|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 3, 2012David AshManny DiazAlex OkaforKenny VaccaroKENNY VACCARO: It was a great practice for us this week. It's definitely shown on the field, and we've got to continue to do that. Q. How much is it to have a game like this? Offense and defense playing together? ALEX OKAFOR: It's just great. You've got to trust both sides of the ball. We've got to trust that we're going to take care of business on defense, and trust that the offense is going to do the same. That's what happened today. Q. Alex, a lot of people doubting you obviously in this game? ALEX OKAFOR: There is no quit in us. We're going to fight down to the end. We're not a bad‑‑ we're a good football team. This game just builds confidence for us, and it's going to help us down the road. Q. Manny, was the key not giving up the big play? MANNY DIAZ: Yeah, that's Big 12 defense. If you don't have the big plays, the worst thing that happens is the ball gets in the red zone, and that's where the battle and the fight and the will that these two guys lead us with comes through and finding a way to make plays when the yards get tough to make. I think the plays with Byndom, the fade balls and so many plays that keep them kicking field goals. You kick field goals in the Big 12, it's really hard to win football games. Q. Then the blocked field goal. DAVID ASH: When you think about the two‑point conversion, and that is something we've had a little history with. You're upset, you gave up a touchdown, and find a way to battle back and understand how important those two points are. All we talked about was 24‑22 going into the fourth quarter. We said we win the fourth quarter, and we win the football game. That's two weeks in a row these guys have done an unbelievable job winning in the fourth quarter and dominating and seeing the victory through. Q. How do you guys hang in there when things are going rough at times in the season? MANNY DIAZ: There's two things. One, that doesn't happen just today. There is no speech. That's a pattern of behavior in terms of the way you work all season. It goes to our strength room, and two it comes down to the type of kids you have. We have not always done everything right. But one thing we've done is we've fought, and we've battled. We've got great will, great leadership, and those are things that we needed to have to win on the road. Q. Is this as good as you've felt out there? STUDENT‑ATHLETE: It's good. I knew we could play this way for a long time since two‑a‑days. I'm not satisfied. We'll keep things moving. Q. David, how much fun was it out there slinging the ball and how do you feel about your success? DAVID ASH: We had to mix it up a little bit. We kind of had a dead spot there in the second pass, and the defense picked it up for us. It's great team win. The guys fought hard. I couldn't be prouder. Q. Were you shocked getting three touchdowns on the first three possessions you all kind of put their defense on their heels? DAVID ASH: (Indiscernible) probably. Q. How about that ability to start fast after last week you bounced back after being replaced in that game, and the offense gets off to a great start? DAVID ASH: I said this a lot. A righteous man falls down six times, and gets back up seven times. Our last week as an offense, we were able to come out with the victory. We rallied the guys. But, personally, I felt I fell down last week. This week I'm able to get back up. So I'm just thankful to God for getting this opportunity to play this game. God has blessed me with the abilities I have, and thankfully I felt like I worked really hard at it this week. It's different. To give it back to them (Indiscernible). Q. (Indiscernible)? DAVID ASH: The route was the same, but it was different. So I don't know. I can't explain it. Q. Did you think the third quarter was something that worked to your benefit even though you gave up ten points? Just because you all still had the lead? MANNY DIAZ: The important thing was they came at it with the lead. When they surged back at us, we were still winning. Even though the stadium was kind of rocking a little bit. We still said, listen. Look at the scoreboard. You find a way to win the fourth quarter, you can win the football game. Then it was about finding the stop. Steve Evan breaks up the pass on the third down and gets off the field. The offense comes and responds with the drive. So that's what these games come down to. This is conference football winning on the road. It's going to be tight. It comes down to making plays at the crucial moments. Q. David, how does this win set you up for the rest of the season? 6‑2 at this point last year. How does this set you up for the rest of the season? DAVID ASH: Every win just improves our chances of a bowl game at the end of the year. We have bowl security. Each win gets us in a better bowl. Really the goal is just every week to get better. If we keep improving, we've got a chance. Q. You seemed to have something going today. Talk about what was working with you and Mike Davis? DAVID ASH: Well, throwing and catching. You know, it was fun. He was telling me before the plays, he was like throw it to me, it's a touchdown. So I threw it to him, and it was a touchdown. But Mike probably would say different. But he's a great football player, and he's worked really hard. It was great to see that payoff. It wasn't just him. The offensive line played lights out tonight and today. Run blocking and pass blocking. (Indiscernible) I didn't get hit at all. Everybody doing their job on offense, that's what it's all about. If we continue to do that, and we do our jobs, we just continue to improve. Q. David, you guys are 7‑2, but it feels you've lost games that you've actually won. Can you talk about the statement you made to each other in this game and whatever we should take away from this one? DAVID ASH: You know, I think personally I didn't think I played well at Oklahoma, and for sure didn't play as well against Kansas. I think you're either getting better, but I felt like for three weeks I wasn't improving. This week we did as a team. The thing that I enjoyed so much is my teammates always believing in me. Encouraging me, and I think if we continue to believe in each other and work as hard as we can, good things are going to happen. Q. Alex talk about the celebration. Was it different from others? ALEX OKAFOR: It was definitely a great feeling.  I'm not going to disregard any other win this season. But this was sweet, especially for seniors to go out and never losing to Tech. That's one of the few things we can say in this class. It was a great feeling. Q. Alex, can you talk about the plan to stop the run and you guys didn't want to give them anything in the running game? They kept trying to pound it at you but you guys responded every time. ALEX OKAFOR: That's the game plan every game. That's what we try to do is take away the run. Fortunately, we stopped the run in this game. It's going to help us out going into the future. We finally did what we want to up front and it showed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|