 
Player press conference quotes: Oct. 1
C DALLAS GRIFFIN On entering the Oklahoma game with a loss: This game is big regardless. It has been played for 100 years, it doesn't matter what the records are, it's a rivalry game, and it's an important game. It is always going to be that way. It is just an honor to play in it first of all and to have the kind of emotion that surrounds this game, to be in the Cotton Bowl is a pretty special thing. It's not about records, it is always a special deal because of what it is. On someone being 0-2 in conference play after this week: That is the nature of the game. There is a winner and there is a loser. Again a game like this you want to win, it's not about the one in that column that is more of a side effect, it is a matter of pride and it has always been that way. I think that is what makes rivalry games special. You just put it all on the line. On being a leader on the offensive line: We watch film every day after the game. Coach McWhorter does a good job of pointing out everything that went wrong. I can assure you. Everybody is aware of what everybody did in the room. As an older guy just seeing the kind of mistakes that we have all been making, it is not that any guy in particular hasn't been trying, there is comfort in that. It is not that a guy necessarily got beat, maybe it is just a little detail, a little mental mistake, maybe one person tried to do too much on a play throughout the line. The thing about offensive line play is that it is a bunch of guys that have to work together and it's about not messing up sometimes. It's about not letting people get around Colt [McCoy], our quarterbacks, it is not letting people get into our holes and run the ball. It really is a team within a team as far as we all have to be working as one unit. On Colt McCoy taking hits: As an offensive lineman, you hate when anybody gets near your quarterback. You take it very personally. We are going to do everything to correct every little detail, every little fine focus issue. I guarantee you that everyone of the guys up front will be straining to not only make sure that nobody is hitting him, but rushing him or hurrying him. It is always one of our most important things in a game as an offensive line to protect the quarterback. That is what we are going to try to do on Saturday and the rest of the season as well. Something we definitely need to improve on and will. On what mistakes he wants to work on: As a competitor, I don't think you ever watch a game and are really happy with exactly how you played. There is always room for improvement. I just think that I played hard, but I can play harder every time, regardless. I think you can always push more. Personally, I think I can improve. I can be stronger at the line, I can be quicker, we are all working on focusing, but I can be more in tune. You can always be more alert to what is going on in front of you. Every time you come to the line of scrimmage you've got a defensive front that kind of gives you clues to what is going on. Every time you step up to the ball. Just be more aware and be a smarter football player. Watch more film, I can do a better job of knowing my opponent and working on all those things. On his favorite part of the Oklahoma game: I would say it is hard to separate the game into parts. It is almost like a bowl game within itself. It's the atmosphere. There are so many little things that make it special. The way the fans are seated, you drive into the opponent's territory and there aren't many louder places on the face of the Earth. The fact that it is OU, the guys we are playing. They are a very talented team as well. It is hard to separate it into different aspects, but there is something about it that makes it really special and really unique. WR QUAN COSBY On if Texas has an advantage winning last year: I don't think there is an advantage. They always come in ready to play and we go in ready to play. It's a situation where it is a huge rival game. I don't think there is a certain advantage as far as going in from the standpoint of what happened last year. On if there is pressure to try and bounce back this week: Definitely, for both teams. No one wants to lose two starting the Big 12. There is pressure every week before every game because in college football every game means so much. On if the team is confident in its game plan: We haven't necessarily started working on the game plan yet, but we are real confident. We had a really good speech afterwards. Yesterday, we had a really good practice just watching film and realizing the little things we need to overcome. Just to go in and everybody watching film and getting ready for this week, we are confident and we are confident in having great practice this week and bouncing back. On if the team is playing hard: I think everybody out there is playing their heart out. That's one thing Coach Brown and the coaches and my teammates are so proud of. Last weekend was a tough situation, but in watching film, the mistakes that were made, they were made more than full speed. Guys are out there playing their hearts out they are playing really hard. Again, you are sad about a loss, but at the same time, when you lose and you are playing your heart out, there are times when you can make mistakes from trying too hard. When that is the case, you have to settle down and continue to play hard, but stay within yourself as far as not doing too much. On his touchdown reception: We ran the route, but he kind of got in a scramble situation. You have to try to stay alive and he made a great throw. I had the easy part of catching it. It was all on his throw and the guys really scrambling and the