The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Tracking the Longhorns: Monday with the media [September 5, 2016]
09.05.2016 | Football
Head coach Charlie Strong and select players met with the media on Monday afternoon.
Texas Head Coach Charlie Strong – courtesy of ASAP Sports
Opening statement: Just, it was a great team win for us. You talk about a football team that is a very unselfish football team. You look at just the way we played last night, and I just look at that quarterback position, you look at Swoopes who is a senior, you look at a true freshman in Buechele, and the way they battled and the way they competed the whole off-season, even from the day one when Buechele walked on this campus in January, you knew there was going to be furious competition there.
You look at it early, I would have said probably three weeks ago that Swoopes had the upper hand, and then as they continue to go and you continue to battle and then you just watch Buechele, it became about consistency. Then you take a player like a Heard, and Heard came to me probably a week into it and says, hey, Coach, I want to help this football team. I think I have a lot of ability and I don't want to sit on the bench. I said, you pick the position and I'll go to the position coach. That's where you're going to go. He said I want to play wide receiver.
You look at that catch he made last night. I was laughing because I told him you got a guy ran him down. He always talks about he can run, but it was fun to watch. Because when I talk about selfishness and you look at those three guys and the way they competed and Swoopes having the conversation with Buechele just telling him, I'm behind you, I want you to do good. And I know I'm going to get a chance to play, which he had his touches in there with the three touchdowns. And we do our walk there, and I said it last night, we do our walk before pregame meal and I said to Swoopes, you know something, it's probably going to come down to it -- not that I'm a prophet -- it's probably going to come down to you having to make the play to win this game for us. And I had made a decision it was third down and we were going to go for it on fourth down. I was not going to kick a field goal and go into another overtime. I said, if you get it close enough, we're going to go for it on fourth down and we're going to win the game and we're going to ride you. But it was just, to get that game into overtime, I think has been the first overtime game here probably ever.
I'm not sure about that, but just to see our team continue to battle. Even when they blocked that extra point and ran it back to tie the game up, we had to kick the ball off from the 20-yard line, and they get the ball kicked down there with Becker doing a good job of placing the football. Then our defense having to go out.
Even if we have a chance there and we don't get the holding called and don't get a bad snap, we had a chance to go win the game at that point. But it was like a 15-round heavyweight fight. We were taking our blows; they were taking their blows. We'd go up by 17, they'd go up by 4, and we'd continue to battle.
After the game in the locker room I said, I think last year we would have lost this game. I don't know if we would have had enough left in us to go continuing to battle where we didn't lose our confidence and we didn't lose our confidence. But there were a lot of things we needed to get corrected. You look at the penalties, we had 11 penalties. Some of them that were just foolish penalties. You can't get personal foul penalties. You can't get block in the back penalties. You can't get the holding penalties, the chop penalties to stop the drive, and there are things we can get corrected this week.
Gave the players the day off. We'll get ready for UTEP. I know they had an offense last week that had over 500 yards of running back that ran for 200 yards himself. So it will be another challenge for our defense. But we need to continue to build on and continue to play with confidence.
One game does not make a season. We know that we're still rebuilding. We want to make sure that each and every week we get better and better, and make sure that guys go play up to their ability and go play their very best.
But it was a fun night last night. I know a lot of you haven't gotten much sleep. I know I haven't. But it was just, I was just so happy and so proud of our football team.
Lot of individual efforts. In the locker room after the game, D'Onta Foreman, a guy who doesn't say much at all, you can see he's coming into himself having over 100 yards rushing. He stood up and said, hey, I want everybody on this team, I want to give a big shout out to Tyrone Swoopes. He's a guy that never complained. He's a senior that never complained and he goes out there tonight and wins this football game for us. And the whole team stood up and gave Tyrone a standing ovation.
Perkins gets up there and says, I've got a guy I want to give a shout out to. I give a shout out to Alex Anderson. I go down and Alex comes into the game and he plays well. But you're seeing that guys have enough respect for one another on the team where now they're feeling they have enough confidence if something does happen then someone else is the next man up.
But I'm telling you, man, it's just been a fun night and just fun to see how much fun they had in that locker room afterwards.
On how he got the team to play with confidence: You know what it is, it's almost like you had an older group of guys and you have 12 seniors and then you have enough young guys who feel like they have the edge. Two of them already, because a lot of them think they're better than what they actually are and it's been fun to watch. But the older guys have been able to just kind of manage those egos, and telling those guys, hey, listen, your turn's going to come. It's our turn now, but we need your help.
And you can get that, especially from the leaders like Malik. He's going to be solid and do everything that those guys ask him to do when they need him to really talk to the younger guys, because we've got a really good strong group of strong players, they may have may have played eight true freshman last night, and Buechele was the one that played a major role. It's going to be fun to watch how we continue to manage it for the guys.
On if he saw something different in the locker room last night compared to last season: It's different now. If you look at on offense, we feel like if we can get the ball back, we can score a touchdown. And the offense knows if we get a stop from our defense, we'll be able to score. Even when we were down and we went into overtime and we held them, we had the choice. What do you want to play? We're going to play defense.
I said, listen, just hold them to three so our offense knows how many points we need to go score. We're going to score, it's just how many we need to score to win this football game. We hold them at three, make them kick a field goal and then we're going to go score us a touchdown.
Our offensive players are saying the same thing. Just hold them guys, we're going to score a touchdown. Now they just feel like when you have all three phases playing together, then you look at the way Dickson punted that ball. He flipped the field for us so many times last night. It could have been some big games for them, but the way he punted it, he got us out of a lot of holes. But it's just the confidence that they have in one another. You just see it happening because guys are now -- you always say to them, hey, I believe in you, you've got to believe in yourself, but believe in your teammates and trust one another.
Colt wrote a letter and I don't know if you saw it, but I read it to the team. I gave each one of them a copy and read it to them yesterday at pregame meal. It was just so funny how they were all just locked in and kind of just sitting there. Because Colt said a lot of good things when he talked about when he was a young guy and how he had to go out and play for the first time. Just talking about representing this university and the nerves that he was going to have.
