UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 10, 2022

Davis Brin

Keylon Stokes

Press Conference

Tulsa 38, Northern Illinois 35

Q. Davis, just talk about the game overall and keeping the momentum from your point of view from last week and having another strong offensive outing.

DAVIS BRIN: I thought we came out pretty hot and put some really good drives together and scored some points in the first half.

Second half had to reclaim that momentum after the third quarter, and we were just resilient tonight, and we never backed down. That's how we play, and that's how we're built.

Q. The find drive, that was pretty much do-or-die. You have to score, and you came up and this guy obviously makes a good catch.

DAVIS BRIN: No doubt.

Q. Just talk about your mindset.

DAVIS BRIN: We just knew we had our backs against the wall, and we've been there before and just had a lot of trust. Especially in "Sleep" right here to go make a play. Really trust all around. Really proud of this football team the way we fought.

Q. Keylon, just talk about that final catch. You got the touchdown. And also, just the drive and coming back, I know you had a disappointment. Just talk a little bit about all of that.

KEYLON STOKES: Yeah, I had a mental mistake with the punt, but I know what type of player I am. So I just have to let it go out of my mind, have gold fish mentality and just forget about it and go out there and make a play for my quarterback. He trusted me in the last moments of the game, so got to go make the play for the team.

Q. How bad is the guy pass interfering that you made the catch and --

KEYLON STOKES: I didn't care about the pass interference. I wanted the ball, so that's all that mattered.

Q. Davis, how good did you feel to be able to go to Keylon after the muffed punt, and in that moment to be able to give him a shot at redemption?

DAVIS BRIN: It takes a lot of trust. I knew that after maybe a little mistake that he needed keep his head up, and I needed him, and he knew that I needed him and went and made a play. That's what he does, and I'm really fortunate to have him.

Q. I think that was third down. The wind was swirling. You were under duress. It takes some guts to make that throw. Kind of take me through what you saw in him when you saw that.

DAVIS BRIN: I'd like to give him a better ball, no doubt. I was getting hit simultaneously there. But, man, the ball was in the air, and no doubt he was going to get it, and he did.

Q. Keylon, last couple of games you dropped the ball in midfield at Wyoming and the muffed punt here. How are you able to flush all this out and still be such an asset for this team?

KEYLON STOKES: I mean, great players make mistakes. It's just like you've got to keep going on.

Yeah, playmakers are always going to mess up. If you you're not messing up, then you're not doing nothing right. You just have to go out there and do what you have to do. Yeah, I messed up and made mistakes, but keep moving on, keep moving forward.

Q. You guys hardly had the ball in that third quarter. Just talk about what that was like being on the sidelines and waiting to get back out there.

DAVIS BRIN: I was getting antsy wanting to score again. We only had one drive there. They went and scored, credit to them, and took a possession away from us with the on-side kick. We had to do everything we could to get that momentum back.

Q. Did this crowd feel different? I don't know what you guys hear or see or whatever on the field, but did it feel like there was more energy?

DAVIS BRIN: I think so. I love the game day experience today and having a lot of people out there in the stands. That's what we want to do. We want to have a lot of people come out and cheer us on and keep them there all season long and keep stacking these wins.

Q. Keylon, same thing.

KEYLON STOKES: In the years I've been here, this is probably the best crowd that I've seen for a first home game. Just have to keep that up, keep doing what we have to do. Just keep winning so the fans can come and enjoy the games. We do it for the fans. We do it for TU, the whole community.

Q. Davis, you guys have been in so many of these close games.

DAVIS BRIN: Too many.

Q. I'm sure tonight was one where you did not want that to happen at all. It probably wasn't in your mind that it was going to go that way. Is it like a muscle that you guys have developed? Are you more comfortable than most teams might be in that situation?

DAVIS BRIN: Maybe so. I know we've got experience being in these situations, and I know we're a resilient football team. We never back down, so we didn't.

Q. You guys scored earlier, and you have the handshake. You probably have something new in the work, but just how you guys can just trust one another with everything that's thrown at you guys?

DAVIS BRIN: It's huge. Having him here every year that I've been here, we've just been able to build every single year that chemistry and that relationship on and off the field.

Man, he is a playmaker, and I'm really lucky to have him.

KEYLON STOKES: Just like he said. Been here for so long. He is a smart player. Every time he sees something, he comes and talks to me about it. If I see him, I go and talk to him about it.

It's a chemistry thing that we have going. It's a bond. I guess you can say we manifested it. We had the handshake and stuff like that. It just all clicked.

He is a great guy, great player. I'm lucky to have him. He is going to lead his team to a lot of victories. I'll tell you that much.

Q. You guys working on something new as far as the handshake?

KEYLON STOKES: We ain't worked on nothing new right now, but you can look back on the touchdown. We did do the handshake in the end zone. We could probably figure some new things out, but right now I like what we got going.

Q. Keylon, this is two games in a row where the entire wide receiving corps puts up some pretty incredible production. Is this what you guys expected? Did you believe that your passing game could be at this level, and what of these first two games have been like? I would imagine that there's some real confidence growing among especially those top four guys?

KEYLON STOKES: There's definitely confidence growing. It's really confidence that was already there, to be honest. I can say as a receiving room that we come together more. We're more bonded. We're just all brothers in that room. We don't hide nothing from each other.

We always tell each other what's going on in our life and stuff like that, so that helps us on the field. Just having that bond with each other and just knowing who your brother is next to you that you are playing with, it always make the game better.

Q. Davis, along those lines, maybe talk about what you have got in terms of receivers to throw to, and it seemed like the offensive line took a pretty good step. We all know how much inexperience there was entering the year, but just how special maybe this passing game can be.

DAVIS BRIN: Yeah, I think they did a great job tonight, the O-line. They're going to step up every single week and continue to get better.

As far as the passing game, I've always known that we're capable of putting up the numbers we're putting up. At the end of the day it's about getting the win. We found a way to do that. The numbers are going to be as big as the defense really gives us because I'm taking what they give us.

Q. I already asked coach about "Cardiac Kings." It's probably not something you want to embrace, but how do you go with that?

DAVIS BRIN: My heart is beating a lot too. I'm with you. We would like to not put ourselves in these situations, but when they come along, we're resilient.

Q. Keylon.

KEYLON STOKES: Like he said, we don't like putting ourselves in these positions. I mean, it's just something that happens, and it's something that we just have to just defeat and pass.

It's another hurdle that always just finds a way to get in front of us, so we just have to jump over it.