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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 5, 2012David AshQ. Do you feel like you guys are in a pretty good spot right now where you're headed? DAVID ASH: Yeah. Q. Why? What is it? DAVID ASH: We've won seven ballgames, and we've got a chance to win three more. Q. How do you make sure good Texas shows up this weekend, if you will? DAVID ASH: We're just going to practice hard, work hard, and get ready to play Saturday. Q. You guys were so balanced against Tech. How key is that going to be against an Iowa State team that likes to play that physical brand of football? DAVID ASH: Being balanced is always important. Depending on what your idea of balance is, and some people think it's like you throw the ball 25 times and run the ball 25 times. To me that's not really it. It's just being able to do what you need to do to win a game. So if they're going to play a run game, we're going to throw it. If they're going to play a pass game, we're going to run it on them. That's what a well‑balanced team does. They're able to find what the defense is giving them and take advantage of it. Q. In 2010, do you remember watching Texas upset Nebraska on the road and then come back and lose to Iowa State? Do you remember those two weekends? DAVID ASH: I do. Q. What was your thought process during the Iowa State game? What were you thinking when you saw that happen? DAVID ASH: That was a while back. I'm not really sure what I thought. Q. How key is an 11 a.m. game? It's an early morning game, but you know that Kansas is going to come in and try to be physical against you guys‑‑ excuse me, I should say Iowa State, much like Kansas was, much like Oklahoma was at 11 a.m. how important is it for you guys to match that physicality early? DAVID ASH: Of the utmost importance. Q. Going back to you said practice hard, work hard, get ready to play. I assume that's the approach every week. But sometimes it seems to work and others not. Do you go back and look at it like why didn't we play as well? DAVID ASH: Yeah, we've played those games and we've looked at why and we've moved on. If you haven't moved on, you should. Q. Coach said you'll be seeing Mike Davis. He's been hot the last few games. What do you think turned this game on for you? DAVID ASH: With Mike, it's the same thing. He's worked hard this off‑season. He practices well. He practices hard. He loves playing football, he's a fun guy to be around. Again, it's work ethic, and he's going to put in the work for the season. Q. He dropped issues last year. Is it something you guys did to correct that so you wouldn't be dropping so many balls? DAVID ASH: You know, I think he's just probably gained a little more understanding of it's more important to just be a reliable catcher than it is necessarily to catch a ball and make a bunch of plays but just to be reliable. Q. Coach Applewhite is going into the Hall of Honor this week. What was it like to play for Coach Applewhite? Did you have some games you were watching him as you were growing up as a kid? DAVID ASH: I was still fairly young when he was playing, but I remember being a huge fan. It's really fun being on the sidelines with him. He does a great job of communicating with me on the sideline and helping me understand exactly the adjustments we're making during the game. I think he's got a great personality as far as a person. Everyone kind of has‑‑ just besides the fact that he was a great player at Texas and he has a great legacy, I think everyone appreciates who he is as a person, his character and how he coaches. Q. Is there something that you've taken away from playing Iowa State teams in the past, maybe watching them prepare and play in other games, that stands out to you as far as their identity as a team and a program under Paul Rhoads? DAVID ASH: Yeah, as I've watched them over the years they've come a long way. The secret to success is not complicated. It's through hard work, through dedication to what you're doing, and through playing tough, physical football. Believing in each other and coming together as a team with one purpose. I think Coach Rhoads has done a great job of instilling those values in his team, and they've played some tough, tough close ballgames this year. They're a great football team, so we have to understand that and be ready to play this week, just like we need to do that every week. As this team grows and matures, we're going to be more consistent. Q. They always say you want to make it a November to remember. This time of year there are only two more home games left. As a leader now, you want to send the seniors out on top and get this team to a major bowl game. Does that all start to creep into your mind that, hey, we can do this? Make this a special season. DAVID ASH: Yeah, come together for three games. Whatever you've got left in the tank, we need it. Full effort, all in, four more weeks of regular season football, and let's try to be in the best spot possible at the end of the year. Q. Is there something‑‑ is too much made of the way you all played in those 11 a.m. games? That you just didn't play well that day or is there something more you need to change? DAVID ASH: I don't know. We haven't played well in 11 a.m. games. There is no denying that. What we change, I think we just need to get ready, wake up and let's go. Do I really think it's anything different than a 7:00 p.m. game? I don't think it is. I think it's just something that we need to show it isn't different. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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