This is from Baylor's youtube channel. They stack all the interviews into one video.
Dave Aranda
I thought the week was a real positive one. Our Tuesday practice might have been the best Tuesday that we’ve had. Our Thursday practice might have been the same, the best Thursday that we’ve had. A lot of good things throughout the week. I look at the emphasis on takeaways. I look at the emphasis on being physical with the ball and to see it transfer over to a game was pretty cool because it hadn’t really happened so far like that this year. The growth of the team, I think this has been a team where we can all tell them the stove is hot but they have to touch it. I’m hoping we don’t have to touch the stove any more on certain things.
(Defensive performance) I’m proud of them. A lot of credit goes to Ron Roberts and that staff. There were probably more early morning and late night meetings this week than I can remember. I think offensively what Tech was doing really stresses you. There’s a fair amount of creativity with their tempo. I credit the players because they went out and really had a chip on their shoulder and played with an edge. Now I will say that starting in the third quarter, it gets closer than it probably should be. I think all of that is still growth for us. As a team we’re probably I imagine like anyone else, when things are good we’re happy, and when things are bad we’re angry and we’re mad. That’s not going to cut it. That’s not how you win. When things are good, we have to have a chip on our shoulder and our standards should be higher, and coaches and players have to hold everyone to that standard, and we’re fighting for that.
(75-yard drive in third quarter for TD) It was good to see. I thought the offensive line really took it upon themselves to impose their will and to really be physical, and our running backs really worked on playing behind their pads and churning their legs and all of it. I thought our receivers did a good job blocking. All of that played into it. When you run the ball like we were doing, it opens up RPOs and play-action passes and that. I think the physicality, we get that for four quarters, I think we’re a little more who we want to be.
(Silencing crowd) I think when you execute, you silence the crowd. That’s really the only way the crowd gets silenced. You could wish that it would go away or you could try to talk louder or yell maybe, but the only way to silence the crowd is if you execute. So it ain’t really about the crowd, it’s what we can control and what we do. I think there were times tonight where we really focused on the focus, so it was good.
(Running the ball) When you need it, I wish it wouldn’t come down to that particular score when you need it. I wish we could keep our foot on the pedal the whole way, and we’re aiming to do that still. I think we’re built that way to go to the run. We’ve done that prior earlier in the year, but no one noticed because it didn’t work. So many times when there’s youth, words aren’t enough, there has to be actions. I need to probably find better words because it would be easier to have to not go through to get closer to it.
complementary football) I thought there were good things. The credit goes to the team. One of the hardest things about night games on the road is the distractions. There are so many things that can get in the way. They're watching games that are on TV, and they're seeing this and they're seeing that, and they're talking about this game and that game. If you're not careful, just how like we are as fans, well, this can happen and that can happen and all of that has a place, but it has nothing to do with the game we're about to play. It's just stuff getting in the way. In the past for us, that has gotten in the way. For them to handle all of that the right way, and then to be in tough road environments and almost reach a peak at pregame, and then come into the locker room and have to try to regain what we just blew off the top in pregame, that's happened too. It's the amount of things that a lot of times you take for granted, and you really, really have to coach and you have to step by step get it to where you want it. I think a lot of those things are going well for us right now, after a lot of failure.
(was winning time of possession necessary) I think anytime you're facing an offense as explosive as Tech, you want to physically impose your will, you want to pound the rock, and you want to limit their possessions.
(two-minute drive before the half) It was good to see. We spend quite a bit of time on that with just our practice schedules. It was good to see just a calmness and not forcing things. One of the things we talked about this week was that games like this, with all of the storylines and the night game and the guy being celebrated here, whatever that was, all of those things that come up don't have anything to do with the game. So you go into the game and if you don't let those distractions in, you find that all that I need to be is to me and that all that our team needs is for us to be our team. And not really go outside of ourselves. That's a great illustration, with that two-minute drive. There was a great patience and confidence that you really can't fake.
(Reese due for 40 carries) We were walking up to the locker room and he put his arm around me and he goes, 'I'm ready for the next one.' I think that's totally him. We're blessed to have him. He's special now, and he's just going to keep getting better.
