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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 21, 2013Jace AmaroQ. Jace, can you talk a little bit about your coach. He has a lot of confidence in himself and he seems to have a lot of confidence in the team. Can you talk about how that affects the team? JACE AMARO: Since day one he came in here telling us that he came back to win a championship. I think right when he told us that, it really opened up everybody's eyes. It just showed how much he cares about being here and shows how much confidence he has in us. Even before the season he knew how good we could be and we're on the right track. It's really helped us out a lot this season. Q. Coach said that you're here a big part of that 2011 team a lot of the core of this team being part of that. Do you look back at that and remember what that feeling was like? JACE AMARO: Yeah, I mean, it was a great win. It's a totally different team now. We have a bunch of new players. Some players haven't even been up there to Norman. It's going to be a great atmosphere. It's a great stadium, and they're a great team. It's one of the funnest places to play. It's going to be a great experience. I know that it helps us out a lot, because we know that we can win up there since we did it already a couple years ago. It just helps build our confidence up a little bit more. Q. What is the difference between the game in Norman and last year's game? JACE AMARO: I just think that we came in thinking we were better than them last year at least, and we came in the year before knowing that we could upset them, and I think we just played with a little bit more chip on our shoulder and we played a little bit more relaxed last season. But it's kind of hard to tell. Q. Do you guys talk about just the implications that a win in a place like that would mean in terms of the Big 12 race and how important this game would be? JACE AMARO: Yeah, every game's important. If we lose last week, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Every game is important. We're just trying to go 1‑0 every single week; we're going to take it like we played every game this season. We're not changing anything up in practice or changing the way we prepare for any team. That's really helped us out a lot this season. We prepare for every opponent the same exact way. Doesn't matter who we're playing. It helps our minds stay level and not get too high or too low. Q. Can you talk about (Inaudible)? JACE AMARO: Yeah, definitely. He likes to put a lot of bullets and stuff in there. He tells us every day how many times people are doubting us, that we have something to prove every single day in practice and walk throughs and meetings. And it just helps everyone focus a little more than as we should, and it makes us a little more mad and angry that people picked us 10, 9th or 8th in the Big 12, and right now we're sitting at number one, and that's where we want to be and where we plan on staying. Q. (Inaudible)? JACE AMARO: I think when he talks about game‑day predictions and stuff and he tells us before the game how many people are telling us we're not going to win this game. I think the past three weeks they had us on upset alert. It just really helps us pull through on those times where we're struggling through the game. Q. So he sort of has a chip on his shoulder? JACE AMARO: Yeah, definitely. Q. Do you think coach takes it personally or is he trying to motivate you guys? JACE AMARO: I know he takes it personally. You can see it in his eyes. He gets mad like if he's actually a player like he's a player with us, and he just brings a lot of fire and energy to our team. I know it means a lot to him just like it means a lot to all of us. Q. As a player, Coach Tuberville last year, Coach Kingsbury this year, he seems like he's more closer to your age and one of the guys. How much does that help as a player having him down on your level? JACE AMARO: It just makes him almost like another player on our team. He's a great leader for us. He brings a lot of fire to our team and a lot of energy. It just helps us because we know he's been there just a couple years ago. He knows how hard it is out here, the hard practices and stuff like that, and he really takes care of us and it just helps us relax a little bit more than what we could have last year. Q. What have you noticed about the Oklahoma defense? What do they do? JACE AMARO: They play a lot of man, lot of one‑high man, try to take away the middle of the field. So we'll see how they‑‑ I mean, every single team has changed their coverages up from what they've shown to what they do when we've played them. I'm sure they're going to change it up too. We'll just adjust off the run. Q. Just talk about the ability just to grab players and get ten yards extra after the catch. What's that do for the team and you personally? JACE AMARO: I just kind of took it to heart last game. I know we were down 27‑16 or something like that. Yeah, I got a little nervous because I knew if we didn't score on that drive or one of the drives it was really crucial. It is going to be really tough to come back and win that game. I just told myself we're not going to lose this game. I want to make sure that I do everything I can to win this game. I got hit pretty hard on that one play. I know it was a little bit of a momentum swing, so I just said I'm going to make sure we win. Q. How much growth have you seen from Davis starting these last two games? JACE AMARO: Yeah, he does a great job not getting rattled. He's been the guy that's in the TCU game when we really needed him to come in and seal the game for us, he's taken down the field‑‑ or the ball down the field every single time. Against Iowa State he did it, last week he did it, against TCU he had the game‑winning touchdown. He does a great job of really staying composed and controlling the game and controlling our line of scrimmage. That's one thing that's really caught my eye of what he does. Q. Was there a specific turnaround to the game on Saturday where you kind of point to and say, okay, this is where you knew that you were going to be in a position to win? Or was it just a fear factor of I don't want to lose? JACE AMARO: I think it was more of a fear factor that we didn't want to lose. I think a lot of us and a lot of the seniors really took it up. If we lost that game, all the things that we had done before that wouldn't have mattered. We were going to make sure that we win, and a lot of guys stepped up. Q. Did you feed off the defense too, because they had stopped (Inaudible)? JACE AMARO: Absolutely. The defense played great all year. They bailed us out almost every single game this season. It's really helped us out a lot. We know that we have one of the best defenses in the conference, and we don't have to score every single drive. We just need to make sure we control the game because we know that they're going to help us out. Q. (Inaudible)? JACE AMARO: I think it's a mixture of both. I think Davis does a great job selling the run, and then Coach Kingsbury really sets up those plays very well, and it helps us out a lot because our running game is really picking up and the play‑action pass has really opened the field up for us. Not just for me but for Bradley and Eric, and it just helps out that the running backs are doing a great job too. Q. Speaking of chip on the shoulder, maybe extra motivation, does it motivate you not being on the Mackey list, and you said at the start of the year that you wanted to win that? JACE AMARO: Yeah, of course it does. I know what kind of player I am, and I'm not sure why I'm not on it. But I know that these guys in this building and the media and everyone else has a plan for me. I'm just going to keep on playing the way I've been playing all season long, and I'm not really going to worry about it because I know in the end it's all going to work out. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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