Each one of them kind of just sat there, because I gave it to them. Some of them read it before the rest of the guys came in. But it was a great letter. It was just to hear a player that had already walked that walk and had been in that locker room and now for him to say it. Now they have so much respect for Colt already, and now all of a sudden they're reading how he went through it all.
On if Swoopes was the only player he told would have an opportunity to be in the game and what was it about him that he saw: You know what happened? Just the way the quarterback competition played out. And you look at a guy who had been a two-year starter, then we made the decision to go with the freshmen. I just sat him down and said to him, listen, it has nothing to do with you and it has nothing to do with your ability, but we're just going to go with the freshman here. You have worked very hard. We have a package for you. You're going to play, and I think the third series we just put him in.
But I just a lot of times when you have so much respect for a player and you want good things to happen for him, and I said to him before the pregame meal when we were on our walk, I said, hey, listen, you're going to have a chance to win this game for us. You're going to win this game. There's going to be a play that comes in this game where you can go win it.
Then we got into that second overtime and it was listen, guys, we're going to win this football game. And the play that we scored on, we turned the linebacker loose. No. 5 comes just Scot clean. He makes the guy miss him in the hole. Then he tried to hit him low and he dove in for the touchdown.
But just his whole competitive spirit. He does it. He never says anything, that's why I think Foreman made a big deal about it in the locker room afterwards. He never says anything. Swoopes, you okay? Yeah, Coach, I'm fine. Tell me what's going on. No, Coach, I'm fine. But it just shows us who he is, and his whole make-up and his whole character and what he's all about.
On if they can continue with the two quarterback system: I think we can make it work because of what you said, the last part of the skillset. And you look at Buechele, one thing I told him, we don't need him running the football. We just need you standing back there and keep you protected. No use taking off with it.
But he can release the ball. Even Swoopes, the one he threw, he released it down the field. But you have two different packages when you get down inside the goal line. I think Swoopes has scored a total of 14 touchdowns in the last two years in that 18-wheeler package, but it's a package that's been very successful for us, so we'll continue to use it.
On the team's unselfish attitude: Look, some of the guys and we talk about guys being unselfish, we take the field last night, and some of them, you probably saw, but I gave a lot of the guys a single digit, and they didn't know it. Like I gave Buechele 7. I gave Oliver 6. I think I gave Collin 9. I gave Devin a 2, and then I told Sheroid, I said you're going to wear number one. He says, "Coach, I haven't been on the field in three years." And I said, "you're going to start at corner." Like the other DBs, like Holton and all those guys were so supportive of him. They were like come on, man, we've got you. You'll be fine. Just go play.
But he's just a totally different attitude because a lot of times guys will go the opposite way and then, oh, I've got to work off this guy's ego. We haven't had that problem where you've had to step in and manage egos because the seniors are doing a really good job of talking to the players.
Like Vaccaro, Dylan goes down, Vaccaro goes in the game. He misses one tackle, but he plays very well. Just guys know that even if something happens and the next guy comes, he's going to be a support from whomever his back-up. That's the quarterback position. Look at the running back position. You had two really good running backs, really three, you got 25 and 33, and those guys, one's in and one's out, and neither one is over there pouting. I'm not getting the ball, I'm not getting the touches. Hey, my time comes, I'm getting the chance to run the football.
On if he still got his run in this morning and what he told the team about enjoying the win but focusing during a shortened week: Well, they traded today like it was a Sunday, and I usually don't run on Sundays, but I did run yesterday. But the guys, I gave them the day off, so we're going to treat it like we're in game preparation. So I said give our coaches time this evening to go break down film, and when we come back to work tomorrow, we'll show them parts of this game, but we've got to get on to the next game. I think they realize that.
And I said, hey, it's a short week. We know we've got another opponent coming in here. I don't want us to go out there and slop around and go through the motions. He let's go out, give a great effort and play our best. Our fans want to see a good show. We owe it to them. They saw one last week, last night, which is great, and I said we need to continue to do that and be consistent with how we approach it.
On if there was anything about Swoopes' performance last night that surprised him: No, nothing surprised me about him. It's what you see at practice. We don't let our defense get hit at practice. But sometimes we get the ball in the red zone and call the 18-wheeler package out on our offense, and I said, I don't know, Tyrone. He said, Coach, go live then, you'll see. I'll hurt one of your guys. I said that's what I don't want to see.
But I'm not going to let him run over one of my defensive backs after. But, no, that's what you see from him. He's a big, strong, physical runner. He can throw the football. We just didn't have to throw it last night because we were just doing so good and just running it. We wanted to make a statement where it was all about toughness, and it was about controlling the line of scrimmage, being physical at the point of attack.
We knew that we could get that done with 33 in there, and coming back and giving them a dose of Tyrone.
On how many things he saw on the film that you mentally noted 'this is really good': That's what we do. What we do with this game is what you just said. We won't show them the whole thing. We take out pieces of it. Offensively we've got to take out the big plays and show them the big plays. On defense, we're going to show some plays where we played pretty well at times.
But, boy, you've just got to find those plays and they're there. There were some really good plays. But you're right, as a coach, a lot of times you always look for the bad plays because you wonder, okay, how could that happen because you're always looking for corrections. But there were enough good ones where we could find them, put them together and show them to our team.
On what has most impressed him about Sterlin Gilbert: The thing that Sterlin has is he's so calm. He has so much confidence in himself and in his system. We go out there last night and they come back in, so I don't usually go out with the first win, and I wait for him to come back in. So come back in and said, How is it? I said, Wow, that's just the way it is. Only thing you need to do is be yourself. Go out, call it, you have enough around you. You have enough help with you. Every play is not going to be a perfect play. We're not going to score on every play. Just get us first downs and then when we take our shot, we're going to take a shot.
But he has so much confidence. Even our whole offensive staff believe in what he's doing, and our players. You look at our players and when he has them over there, they know how quickly he's going to get the play in. He's moving the ball around enough where guys are getting touches and it's not just going to one guy. But you have that and the players believe in the system, it's going to work out.
