UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 28, 2023

Jeff Traylor

Press Conference

UTSA 41, East Carolina 27

JEFF TRAYLOR: Seems like it was two games out there today. That was long. That was a long time, boy. But hard-fought win by our kids.

Our defense got off to a rough start early, but hard-fought win by our kids throwing the ball down the field, made some good adjustments.

Offensively it went about like we thought it would go. They're really good on defense. They're not going to let you run the football. They're just not going to let you do it. They're going to make you throw the football to beat them.

We knew it would be a game of big plays, and there was big negative plays and big positive plays, as well. So really proud of that.

Special teams we were steady. Never had to play, show up like we've been having the last week. It was more of a steady game.

But really good to see all three phases show up, and a good win against, I told y'all, a good football team. It's amazing they're 1-7, whatever their record is. I would hate to have to make a living trying to beat those guys every Saturday.

Q. Did you guys know you'd have to make big plays? It seemed like you guys were going down the field a little bit more than usual tonight.

JEFF TRAYLOR: Yeah, we knew. They make you. Those are the calls they made you do. We just had to do it.

Our kids showed up, and sometimes it looked spectacular and sometimes it looks really ugly, but when you play a team that aggressive, that's the style.

If you look at them in the metrics, they're as low as 3 in some metrics and as high as 22, 25 on how good defense is in the country, and they've played a very good schedule, too. For us to put up 41 points on those guys was really amazing.

Q. What was the key to Josh Cephus getting loose for those two gains the way he did, and why did we see him have so much after the catch, as well?

JEFF TRAYLOR: If you'll go back and watch it, watch Tykee Kellogg blocking down the field. Turn that body up, baby; turn that body up. It was really good to see a kid like Tykee. He wasn't getting all the attention, but he was like follow me, big boy, and obviously Josh and Frank put good balls, but there's just a lot more to that stuff.

No run like that ever is without a lot of help from a lot of people. Really proud of Tykee for the blocking for Josh.

Q. Cephus caught a school record 84-yard touchdown pass. What did that do for you guys in that moment?

JEFF TRAYLOR: I was apologizing to Coach Loepp because I told him it was going to be that way the whole game. Like it's not going to be like normal; it's not going to be one of those games where y'all get to sit over there and drink Kool-Aid the whole game. Y'all are going to have to be out there a whole bunch. We either scored really quick or we turned it over really quick once or we punted really quick.

I know that's an exciting game to watch when it works, and it's a frustrating game to watch when it doesn't work.

Q. We talked a lot this week about the donate the cheese messaging. Did you feel like the mentality coming out today was the way you wanted it? How would you assess the way all that landed?

JEFF TRAYLOR: Yeah, we were fine. We played hard. I've always believed there's only so many special games, and I thought we gave a special game last weekend.

I know nobody likes to hear that. You're supposed to treat them all the same. We try to. We really try to make every one of them be the same, but I knew we emptied our tank in Boca last week.

Q. The defense almost pitched a second half shut-out all the way to the last minute of the game. They're pretty good after the first quarter. What was the key to the defensive effort after the first quarter?

JEFF TRAYLOR: It's always players. Coach Loepp did a good job making some adjustments, and we quit bringing some pressures because they were max protecting and throwing the ball down the football field, and if you can't get home, you quit sending people. We let our guys go to work up front.

We play so many people; we knew it was going to be a long game. I had already told our defense the amount of possessions was going to probably be four more than normal, so you've got to be more people ready to go.

We also got the injury bug tonight. We had a lot of kids getting -- we had a targeting penalty, had an unfortunate ejection there at the end of the game, which I hated the way that thing looked. T-Haynes has started for me for four years. I can't wait to go back and see what caused him to overreact the way he did.

It doesn't matter. He shouldn't react that way.

We just had a lot of players out, and it'll be an interesting room, the whole training room. I'm sure Greg will be ready to roll Tuesday wanting to know the whole injury list so we can tell everything.

Q. Four games in a row; how does it feel to be on this winning streak?

JEFF TRAYLOR: Is it four? Yeah, that one should count for two because it was a long one. Yeah, we're excited, man. It's hard to do. It's hard to win college football games.

