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10/13/03
Mack Brown Monday Press Conference Transcript
Opening Comments:
"Oklahoma is a great team and
we took what we thought would be a competitive game and turned it
into a loss. Six early turnovers and poor defensive play turned out
to be a bad combination against a good team. I thought our fans were
great. We asked them to come to Dallas and be loud, and they were.
Some stayed till the end, and I appreciate that. We put our fans in
a tough spot with the loss, but a lot of pride was shown by those
who stayed until the "Eyes of Texas" at the end of the game.
I also feel sorry for our seniors. I am, however, proud of our program
and what we have done. Unfortunately, we have not done a good job
in the games against Oklahoma. We played hard, but we couldn't have
played any worse."
On the team's overall performance:
"When you go back and look at
the game, a lot of guys played really well. Our offensive line played
better in this game than they have been. The game was really similar
to the Arkansas game in that we didn't stop Oklahoma on defense, and
we turned the ball over on offense. The Arkansas game wasn't as bad,
but it was the same profile. Defensively, we gave up too many big
plays and I think that was the key to this ballgame. We need to get
back the defensive team that showed up against Kansas State. Our special
teams did a good job. David Thomas forced a turnover on a punt that
gave us a chance to get back in the ballgame."
On dealing with the loss to Oklahoma:
"After a loss, everyone looks to the head coach for guidance
and answers. We have been in this position three other times, I am
sad to say, but we have responded well after this game and we will
do so again this year. It's my responsibility to coach this team well.
The team didn't play well, so that comes back to me. Our team is much
better than how they played on Saturday. What we need to figure out
is why the team that showed up against Kansas State did not show up
against Oklahoma. We need to be able to play better against Oklahoma
to be successful."
On taking responsibility for the
loss:
"I am responsible for this game. I hear every call on offense
and defense, I work with the game plan during the week, and I know
every player and the number of plays they play, so it is my responsibility.
I think it is a cowardly coach that would blame a 20-year-old or assistant
coach for a loss. I need to go back to work and send a clear message
to the players and the assistant coaches on what I think happened
last week and what I expect this week. I need to show great leadership
and toughness and make sure we have the right places covered by the
right guys that are emotionally ready to play Saturday."
On the starting quarterback:
"Vince will start at quarterback against Iowa State. He is still
learning the offense, but is improving with every play. Chance is
doing a great job, but Vince just made a lot of plays on Saturday.
I'm sure Chance is disappointed, but he is a great young man and a
team player, and he will do what he can to try and help us win."
On how to recover from the loss:
"I think the way to get back on track after a loss is to talk
about the positives in the game. This will also be a week when a lot
of negative things will be said because we didn't play well. We will
spend time getting better and working toward playing Iowa State. We
will enforce the positive aspects of our game. The one thing we don't
want to do is let one loss beat us twice. The guys are very disappointed
so they are going to get back to work."
On the high points of the game:
"Vince made some great plays with both his arm and his feet.
We rushed for 197 yards in this game so we are running the ball better.
Most of the offensive linemen played really well and that shows progress
against a great defense. Defensively, Derrick Johnson and Phillip
Geiggar both played really well. Our kicking teams also did a great
job. Even with all these positives, we need to get more guys playing
better on defense and we need to take better care of the ball on offense."
On Iowa State:
"Dan McCarney is an emotional guy and he always has his team
ready to play. The last time we played at Iowa State it was a tight
ball game and we won in the final seconds. Their team has had a lot
of injuries but they are going to play hard. We can't sit around and
feel sorry for ourselves; we need to get back to work. We still have
a chance to get better as a football team and have a great year."
On Iowa State's offense:
"They're throwing the ball from shotgun a lot and not running
the ball as much, but they're still running it. They played two quarterbacks
against Texas Tech. Texas Tech is just hot; they're playing great,
and they're throwing the ball great. "
On QB Austin Flynn: "He's been playing more. They played both
of them this weekend. One's from Round Rock and the other is from
Houston. We looked at both of them, and they're both good players."
On how Iowa State has changed
without former QB Seneca Wallace:
"He threw it a lot, but he iso ran options. I would think from
watching film today that they're doing to the same stuff. He was just
such a great runner. He could rip you both ways. They're still doing
a lot of shotgun, quarterback draw, quarterback options, moving him
around, still a lot of drop backs, so it's very similar to what we've
seen them do last year."
On if the offense is similar Kansas State:
"It is similar, but with not as much quarterback run. I'd say
more throwing. (Kansas State QB) Ell (Roberson) is a running back
a lot of the time, and then he can throw the ball. These guys are
throwers that run some." |
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