On if this is what he imagined out of Gilbert for the offense: I expected it. Because when you go up-tempo and you have the players we have, you can spread people out. We have a physical aspect also. Yards rushing last night, we had over 200 yards rushing, so we're going to pound people too. We'll speed them up and throw it when we need to.
Then when you can run the ball and you watch Burt run by people, you're going to loosen up at offense, because either they're going to interdose those guys running vertical. You hit Burt on one, and Heard on one down the pipe and then the one that Monte felt in the back of the end zone.
On what the defense needs to clean up, although they don't have to face a DeShone Kizer every week: The thing is, you're right. I hope we don't face a Kizer every week. He's really an outstanding quarterback, and I think when they settled in and decided to go with him, he makes some unbelievable throws. Big, physical guy also that can run the ball.
But just defensively it's about separating off of blocks. We missed some key tackles. The one on the long run we had the guy pinned and Malik did an unbelievable job of tracking him down and running down the running back. But we've got to clean up our coverage. They hit a couple of dig routes behind us when we were chasing them, and then they go out and dropped it. Then a guy comes in where they high low you.
It's just so many things to clean up where we just can't give up the big plays. We had it at 13 at one time and ended up letting them convert on that and they ended up throwing the ball the next couple of plays for a touchdown.
On if last night changed something for the team: You know, you always talk about good people that believe in you. You have to give them a reason to believe in you. So last night by winning that game it took us at least a step forward instead of going backwards. We went forward with it.
And we need to continue to build on that each and every week because the more games you win, the more they're going to believe in you. You're just hoping this can't be a one-night wonder, and it won't be. It's just we've got to make sure our staff and players that believe in themselves, believe in their teammates and believe in moving this program.
On growing between the first and second game: To go from the first game you've got to make all your corrections. It starts with the penalties. You can't have foolish penalties. You've got to take advantage offensively of things. You know, we had some dropped balls and we've got to take advantage of those opportunities.
We're going to get better on offense because now you've got the one game under you. You can speed it up more. You're going to be much quicker. But then on defense, it's all about where you've got to show off your tackling. You've got to make sure you've got sound, and you have to be able to separate off blocks.
But you have to grow from game to game, and you have to get better from game to game. You've got to take this game, correct the mistakes, move on to the next one, and we can't have the same ones.
On the post-game atmosphere in the locker room: The atmosphere after the game, I think I had to go do a couple things and they were kind of waiting on me to get in the locker room. Then when I got in the locker room they grabbed me. I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, let me say some things first before we get into our celebration.
But it was electric in there. It was just so fun to see. Then they picked me up and started throwing me around. But when you look at that, it was almost like a sigh of relief that we finally got one that we needed to go get. It's like he's been sitting there and we've been waiting for so long. It's almost like we get to that point and something bad happens.
At halftime I said we've got to finish this game. There's 30 minutes of football left. We're going to take a few hits. They're going to take a few hits. But at the end of the day, can we withstand it? And this we were able to do that, and then you see the celebration at the end.
For them to run off the field and so many times we run off the field hanging our heads and dropping our heads. But no, it was just so fun to see that.
On if WRs Warrick and Oliver are a product of the system, getting their chance or what they have done for their opportunities: You just love those two guys. Because of the work they've put into it. Like Petey and Warrick, you look at the one catch, he almost scores there the first play in overtime. The reason why he's back there catching punts, I know this, number one, the ball's going to get caught, which I feel really good about that. But he can make a guy miss and go take it.
But he's done very well. You look at what Oliver has done, and I think he has lost 24 pounds from last season. He has. Just look what he's done. And I know that the defensive coaches get mad at me because I call him Mr. Clutch. When we get in the red zone with our defense, he needs to rely on him because he never changes the speed. He comes off the ball and you think he's running slow, and all of a sudden Shane gets it to him. Then they're trying to drop him underneath it and he goes overtop. Then he threw it where he gets back inside the guy. And Shane too with the ball where he thought he was going, then he kind of faded away from him.
But I'm so happy to see the way he's coming and how everything is working out for him. He had a lot of catches in high school. He was the only receiver, I think, in camp that had over 100 catches because we chart them. He had like 100 catches and maybe one or two drops in the whole camp. So when we charted him to see, I think he was first and maybe either John Burt or Collin, it wasn't John Burt, but maybe one of those other guys was second.
On preparing QB Shane Buechele for the attention: With Shane I don't think it's going to bother him at all. He's one of those guys that he'll just stay true to who he is. He has a good, strong family. I think they'll help him manage that. But I don't think with him, you're going to have to help him manage it. He's not one of those guys that -- he doesn't come off as a guy with an ego or a guy that wants to make it all about him. He's one of those guys that's got to work to get better, and this won't even faze him.
On the reaction from the recruits last night: They were excited. This was one of the best recruiting days where we had all the recruits here to see this game and just see the atmosphere, and that's what happens. When you're recruiting, the fans are going to help recruit like they did last night, coming out and yelling as loud as they yelled and having just that whole game day.
It was just fun for the recruits. You look at them, and they were all after the game, they were so excited. They were in the locker room jumping around. But it was great to see, really good.
On keeping the winning record: We've only played one game now, so, it's one game (laughing). No, we've got more games to play, but we've got to continue to get better and play better.
On injury updates: Tristan and Perkins we still need more information on them. I know Dylan went out when he hit the receiver on the head. I know that we're checking him, but I feel pretty good with him, even with the other two. Just don't know the length right now because our trainers are actually looking at them right now.
On talking with Buechele's mom two days before the game: Well, we played the game Sunday, so I called her Friday night.
On talking with Buechele's mom before telling Shane, and having her not tell him he was starting: That's what I told her. Don't tell Shane, because he didn't need to know. No, when I went to Shane and Swoopes, I told them right before. But even before the game, you know what happens in the quarterback situation, they all know. That's what I can say about our team is how well they kept it under wraps where they didn't expose it, because you know what happens when you call the first group or somebody's got to run out there and nobody said anything. They kind of just looked around like, all right. But that's why he was talking about just an unselfish attitude. They knew whoever lined up at that position was going to be key. But, no, I wanted them to know because I just knew how happy she would be.