(update on Dabney) It doesn't look great right now. I think we're still waiting on some X-rays and all of it. But it's unfortunate for Drake. I thought he was really playing well and I thought he had a great energy and a great confidence about him in this game. I'm disappointed and sad for him.
BLAKE SHAPEN
(the way you answered when Tech got it to 24-17 with a touchdown drive) That was an emphasis all week, really. And in the past few games, I’m sure you guys have noticed just us not being able to fully close out games and making key mistakes, including me, if it’s a fumble, a pick or whatever it is. We’ve struggled in that area and not being able to close the game out. It was really good to see us be able to do that tonight and I’m so proud of everybody on our team.
(physical game, looked like you took some shots) I’d say so. Every game is physical, but they were ready to play, we were ready to play. A lot of the people on that coaching staff were at Baylor maybe a year ago. So, I think that had a lot to do with it. They had those guys ready to play, and so were we.
(Richard Reese) He’s a stud. Our O-line is great, too. I was handing the ball off, and it was just like, ‘Golly!’ you just look at the holes that are being made. It was unbelievable just to watch after I hand the ball off. Actually, I was watching like a fan sometimes, because they’re opening holes, he’s hitting them and finding them. He’s been electric the past couple of weeks, for sure, and all season.
(what does this win do for the team) It does a lot. That was a huge win for us to come on the road. It wasn’t easy to come on the road and beat a team like them. They’re a great team. We came in, handled business, and I think it just gives us momentum if we take it the right way and be able to take the positives and also look at the negatives in the game and be able to grow from the game, even though we won, and be able to bounce back and have another good week next week. It’s key for us to come back and be ready to go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and put together a good week.
(how do you mentally get past the hurdle of getting hit after having the concussion) The game of football is pretty violent. There are going to be times where you’re going to have to take those hits and able to wear them. I took a few of them tonight and maybe in the past. It’s just about getting back up from them and keep on going and not letting that stop me.
(saw you in the tunnel before the game and you looked pretty amped-up. Is that who you are, or was there a little extra tonight) Usually, I’m pretty fired up to play. I’m always ready to play. Maybe tonight, I don’t know if I was a little more. I don’t know. But, I was pretty pumped to play.
(on the crowd) Every road game is a challenge, just with communication and things like that. I thought they were pretty loud. And I thought we were able to execute with communication and being clear with what we’re supposed to do. We had a few hiccups and we were able to bounce back. That’s the biggest thing. It was fun to play in, though.
(was the TD to Presley the call, or did you see him late) He was actually my second read. It was a play action fake, Gavin was my first read, and the safety kind of blanketed that, and I went back late and that was my second ready to Hal, and he made a good play and got his feet in. It was a great play by him.
(good connection with him) Yeah, I just expect us to continue to grow. This is his first year playing, this is my first full year starting. So, for us to keep building on this and keep getting better. He does some unbelievable things. It’s kind of gone unseen maybe a little bit this year with him, but he can do some great things. He’s very lengthy and he catch the football really well and he’s really fast. The more experience we get together, the better we’ll get.
(felt like a true team win, complementary football) Yeah, for sure. I felt that. Whenever we were down, the defense picked us up and special teams at times. And then, whenever the defense maybe struggled a little bit, we were able to back them up, too. And that’s what it’s all about, just being able to come together as a team and be able to find that driving factor, and everybody has a role in that, even the guys not playing. And tonight, I really felt it a lot. I felt we played as a team more than ever tonight. So, we just have to build on that, for sure.
MATT JONES
(completely shut Tech down in the first half, what was the key there) Really, the motto going into this game was just to execute from the start, play fast, play green. I felt like we went out there and executed from the start. We were more physical, we were just playing from whistle to whistle, playing smart, doing our job. Everyone was doing their job, communication was on point. We went to our expectations and executed them.
(jackers and robbers, five interceptions) Man, it was great. I know we came into this game wanting to take three, from the old model: Take 3. But yeah, it just felt good coming into this game, and just from the start, interception, getting turnover after turnover, it was a key point to helping us win this game.