offensive line stand that continued to fight against the guys. On how important field position is going to be: That is huge because again they have one of the nation's top defenses. Field position is going to be really big in this game. Anyway to help, a spark, our fans and their fans are going to be pretty wild, so to spark your fans or your half of the field, that's going to be really big for our team and the momentum. We hope to go out there and continue to fight and to be a positive for our team. On his favorite element of the Oklahoma game: You watch lots and there are huge and great rivalry games all over college football. To actually go out there and see that it is split like that, it's pretty amazing because it just shows how huge that game is for the fans and the players and all of the above. There may be more games like that where the fans are split like that, but I haven't seen them. Again the atmosphere is unreal. On playing with the team: It's been great. Just going out and competing having fun, I love my teammates and coaches, more than anything, just going out there and trying to have fun. That has been our aspect. I think the first few weeks we could have had more fun. I think that is where we are going to go with it and continue to work hard and try to turn that negative into a positive from now on. DT FRANK OKAM On Oklahoma's offense: To me, the most important thing, and I think the key to a lot of their success on their offense, is the offensive line. They are giving [Sam] Bradford a lot of time to find his receivers down the field, and I think that when he has time, you can't cover their receivers for that long of a time period. They have a trio of running backs that just kind of roll in there. These guys bring a different style to the table. On this being his last Oklahoma game: It is definitely a rivalry that I have enjoyed being a part of. It has so much history behind it. To know that is the last time I walk out of the tunnel and play on that field back at home is one of those things that you don't want to end. I am just happy to be a part of that. On what he would tell a freshman about this week: I think the first thing I would say is pride and passion. I think this kind of game, this kind of rivalry, that's what you see. Show yourself on the field in how much pride and passion each team has in its program and how much this game means to each team. Even more emphasis on top of that is that with both teams losing last week, no one wants to lose and start 0-2 in conference. On how this game is special: I think this game is definitely unique in all of college football. With the splitting of the stadium, meeting halfway, fans having the same seats for years now and being in the state fair on top of that. It is one of those things you can't really describe unless you are a part of it. On if he likes playing in front of the OU fans: I love playing in front of them. I think it brings a lot of added emotion to the game and brings a better experience to the game. In my personal opinion, if it was a home and home it would just be a different kind of feel. I definitely enjoy this aspect of playing in Dallas and splitting everything we have. On his favorite part of the State Fair: The food. I think having some of those funnel cakes, and corn dogs, and turkey legs are just something that you can't get anywhere else. On what is his favorite food: I would have to say the turkey leg. You can't get a better turkey leg anywhere. On if there is more pressure coming into this game coming off of a loss: I wouldn't say pressure in a sense of this is it, but it is definitely one where you don't want to start 0-2 in conference, and I think that is the most important thing. I think you will see both teams being hungry this game. I think you will see a lot of effort and guys giving there all this week. On coming back from a loss: I think that in my time here we have bounced back after losses. I think that if you look at it critically, all the goals that we have are all goals we can get. We haven't lost a conference game in the South yet and winning the Big 12 conference in the South is one of our goals so we can still accomplish that. On the series: It has always been a rollercoaster. Coming in and getting shut out my freshman year and coming back to win two and then this year, it's one of those games that you want to be a part of. This year is no different and if you look at the history of this series, it is obviously a pretty close one, especially with the last two years. RB JAMAAL CHARLES On what he likes most about Texas-Oklahoma weekend: The whole week; someone has something to say about it every day. It's like a bowl game so it's going to be a really fun week. On if it feels like a home or an away game: It feels like both an away and a home game because of the way the fans are split up in the middle of the field. You have orange on one side and red on the other and you don't know if it's away or a home game. It feels really good to play in that game. On if his teammates are ready to go: I know it's going to be a good game for both of us since we're both coming off a loss. You don't know what's going to happen. They're going to do some good things and we're going to do some good things. We're both going to want this game a lot. On why he's had so much success running against Oklahoma: I don't know, I just like playing in big games. I like to step up and make some runs. If I get the chance to get the ball in my hands, I do a lot of good things when I'm playing against big teams. On getting away from the run in the second half of the Kansas State game: I know we were trying to come back and if we would have come back