Oct. 11, 2009
Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp
On the game: I was disappointed with the way we started the game. We didn’t leverage the formations correctly we would have worked on. It was nothing new Colorado had done, and that was disappointing. To give up the big play on third-and-21 was a poor call on my part. I put the guys in a tough situation, expecting sprint out, and it didn’t happen. They went to six-man protection and were able to protect the pressure, but we responded. That was the most positive thing. Other than six runs in the game, we played the run game really well, and they had 30-plus runs. That was pleasing.
Third down was huge for us. Early in the game, we didn’t get off the field on the third down. We got off the field on third down 100 percent in the second half. That just shows you how important that down is to get off the field and get our offense back on the field. I’m very pleased scoring on defense, very pleased in the kick game with the punt return of Jordan Shipley, and obviously Duane (Akina’s) crew going out and blocking the punt; Marquise Goodwin, a true freshman (with the block), and Ben Wells scooping and scoring in that manner. That’s what good football teams do. We’ve got to become a complete team.
In special teams and defense, we did some good things in the second half, and I was pleased with that. Earl’s interception was a huge momentum changer in the game. That was a big play. We come off a turnover, and regardless of the situation, it’s our job to stop the offense. That play was huge.
On Thomas’ interception: We had worked on that. They had gotten in a little different set, and I was really pleased our guys adjusted to it. We were in man with pressure. We were able to get pressure on the quarterback, affected the quarterback, Earl intercepted it and took it to the house. We had some great blocks on the return. Eddie Jones, Lamarr Houston and Aaron Williams all made blocks to free him to the end zone, and Keenan Robinson escorted him down the field.
On the pressure from the defensive line and hurries by Lamarr Houston: Lamarr really played well for us up front during the game. He struck well out of his hips and got off blocks. We got consistent pressure with four guys rushing. We really felt good about our pressure up front. We’ve just got to stay in our gaps. It was more of a gap control issue than anything else.
On Colorado’s offensive production decreasing each quarter: That’s a credit to our players. They made great adjustments picking our tempo up, our mental focus up, and responding in the game to some adversity. We need that. We need to have adversity in the game. That’s good our kids responded that way. There was no finger pointing. It was all taken on each other to improve the play of the Texas football team.
On Oklahoma: Oklahoma’s a good football team. We look forward to playing them. It’s the best rivalry in college football. Both teams are good teams with proud tradition and history, and we look forward to going to Dallas. We just need to play well. We need to consistently play well for four quarters and put a 60-minute game together, and I know our kids will be focused on doing that.
Offensive coordinator Greg Davis
On the game: I thought the series of plays right before halftime was really important. We had struggled in the first half. We had an eight-play drive that resulted in a field goal, a nine-play drive that resulted in a blocked field goal. Colorado was doing a good job. Right before half, we went into a one-minute tempo and it culminated in a touchdown pass from Colt McCoy to Jordan Shipley. We caught them in a blitz and Jordan was on a double move. I thought that was really important.
On Jordan Shipley: Once again, Jordan Shipley catches 11 balls. I think someone told me it was the first time in Texas history that a receiver has caught 10 or more passes for three straight weeks. He’s certainly playing like you’d expect a sixth-year senior to play with his roommate being the quarterback. Colt is playing really well – 32-of-39 – I thought that was really good. Dan Buckner continues to do a great job inside at the flex tight end for us. He had six catches with several being key third-down receptions. A lot of things were good in the passing game. I thought we protected very well.
On the running game: Obviously I was disappointed in the running game. We cannot go through this conference and not run the ball better than we did. That’s something we’ve got to address. We’ve been talking about it. We’ve been looking at. Obviously we haven’t gotten the handle on it yet, but we’ve got to do better as we get ready for Oklahoma.
On the protection of the offensive line: I think the offensive line is doing a heck of a job in protection. One of the things people are doing in the run game, because of the way we throw the ball, they’re doing a bunch of twists and things that create problems in the run game. They’re actually calling defensive schemes to try to rush the passer, and when you are in the running game, those twists and things create havoc. We still have to do a better job, whether or not they’re twisting, whether or not they’re bringing the (middle linebacker), all those things are things we can do a better job of, have done a better job of in the past, and I think we can do that as the season goes on.
I do think they are doing a heck of a job protecting the quarterback. As many different things as we see, and as many different blitzes as we’re seeing week to week, I think our offensive line has really hung in there and done a good job. When you talk about protection, you’re also talking about backs picking up blitzes and things like that. Vondrell McGee did a good job of that. With the touchdown pass we talked about earlier, Greg Smith was in and he was involved in the protection pick up, so it’s not just the offensive line, there are a lot of guys involved when you’re talking about protecting the quarterback in the passing game.
On Colt McCoy: I think earlier in the year, I think Colt was pressing. He wanted to make every play, wanted to be perfect, wanted to make every third-down conversion, and you can’t do that. What I’ve seen, and last night he completed 82 percent of his passes, the week before that he was over 70, so he’s beginning to get back in a rhythm and in a quarterback mentality. Last night we had a third-and-22, we called a vertical game, and he had to drop the ball down for five yards. It’s a very innocuous throw, but at the time, he wasn’t trying to force anything, we were in a two-possession game, dropped the ball down to Vondrell, and we picked up five yards of field position. Those are the kinds of things I’m talking about. He’s playing with maturity, and I think he’s really preparing himself to have a great second half of the season.
On Oklahoma: Oklahoma is a great week. It’s a fun week. You have the State Fair, and growing up in this state, it was always a part of my football seasons as a kid, so it’s a fun week. Oklahoma is a team that does a great job with their front four. They play with great pad level. I think (DE Jeremy) Beal and (DE Auston) English are guys who can really pressure you off the edge. We’re really looking forward to it. They’ve had the same staff there for a while, and we’ve got an idea of the things they’ll do and have done in the past. They’ve got an idea of the way we do things and have done in the past, so it should be a great weekend.
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