(first collegiate win for you out in West Texas) It’s awesome. It’s a blessing. I can’t speak about how much it means. Coming out to West Texas, I remember getting off the plane, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, the dirt smell, that’s just what I needed.’
(going up against Joey, how do you balance that with winning the game) I think from the get-go, coming into this game, we were saying, yeah the emotions are going to be high, we love him and all that.’ But, at the end of the day, we don’t like him throughout the four quarters. So, just coming in with the emotions high and knowing what we need to do to execute and what we need to do to put our emotions to the side and just play ball.
(able to silence the crowd) Oh, it was awesome. I remember seeing them just leaving early, even when they still had a chance. Seeing them leave early, I guess you could call them some fake fans. But, it was nice.
(did you see your former Odessa Permian teammate, OL Landon Peterson) Yeah, I saw Landon. I said hey to him. He told me about having a little torn labrum earlier in the week. So, that kind of made me a little sad, I guess you would say. I remember before the first play, I just looked at him, he looked at me, and we just did a little head nod saying, ‘What’s up.’ So, it was great seeing him, seeing a former teammate.
(second week in a row been able to close out, even when the other team gets a little momentum going in the second half) I think just pounding the rock, man. We came in the locker room and just preached, ‘Hey, this game is not over.’ And just from the West Virginia game, past experiences, we knew that we had to come back into this half and pound the rock and out-physical team, out-effort them, fly to the ball and let every snap be our best snap.
(when you look back at the West Virginia game, does this even look like the same defense) No, not at all. (the difference) I would say more effort, we played way more physical. We came into this game with a great game plan, something we haven’t ran all year. So, I think installing that throughout the week and executing at a high level and just practicing with full effort every day and having intentional reps, it led over to the game.
(on the crowd) I thought BYU was more electric, more intensified. I didn’t think the crowd really brought it like we were expecting. I think we had high expectations coming into the game with the crowd and how it could be a distraction. But, I don’t think it really distracted us one bit.
Dave Aranda
I thought the week was a real positive one. Our Tuesday practice might have been the best Tuesday that we’ve had. Our Thursday practice might have been the same, the best Thursday that we’ve had. A lot of good things throughout the week. I look at the emphasis on takeaways. I look at the emphasis on being physical with the ball and to see it transfer over to a game was pretty cool because it hadn’t really happened so far like that this year. The growth of the team, I think this has been a team where we can all tell them the stove is hot but they have to touch it. I’m hoping we don’t have to touch the stove any more on certain things.
(Defensive performance) I’m proud of them. A lot of credit goes to Ron Roberts and that staff. There were probably more early morning and late night meetings this week than I can remember. I think offensively what Tech was doing really stresses you. There’s a fair amount of creativity with their tempo. I credit the players because they went out and really had a chip on their shoulder and played with an edge. Now I will say that starting in the third quarter, it gets closer than it probably should be. I think all of that is still growth for us. As a team we’re probably I imagine like anyone else, when things are good we’re happy, and when things are bad we’re angry and we’re mad. That’s not going to cut it. That’s not how you win. When things are good, we have to have a chip on our shoulder and our standards should be higher, and coaches and players have to hold everyone to that standard, and we’re fighting for that.
(75-yard drive in third quarter for TD) It was good to see. I thought the offensive line really took it upon themselves to impose their will and to really be physical, and our running backs really worked on playing behind their pads and churning their legs and all of it. I thought our receivers did a good job blocking. All of that played into it. When you run the ball like we were doing, it opens up RPOs and play-action passes and that. I think the physicality, we get that for four quarters, I think we’re a little more who we want to be.
(Silencing crowd) I think when you execute, you silence the crowd. That’s really the only way the crowd gets silenced. You could wish that it would go away or you could try to talk louder or yell maybe, but the only way to silence the crowd is if you execute. So it ain’t really about the crowd, it’s what we can control and what we do. I think there were times tonight where we really focused on the focus, so it was good.
