11/17/04
Tracking Mack: November 17, 2004
General Comments:
Practice was really good again. The guys are excited about the Aggies. They understand what kind of challenge it is going to be and they have great respect for them. They know this is a real big football game. They know what is at stake for this game without even talking about the things around it. It’s been fun to watch the guys practice. It’s senior day and the last home game at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. These guys have only lost one game since they have been here and they haven’t lost a conference game. So, it’s a real important day for them to leave here in good shape.
On the Texas/Texas A&M series:
When you go back through history, this rivalry has been like the Oklahoma rivalry. It’s gone in streaks. One thing about rivalries is that every year is a new experience. You have got to go play hard. Last year’s game has nothing to do with this one. Dennis [Frachione] has the guys playing with a lot more confidence.
On Texas A&M:
It was a real good offensive team last year. Where we see their differences is the fact that they are taking better care of the ball. Their turnover margin is really good, it is one of the best in the country. And, they’re playing a lot better defense. They are doing more things, they are blitzing more and we will have to handle a lot more movement than we did last year in this game.
On any advantages for either team, having coached with Carl Torbush at North Carolina:
Football changes so much. The fundamentals don’t change, but who you are what you do changes with your personnel. Carl [Torbush] has changed a whole lot since last year and he has changed since we were at North Carolina together. He and Greg [Robinson] worked against each other every day for two years, so if we were to have an advantage with what he is doing, he would have an advantage with what we are doing so I really don’t think it makes much difference.
On the final game for the senior class:
Senior day is an emotional day in a lot of ways. It’s a time that you reflect on four or five years of Bo Scaifes and Derrick Johnsons and Cedric Bensons, but you are excited about the future and you are sending them out to start over, whether it is in the business world or in the NFL. The other thing is the challenge you get out of coaching. It’s the challenge of taking the ones that are coming back, and you can’t replace those guys, but you’ve got to start over and try to do different things with them. That is the fun you get out of coaching.
On four of the top seven running backs in the country coming from the state of Texas:
350 players a year sign Division IA scholarships. 20 million people reside in the state of Texas. Track and football are really important in the state which lends to great running backs because they are outside and competing and working all the time. We have the best high school coaches in the country here. The high school and college coaches in this part of the country all like to run the ball. It’s a very physical game in this part of the country. Louisiana Tech is running more now and North Texas has always run it more and Bob [Stoops] is running it more at Oklahoma and we are running it more here. It lends toward the trend right now in this part of the country.
|