On WR Jerrod Heard moving forward: Heard? He's like the rest of them; he's going to get better. But Heard's an athlete. He can do a lot of different things. I put him back there and let him run the kickoffs back. He can do that, but he's so talented.
On getting fans excited for the rest of the season: Well, just week by week we should continue to get better. But our fans, last night you would say with the crowd that we had, that they're beginning to believe in what they're seeing and what they're hearing about and what's being written about our team.
But it was great to have that crowd. Each and every week, we may not pack it in like that, but I know we'll have a big crowd. Because if our players continue to play the way they played last night and we improve and get better, there are a whole lot of mindsets we can change.
Freshman QB Shane Buechele
On how he's feeling: The last couple days have been great. It's been a lot of fun just being there with my team, with the coaches. It's been great. Coming out with the win last night was awesome. Just thinking back at it, it's just been a great last couple days.
On how he stays level-headed and grounded: You know, my teammates do a really good job kind of keeping me calm, cool and collected, as well as my family. They preach stay humble and especially my dad, he's always told me that since I've been a little kid. So just staying humble and having my teammates behind my back has helped a lot.
On if growing up in a pro sports environment came in handy in last night's win: Always kind of growing up, going to games it was always a lot of fun. But when you're actually playing in front of 100,000 people, it's definitely different. But just at the start of the game I was able to just take it in and see everything and that helped a lot. Kind of calmed me down knowing the fans were behind my back. The teammates, the coaches, everybody, and just really happy we came out with a win last night.
On how the two-quarterback system have molded him and teammate Tyrone Swoopes together: Yeah, me and Ty have a great relationship. Just coming in in the spring or in the winter time, he took me in greatly. I always look up to him as a leader, and I'm very thankful for the way he brought me in, just took me in. Made me calm coming in, and as well as all the other senior leaders and the leaders on the team. Took me in greatly, and I'm very thankful for that.
On taking in the atmosphere pregame and what his sister said to him after the game: Oh, you know, just kind of seeing everything. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to take everything in, first game. I've never played in front of that many people, I've never been in that big of a stadium, so it was great. It was awesome being able to play in front of all those fans and just taking it all in.
And my sisters after the game were pretty funny. Just came up to me and gave me a big hug. Said I'm so proud of you, it was awesome. It was kind of nice seeing them in some burnt orange. That was nice.
On how he judges his own individual performance: Personally, it was all right. Did some good things; did some bad things. But the team played great overall. They helped me a lot with execution and with our offense, that's what you have to do, you have to execute. It was an overall team win, and I can't say that enough. It was a great team win.
On getting "super hyped" about Tyrone Swoopes entering the game in the second overtime: I was really excited for Ty. I know when he gets in the game there's no telling what he's going to do, and you saw that last night. He's a great player, a great leader, and kind of driving the ball down the field in that second overtime and seeing him come in, I knew what he was going to do. And seeing him get in the end zone, everybody was so excited and excited for Ty especially.
On how long it took him to get a hang of the up-tempo offense: In high school I ran something similar, but not nearly as fast as we do here. But the coaching staff does a great job with preparation and repetition with the tempo that we do, and that's what makes our offensive tempo and execution. The coaches did a great job putting that into us.
On if he was surprised by the switch to No. 7: I was. It was kind of a pleasant surprise walking into the locker room seeing No. 7. I always joked around with Coach Strong, having 16 saying, hey, coach, I know 7's open. I'm just wondering if I can get it. He said, we'll see, we'll see. So just walking in is pretty cool.
On what offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert's advice has been to him thus far: Just play your game. Stay calm, cool and collected and just play your game like you know how. Don't try to do too much. We have great athletes around us. We have great offensive line, great running backs and receivers. So just get the ball in their hands and let them do what they do. He always says we were born for this, and we are. That's what we're here for. We're here to play the game of football. And with the team that we have, it's easy to play with them.
On if campus will feel different moving ahead: It's just another week. It's a short week, but we're going to start preparation today, tomorrow, start looking at UTEP. It's just another week. You have to have a lot of preparation and get excited for another week of football.
On the pressure of living up the hype of being the first Texas freshman quarterback since Bobby Layne in 1944: I just go out there every day and play the game that I love. It's been a lot of fun. Like I said, I'm thankful for all the guys that took me in. They took me in greatly, and all the senior leadership, especially Ty, took me in and made me calm. It helps me a lot, so it's been great.
On why he wanted No. 7: I wore it in high school. Just kind of a comfort thing, favorite number.
On what it felt like to be the first quarterback on the field: It was exciting just going through the battle through fall camp, through spring. The battle was fun. It was never hard. It was never like a rough battle. We've always had fun with the battle that we've had. It was just a lot of fun being able to go out there and play with my team, and like I said, just happy we came out with the win.
On if he will take an added leadership role in preparing for UTEP this week: I think the leadership that we have now, they'll do a great job as well as the coaching staff. And our players know that we just have to go into the next week and prepare just as hard and have the same preparation. I just think it will be a lot of fun the next couple days preparing for UTEP, and just excited to go into week two.
On what it is about Coach Strong that players seem to like: Everybody loves Coach Strong. He's the best coach in the country, and everybody just respects him so much and he respects us. Just with the celebration that we had with him, it shows how much we like him and how much we respect him. He's a great mentor, and everybody loves Coach Strong.
On where beating Notre Dame ranks among being the team ping-pong champion: Ping-Pong's pretty cool. You know. It's fun. It's something to get away from football. But definitely this last win is a little higher than the Ping-Pong championship.
On how long it took to shake off the butterflies before last night's game: I had some butterflies during pregame warm-ups and I'd never say that's a bad thing. I definitely think it's a good thing. It's a normal thing for me. But right before the game, like two minutes before, looking around, seeing all the fans and my team on the field, it kind of wiped everything away and it kind of made me get, like I said, calm, cool and collected and just within myself and just ready to play the game.
Senior DT Paul Boyette Jr.