(Running the ball) When you need it, I wish it wouldn’t come down to that particular score when you need it. I wish we could keep our foot on the pedal the whole way, and we’re aiming to do that still. I think we’re built that way to go to the run. We’ve done that prior earlier in the year, but no one noticed because it didn’t work. So many times when there’s youth, words aren’t enough, there has to be actions. I need to probably find better words because it would be easier to have to not go through to get closer to it.
complementary football) I thought there were good things. The credit goes to the team. One of the hardest things about night games on the road is the distractions. There are so many things that can get in the way. They're watching games that are on TV, and they're seeing this and they're seeing that, and they're talking about this game and that game. If you're not careful, just how like we are as fans, well, this can happen and that can happen and all of that has a place, but it has nothing to do with the game we're about to play. It's just stuff getting in the way. In the past for us, that has gotten in the way. For them to handle all of that the right way, and then to be in tough road environments and almost reach a peak at pregame, and then come into the locker room and have to try to regain what we just blew off the top in pregame, that's happened too. It's the amount of things that a lot of times you take for granted, and you really, really have to coach and you have to step by step get it to where you want it. I think a lot of those things are going well for us right now, after a lot of failure.
(was winning time of possession necessary) I think anytime you're facing an offense as explosive as Tech, you want to physically impose your will, you want to pound the rock, and you want to limit their possessions.
(two-minute drive before the half) It was good to see. We spend quite a bit of time on that with just our practice schedules. It was good to see just a calmness and not forcing things. One of the things we talked about this week was that games like this, with all of the storylines and the night game and the guy being celebrated here, whatever that was, all of those things that come up don't have anything to do with the game. So you go into the game and if you don't let those distractions in, you find that all that I need to be is to me and that all that our team needs is for us to be our team. And not really go outside of ourselves. That's a great illustration, with that two-minute drive. There was a great patience and confidence that you really can't fake.
(Reese due for 40 carries) We were walking up to the locker room and he put his arm around me and he goes, 'I'm ready for the next one.' I think that's totally him. We're blessed to have him. He's special now, and he's just going to keep getting better.
(update on Dabney) It doesn't look great right now. I think we're still waiting on some X-rays and all of it. But it's unfortunate for Drake. I thought he was really playing well and I thought he had a great energy and a great confidence about him in this game. I'm disappointed and sad for him.
BLAKE SHAPEN
(the way you answered when Tech got it to 24-17 with a touchdown drive) That was an emphasis all week, really. And in the past few games, I’m sure you guys have noticed just us not being able to fully close out games and making key mistakes, including me, if it’s a fumble, a pick or whatever it is. We’ve struggled in that area and not being able to close the game out. It was really good to see us be able to do that tonight and I’m so proud of everybody on our team.
(physical game, looked like you took some shots) I’d say so. Every game is physical, but they were ready to play, we were ready to play. A lot of the people on that coaching staff were at Baylor maybe a year ago. So, I think that had a lot to do with it. They had those guys ready to play, and so were we.
(Richard Reese) He’s a stud. Our O-line is great, too. I was handing the ball off, and it was just like, ‘Golly!’ you just look at the holes that are being made. It was unbelievable just to watch after I hand the ball off. Actually, I was watching like a fan sometimes, because they’re opening holes, he’s hitting them and finding them. He’s been electric the past couple of weeks, for sure, and all season.
(what does this win do for the team) It does a lot. That was a huge win for us to come on the road. It wasn’t easy to come on the road and beat a team like them. They’re a great team. We came in, handled business, and I think it just gives us momentum if we take it the right way and be able to take the positives and also look at the negatives in the game and be able to grow from the game, even though we won, and be able to bounce back and have another good week next week. It’s key for us to come back and be ready to go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and put together a good week.
(how do you mentally get past the hurdle of getting hit after having the concussion) The game of football is pretty violent. There are going to be times where you’re going to have to take those hits and able to wear them. I took a few of them tonight and maybe in the past. It’s just about getting back up from them and keep on going and not letting that stop me.
