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CITI BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: TEXAS v ALABAMAJanuary 4, 2010Lamarr HoustonSergio KindleEarl ThomasPASADENA, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: We'll go straight to questions. Q. Can I get you guys to comment on Will Muschamp's intensity and how much you like playing for him? EARL THOMAS: Well, it would be 6:00 a.m., we're just getting there and he's already fired up and throwing stuff around the room. He's a great guy to be around, and I'm just glad he's on our team and not the other team. SERGIO KINDLE: Same thing he said. (Laughter.) LAMARR HOUSTON: When we first got here it was different for us. We never had a coach as intense. I've never seen a coach head-butt a guy in the middle of his chest before a game. We got used to it, and it's how we play, and players really are a reflection of the coach, and it's rubbed off on us a lot this year. Q. Sergio, your thoughts about Greg McElroy. Did you know him growing up in Dallas, and what's your thoughts about the way he plays quarterback? SERGIO KINDLE: No, I didn't know him at all, actually. You know, he's in the championship, so he must be playing some good quarterback, I guess mistake-free. He's not a guy that's going to take too many risks. You know he's going to throw a good, safe pass that hopefully his receiver comes up with. It's been working for him all year, so we're going to see how it works this game. Q. Earl, this is obviously a business trip for you guys, but being in Southern California, you've got the beach right behind us. How do you guys not become distracted? EARL THOMAS: Well, I'm from a small town, and this definitely is new for me. I'm used to walking around barefooted and just running around all over the place. This is a great place. The air smells clear here, and beautiful girls (smiling). So it's definitely going to be a distraction, but it's also a business trip, and we know what we're here for. We're just trying to do the best we can. I think it's going to pay off for us, though. Q. Lamarr, you're laughing at him, but we did hear that you rode your first roller coaster ride at Disneyland. Will you describe that experience? LAMARR HOUSTON: Yeah, I've never actually been to Disneyland or any kind of amusement park, so that was my first time getting some on rides, and it was quite the experience. I was kind of scared. Q. Guys, can one or two of you or all of you if you want to answer, how do you feel about going against a Heisman Trophy winner? He comes in with a lot of accolades, I guess. You guys come in as a great run defense. Talk about the attitude it's going to take to not only stop him but stop the offense. EARL THOMAS: Well, I think you always want to play against the best. It's going to be a great test for us. I think our defense swarms the ball, and it's definitely going to be a game where we have to swarm the ball and gang tackle him. We don't want to get him a head full of steam. Once he gets going it's hard to stop him. I think Coach Muschamp has done a great job with a good, solid game plan. I think we're going to be ready when it comes to game time. SERGIO KINDLE: Yeah, following up on that, we take pride in stopping the run, so we're probably going to enjoy this one a lot more than most just because of him having the Heisman and running the way he does, and Richardson, because Richardson is just as good. We're up for the challenge. I actually can't wait to get out there and see what it's all about. LAMARR HOUSTON: I think it'll add credibility to us being the No. 1 rush defense in the country if we can stop the Heisman Trophy winner. Q. What is it like to have thousands of orange clad people pouring into Southern California to see y'all play in game? SERGIO KINDLE: Just like a normal home game. They just come out here to see the home team, hoping that we come out with the victory and put on a show. Q. I guess for Earl here, is it a scheme or a mental approach in forcing so many turnovers, and when you get the ball in your hand, what's the first thing that goes through your mind? EARL THOMAS: Well, it happens so fast, you don't really think about when you get the ball in your hand. The only time I think about it is if you have a long run, you think back when you were in Pop Warner or high school, you just put your head back and run. As far as scheme-wise, we just practice real hard. Freshman year we had a lot of chances to make a lot of turnovers but we couldn't finish plays. We worked real hard this summer running ball drills. Coach Akina did a great job with us after practice with ball drills, and it's just paying off for us, and we get them in bunches this year. Q. Guys, just your thoughts about playing at the Rose Bowl. Has it kind of become like a home away from home for this team, the fact that the University of Texas has now played there three times since 2004? LAMARR HOUSTON: Well, we were in high school both of those times before, but it's a great opportunity to play such a decorated Bowl as the Rose Bowl that has so much history with different teams playing in it. I think Texas and Alabama has played in the Rose Bowl before a long time ago, but it's a great feeling to be on such a big stage, especially for your last time around. I'm very excited. I know a lot of the team is. Q. Is