UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 22, 2024

Jeff Traylor

Press Conference

UTSA 51, Temple 27

Q. Jeff, what was the message to the team after this game?

JEFF TRAYLOR: We celebrated a lot of records. It's hard to do that. We have done a lot of great things here, but I guess -- it was a weird game, right? Very strange game.

If you just look at all the huge plays in the game and how it happened, it's just weird. For us to not have time of possession to our favor -- I think we were down 19-11 at halftime. For us to lose the turnover battle, I don't know early at that point, I don't know how it turned out in the end. It might have end of being tied in the end.

That was unlike us. For us to have that many yards rushing. There was so many things. Chris Carpenter fumbling a punt. Not like us. The kid is as sure handed as anybody there is.

Then he returns a kick for a touchdown. McCown breaks Frank Harris' record for the longest quarterback run in the history of the school. Frank's was 71; Owen goes for 75.

It was just weird. The whole night. But I was proud of my kids. We were literally in the pits of hell coming back from Tulsa.

That was the longest plane ride maybe we've ever been on. If you told us we were going to beat Memphis nor Texas, Temple, and be bowl eligible after blowing that; ead we blew, I somebody'd thought you were crazy.

But for the fifth year in a row our guys are going bowling. Never been prouder of a group for hanging in there and really believing in and what we teach, the triangle, and they believe in the culture. Most teams go away. Those guys just don't, man.

There is 16 seniors we celebrated out there tonight, and I'm really glad I get to coach them another month.

Q. You're wearing the bowl shirt. Did you think you could reach this milestone considering how rough the season started for your group?

JEFF TRAYLOR: I try my best, JJ, to not look at things that way. I really try my best to live what I preach and just try to win the day.

Now, I'm sure Care Bear would tell you when I'm at home by myself with her and Izzy I can get in my feelings and be like, how in the hell has this happened here? What has happened here?

But you just can't that be way in front of your coaches, in front of your boss, can't be that way in front of your players. Your got to keep believing and living the stuff you tell.

It's always easy for all teacher to teach. It's always easy for teachers to tell. It's hard for teachers live and to be that example.

Care Bear will be the first one to tell you I'm not always the example at the house with just her. She has to catch the worst of it. Man, I'm really proud of my kids.

So publically, JJ, we had this planned the whole way. Privately, I was in the pits of hell with my team.

Q. You talked about what the bowl streak meant to the seniors and to be able to secure that today. What did it mean to see a lot of those guys were the ones that delivered the decisive plays?

JEFF TRAYLOR: Yeah, I was intentional with that. I was going to -- I thought if our offense could get to 28, 24, be a good night. They're defense is really good. They're a pain on everybody. They're just so athletic. They're so hard to block.

So we played pretty conservative honestly. We were going to take our field goals and try not to do anything to screw it up. Had three turnovers, right, which is a recipe for disaster against a team like that.

I told ya'll 5 was really good; that back, 25, is really good; that other back, 31, is really good. I hate that for Stan. He had a nice little football team and he didn't win enough games and so they fire you.

I hate it for myself. I think our team is a nine- or ten-win football team and should be playing for something other than going for a bowl and we didn't get it done.

I hate that for Stan stand. I know the feeling.

Q. You mentioned Chris Carpenter's game. What did it mean to see him bounce back from the punt and have not just a kickoff return, but he had a big block on Owen's touchdown as well.

JEFF TRAYLOR: Great point. That's the stuff -- he literally did that I think before the return. I think that happened in sequence, right, where a lot of the guys will let one turn into two. When your defense just went three and out, that's tough. He knows it. He's a smart kid.

But that's just Chris. He is resilient like all those seniors are.

Q. The running game has been up and down this year. Last two games you've gone over 300 yards. What do you think has been the reason for that?

JEFF TRAYLOR: We been sticking to it. Every defense now watches us and knows our quarterback is a freak when it comes to throwing the football down the field. People are playing us differently now, so we got to take what's there.

We're getting a lot better looks in the box because people don't want to see No. 2 throw it. He can really throw it. He was off tonight a couple times. He's not perfect, but that was a tough defense.

A little bit of scheme, but our players just sticking with it and downfield blocking, just a lot of things. We just gotten way better. We're a way better football team than we used to be.

Q. And then quick follow-up question. Was Robert Henry healthy in the second half or just a rotation thing?

JEFF TRAYLOR: He'll be all right. We were just trying to be smart. Got a little gimped up, but we think he'll be fine.