(saw you in the tunnel before the game and you looked pretty amped-up. Is that who you are, or was there a little extra tonight) Usually, I’m pretty fired up to play. I’m always ready to play. Maybe tonight, I don’t know if I was a little more. I don’t know. But, I was pretty pumped to play.
(on the crowd) Every road game is a challenge, just with communication and things like that. I thought they were pretty loud. And I thought we were able to execute with communication and being clear with what we’re supposed to do. We had a few hiccups and we were able to bounce back. That’s the biggest thing. It was fun to play in, though.
(was the TD to Presley the call, or did you see him late) He was actually my second read. It was a play action fake, Gavin was my first read, and the safety kind of blanketed that, and I went back late and that was my second ready to Hal, and he made a good play and got his feet in. It was a great play by him.
(good connection with him) Yeah, I just expect us to continue to grow. This is his first year playing, this is my first full year starting. So, for us to keep building on this and keep getting better. He does some unbelievable things. It’s kind of gone unseen maybe a little bit this year with him, but he can do some great things. He’s very lengthy and he catch the football really well and he’s really fast. The more experience we get together, the better we’ll get.
(felt like a true team win, complementary football) Yeah, for sure. I felt that. Whenever we were down, the defense picked us up and special teams at times. And then, whenever the defense maybe struggled a little bit, we were able to back them up, too. And that’s what it’s all about, just being able to come together as a team and be able to find that driving factor, and everybody has a role in that, even the guys not playing. And tonight, I really felt it a lot. I felt we played as a team more than ever tonight. So, we just have to build on that, for sure.
MATT JONES
(completely shut Tech down in the first half, what was the key there) Really, the motto going into this game was just to execute from the start, play fast, play green. I felt like we went out there and executed from the start. We were more physical, we were just playing from whistle to whistle, playing smart, doing our job. Everyone was doing their job, communication was on point. We went to our expectations and executed them.
(jackers and robbers, five interceptions) Man, it was great. I know we came into this game wanting to take three, from the old model: Take 3. But yeah, it just felt good coming into this game, and just from the start, interception, getting turnover after turnover, it was a key point to helping us win this game.
(first collegiate win for you out in West Texas) It’s awesome. It’s a blessing. I can’t speak about how much it means. Coming out to West Texas, I remember getting off the plane, and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, the dirt smell, that’s just what I needed.’
(going up against Joey, how do you balance that with winning the game) I think from the get-go, coming into this game, we were saying, yeah the emotions are going to be high, we love him and all that.’ But, at the end of the day, we don’t like him throughout the four quarters. So, just coming in with the emotions high and knowing what we need to do to execute and what we need to do to put our emotions to the side and just play ball.
(able to silence the crowd) Oh, it was awesome. I remember seeing them just leaving early, even when they still had a chance. Seeing them leave early, I guess you could call them some fake fans. But, it was nice.
(did you see your former Odessa Permian teammate, OL Landon Peterson) Yeah, I saw Landon. I said hey to him. He told me about having a little torn labrum earlier in the week. So, that kind of made me a little sad, I guess you would say. I remember before the first play, I just looked at him, he looked at me, and we just did a little head nod saying, ‘What’s up.’ So, it was great seeing him, seeing a former teammate.
(second week in a row been able to close out, even when the other team gets a little momentum going in the second half) I think just pounding the rock, man. We came in the locker room and just preached, ‘Hey, this game is not over.’ And just from the West Virginia game, past experiences, we knew that we had to come back into this half and pound the rock and out-physical team, out-effort them, fly to the ball and let every snap be our best snap.
(when you look back at the West Virginia game, does this even look like the same defense) No, not at all. (the difference) I would say more effort, we played way more physical. We came into this game with a great game plan, something we haven’t ran all year. So, I think installing that throughout the week and executing at a high level and just practicing with full effort every day and having intentional reps, it led over to the game.
(on the crowd) I thought BYU was more electric, more intensified. I didn’t think the crowd really brought it like we were expecting. I think we had high expectations coming into the game with the crowd and how it could be a distraction. But, I don’t think it really distracted us one bit.
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