On how much last night meant to him: Oh, it was fantastic. Like I was saying to Coach Strong just a second ago, that's how it needs to be. That's the type of game they deserve and the type of atmosphere the community deserves and just a fantastic atmosphere last night. It was electric. You could really just feel all the emotions built up in the game. I felt like we went out there with relentless effort and we didn't give up.
On what the seniors have to do going into next week's game vs. UTEP: I think just going back to the drawing board and finding out what they do well and finding out their tendencies and really just scouting them very hard this whole next week coming up. Because we had a short week, it's a quick turnaround, but I think our senior leadership is just going to be imposed, getting the young guys ready to go, like the young guys we played last night. Let them know this win is behind us and we've got to keep moving forward.
On how he assesses the defensive performance throughout the entire game: Just like Coach Bedford said, Notre Dame is a good team, not taking anything away from them. It's going to be an emotional roller coaster ride. We knew that coming in. And like we said, we were in a heavyweight boxing match the whole night, and we knew that's what we were going to get from Notre Dame. We just had to keep on swingng and come out victorious.
I think myself included, I had to step up, and that's how the seniors are supposed to perform. Doesn't matter what the down and distance is, we've just got to go out there and play, and that's what I did. I think for the most part all the young guys in the secondary and the whole defense, going into the second overtime, we all came together and said we've got to get a stop for our offense to go score, and that's what we did.
On how much pressure is taken off the defense with such a productive offense: Oh, it's real good. We got a chance to rest quite a few minutes on the sideline. And I took my hat off to the offense. Brandon Hodges, Kent Perkins, Zach Shackelford, that's a good kid. Shane, the whole starting offensive line, even the back-ups. Everybody went out there and played at a tremendous level and relentless effort. That's how we want to be remembered for the 2016 football season, is that we want to be a team that goes out there with relentless effort and want to be at the highest level.
On the postgame celebration being a "sigh of relief": Most definitely. It's a lot of mixed emotions. I actually shed some tears because we put a lot of emphasis on this game. This is a mark for our season. It's just a stepping stone in the right direction. I know for the most part the seniors feel like that's the way we need to play. Everybody went out there with relentless effort.
Everybody wanted to go out there and get the victory. I think for the most part when you have it on a Sunday night, it's a lot of mixed emotions. For the most part I feel like we all just really band together. It was a band of brothers on the sideline, offense, defense, special teams. Everybody was picking each other up like we're going to get this job done. Me and Malik just coaching up the guys saying just be patient. We're going to go out there and that's what we did.
On the unselfishness of the team, if it's something that the seniors instilled in the freshmen or if the freshmen naturally brought to the team: I think it goes back to composure and poise. Yes, that's a good question because it goes back to composure and poise. Just the young guys and letting them know this is a game of swings. We have to just go out and compete. Like me and Malik gathered the defense up. Tyrone did an excellent job on the offensive side gathering everybody up, keeping their heads up. We deserve this.
We put a lot of time and hard work into this game, and we just reap the benefits and blessings of going out and competing at the highest level.
Not to take anything from Notre Dame. They're a fantastic team. But at the end of the day, we understood what was at stake, and we want to leave a mark on the season and get the victory here at home because we haven't protected the house well over the last three years, and we're always coming into the 2016 season we want to know that we need to protect this house to be a great 2016.
On Tyrone Swoopes's performance and what it meant to the locker room: Swoopes is a hard worker. He's a dog. He's a war daddy. Whatever the circumstances are, he's not going to let it get him down. He's a good role player. He understands that everybody's on the band with him. His leadership is valuable to the team and we're not taking anything away from Swoopes. I love Tyrone. He comes to work every day. He has fun. He's a high-energy guy.
I think last night he just reaped the benefit of the 18-wheeler package. He's good at that. He's also a fantastic quarterback. But I think at the end of the day he understands what's needed to be done. He understands that he needs to put the team on his back to get it done. So I put my hat off to the offense, Coach Gilbert and Tyrone.
On early season losses and how it feels to have a big early season win: It's a bittersweet moment because this is my last go around. But I loved the feeling last night because we just went out there and competed. Like we actually put six quarters together. The team just went out there and competed. Like last season we had some games where we'd play for one quarter, we'd play for a half.
But just last night, like I said before, the energy, everybody was locked in, the composure. At the end of the day, it goes back to our preparation. We've prepared so much for Notre Dame. At the end of the day, we've just reaped the benefits. I think my teammates, we're all locked in. Like we went to overtime, nobody was like, oh, man, here we go. Everybody was like, okay, we've got this. Like our coaches said, just sit down, get a cold towel, get some water and hydrate up because we're still in it. We need to go out here and get this job done.
On if the media should start talking about sophomore defensive tackle Chris Nelson: Oh, most definitely. Heavy, heavy Nelson. He's a good kid. He's a technician. I think me and Poona Ford groomed him so much last year and he's just reaping the benefits going out there. He made some big plays last night up front for us, and I think for the most part he'll be an up and coming starter here.
On Colt McCoy's letter to the team before last night's game: It was very emotional. Me growing up, I remember when I was in middle school and they were playing Alabama and Colt went down, just how much of an emotional leader he was on the sideline for his team. And just Coach Strong reading that letter to us, it gave me goose bumps, because I mean, you get to see how much pride the Texas alums have for us and how much they want this program to be back on the map and just how they want us to go out there and compete at the highest level.
When he read that, I got goose bumps because that guy poured his blood, sweat and tears in this program. Just the passion that he had and tradition he had for this program. It's amazing that he sees the greatness in us just like he did back in his heyday, and I just took my hat off to him because that letter gave everybody goose bumps because we really appreciate that. I think for the most part that gave everybody more focus that everybody's standing with us and we've just got to go get this thing done.
On what needs to get cleaned up before Saturday's game vs. UTEP: I think everybody's going out there just getting and knowing their assignments more, cleaning things up. Just everybody understands what they need to do different. Just going back to the drawing board and letting everybody know what is the different things they can take away from Game 1 and what we can do better in Game 2, bring everybody together because, like I said, this is a short week. UTEP is a good team, and at the end of the day, we have to go out there and prepare well for them.
