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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 29, 2011

Emmanuel Acho

Q. (No microphone.)
EMMANUEL ACHO: That's one way to put it. No, we're definitely excited to play. It's been entirely too long. It's a new season, it's finally here, and it's time to just see all the hard work we put in and it's time for it to pay off.

Q. Do you think teams overlook you guys?
EMMANUEL ACHO: I mean, each team, to each their own. They can do as they please. But if they overlook us we're going to capitalize on it. That's our goal.

Q. (No microphone.)
EMMANUEL ACHO: I think like you said we had an incredibly long layoff, but we used that time to get better. As seniors we used that time to merge, grow closer together and use that time to format a plan as to how we can improve over the next year and how we can get this back on track. We did that over the course of the spring and then the summer, and now it's just time for us to show it and display it on Saturday.

Q. (No microphone.)
EMMANUEL ACHO: No, I mean, I haven't been this excited for a sports season in my life, I believe.

Q. Probably the focus is a little bit different this year?
EMMANUEL ACHO: I mean, just heading into a season now, it's like you get to write the story all over again. It's no longer about last year's team, the championship team from two years ago, it's now about this team. You get to write your own story. You have the pen, you have the paper, now it's how you want to write it. So it's up to this team to make sure we put on paper something we're proud of and make sure we write a story we're happy with.

Q. (No microphone.)
EMMANUEL ACHO: I think with any season, a defense, it's usually easier to pick up a defense than it is an offense. But I think the offensive coaches such as Coach Harsin and Applewhite and whatnot, they've done a good job of making sure everybody gets the plays down, gets it done right, and the leaders throughout the summer on offense did a good job of meeting daily and watching film together as an offensive unit and just making sure we start off fast, so I'm not too worried about them.
If we do need to pick them up that's what we're there for as a defense. I'm extremely excited about this defense and how well we can play.

Q. Was it clear to you that Garrett was the best quarterback?
EMMANUEL ACHO: Not necessarily. I think they did a great job of competing all camp. That's what I loved with the competition because competition breeds excellence. So whoever was going to come out was going to come out ready, come out prepared, and now we're excited to see the guy lead the team solely and just see how far he can take us.

Q. You did get a double coach, Coach Diaz as your position coach and coordinator. Take us through what it's going to be like playing for him.
EMMANUEL ACHO: Coach Diaz is an incredibly relaxed guy. That's what I love about him. Guys like me and Keenan, we've been under strict structure for so long, and now we know what to do, we know how do it, we just need somebody to let us do it, so to speak. He's a great combination for us to come in here and just show us the ropes, give us some freedom to go out there and play, and now it's just our responsibility to go out there play well.

Q. What did the first half of last year's game against Rice show you?
EMMANUEL ACHO: Thinking back to that game, they really caught us off guard. With the first half of any season, the offensive coaches have had six months to prepare for that first drive, so now we're just -- I think we're ready. We're going to come out extremely emotional, extremely excited, but we have to do a good job of tempering our emotions and making sure we focus on our assignments.

Q. The running game, the passing game, I know maybe the focus may be on you guys, but (indiscernible).
EMMANUEL ACHO: They're definitely a good team. Watching them from last year they have some great players, they have a great running back, a good, solid quarterback, but it's not necessarily about them. It's never about the opponent, it's more so about yourself. You watch the right stuff, you play to your assignments and you play with a lot of excitement and emotion, and I think if we handle that, we'll be fine.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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