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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 19, 2019

Frank Wilson

San Antonio, Texas

UTSA - 31, Rice - 27

Q. This week you said you were going to simplify the passing game; were these the results you expected?
FRANK WILSON: Yeah. You know, we wanted to have great balance in this football game. I thought that we could throw the ball and take opportunity shots at them. We knew that it could be tough at times in the rush games because they're pretty good up front, and so it presented that opportunity for us.

We end the game 30, 29, 30, something like that, run-pass ratio, which is the balance we wanted to have. I thought the game slowed down for Lowell Narcisse, especially with that last drive. He was near flawless in throw and run check, and outstanding run to leap over a young man to position us to go for seven, for six and not settle for three at that time and tie the score.

And so I'm just so excited for our football team, happy for a group of young men that treaded the tides, the turbulence of the water. They found a way. They practiced hard. They stayed together. They came together. And today they earned a victory.

So proud of our football team. The locker room was full of excitement, with emotions, because they came together and they found a way on this day to earn a victory.

Q. In the second half you guys had four offensive drives and scored on three of them. What was it after halftime that you did to get going in that way?
FRANK WILSON: You know, I think that we didn't have many opportunities in the first half. The first drive we went three-and-out and then we went down for a 13-play 60-plus-yard drive and they played keepaway from us, I don't have the time in front of me, but they took the lion's share of the time of possession I believe in the first half, and it took us a while to get going.

We wanted to try to feature Sincere. They stopped us early on and we got away from our run game and made a conscientious effort in the second half to get back to showing more balance in the run and pass and doing the things that we had done so well in a practice week, and you've got to realize they had two weeks to prepare for us. They're a good football team already, with two weeks to get ready for us, and so it was a chess match.

We had to make adjustments. Things that we worked on all week weren't necessarily there, and so that's what happens on the sidelines and at halftime, and I thought on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, we made those proper adjustments to give us opportunity.

Q. The game was so back and forth; how did the players handle the emotions and the ups and downs of this one?
FRANK WILSON: Yeah, they handled it like studs, to be honest. They didn't flinch. We said to them, there will be opportunities there, but understand this, they will not lay down for you. They're a quality football team, and they're going to fight back, and you're going to get knocked to the canvas and you'll have to get back up and you'll have to fight back, and you'll get knocked back down and you'll have to get back up and knock them down, and this game will go into the winding moments of the game, and it did. It went all the way into the winding seconds of the game. We were able to overcome not having King Newton, not having Brandon Matterson, rotating what we believe is the depth of our team, our defensive line, and they were outstanding in that last drive, pressuring the quarterback, getting sacks, and allowed us to preserve victory in the game and what we call the greatest formation in football, and that is victory.

Q. Zakhari Franklin, being in the right place at the right time, finding two touchdowns as a true freshman, just wanted to get your thoughts on him. He seems like a great guy out there.
FRANK WILSON: Yeah, he's a very talented player for us. Took him some time in growing up, transitioning. He was always very talented but had to learn how to practice like a collegiate player and to be consistent in the things that we asked of him. But you know, at one time you look out there, there's Khari Franklin there, there's Dywan Griffin, there's Sheldon Jones, you've got three freshmen and a sophomore on the field with a freshman tailback in Sincere McCormick, but that's why we recruited those young men. They're very talented, and it took them probably about the halfway point of their freshman year to hit stride. So I thought they all went in and played very hard. Zakhari is what we thought he was. He's a very talented player with ball skills, sneaky fast, as we would say, with his long stride length. But I thought he played well and answered the bell when we threw shots at him with the ball.

Q. How do you see Lowell progressing? I know he had 212 yards passing, but as far as his body language, his command of the offense, do you see him getting more and more comfortable?
FRANK WILSON: Yeah, he was 19 of 29. He threw the ball nearly 30 times. That's about 66 percent. That's winning football. When you get in 3rd down situations and you're 55 plus percent, do you that on the year, you'll lead the nation in 3rd down conversions. I thought that he managed the game extremely well. He got us in the right plays at the right time. I thought he was accurate in passing when we gave him time. I thought he moved off his launch point at times to buy time and still was able to complete some passes.

His development is ever going on. I think he gets better with each game, and I think he'll only continue to improve.

Q. This week you said you decided to focus on the positive when preparing for this game. How bad did this team need this win tonight?
FRANK WILSON: You know, I think for those young men, we -- everything we do is with purpose and intention, and so we -- in the midst of all that's going on, not having the season that we want, there were games there that were in the balance that we thought we could have claimed victory. We did not, and it's just a different society than when we grew up. There's so much in social media and stuff by people out there who have no vested interest in us. It's not until they have an opinion -- and sometimes they hear it enough, they'll start believing it.

And so we wanted to reassure them that you are worthy, you are good enough, and we're going to point these things out to you to show you that you're a very talented young athlete and that if we can continue to do this that we'll have success. Don't worry about what they say. You focus on us and the things that we do, and that's all you can control.

And so we wanted to say it enough that they believed it, that you're good enough, that being you is all that we need of this team. You don't have to be somebody else. You don't have to do nothing miraculous, just being you is good enough, and so we continued to echo that throughout the duration of the week. You're good enough. You're special. You're talented. You make a difference. This school is proud of you. We're proud of you. You keep fighting.

And we kept giving it to them, kept giving it to them, kept giving it to them, and they believed it, because they are, they're good enough to get us where we need to be. We're 2-1 in conference play. We'll see what happens in the remainder of the conference, but we'll continue to build on that, to build the morale of our football team and let them know that we're in this shoulder to shoulder, back to back as a UTSA family.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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