just a little, we would have kept running the ball. It's just something that when you get so far behind, the running game isn't in the play book anymore because it's going to run time off the play clock. I think they did the right thing for us to try and come back. On if he's had a chance to talk to the younger guys about the atmosphere on Saturday: I'm going to get a chance to talk to them about it this week, about how it's going to be and how it's going to go on. I'm going to tell them that it's a big game and that it's going to be crazy. When you first arrive on the buses you see all the red on one side and the orange on the other. It's going to be crazy. On Colt McCoy's toughness: He just tries to give his all when he knows he is hurt and everybody knew on the sideline that he was struggling a little bit, but he still came out there and tried to make a comeback. It shows that he has a lot of heart for the game and he loves football. He wasn't going to let that keep him down, but things happen.. DT DEREK LOKEY On the streaks in the series: This game is a game between two good teams every year. Both teams are in the top five in victories all time in the NCAA, just two strong opponents that go at it one time a year. Usually it's a good football game and the team that wins is usually the team that doesn't turn the ball over and executes their game plan going into it. We're going to focus this week on executing our game plan defensively, stopping the run first, and trying to get after that freshman quarterback. On one of the teams being 0-2 in conference after this weekend: It's crazy to think about, but even being 0-2 doesn't mean you're necessarily out of it in this conference in the south division. It's going to be a tough year, there's a lot of parody in this south division. It's not to say that just because a team is 0-2, that they're out of it. On a favorite memory from an OU game: My favorite memory is probably from 2005 when we flipped it. You know we had lost five in a row then all of a sudden we won it. That was a great feeling to just go out there and finally get that thing flipped. That was probably the greatest moment just after that game having that victory in hand. On if this was a game he watched growing up: It is, it's a game that I can remember watching on TV or going to for a long time. I don't know exactly the first one I watched, but I went to most of them in junior high and high school being there in Dallas. It is something that I always wanted to play in; it was a dream of mine to play in that game and that atmosphere. I've been able play in it three times coming up on my fourth, so I'm really excited about it. I'm going to give it everything I have. On the atmosphere: I love driving up on the bus and there is so much energy in the State Fair and everyone picks a side. There isn't really anyone walking around that doesn't have on either orange or crimson. It's exciting in that way and after that game, if you're team is unsuccessful you better get out of the fair because you're going to get harassed all day. I love this game and I hope they keep it there for as long as they can because of how much fun it is for the players and the fans alike. On if the mindset of the team is different with two series wins in a row: No, I think we go into this game and after watching their team on offense this morning they are good. It's going to be a big challenge for us, especially upfront. They have a really good offensive line, so we're going to have to play strong, fill our gaps, and stop the run. As far as going into it with confidence from a streak one way or another, I don't really feel that way. I think we go into it thinking that this is a really good opponent and a really important game. As we go into practice this week, we're going to focus on executing our game plan and doing things right. Forcing turnovers is something that we need to do on defense that we weren't able to do this past week, so it's something that we're going to focus on this week On how much of a set back the K-State game was: It's a set back in that we already have one loss in conference, and that's something that you don't want to do in your first conference game obviously. I really believe that whoever goes and represents the south in the Big 12 Championship game is going to have one loss, unless OSU or A&M run the table. It's difficult in that we have already given up that loss. So in order to get where we want to go, we will have to play really solid for the rest of the season. On if he ever considered playing for Oklahoma: Not for very long. My heart has always been with Texas. That has always been something important to me. So no, I didn't consider it very long. I was born and raised in Texas and it means so much to me. It was deeply engraved in my heart that this is the only school I wanted to play for. On if any of fans from Denton will be in Dallas: I think so. I think we will have a few Dentonites make it out to the game. I think there are a few guys that play on Oklahoma's defense that played in my district in high school, but I can't think of anybody off of the top of my head. On how special it is to play in Dallas after growing up in Denton: Playing in Dallas is huge to me, because it is the area that I consider being home, and it is probably the area that I end up living in when I grow old because I love the area so much. I have so many roots there and leaving there with a victory for the last time would mean the world to me. That is something I am going to try to get these guys to understand. To get them to understand just how big this game is as far as conference and pride is concerned being from Texas. I am going to do