Dave Aranda
(How much do you use this month between the bowl game for the younger guys and use it as a camp period, how much is it just regular practice?)
No, that’s a good question. I think a lot of it’s going to be working to kind of reset off these last couple of games that we’ve had that have just been tough games. So, the emotions in our locker room right now are pretty strong. So, I think the ability to have a little bit of time off from all of it and to kind of get the appetite back to kind of go again and put yourself out there and all of that I think is way important. And then I think once we do that – I think as both players and staff – and then I think once we do that then it’s the ability to kind of focus in on these things that we’re bringing up. Because, for sure they’re going to come up in this bowl game. And so, we’d love to be at our best in this game. And so, that’ll be a focus. But then I think that the opportunity to get our young players reps and make it competitive and kind of build for the future is also part of it. So, I feel like we can do both.
(On those final two TD drives for Texas, they didn’t throw the ball once. What caused you guys to not be able to stop the run?)
Yeah, I think … It's a good question. I think the pressing. I think the trying to make a play when it’s not your play. I think, “Oh, here we go again.” I think all of those things.
(How much momentum did y’all have … didn't seem like it carried over after the half … how much momentum did you carry to the half?)
I thought at halftime it was … I thought there was a lot of confidence but it was measured confidence, though. I thought it was a calculating feeling. Guys were talking the truth and were kind of speaking honestly about the thing to do or what to stay away from and what’s working and what’s not. So, appreciative of that. I thought that coming out of it, I felt like we were in good head space. But I have to believe that fighting through some of that adversity in that early third and then getting to where it really mattered, we were clearly not at our best. And so, that’s something that we’ve gotta continue to work on.
(Has the mood shifted in the last three weeks from that OU win to now)
Well, frustration is there. Disappointment is there. I think winning, you don’t feel those things. And I think winning at times can cover up things. I think losing opens up everything, you know? So, every wound is kind of fully visible and fully open. And so, our ability to kind of run into that man and not pretend like we ain’t seeing it and not address it and all that thing, I think is the task we’ve had the last couple of weeks. So, it goes on.
(Didn’t have a penalty until that goal line play, did you like what you saw from that standpoint?)
Yeah. I think that’s one of possibly a few instances for us, one step forward in one area and then two steps back in another. And so, I think the fight with the team has to all collectively take a couple of steps forward. And so, one more opportunity for that to try to get that done.
Ben Sims
I feel like a couple times this season, it’s about us getting knocked down and being able to get back up. And every time we get back up, it’s not always necessarily the outcome we wanted. Last week, we had TCU on the ropes. And this week, we had an opportunity to close out a game and we couldn’t do it. It’s about being able to get back up and throw that next punch. And that’s just something we couldn’t do.
(can’t get out of your own way) That’s one of the things we talked about at halftime is how we were up, but we still couldn’t find a way to get out of our own way. And it’s really just the little things that do it. Our potential is so much better when we can do simple better. But we couldn’t.
I think our offense is a long-drive offense, sustainable drives. And I feel like we had a few good ones, but again it’s being able to stay out of our own way. It was difficult to do today, especially when you have a chance to close out a game.
(momentum going in at halftime) Absolutely. We had a chance to come back out, and hopefully the defense would get a stop for us and we’d get something going, but we couldn’t.
(seeing the defense put pressure on the QB) That’s really cool. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of our guys get a sack fumble for a touchdown. I’m really proud of Gabe. It was Gabe Hall, wasn’t it? All the stuff you saw today with the sacks and the sack fumble, all that stuff happens in practice and it’s finally coming to fruition. I’m proud of those guys.
(losing your last 3) It’s never what you hope for, obviously. Nobody wants to lose games, nobody wants to be put in really hard situations. Especially when you go three straight, it feels like we keep getting beat up and we’re trying to get up and we’re trying to fight our way out of it.
Bryson Jackson
Good pass rush…
This is something that we worked on all week. It was an emphasis. We wanted to get pressure on the quarterback to make him throw the ball, so we can get our DBs active. Throughout the game I think we got pressure on them. It’s just a success on stopping the run and stuff like that kind of beat us down a little.
Scoop and score…
It was a momentum changer and I wish we could capitalize on it, but it definitely did give us a little motivation to go in and for offense to come out there. So that's what we set out to do.
Good in close games last year, not this year. Difference?
The thing that we've been working on is just finishing strong. We have a lot of talent and we work hard, but just the understanding that we got to finish and play all four quarters is something that's major. It hurts. It's definitely a challenge for us. We’re given another opportunity. So we're going to work on that.
Bijan impact
They were hitting on all cylinders as far as their offensive line and Bijan was making great reads and cuts. So kudos to him and their efforts. It's something that we struggle with just stopping the run and playing our gaps and playing two gaps. We didn't get the play two gaps and stop the run and push them back. So that hurt us a little bit and it made the outcome what it is today.
Two gaps…
In situations like that you want to play two gaps and you want to be able to get on them and get squared up and push them back and get everybody else to the party. So that's something that has to happen. And I wish we could have execute that.
(Time off for bowl game) It’s definitely important that our leaders stay together and keep this team tight. It’s a special team. We’ve got younger guys who can play and older guys who can play. We’ve got to all put that together. It’s all overdue to see what we’re really about. I think once we step back and get to practicing, and we go back to fundamentals to what our culture is and what our standards are, and get better as a unit.
(Is next month like summer camp schedule) So far, I don’t know the schedule as of now. But I would assume that we’ll practice two weeks before the bowl game. But it will probably be semi like camp. I don’t know the plans. But I would assume that once we all get together and talk about it, it will probably be similar to that, just practices and similar to fall camp.
(Three straight losses) It hurts. I’m hurting for everybody in there just because of the work we put in. It’s a tough loss. We came into this game all the way to the end thinking we were going to win, so just a kick in the face. It hurts. But we’ve got to look at it like life sucks sometimes and we’ve got to get back and get over that adversity and hurt.
(Walcott blitzes) At his position, we wanted to be able to come in and get good pressure on the quarterback. It’s critical in passing downs and he can play in those drops and stuff like that. He’s definitely been doing really good fitting his gaps and playing his game of football. You want to play assignment football but at the same time make plays. He can do that and we need more of that on our team. Just put a bigger emphasis on it, just do your job and don’t stress about it, and go make plays as well.