There's nobody on the schedule that you can just circle up. Care Bear and I had a knockdown drag-out this week just because she just -- 18-point favorite? We're going to kill these guys. Like no, we're not. That's not going to happen. You always say that. No. Stop. I don't want to hear it.

It's tough because people -- all that nonsense. Them guys are over there trying to feed their families, too. Those kids want to win, too, now. They're a proud university. They've been playing good football for a long time over there. That guy is a really good football coach. He's won over 100 games as a college football coach. He won a bunch of them as a high school coach. Mike does a fantastic job. That's a really proud program, and I feel bad for him.

He got raided on transfers. He got raided. I feel bad for him. After spring, too, so he didn't get really a chance to adjust. When you lose one to the portal after spring, you can't fix it. It's too late. At least if they go in December you've got something to do in January to May.

So I feel bad for him.

Q. I wanted to ask you your reaction to the student fee vote that was announced yesterday. They voted that down. What was your reaction when you saw that?

JEFF TRAYLOR: My answer is going to be longer than the game was, so be ready.

I thought long and hard about that. I really have. Here's where I am.

One, never mistake a comma for a period. This is a pause. This is not a stop. This is something that we're momentarily dealing with.

I'm grateful that I live in America where you're allowed to vote. You're allowed to vote. I'm grateful I work for an administration that lets the students vote and speak their piece. Even though I'm not pleased with the result, I'm still grateful that we have that opportunity.

I've been through this. Nobody cares to hear it, but I can remember how Mr. Albritton felt at Gilmer. He lost two school bonds for high schools that we needed desperately. I'm talking about kids getting leaked on, rain. It was terrible.

That community just kept working and kept working, and now third time is a charm. We passed that bond. We have one of the most beautiful high schools in the entire country. I don't care where you go. There's not a better high school in the country than Gilmer.

It was work. There was a lot of people just rolling their sleeves up listening, talking, understanding each other, doing a better job of being empathetic towards both sides.

So now, it's a beautiful high school.

One day there's going to be an indoor. We got lucky this week because the weather -- we got to come in here. We can't come in here next week. The floor is not going to be down.

So it's going to be bad weather next week. North Texas is going to be working in their indoor next week. Where are we going to be? In the rain, I guess. One day that thing is going to be built. One day Pat is going to have that baseball field. One day Karen is going to have that practice facility, just like we got the soccer thing done, just like we got the football thing done. It's all going to happen. It's a comma. It ain't a period. We've got to go to work. We've got to figure out what that is, and we've got to get it done. I'm grateful.

We all learned something, and we're going to bounce back from it. As long as I've been here, somebody in this city has stepped up.

Somehow we'll figure it out, whatever that looks like. We'll figure it out.

This place, I got hired December 9, 2019. Somebody can't do anything but give us a like on Twitter. Some people can write big checks. Some people can give a little. We've got all that in San Antonio. We'll get it figured out again.

Q. We spent most of your first three years here talking about all the dramatic finishes and different things that played out at the end of the games. Is it nicer as a coach the last three weeks you've had a little bit of a cushion towards the end?

JEFF TRAYLOR: Yeah, in my journal I wrote down I was going to enjoy if I ever got that opportunity again, and I've tried my hardest, but it's impossible. I'm out there and we're out of people to put in the game, and Ligon is still out there and B-Matt is still out there and Trevor is still out there, and I saw Kyle get hurt, and I'm just like, good Lord. There's never a time where you can just like enjoy it, until the season is over and you win your bowl, and I ain't even got to do that yet.

I don't know. I'm trying to be better at it, but I'm really grateful for the month of October because September wasn't so good.

The Roadrunners have been really good in November except for one time, and we're going there Saturday.

Q. What does it say about the way the team is playing right now that you've been able to at least have that success?

JEFF TRAYLOR: We're getting better. We're getting better. We're a better football team today than we were yesterday. We took quite a few injuries tonight, so we'll have to realign some folks, and that always slows down the progress a little bit, but nobody is healthy this time of year.

This is where the real games start. That's why November, games that remember. You never remember those games in September and October. Every game we talk about in this room right now, it was somebody in November.

I'm excited to go into November with a really good football team.