On what has been the biggest difference between this year's team and last year's team: I just think it's Coach Strong. We sat down in the spring, in the summer with the seniors and the whole team and we came up with this word #Believe. I think everybody believes in each other. Everybody's confident, everybody's poised and everybody trusts, everybody knows everybody's trusting in each other and their togetherness. We preached about that.
I preached on that a whole bunch when I talk to you about togetherness. It's a family-oriented atmosphere. And everything we do inside and out of the locker room nothing comes in and break us apart. We always pick each other up, and at the end of the day, that's how it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be a brotherhood in and out. And that's how the University of Texas is supposed to be. And at the end of the day, we're not going to let anything get us off topic. We just need to go out there and compete at the highest level and keep our brotherhood together.
Sophomore WR John Burt
On last night's win: We definitely feel really good about this win. It feels really good to know all the preparation that we've done and to see it work out for us. It's a really good feeling.
On the emotions he felt between his drop and his touchdown: Yeah, you know, I dropped that first pass. I had everybody on the sideline coming at me saying, hey, keep it up, keep your head up. You'll get another chance. You'll get another chance. Then just going out there, playing the game and then just waiting for that call and then getting it and making sure I pulled it in.
On if he was surprised with the poise and discipline that freshman quarterback Shane Buechele showed: I wasn't necessarily surprised by it, but I was impressed by it. You know, Shane's a really good kid. He's a really humble kid, level-headed. So in those tough moments of the game, I didn't really expect him to break down.
On the difference between the two quarterbacks in the huddle: We really try not to make the huddle any different. We're getting the plays from the sideline and we're trying to keep it fast. But I guess when Tyrone's in the game, we're kind of having to look at what the defense is doing because we're obviously trying to run the ball with him. But, yeah, as far as the flow and the tempo, we're really not trying to make it any different so much.
On how unique it is to see both quarterbacks embrace each other despite sharing playing time: Yeah, because typically when a team chooses a quarterback it's just one quarterback and he's taking all the reps. Whereas in our case, Shane got the starting job but there was still going to be opportunities for Tyrone to get in the game and contribute to the offense, which I really feel like worked in our favor because it helped the flow was the same, but you get different people in there and they can do different things, so the defense is never keying in on what we're doing.
On Coach Strong's appeal to a physical mentality and the statement that the team made: I felt like we went out there and shows what a tough team we are mentally as well as physically but more mentally. Because I feel like when it got tough, when it got down to the final minutes we didn't break down as a team. We came together. Everybody picked each other up and said, hey, we're not done yet. We're not out of this.
On the deep shots down field and how fun it is: It was so much fun. That's what Coach Gilbert came in and said. We're going to take shots down the field all game. He's not going to hold back on the deep shots. As well as the short and intermediate stuff. Because the short stuff sets up to be deep stuff.
On if his track speed makes a difference on the deep throws: We're just going to have to go out and see. Notre Dame had some pretty good DBs out there. I was fortunate I was able to go out there and make some plays.
On staying grounded and level-headed after a big victory: It's always good to stay grounded because you never know what could happen. I'm excited for the team that we went out there and won the game. But one thing I was telling them in the locker room, that's just one. We still have 11, 12 more games to play.
On the challenge in staying grounded after a big win and looking forward to UTEP during a short week: Just having to block out all the extra noise. We just have to stay within ourselves, stay focused, stay driven, and I think we'll be all right if we do that.
On staying calm when things weren't going the team's way and what the difference between this year and last year's teams are in terms of mentality: Oh, we come together as a team when things get tough. We don't break down and hang our heads, oh, here we go again. When they had the blocked field goal everybody wasn't like, oh, well. We stayed with it. We kept our heads up and we went out there and played our hearts out because of that.
On where the difference in mentality comes from: And I think everybody on the team coming into this year all had the same mindset that we can't let what happened last year happen again because that really hurt us as a team going out there every week and coming so close and just falling short. We couldn't let it happen again. So we all came together mentally as a team and said we have to go out there and play the entire four quarters of the game.
On what offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert has been like behind the scenes and how he relates to his players: For lack of a better word, he's like a 'bro'. He's a real cool guy. He jokes around a lot. He's full of energy. Despite his physical features, if you had heard just a description of Coach, you would think he's just another player. But I really like the energy that he brings to the offense. Especially in the receiver room. Him being a quarterback coach, he's always coming in our room joking with us and stuff. So I really like coach.
Junior DE Naashon Hughes
On what grade he would give the Texas defense: I think we gave up 47 points, so I'd give us a C-plus.
On giving the defense a C-plus as a tough grader: Oh, yeah. I'm pretty much a stickler for points and everything like that. I think we gave up too many last night.
On if Notre Dame's offense was great or if Texas' defense was poor: I think most of it was mistakes, missed tackles, mistakes and misreads and things like that. Going forward, I think we can correct most of it and reduce that number from 47.
On if he is discouraged about not achieving the goals set in fall camp: I wouldn't say it's discouraging. I'd say it's more of a challenge. And I don't know the total number of missed tackles, but as long as we can improve from there, it will set a goal for us each game.
On what the positives were from last night: I think we had great effort. We never quit throughout the game. In the past, I think teams have quit. And I've seen other teams, we were watching college football where teams just gave up it looked like. So for us to stick to it the whole time was great.
On the blocked field goal: Oh, yeah, it hit the more fleshier part of my arms though. With Coach Moorer's workout, I didn't really feel it.
On the pressure put on himself and the defense in the overtime periods: As the defense, you try to go out and stop them every time. So with the overtime rules, I didn't even know. They had to tell us on the sideline what to do. They get the ball first on the 20 or something like that. And with the first touchdown we were like, okay, they ran a screen, caught us off guard. But after that it was like no more points. After that, kicked a field goal and Tyrone pushed it in, so it was great.
On what this big win does for the team moving forward: I mean, it's just the next step. I like starting off the season with a good taste in my mouth. So knocking off a number 10 ranked team was great. Then moving forward, it was just showing us how good we can be when we want to be.