there any kind of extra motivation because Muschamp worked under Saban and for you guys to get that for him? Do you guys care about that at all, and has he said anything about tendencies or anything like that? EARL THOMAS: Well, as far as motivation, I think if you can't get motivated for this game, you need to pack your stuff and go back to Austin. I don't think we'll have any trouble getting motivated. I think Coach Muschamp don't have anything to prove. He speaks for himself. He's a down-to-earth kind of guy and he gets the job done. SERGIO KINDLE: Same thing he said. LAMARR HOUSTON: We actually haven't even talked about that subject in our room. I think the motivation is it's motivation enough to win the National Championship. For our school to be there two years, for the second time in five years, I think we're very excited trying to make history. I think that's enough motivation. Q. Sergio, one thing that Greg McElroy talked about was when he played at Southlake Carroll he knew about you when you played at Woodrow. Had you heard much about him, other than the fact that Southlake Carroll had two of your teammates with Tre' and Adam and what that program was all about and him as the quarterback? SERGIO KINDLE: You know, I'm not really sure if I heard his name, but you heard stuff like every week, with the point spreads of about 50 points, out there crushing teams they was playing. But you know, no, I hadn't really just heard his name, I mean, as bad as that sounds. You'd hear about the team week in and week out. Q. When you look at their passing game and then their ability to run, what kind of challenge does that present for the defensive backfield of Texas? EARL THOMAS: Well, obviously they're a run-first I think, and they're a run-run-run and then a play action. So I think you have to have your eyes right and just key your keys and your indicators, and you'll be okay. Q. Lamarr, your thoughts first of all about are you tired of hearing the fact that it's all about Alabama's defense going up against Texas's offensive line? Do you want to make your case for the Texas defense? LAMARR HOUSTON: You know, they can talk about those guys all they want, and all that's going to matter is what you're talking about after the game. Q. You guys didn't really struggle defensively until the A & M game. What got said after that game, and what have you guys adjusted to or how have you made adjustments since, and how did that change your mentality as a defense? LAMARR HOUSTON: Like Coach Muschamp said, it was just one game. We didn't really -- it was just us that made the mistakes. It wasn't nothing that they did. We just went back there and made the corrections and just looked at the reality of things. It was also just one of those rivalry games where it's just a great game. I think fans enjoy it. I enjoy playing in it, and it was just excitement back and forth. We weren't really worried about what happened in that game, because we know that it was all self-induced mistakes that we made, and we just came back the next week and played Texas football. Q. Can you talk about the physical aspect of Alabama's running game and whether you've seen -- how much of that kind of game you've seen and how this offensive line at Alabama really may stack up against what you've seen and how you may match up against it? LAMARR HOUSTON: Well, no one likes to give the Big 12 credit for running the ball. They think all we do is pass the ball. But we've got about five or six teams that do nothing but run the ball. We just got done playing Nebraska, and that's all they do is just run the ball. We're prepared for the run, and we're ready to play these guys physical. But you know, the thing is about Alabama, they have talented enough linemen to where they don't have to waste two linemen on one guy; they can do a lot of man blocking, and that helps them a lot with the run game. And then having Mark Ingram, who I think is very similar to Adrian Peterson, running back there and breaking tackles and getting so many yards after contact, that makes them so versatile and lethal as an offense. Q. Earl, will you talk about specifically what you've seen from Julio Jones and his size versus you guys' speed? EARL THOMAS: I think he's a very physical receiver, and he's a deep threat for them obviously. I've seen him go against the best, and he made some of the best look not the best. We have our hands full with him, and I think we have a solid game plan going in. We're just going to try to be physical just like he is and bring the fight to him obviously and see what happens after that. Q. Sergio, I get the sense that you and your teammates are restless, that it's enough already, let's go play the game. Do I sense that right? SERGIO KINDLE: Well, I can say restless because we've been doing a lot of activities from 8:00 to 8:00, so we'd like to get more sleep. (Laughter.) But yeah, of course, I feel like everybody wants to play today, but you know, we still have a couple more things we could prepare for or fine-tune in the next couple of days. So yeah, we want to play today, but I feel like we'll be better off waiting until the 7th before we unleash; you know what I mean? Oh, yeah, that's all. (Laughter.) THE MODERATOR: Thank you, folks. Thanks, guys. End of FastScripts |
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