my best to get everybody fired up and ready to go, but it won't be hard, because everybody will be excited about this one. The team that executes the best and the team that plays the hardest is going to win this game. We have to keep our emotions in check or else you start going out on a limb and end up trying too hard. The team that executes the best, takes care of the ball and plays the hardest is going to win this one. On how important the first series of the game will be: That is something we really have to work on as a defense. When you are going against a team that had a week off and they come out and run formations that they haven't run in the past two years, that is something that will stagger your defense a little bit. It takes some time to adjust to those things, the different formations and the different personnel groups that you weren't expecting. I think once we got a handle on that and figured out what they were doing new, I think we were pretty successful in slowing them down after that. But even on the first drive, I don't remember how many plays it was exactly, but we made them work for it. But this week, it's important to stop a team on the first drive, but then again, when you have an offense that goes back and responds and answers it, that makes it a lot better as well. The first drive of the game is weird because offenses are doing something different and doing things they normally don't do. I was just glad in the fact that we were able to react and play strongly after that first drive. S MARCUS GRIFFIN On Oklahoma's wide receivers: I see big time players in those receivers with Iglesias and Kelly, those guys make good catches. Also with the tight ends included, they're good players also and the running game just adds to that. Overall, I think it's going to be a powerful offense to go against. On if he looks forward to playing OU every year: Yes, I do. This is the reason you come to Texas, to play in the games like this. This is just another big game to play in the upcoming weekend. On his favorite part of playing in the Red River Rivalry: The environment. I like how the stadium is split half-and-half with the fans. It's really not a home field advantage, it's a neutral site. It's always a big game. On Sam Bradford: The few times I've actually watched him play live I've seen him make tremendous throws. He's a very smart player for just being a freshman. On how Bradford compares to other quarterbacks: He's a big guy, similar to Freeman who we played this past week. Like I said, he makes all the right throws and he makes few mistakes. On what stood out about the special teams mistakes against Kansas State: Lane assignments on kickoffs and lane assignments on the punts. It shows how critical it is to do your assignments and try not to do anybody else's. On moving on after Kansas State: You have to have the 24-hour rule. You can't let one loss beat you twice. Like I said, it's a tough loss, we have to deal with it, but we have also have a game coming up this weekend. On playing with confidence: You have to have confidence going into any game. You might as well not play if you don't have any confidence in yourself. LB SCOTT DERRY On pressuring Sam Bradford: The game is so much quicker, especially in a rivalry game like this one we have coming up. Coming up this week hopefully we can get in his face and force some turnovers, because that's what we need. On the atmosphere of a Texas-OU game: I can remember the first time I walked into that stadium and coming down the tunnel my freshman year. It's just the atmosphere and everything inside the stadium, just the feeling and the environment walking in there, it's unbelievable. It's hard to describe. On how he would describe the Oklahoma game to a younger player: Physical. This game is all about toughness. Their offensive line is big, strong and physical and their backs run hard. That's what it's been about for the games that I've played in. It's a running contest, especially down here in the South. It's always been real physical. Whoever can run the ball and control the clock most of the time has been able to come out on top. I'd just tell him, 'Work hard all week and get ready for a physical grind because you're going to be sore on Sunday'. On if he thinks the Texas offensive line is physical: Absolutely. I have no doubt in my mind. I've been up against our offensive line every day since last spring, those guys can bring it. They know they can, they just have to have their confidence and swagger and come up to speed. On the momentum of this game: It is one of those games where there have been streaks. They had five going a few years ago, and now we have two going. It's just such a huge game in both of our seasons. For us right now, it's really focusing on getting back on the right track. Coming off this loss right now, I think we just need to keep improving on some of the things that were positive during the Kansas State game and obviously we need to improve on the negatives. This is a huge game for us right now, and hopefully we can get it done. On dealing with the loss: It's hard around here. We haven't lost a lot of games. It's something that a lot of guys on our team aren't used to doing, especially even in high school most of them didn't lose a lot of games. Everybody deals with the loss differently. We have to bring the positives out of this game and keep continuing to work on them. QB COLT McCOY On being taken out of the Kansas State game: I don't want to get into that too much. They took me out for some medical reasons, I got to come back in and play. They had to take me out again. I'll be fine, I've been with the doctors and trainers, we'll be okay. On