On if the team should be embracing the win and if they deserve the hype they are receiving: I mean, I think the offense had a great game. As a team, we did have a thriller. It was a great game to watch and everything like that. But I think both sides of the ball has things to improve. And just going for it the next game, we should just focus on improving.
Junior RB D'Onta Foreman
On the emotions and feelings going through the team: We have a wonderful feeling right now. We went out there and we played together as a team. That's something that we worked for this whole summer, and we just went and put it all together last night and it really showed how much we've grown as a team.
On if he feels the team opened some eyes across the state and country: I mean, I believe that we did, but we still have a lot to improve on. It's not over here. It doesn't stop here. We still have to go win more ballgames.
On what he said to the team after the game: Yeah, I just told them that Tyrone is a great example of a leader on this team and how he just pushes through. I told them that everything doesn't go his way and he still always has a positive attitude, always has a smile on his face, always just trying to go out there and do the best for his team. And it shows when he goes on the field and performs. He doesn't give in to what people say. He just goes out there and plays, and that's what we need. I said if everybody was like that and if everybody comes with that attitude, without a selfish attitude, we'd be a really good football team.
On being able to pound away against a solid Notre Dame defense: I mean, I feel like we can be as powerful as we want to be. We've just got to keep working, honestly. Like I said, it doesn't stop here. We've just got to keep working. Notre Dame was a really good football team. They were big up front. But our O-line played tremendous last night. It was a lot of communication on the field and off the field. We knew what they wanted to do, what they were doing. And we just had to keep talking about it to be successful at running the ball.
On how much fun it is to play in this offense: This is a lot of fun. We see how the tempo just wears teams down, and that's what we practiced on all summer. Coach Gilbert told us it would be like this and it worked. It was really fun seeing it all together last night.
On who's the harder runner, him or Tyrone Swoopes: Competitively, I'll say me. But Tyrone is a big dude. He runs so physical and I like that. It helps us bring another dynamic to our offense, so it's really good.
On how the win motivates him to be a better leader: We have a lot of young guys. To say that we started Buechele last night, and me and him have a lot of communication. We started Shackelford at the center position. So it's just something that I have to continuously communicate with those guys and make sure we're all on the same page, and we did a really good job of that last night.
On the performance of freshman quarterback Shane Buechele: He was outstanding last night. Buechele was outstanding. Like I said, last night he was somebody that I couldn't tell he was a true freshman. He went out there with a lot of poise. Honestly, it's something I've seen all spring and summer. But to go play against Notre Dame it would be the same way. This guy's unbelievable.
On what he likes most about offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert: He's just a really great guy. He has a lot of energy. He's got up-tempo spirit. That's just how he is. So with the offense that we run, that's just how he is.
On what feels different about this win compared to past big victories: I can't really answer that. We've just got to keep working, really. We can't look on last year. This year's a new year. We went out there and played a really good game last night against a really good football team. So we've got to continue to build on it and continue to put more wins together.
On how to stay focused after winning a game they wanted to win very badly: Because we know the season doesn't end here. It was one big game. But one game doesn't determine our season. We want to win ballgames and be success of. I think like being a leader, that's something I have to keep instilling in those guys that it's not over. We've got to keep going.
On #Believe and what it means to the team: It was something that we just kept saying on the sideline all last night, just believe. I kept telling the team and other teammates were saying the same thing, like we're going to win this game. Like we can come together, we're going to win. We've got to believe we can win. Keep strong always prepares that. If you believe, you can do whatever you believe in. So we kept saying we're going to win this game. We've got to stick together, keep fighting and we pulled it out.
Senior QB Tyrone Swoopes
On what's happened the last twelve hours or so following the win over Notre Dame: It's been crazy. We've been all over TV and asked a lot of questions by the media. So it's been crazy, but it's been fun.
On getting the love and support from his teammates following his success: I can't put it into words. But just going to battle with all those guys, all my brothers, it just feels great for us to go out there and get a win like that, like we did last night, because we worked so hard trying to get back, get Texas back. So I mean, it feels great.
On the dynamic between him and freshman quarterback Shane Buechele, both on and off the field: I mean, on the field we come off the field and ask each other what did you see, what could I have done different, things like that. And off the field, it's just like any other teammate. We're like brothers, like I've said multiple times today. He's like my little brother so I try to take care of him. Any time he has a question or needs me for anything, I try to be there for him. So it's a great relationship.
On if he believed Coach Strong when he told him that he could have an opportunity to win the game: I believed him just because we had success during the game with what we were doing, just the package, and when he said that, I definitely believed him. So I just was ready and when they called my name to get into the game, we were all ready for the opportunity and we made the best of it.
On what offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert's personality is like on and off the field: On the field he brings energy every day. I know a couple weeks ago he was sick. He looked really bad in the meetings before practice, but he still came out with the same energy he had every day. So he's a great coach.
Then off the field, he's just basically like one of the players. He's always talking to us, just seeing how we're doing and everything like that. He's a great coach. We love him.
On pulling off a win in double overtime and if it came as a "sigh of relief": It's definitely that just because like last year, the last couple years these games haven't gone our way. So just for this game to kind of go our way and end up the way it did, it definitely showed that this year's going to be good. It's going to be different.
On his game-winning touchdown: I mean, I really, I mean, moments like that you really don't remember until you see videos or whatever. So I saw videos, and it was just an amazing moment. Seeing the dog pile at the end, it hurt, but it was good. It was just a great win for the team, for everybody at Texas.
On how he receives the love and hate from Texas fans: It just comes with the territory. One minute they're inside, the next they don't want you to step on the field. You can't really get caught up into it. We always say just listen to the people that are in our locker room. So that's really what I do and we all just depend on each other to get our jobs done.
On if it was disappointing when he found out he wasn't going to be the first quarterback on the field: Yeah, it's always disappointing when you don't get what you've been working for. But like they told me that I'd get a chance to continue to do the package that I have. So at that point I knew that I just had to be ready whenever they need me.
On his mindset today compared to one year ago: I mean, it's just different. Coming out from a win instead of a loss. It's always better. I mean, we're just all positive, looking forward to next week and the rest of the season.
