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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 24, 2018

Frank Wilson

San Antonio, Texas

North Texas - 24, USTA - 21

Q. Obviously a close game at the end. What were the emotions on the field afterwards?
FRANK WILSON: I think that the team as a whole wanted so bad to try to generate a victory for our seniors to end on a high note. So there was mixed emotions at times, jubilation and excitement, very opportunistic thinking that we had an opportunity. And then hurt at the back end of it when we were not able to extend the game into an overtime situation. But at the end of the day the style of football that was played today is indicative of what we desire from our football team.

Q. The season's over. What can we expect of the future?
FRANK WILSON: Well, signing day. First one comes up here in this month in December. Next month in December. Followed by a February signing day. We'll try to get the lion's share of that done in the early signing period and continue to put pieces together to allow us to be the best team that we can be. I think when you look at the balance of what we're able to do today, from a run game perspective and a passing game perspective, that's our style of football, that's our DNA here, it's what we, it's ideal. What happens, though, when games get out of balance one way or the other, it forces you to throw more than you would like to or you're not able to have as many plays because you're not converting first downs. I think our ability to convert first downs today allowed us more snaps to run the ball. We call them carry runs. Designed runs with purpose where you don't necessarily have to RPR or play action it, but you're able to get a steady dose of it. And I think we were something like 32, 30, and 33, run-pass ratio and that's a good balance for us. And did some good things in both the run and pass game.

Q. You had a good ninth from Brenden Brady. What does he bring to the team going forward?
FRANK WILSON: I think he's true freshman who has stepped in and ran with the type of velocity, the type of vision, the type of tenacity that you look for in a run-game perspective. I thought he played well tonight and it was able to complement a Greg Campbell, who had a career night today, who was spectacular all over the place.

Very good to see Bryce continue to improve week-in and week-out. I thought we did a better job of play selection and opportunities of putting guys in position to make plays and it was a night where we made those plays the majority of the time.

Q. Could you comment on your decision to start Bryce Rivers, and then on just how you felt like he played tonight?
FRANK WILSON: Yeah, I just thought his practice preparation warranted it. I thought the things that he did in the practice sector gave us our best opportunity to win the football game. He understood the game plan and the things that we thought could take advantage of this defense in north Texas, and he was able to apply them on a daily basis. And so I felt very confident going into this game that he would get the starting nod and ideally ride with him throughout so that he can play with comfort and adjust accordingly. I thought he was able to do that to get us some rhythm and move the ball down the first series. We go right down with him. We were a little errant on the pass, a little far inside, but bounced back from that to have the best game that he's had so far in his short career.

Q. At the very end of the game you guys get down in the red zone with a chance to tie. You take a delay and of game and a sack. Do you chalk that up to a learning experience or what happened?
FRANK WILSON: No. What happened is you got one and you know you want to preserve it because you don't know what's going to happen on that third down play. So at the back end of it, as the time began to wind down, I thought they were going to reset it. They did not, and so we took it. The five yards didn't make a difference at that point for us. So the penalty is no different than a punt that's too far down in there. So we're at the 20-yard line, we take five, and the five was irrelevant, opposed to burning it and still not knowing if you're now dealing with a 10-second run off and you may have to use one or have one available or game expire without even the opportunity to score. So we took that one because we thought we needed to reserve our timeout at that time. So after that one, wanted to take a shot at the end zone. Wanted to give our kids a chance to win the game. Unfortunately we didn't hold up enough from a protection standpoint or didn't get the ball out fast enough. I would need to see the film for confirmation. And we took a sack but then we lined up for a field goal that Jared makes routinely. He makes it in practice, he's made it in a game, and we felt very confident that he would be able to and we would still call it again because he's capable of making that, that field goal. Just wanted to give our kids a chance to win this game. And going into overtime at home certainly bodes well for the home team and so that's what we were trying to do.

Q. I know it's a totally unfair question because you've had no time to reflect. The quarterback injury, the guy doesn't even play this year, that was a tough luck thing, but is there a thing or two you point to just why this season maybe didn't pan out the way you would have expected?
FRANK WILSON: Well, yeah, we know -- we knew we were a youthful football team and we didn't have enough to sustain one injury, two injuries, three injuries at one particular position. So guys that were in a developmental stage were thrust into starting roles and asked to play positions that were not ideal. They're trained, they're coached, and so they went forward and they gave the best of their ability. But in an ideal world you supplement those guys with veteran players. You don't want to be on the field offensively with seven out of 11 starters that are freshmen. We had that at times, unfortunately. Now, we'll be better because of it. The growing pains, the lessons learned will only make us better in the future. But whenever you can't put them in a general population with some veteran players to camouflage their youthfulness, it becomes a tall task because you got two young guys, two receivers, Tykee (Ogle-Kellogg), Tariq (Woolen), Sheldon Jones standing next to each other trying to get on, get off the play get audible. And they're all in a learning stage together. And so we had some growing pains there. But our program, what you saw tonight was a glimpse of who we are. In the back end of this year of this season in this last game, I think you could expect to see that style of football from our football team, that type of tenacity, that type of pride, to fight toe-to-toe with a team that is a very good football team in our conference, one of the better teams in our conference who has a very impressive record. So we played well against them. It's not, we're not content, we're not comfortable with saying, hey, we played well even though we lost. I think we could have beat that team. I really did. I thought we put ourselves in positions at times to beat that football team. But the reality is we came up three points too short and time expired on us.

Q. The program had three wins this season. That's the least amount in program history. What kind of confidence do you have to be able to turn this thing around next season?
FRANK WILSON: Oh, tremendous amount of confidence. I have no reason not to be confident when I get them all back. We all come back and we're bigger, faster, stronger, more experienced. The future is bright here. I've said it before. I'm very optimistic when you have 18 plus players that are not suited up that are scholarship players that will contribute in this game. We had two corners today that we played solely with because we just didn't have another to put in. So to keep those guys fresh after covering an 80-yard run then come back and go carry another 60-yard pass and come back, they dealt with it. They embraced doing tough things and they responded well. But that's not ideal. You would like it play a plethora of guys. We were able to do that at the defensive line position, but not at all of our positions. And it shows itself at times in the duration of a season. So proud of our football team. Know the direction that we're headed in. Very confident in the leadership of our players, staff, and where we want to be in the future.

Q. The seniors this year, talk about what they meant, talk about what the seniors have meant to the team this year?
FRANK WILSON: Yeah. I thought they meant a lot to us. They were the guys that came here when it wasn't always popular to come here. They were the guys that were unheralded, didn't get recruited by everybody, but came here, found something in UTSA that said this place embodies what I'm looking for, a great college experience. And then they were able to model for our young players the things that are important, winning culture, the things in the classroom on the football field that are so important to us, and the quality of young men that we try to rear here. Just so proud of the job that they have done. Wanted so desperately to send them out on a positive note. I thought it was indicative of who they are. When Greg Campbell catches for the yards he did, Kevin Strong finished with a tackle for loss, those senior players making those significant signature player plays, are the job Yannis had today in punting the ball and putting us, flipping the field from a field position standpoint special teams. I thought our seniors played their hearts out and unfortunately we weren't able to get a victory for them, but they will always be a part of U T S and our road runner family.

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