10/27/03

Mack Brown Monday press conference transcript

Opening Comments:
"We are pleased with the win over Baylor. Even though this game was not on the national scene, or televised, I was very proud of our fans. They were very loud and I thought they really helped energize our team."

On the performance of the defense:
"I was really happy with our overall defensive effort. We had eight sacks, 25 pressures on their quarterback, and two forced fumbles, one of which was picked up and returned for a touchdown. There was also an interception by Nathan Vasher who is closing in on Noble Doss' interceptions record. Shutouts are hard to come by, but that can be attributed to our offense not turning the ball over, as well. More than anything else, I thought we played much better in the third quarter than we did in the first and second, which is something we didn't do against Iowa State. Our second and third-team defenses played really well; they took great pride in keeping Baylor out of the end zone. Mike Williams was our Defensive Player of the Game."

On the performance of the special teams:
"We won all three phases of the kicking game. We are really pleased with the progress of Richmond McGee. He averaged 42.3 yards per punt and all of his kickoffs were good. We've only kicked four field goals this year, which shows how effective our defense has been in the red zone. When we've asked Dusty Mangum to kick a field goal, he has kicked the ball really well. Nathan Vasher was the Special Teams Player of the Game. He has continued to lead the team in interceptions and is one of the best punt returners in the country."

On the performance of the offense:
"We didn't have a turnover, we had nine explosive plays, and we were 5-of-5 in the red zone. I was really proud of Brett Robin. Both he and Selvin Young did a really great job. The offensive line continues to improve. We are also really pleased with Vince Young and Chance Mock. Chance has 14 touchdown passes and one interception; he is playing nearly flawless. Vince makes so many great plays with his feet, but he is getting so much better in his passing game. He made some key plays against the blitz and he continues to improve in the overall package. David Thomas was our Offensive Player of the Game."

On the match-up with Nebraska:
"When you put Texas and Nebraska together, it is always a great game, not just because the scores have been so close, but because both programs have great respect for each other. Nebraska is having a great year and the expectation is that this is going to be a hard-fought game."

On the play of the young defense:
"Toward the end of last season, we had a lot of injuries and not enough young guys ready to play. This year, we have had the same misfortune with our defensive end positions being depleted. This has forced our younger guys to play a lot. I think, as coaches, we've done a better job of preparing our younger players. We have not defended the run as well as we would have liked and we need to be prepared because Nebraska will line up and run right us, or they will run the option. Our defense will have to step up, regardless of age."

On Nebraska's defense:
"We are going to have to be balanced in all phases of our game because Nebraska is playing much better defense than they were this time last year. They have changed some things and are playing with much more confidence. They are very disciplined, well coached, and have a lot of depth. They got off to a great start this season and are playing hard. They'll be ready to play and so will we."

On recovering from a loss:
"We are making progress. This is a young team and they are improving every week. We have four really tough games ahead of us and this should be an exciting finish. There are only two teams in the Top 10 without a loss. What we are seeing are teams that are not as dominant, so everyone is competing hard for those top 15 to 20 spots. You must be able to comeback from a loss. What you need to do is continue to fix the little things and keep from letting negative publicity affect you."