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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 26, 2016Michael EgwuaguKerry Thomas Jr.Jarveon WilliamsSan Antonio, Texas UTSA - 33, Charlotte - 14 THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players. Q. To the seniors up there, what are you guys feeling right now? MICHAEL EGWUAGU: I think the word for me would just be love. It's love from the coaches, the fans, you guys. This feeling is like no other. It's amazing. It's like a warm feeling. You can't really just explain it. But, yeah, we worked for it. We deserved it. JARVEON WILLIAMS: I don't even have a word to describe. It's been a long time coming. When we first got here, we didn't really have much. Even the good season we did have, we couldn't go to a bowl yet. Just to go through adversity and to come back out on top, make something of a bad situation, really proud of this team. Q. Kerry, can you talk about the emotion on the field after the game with fans and family. KERRY THOMAS JR.: Man, it's a blessing. This is one of the moments we've been waiting for from the beginning of the season. Our goal at first was to get to a bowl game. To say that it's finally here, man, like, all the guys enjoyed it. Without our fans, we couldn't have done it. We definitely appreciate them. Q. Jarveon, you opened up a pretty good lead late in the game. What did you see from your head coach at that moment? Frank always talks about not flinching. How did he keep you calm, if he said anything? JARVEON WILLIAMS: Oh, he was poised. He talked to us ahead of time about controlling our emotions, and if we can't, look at him, he'll model it for us. He's been doing that all year. He's a great guy. Adversity's going to hit you every game some way, some how. We were prepared for it, just got to prepare for it and drive forward. Q. Eg, you gave up the touchdown early. How did you guys fight back from that? MICHAEL EGWUAGU: It was relentless the entire time on the sideline we were trying to keep the energy up. Our motto that coach brought here and really embodied is outplay their defense. No matter what goes on, no matter what adversity hits, we spot the ball and we outplay their defense. That's what we did today. Q. For all three of you. What did it mean to y'all to have some of the former players back today, to make the first bowl in front of them? MICHAEL EGWUAGU: I guess for me, it was really endearing just to have a guy like Eric. I remember when I first came in, he saw I was wearing the No. 8 jersey, just like him. He sort of took me under his wing. He was like, This is what's going to happen, to become a leader. I remember just trying to emulate his demeanor, his mannerisms, how he went about carrying himself. It just meant the world to be able to get a bowl game, get bowl eligible in front of those guys that really started the program. JARVEON WILLIAMS: It was special. Think about it, those guys are the reason why we're all in this room right now. They took a chance. Without them, there would be no us. Big shout out to those guys. I'm always thankful that they paved the way for us. Now we just got to keep building and adding on to it. KERRY THOMAS JR.: Definitely, I think it's special as well. When I came as a freshman, I didn't really hang around the younger guys too much. I was around the older guys, Jarveon, Cam, Eg, T Wade. Those guys took me under their wing, showed me the ropes. It's definitely special for them to come out and be a part of it. We appreciate those guys. They paved the way for us. Q. For all three of you. You talked about the emotion. What does being bowl eligible mean for this program? MICHAEL EGWUAGU: I think it means the world. This is something that I remember my freshman year, I think we got over six games, but we still weren't able to go to a bowl for whatever reason. I forgot what it was. To go out as a senior and be able to get the opportunity to play for a bowl game, it's like none other. I think it's the perfect ending to a senior career, campaign. JARVEON WILLIAMS: I think it's just a testament to this program, a testament to the administration, Miss Hickey, everybody who is behind the scenes putting in work to help us achieve what we come to college to play ball and do. It's just another step. Keep putting them in front of each other and keep building. KERRY THOMAS JR.: Yeah, I think it's a step forward, not only for this team but for this university. They never had a bowl team. To say we're the first ones to do it, I just look at it as a blessing, man. Q. Jarveon, coming into this year, didn't you feel some pressure in that respect? This was your last shot at that goal. You always dreamed of going to a bowl game. Did you feel some pressure in that respect? JARVEON WILLIAMS: I think the pressure's always there. You're a college athlete. Finally having that opportunity, being able to accomplish that goal, checking that goal off your list, it's amazing. Just proud to do it with these guys. Q. Kerry, why were you open so much today, came up with what you did? KERRY THOMAS JR.: I'm not sure why I was so open today. I just ran the routes that were called. But credit to those guys up front, man. Without those guys blocking, letting him sit in the pocket, go through his reads, make his progressions. I just tried to make a play on the ball. As the receiving corps, that's our main goal. It's all our ball or nobody's ball. We just tried to execute every match. Q. Kerry, what did you think of Jared Johnson going in and doing what he did? KERRY THOMAS JR.: Man, we have two great quarterbacks. You can put either one in and we trust and believe they're going to get the job done. He stepped in and he did a great job. Q. (Indiscernible). KERRY THOMAS JR.: I wouldn't say that. I mean, both of those guys came in with a fire. I think Jared did a great job when he came in. I think Dalton did a great job as well when he was in the game. Whoever's in, it's just about treating it the same way. Both of those guys are going to be great. It's just about us executing. Q. We keep talking about bowls. How was it being at home in front of your family, all these fans, to celebrate with y'all out there on the field? JARVEON WILLIAMS: It's a special feeling just to wrap it up on Senior Day at home. We just came off a long three-game away trip. Yeah, it was just surreal that we were able to wrap the season up like this. Just a storybook ending. You can't plan stuff like this. KERRY THOMAS JR.: Yeah, I think it's love. Everybody plays a part it in, not just us, the fans, the university, you guys. Everybody has their hands in it. To be able to do it at home, I think it's just love. This is what the university is, we need it. MICHAEL EGWUAGU had three away games back-to-back. I think the fans, our family members, the staff, the program, the Alamodome, it deserved for it to happen this way. We're proud and honored to be the first ones to be able to do it. Q. Mike, can you tell us who hit Coach Wilson with the Gatorade? MICHAEL EGWUAGU: It was me and who was next to me? JARVEON WILLIAMS: Me, you. MICHAEL EGWUAGU: Vontrell was there also and Trevor. JARVEON WILLIAMS: Trevor Stevens. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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