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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDIA CONFERENCEAugust 29, 2011Keenan RobinsonQ. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: Yes, you would be, just because of the fact that everybody decided to see what's going to happen this season, so I feel like we're bringing new energy, just new emotion that we haven't had in a while, since '09 or '08, and I feel like we're ready to surprise some people and surprise the world, just go out there and play Texas ball and get back to how we used to be. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: I feel like you would. That's any team, though. Nowadays teams are getting beat that shouldn't be getting beat by some teams, and I feel like if you overlook your opponent, then you might mess up and you might slip up and lose that game. I feel like every week we have to play like it's OU or play like it's the No. 1 team in the nation, no matter who it is. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: I'm just ready to get back to playing football. It's been a long time. We haven't played since Thanksgiving. So I feel like it's been too long, and I feel like the team is ready, the coaches are ready, and we're all ready to make a statement, and that's the best thing that we can do is go out there and beat Rice on Saturday. I feel like the fans -- we want to get the fans back on our side, get the emotion going again, and get the buzz spread throughout the country, and once you do that, everything from there will continue to flow, and hopefully we can produce the kind of season that we want to produce. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: For me it was more just forget the past and move on. I just felt like we should not dwell on the past and dwell on what happened last year, so we want to start new, and that's why we have that new slogan "brick by brick." We're starting over laying a foundation and just starting over and starting fresh and trying to build upon something new. And so now in the off-season, we were working hard every day as if we were the underdog team, and that's how I feel like we should have attacked it, and we did. We worked our butts off, and we worked extremely hard, extremely fast and physical, and I feel like we got back to working out Texas tough, and during two-a-days and during spring ball, we got back to playing Texas football like I thought we should have, and we didn't do it last year. I feel like right now we're ready to take on a roll, and I feel like we will be able to win games, and we will win more than five games because last year we definitely disappointed ourselves as well as the fans and Longhorn Nation. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: This is my last first game in college, and I feel like it's going to be happy but that I won't be having a season opener any more here at DKR, that's kind of sad. The season will be nice. It'll be fine. This first game is going to go hopefully the way I want it to go, hopefully the way the coaches want it to go. We've taken all the proper steps and preparation and we've put in all the hard work, but now it's just time to execute. It's time to do what the coaches have taught us to do, and I feel like on Saturday we should do that and we should come out and win. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: I mean, you guys don't know much, but that's because of the fact that the coaches -- I mean, Coach Brown doesn't want it. But we don't have much to hide. I don't think we do. Our scheme on defense isn't too complicated. Our scheme on offense is not something that you seen last from our team. So I feel like we're not really hiding anything. It's just Coach wants us to be -- he wants to keep all the outside distractions out of here and make sure that we stay focused. So that's what I feel like has been going on through the spring and during camp and during -- everything that has gone on has been more private and more closed to the public. I feel like he wants everybody to be surprised come Saturday when we do what we do, and I feel like we won't disappoint. That's what I feel like. You guys, when you see us, you won't be shocked, but you'll be happy to see all the hard work that we put in behind closed doors paid off. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: The way that Coach had them play, and I seen all of them. I seen all four of them, and they were pressing against the ones every day. The difference between -- they all bring something different to the table. A guy like Ash, a guy that can run as well as throw, a guy like Connor has a great arm, he can sling the ball 75 yards. Garrett is a guy that we've seen him the past two years, and he's a guy that he definitely should be the starter because of the fact that he has experience and he's a guy that's been a vocal leader for us. Case on the other hand is a guy, he's kind of like his brother in that he can run and pass and he makes smart decisions with the ball, doesn't make too many mistakes, and he's a guy that if Garrett wasn't starting quarterback, he could possibly be starting quarterback. But the fact is Garrett is, and I feel like the coaches and players are all confident in Garrett, and he will -- I feel like he should have a great year. He's worked and prepared so hard and so well this past off-season that he has put himself in the right spot mentally and physically to be able to perform well for the Longhorns, and he should have the type of performance that you look for out of a quarterback and a quarterback here at Texas. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: I mean, the offense really wasn't different. They had them all doing the same thing. Maybe the fact that different aspects of the game -- when Ash was in there and Connor was in there they were doing different things because their reads were different than Garrett or Case. That's the only thing that's different. When you have a different quarterback in the game, the way they execute is different than other quarterbacks. That's probably the biggest difference that I've seen. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: Last year they were able to put some points on us, and there were things that we did that we could have prevented them from scoring, but the thing is they made plays -- the one before halftime, we were in a perfect defense, the ball just happened to be tipped the wrong way. Rice is an offense that can run the ball. They have Sam McGuffie at quarterback, so they have guys that can run the ball as well as pass. They have guys that have come back in the passing game from last year that were able to make some plays against us, and I feel like if we don't take care of everything that we need to take care of as far as reads go, as far as awareness, everything, if we don't watch the right things, then we can't get beat by them and can't get beat with big plays in the run game, passing game. I feel like their quarterback, he's a guy that he's been there, done that, and he played pretty well against us last year. He was more cautious at times. Whenever he would get tackled he would slide, which is something that -- he's a smart quarterback. You don't want to take any unnecessary hits. So I feel like that aspect of the game, he's a guy that can manage the game, and he's a smarter quarterback. He's more mature than other guys. Other guys will come out here and take the hits and might be out for the rest of the game, but he's a guy that will manage the game, put his team in a position to play all four quarters and put himself in a position to finish the game and not make any big mistakes. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: Just walking through off the bus, going through the north end zone tunnel and walking across the field, that's one of the things that I miss. The second thing would probably be coming out of the tunnel right before the game. Those two things right there are two of the things I probably remember the most whenever I look back on a season. Those are just two fun, I guess, parts of playing football, playing football here at Texas, because those are things that you never forget, coming out on the field, coming through the tunnel and walking off the bus. You just have all your fans, you have cheerleaders, you have everybody that supports you right there cheering you on. That just makes you feel -- there's no other greater feeling here at Texas. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be able to experience that one more year. I think after I play my final home game here at Texas, I think I'll definitely miss that. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: Yeah, we have. I mean, we've told them, but you really can't prepare for it because you have to experience it, and when they experience it I'm pretty sure they'll be shocked the first couple times. If not -- I mean, my OU game, that was big, and that was something that I'll always remember as far as my first home game here at Texas as a freshman. I feel like they'll remember it for the rest of their lives. It's something I can't prepare them for, but they'll experience it, and I'm pretty sure they'll remember it for the rest of their lives. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: I mean, he's a coach. He's more locked in the game than usually the players are, and so he probably won't get too distracted by that because he's played in big time atmospheres before. But as a coach, afterwards I might ask Coach, how did you feel about running out of the tunnel, how did you feel about seeing 104,000, however many people at the game. I feel like he might be surprised because at Mississippi State I'm pretty sure they never had 104,000 fans at the game. Q. (No microphone.) KEENAN ROBINSON: Yeah, Coach Diaz is a character. He's a guy that's always telling jokes, always has a smile on his face and is always trying to make us laugh. I can't think of one right off the bat, but he's a guy that in teaching us he'll say a joke that has nothing to do with football, but somehow he will find his way to relate to whatever he's trying to teach us, whatever he's trying to help us to learn. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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