On the difference between scoring 3 points last year vs. Notre Dame and scoring 50 points in this year's meeting: Of course, 50 points is a lot better than 3, so everybody's excited. We're looking really good on offense. We still have some things to work on, but it was a really good step forward last night.
On how fan criticism has molded him into the player he is now: It's just made me lean on my teammates and coaches even more than ever. Just because I've never -- I don't think anybody has ever been on a stage like this where social media and all the fans and everything are in it. So just leaning on the coaches and players just made it a lot easier.
On the efficacy of the two-quarterback system and if there are any challenges to it: I don't think so. Just because I feel like Shane and I both have an understanding of the game and know that the coaches have a game plan. So whatever they want us to do, we'll go do it.
On if Shane Buechele told him anything after his game-winning touchdown: Yeah, afterwards we were just both proud of each other, proud of the way we played. It was just really good…Yeah, big hug, handshake, everything. It was fun.
On if he took a moment to enjoy last night's victory: Yeah, I mean, we enjoyed it. It's always fun to get a big win like that at home. So we definitely enjoyed it. But we know that one game doesn't make a season. So we're looking forward to next week and the rest of the season and trying to do something great.
Sophomore LB Malik Jefferson
On how his body feels: I woke up—last night I was like I'm good—and this morning I woke up and I thought I'm old. Head started hurting, fingers started hurting. And I said, oh, welcome to football again, I guess.
On if he can put last night's victory into words: You know, we've been focusing this whole fall, summer, spring about this team and about each other. So what's big for us is that we came out there and played for each other. And we knew what the task was at hand, and we knew this was bigger than us. This is a celebration not only for just us, but the past few years and the struggles that we've had and making everybody feel proud for what we've done.
So as we went out there before the game we knew what we had to do. We had to execute. And guys took that to heart and had a lot of pride in that. So that's what happens when you have pride. You'll go out there and do whatever it takes.
On if big wins like this are why he decided to play for Texas and Coach Strong: Yeah, that's just part of who I am. I want to be a leader and I want to make sure something changes. I wanted to make this place special and I knew I could. Not by myself, but I knew I had to bring other people with me. We're building something great here. A lot of guys have the same focus. The young guys are excited to get their chance, and that's what you want to see. You want to see those guys be ready at any given time because anything can happen, honestly. That's why we're most excited about this program. And every week we want to take it like it's a championship game and go out there and do what we need to do.
On opening the season with a big victory and how they can carry the momentum through the rest of the season: That's just consistency. Like Coach Bedford always preaches, be consistent with what you do. And that's our focus. Being consistent and making sure that we execute every week no matter who the opponent is, and taking care of our business, because every game could be our game from now on.
On how rewarding it is to make Coach Strong proud with a benchmark victory: It was really rewarding, and it all goes to him. He got us prepared for this, gave us the right amount of rest and made sure we were all focused for this game. He could tell. Throughout the week everybody was focused and throughout camp everybody was just focused. We were ready to come together and battle.
So that was the most special part about this whole process. Not about the process, whatever Coach Moorer says, I forget it. But he always says this one liner, and it's very special. That's what we live off of.
On how often Coach Strong gets tossed into the air: They did. I don't do that. I don't know why they keep doing that…I don't know, but he almost hit his head on the ceiling, so ask about that.
On dismissing the thought of an upcoming letdown: You have to just be who you are. It's just like you're a person, you can't change who you are. You have to stick to what you know and go back to your roots whenever you fall off. That's going to be our focus, really. We have to stick it to who we are. Guys know every game is not going to be an easy game. Every game we have to guard lights out and hearts out because everybody's going to be looking forward to playing us again. They probably looked forward to it, but now it's more exciting. That's the special part of being at UT and playing for this university.
On what the reading of Colt McCoy's letter before yesterday's game meant to the team: I read what Colt had to say on Twitter. I actually read it before he even talked about it. That was remarkably special, and we appreciate that type of stuff. The older guys coming back and just giving us that love. So many of them were here from year's past and it's just like a really special moment when they all come together and they all have your back.
Getting that from Colt, I know it spoke volumes to Shane because he had one specific paragraph just for Shane, and I told Shane, this is for you. Just go out there and play your game and execute and make plays and do what you've always done.
On Naashon Hughes' "C+" grade for the Texas defense in last night's effort: That's very true. We didn't execute like we needed to. We didn't tackle well. We didn't see the ball well. That's little things we have to fix. But of course we'll go throughout the week making sure we get better at that. Because the offense really saved us a lot last night. But now we're going to have to put a lot of pressures on ourselves to come better.
On if last night's 47 points allowed were because of a strong Notre Dame offense or weak Texas defense: Oh, yeah, Notre Dame is very good, and Kizer played very well. He's one of the better quarterbacks I've ever seen. So it was really a challenge at times because the kid was a very smart player and he knew what was coming. It's hard to scheme against that.
When a player's out there and the quarterback's out there making really good plays on the field. At the time now you're getting it from the sideline. That just shows you how talented that team was. That team was very talented. We just came out and executed.
On his thoughts about the two-quarterback system: Yeah, you know, God, I wouldn't want to be in front of Tyrone. I guess that's why they call it that package for a reason. That kid came out and played his heart out. That's what our team is about, sacrificing, and he sacrificed to do what he loves. He wants to be a true quarterback, and he had to sacrifice for the team just to be that running guy.
And Shane went out there and played his role too as well. Went out there and threw the ball and got some good passes. We missed a couple, but I think we'll get those fixed throughout the week.
On Shane Buechele hiding his nerves on the field: That's maturity. That's maturity. That's all maturity, and that speaks volumes. He came in here mid-year just like I was, and he was focused. He knew what his task was at hand and he went out there and played light's out. No selfishness. He did everything he could to make sure we won that game… The kid is really special, and Tyrone is too. And those two guys are big leaders on our team.
On Matthew McConaughey's speech to the team on Instagram: That's very cool. Matthew McConaughey is a good person. I was hoping he'd run down on the field last night. I don't know if he was busy or not. But the talk was very special. It got a lot of guys motivated. Just to see people like that be invested in what you're doing is very special.
