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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 10, 2011

Emmanuel Acho

Q. You've faced this Oklahoma State offense now many times. Why are they so good, and what has made them better this year do you think?
EMMANUEL ACHO: I mean, they're just an incredibly prolific offense. They do a great job schematically executing their plays. I think they have incredibly talented players as well as at the receiver and running back and quarterback position. I don't know what has them on fire right now, but they're going to be hard to stop, so we've just got to get in the film room and make sure we're mentally prepared.

Q. Does it help that you did face Oklahoma last week?
EMMANUEL ACHO: Most definitely. I think a lot of the schemes are the same. A lot of their style of play is similar, and again, their skill level of play is very similar, and so playing Oklahoma was a great, great preparation game for that, and it should have us just a step ahead of where we would have been.

Q. Fozzy talked about the stretch of having Oklahoma and Oklahoma State is kind of similar to what you guys had in '08 when it was the back to back to back. What are your thoughts on that?
EMMANUEL ACHO: You've just got to take them one game at a time. The Oklahoma game is behind us, so now it's Oklahoma State. We're not worried about anything else, we just know we've got to go out and get this victory. So focus on them completely and put all our energy towards them, and then after that just move on.

Q. After looking at the film, what were some of the biggest things that you guys noticed?
EMMANUEL ACHO: Got to get off the field on 3rd down. I mean, we played -- defensively we didn't play a horrible game, honestly. OU is a good team, let's give them credit. But we've got to get off the field on 3rd down, and we did some things, just made some minor mental errors. With a quarterback like that, he'll find every weakness, every mistake, and he'll capitalize on it. That's the definition of a good player, and that's what he did.
We've got to execute better, especially when you're playing against great skill level like that.

Q. You said the minor things, there were some minor things like that. Do you feel like maybe the score isn't indicative of how close you guys are to being a pretty good team?
EMMANUEL ACHO: Oh, most definitely. I don't think that score reflects the level of play at all, and even I watched the film when we got back that night, and I turned the film on, and just watching the defensive copy, the defense versus Oklahoma copy, it looked like one-touchdown game if you weren't to look at the scoreboard. Score is not indicative of how we played at all, but the score is the score.
But the big thing is it only counts as one loss, and that's what we need to all focus on. Whether we lose 7 to 6 or win 7 to 6 or whatever it may be, it only counts as one game; it doesn't count as two, so don't let it beat you twice.

Q. What makes you confident that this team will respond differently than you guys did a year ago?
EMMANUEL ACHO: I think leadership. I think, again, this is where the leaders needs to step up. This is when guys like Blake Gideon, myself, Keenan Robinson, Kheeston Randall, this is when we need to prove our worth to this team, not on the field but off the field, how we lead this team in times like this, and so we can't let that OU game beat us again. Get back to the drawing board and just really get back to work.

Q. In terms of the leaders, do you feel like you need specific leaders on offense?
EMMANUEL ACHO: I think it's kind of -- there's specific leaders on both sides of the ball. I always reference the defensive guys because that's who I primarily have contact with. I think there are leaders on both sides of the ball. But we just try to be examples to the entire team. We try to lead the entire team vocally and just by our level of play, so that's what we have to do this week and that's what we have to make sure we get done.

Q. How similar or how different are the OU defenses versus OSU?
EMMANUEL ACHO: I think they're similar not only in the way they're talented in terms of offensively. We know they're very talented at the receiver level and quarterback position, and that's what OU was. And then they're going to spread it out; they're going to pass the ball and run the ball, as well. So we just have to prepare for that. We have to lock into that, and we have to make sure we execute, whether we're playing zone, playing man, blitzing, whatever it may be, we have to execute that well because they're good enough to pick you apart if you don't.

Q. Can you speak about Justin Blackmon?
EMMANUEL ACHO: I mean, he's an incredible receiver. I don't know how he does it week in and week out. You just look at the stat line, it's another 100-yard game, another two-touchdown game. He's mastered his craft, and I applaud him for that. It's going to be a tough challenge this week guarding him. It's a collective effort, though. It's not all on the defensive backs, it's not all on the defensive front. We have to give pressure so that he doesn't have time to sit back there. It's going to be a collective effort, and it's going to be a fun test.

Q. Is the pressure one of the biggest things maybe from Saturday?
EMMANUEL ACHO: Pressure is huge, but at the same time in watching the film, we realize it's such a collective effort because no matter if you do cover the quarterback, if he has a release to throw it to, he'll get rid of the ball, and I mean, there were two or three times where he came untouched and he just got rid of it. It's a team effort. You've got to have coverage in the back end in order to get a sack, and you've got to get pressure on the front end in order to make him get rid of the ball quick.

Q. Do you remember the play Blackmon made last year? What was your vantage point?
EMMANUEL ACHO: Yeah, I mean, I thought A.J. was in great coverage, but great players make great plays, and that's what he did. We've got to do a better job of trying to bottle him up this year. He's a great player; he's going to get his touches, he's going to get his catches, but we have to make sure we win at those.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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