmage. They did that for the most part. So we were excited to see when you were supposed to win, you go out there defensively and you do a solid job.
On whether the current defensive backs have the potential to match the legacies of Michael Huff and Aaron Ross: The famous word that coaches don't like to use is potential, because sometimes a guy can be potential for four years. They're a hell of a long way to go to even mention those guys' names. Michael Huff came here, was redshirted, had an opportunity to sit and watch and learn from the guys that were here, so when his time came, he was prepared. This freshman class about a year ago, they're sophomores right now, they had to come in and play right now. They didn't have a lot of guys to learn from. They're doing on-the-job training, which sometimes is a good thing and sometimes it isn't. So they have a long way to go before they can mention themselves and the names of Huff and Ross and all of those guys. I'm still waiting to see these guys be consistent, because they haven't been consistent.
On Cal quarterback Davis Webb: He's an excellent quarterback. He has the arm, he sees the entire field. He can make all the throws. You sit there and watch the video, he's on the hash mark and he throws an out cut to the field, all you can do is shake your head. That is not supposed to happen. I think the kid has special talent. I think he brings something special to Cal's offense. So we're going to have our hands full. Last week I think they had 94 plays and he threw the ball 72 times. That's a lot of passes. For a defense, that's a scary situation.
On stacking up Webb against the quarterbacks in the Big 12: If Webb was in this conference right now, he'd probably be in the top four. I think if you put him at Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma, they could win with this guy. He executes the offense, he can throw the ball, he can make the checks. He can get them in the right plays. He does the things that you need a quarterback in this system to do. He can make all the throws.
On some players receiving less playing time in the first two games: It's a combination of a lot of things. The first game, Kris Boyd didn't get in there except for special teams. So we're trying to develop guys, rotate guys in there and that's part of what you're seeing right now. So we're moving the guys around, trying to find the right fit. And the biggest thing you try to find with young guys is to make them compete. You need to earn your way. These freshmen a year ago came in here and they walked around and they played. All of sudden people saying, 'Man, you guys have done a great job.' They were inconsistent last year. You saw flashes. So our thing right now is, if you don't come to practice every day and practice hard or if you have an opportunity to go into the game and you don't do what you're supposed to do, there's a good chance you're not going onto that football field. And that's where we are with a lot of those guys right now. It's like Kris Boyd didn't play a lot in the first ballgame, and that's part of it. We're going to challenge these guys all the time to do things right, all the time, to be consistent in practice and then go do it in the game.
On how many defensive backs will play against Cal: If they make the trip, they're all going to have to play. I read an article about Texas Tech and Arizona State, they said their defensive backs ran a total of four miles in that game. The score was 68-55, I believe. You play these type of offenses, if you think you're going to go out there and play one set of defensive backs, you're in trouble, because in the fourth quarter they will have no legs to keep up with these guys. So we have tried to rotate guys in, just play a lot of guys because of competition. Trying to keep them as fresh as we possibly can.