dealing with being taken out of games because of injury: I think that's tough. You'll know when the pain's too bad and you can't go anymore, that's when you have to go inside and let the trainers look at you. You just have to put it behind you, that's part of the game. That's something that's going to happen, you don't want it to, but it seems like sometimes it's just going to happen. On the most frustrating thing about the Kansas State game: Batted balls are the most frustrating thing for a quarterback I think, at least for me. We knew what they were doing, we had a feel for them and every time we had a drive going it just seemed to stall with batted balls and bad luck. When things happen like that, you just have to take it and move on. That's all I have to say about that, because as much as you want to take those back, as much as you think the batted balls may just get tipped to the ground, I don't know what happened. We felt like we knew what they were doing, and we were driving the ball every time and things just weren't going our way. We weren't getting the breaks that we needed to, but we put it behind us. We're 0-1 in conference. We're going to come back together as a team, go back to work and see where that takes us. On batted balls: We haven't had batted balls (before now). We had one batted ball that got tipped and picked against TCU, and that's it. I can't explain it, I don't understand. We just have to move on. That's part of the game. If you want to say it's bad luck, it happened. We just have to get back to work. On Oklahoma: Oklahoma's good. I watched them last night, their defense is really sound. They're always in the right spot. They do a lot of blitzing, a lot of stuff that we're going to have to handle. They're probably going to blitz us just as much as anybody else. We have to be sound, we have to know what we're doing. On using last year's success to prepare for this year's game: I watched the film last night of last year, and they do a lot of the same stuff. I think the most important thing is handling the emotion of a big game, a big rivalry like that. I can remember how tough it was just to go in there and play. I'm going to have to figure out how to handle that, how to get back on track. Like I said, our goal for this week is to go back to work, to come back together as a team, to play as a team and see where it takes us. On the experience redshirting gave him, in terms of playing against Oklahoma: That was pretty cool, being able to see Vince and being able to get a feel that whole year, being able to travel on the road, being able to see how things worked, helped me a lot in developing me. When I got the chance to start my redshirt freshman year, I think those experiences paid off. On his experiences entering the Cotton Bowl: That's a whole experience in itself, being able to drive through the fans. It's split down one side of the road and the other side of the road. It's a crazy experience, it's fun and it kind of gets you motivated. On Quan Cosby: Quan's been great. He's so consistent, he's one of the most consistent players we have right now. I have a good feel for him, I know where he's going to be. If I get some time, I know he's going to open up somewhere. That's a good feeling as a quarterback, to know that you can count on somebody like that. I feel like he's been consistent. I don't like to single anybody out, but he has been playing really well. OT TONY HILLS On what he told the team after Kansas State: Basically the only thing I said is, 'We've got to come back to work.' I basically told the offensive line, not just in football but in life, there are setbacks. You still have to wake up the next day and move on. I think that's the attitude of this team. We watched film, we went over the mistakes we made and we have to move on. I guarantee you Oklahoma is not worried about what happened to them last week, they're thinking about this week. We have to do the same thing. We're going to go in ready to play, practicing hard. The coaches are going to have us working on this, and I can't wait to get to Dallas and play. On the determination of this team: You know as a team you're better than what you displayed on that day. It just makes you want to go out there and prove it. These guys are going to fight. You never have to question the heart of this team because they're going to fight, even if things aren't going their way. Credit the defense for the things they did out there, holding them and not letting them score any more points when they got out there at the end of the game. That's just the type of things I'm talking about, all that stuff. I think when we go into practice this week, we'll see the same hunger, the same fight, and the same determination to want to get better. On the Texas-Oklahoma game: It's a rivalry game, for one. You've got to get up for this, you've got to. If you can't get up for this game, I don't know why you're playing. It's the Texas-Oklahoma game. I remember as a kid watching this game on TV, seeing how hard those guys played on both sides of the ball knowing that someday I might have the opportunity to play in that game. This is going on my second year now so I'm looking forward to it. On being excited before the game: I'm usually up before an hour, hour and a half before our wake up time, just sitting in my room all excited. I think the hardest thing is keeping your emotions calm before the storm. It's just a wonderful experience. It's something that you can't understand or feel how it feels unless you're in it. I'm just glad I have another chance to be a part of it, and to be a part of it with this group.
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