Q. Can you talk about the play of your defense? I think it was a program record for most tackles for loss tonight.

JEFF TRAYLOR: 16. Those guys are special. They are. We're going to miss 'em. We're going to miss 'em. Jimmori broke the school record for sacks. He tied it tonight with four. Jimmori had five and a half TFLs, school record.

21 straight game in a row with a takeaway and a. Say Zah Frazier broke the single season record with six. Cliff Chattman had it with five and Zah's had two interceptions now in three different games. First time in school history.

One of the plays of the game was the onside kick, my man Bro out of San Antonio, Texas, man. Made a heck of a play to start the second half.

Doesn't seem like a big deal until you remember early in the year where we didn't make that play or early in the year where we had the onside kick and we got the ball back.

Those are huge plays, and heck of a play by my man, Bro. That's really his name, Bro. I'm not calling him Bro.

Q. As much as you talk about winning each day, big picture-wise where progress isn't always linear, how do you look at this season in terms of a step forward for the program? I know it's not over yet. Big picture-wise how has this program gotten better?

JEFF TRAYLOR: Well, if you just look -- I mean the AAC is not a joke. It's an eye opener to all of us what of other teams are committing to this new process we're in. We're going to have to take a look, a big picture view to your point, of how committed are we going to be.

They're firing all these coaches. They're not taking these jobs unless they're getting what they want, or they're not taking the job. Revenue sharing is a real thing. Cost of attendance is a real thing. Austin money is a real thing. We got to be in there.

It's one of those kind of moments. If she had to call me in and fire me like the rest of this league is getting fired right now, there are going to be some real decisions about who ya'll are going to bring in here and what the next guy is going to want or you're not going to be successful. This league is tough. It's a real league.

Have to make some decisions, because moving forward this stuff, it's real. There is a lot of pressure right now. These next few months or when the settlement is done, July '25, that's going to be a big time for all of us.

Q. On that same note, Senior Night and you honored those guys. How do you feel about the group you have coming back. Are you comfortable with what you have? Are you encouraged by the whole roster situation?

JEFF TRAYLOR: Well, offensively you got as good a young talent as there is in the country out there. You got to keep them all, right? Are we just going to just develop them and let them go or keep them here in San Antonio?

Defensively we've got some players that we're losing that have been unbelievable for us, and we've got some really good young ones you saw out there tonight making some good football plays.

We've got to address obviously a couple positions s because we were so senior heavy on defense. When you lose ten starters our on defense of 11, you got to get that fixed, right?

Offensively we're really not that far away right now. That's why we struggled early inner the year, because we were young, you know what I mean?

So it's just kind of what it is.

We got a really good kicker that's got a lot of eligibility left. We had some really great players get hurt that are young that will get to come back that you haven't even seen yet. They're kind of stocked away, which hurt us early in the year.

No roster anymore is like that. Like in the old days, you develop talent, you knew you were going to have it back. It's all a one-year deal now. A one-semester deal. When this semester is up, you got to go try to keep your team, and wherever you lose people, go get some more guys.

So it's just not like it used to be. If we could keep everybody, which I think we are going to try our hardest to, sophomore quarterback, young running backs, young receivers, O-line all coming back. Losing CJ at center and Willie and Chris. You know, Robert is coming on at running back, but we got a bunch of young running backs.

At that quarterback is the key obviously, because whenever you have a great quarterback you have a chance and all those guys are going to play for him. We have to address our defense of the losses we've taken. I still feel good about our young talent over there.

Q. You said the senior class would hold a special place with you because they didn't tap out at any point in the season. What were the emotions like going through the line before the game and getting to greet with all those guys?

JEFF TRAYLOR: I'm the worst. I'm the worst. I was crying coming down the elevator today for the team meeting. I cried thinking about my speech in my room. I'm just a big softy. The older he get the worse I get. It's just terrible.

And those kids, they just catch you at the wrong moment and they tell you the most special things and it just crushes you, man. Just crushes you.

But we do it right here and it makes me feel good. The culture of this week was trust the process. I've been with these guys five years and they trust me, right? And I trust them. I know they do some silly things and they drive me insane with their penalties, man, insane. But I trust them. I do.

It was a special five years for those guys and me. It was tough. Just going through the line, that's hard, man. I'm going to miss Ligon, Brandon Brown, French, Jimmori, Donyai. I mean, I love those kids, and my number doesn't change for that, because I'm going to stay in touch with them until the day the Lord takes me home.