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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: CONNECTICUT v OKLAHOMAJanuary 1, 2011Ryan BroylesJamell FlemingLandry JonesCameron KenneyTravis LewisBob StoopsGLENDALE, ARIZONA Oklahoma – 48 THE MODERATOR: We have been joined by Coach Bob Stoops, Travis Lewis, and by Cameron Kenney. We will be joined by the additional student-athletes momentarily. Coach Stoops, we will ask you to make an opening statement. COACH STOOPS: Very proud of our football team for the way they played. They deserve the credit. They were out there making plays. They played hard. They played well really all night. Randy, I'm sure, is proud of his football team. They have done a great job. He has got an excellent football team and a great program as he is going to continue to build. Again, really proud of the way our players handled themselves the whole week, the way they got ready for the game and the way they came out and played tonight and making the plays they did. There was a lot of big plays made, and they did a great job. Q. Can you talk about the amazing night for your offense, 500 yards total offense. Landry over 400 yards. DeMarco almost 100. Just talk about the amazing night, especially with Ryan Broyles, Kenny Stills both going over 100, too. COACH STOOPS: Players really did well. Again, the credit should go to the offensive staff, Coach Heupel, Coach Norvell, all those guys. Kevin came back and did a nice job during the game just talking with Josh. Again, Coach Patton, Coach Gundy, all those guys did a nice job preparing the players. And these guys made big plays. Landry had a huge night. Ryan always does. Jeez, that catch he made, he just every -- does something amazing every game. DeMarco is always the tough, physical, hard-working guy that sets so many things up because people have to defend him. And Kenney had a big night. Cameron Kenney I thought had one of the biggest nights. I thought, again, through the last half of the season he has made some huge plays for us, and he did again tonight. Q. A lot of games are won on a decisive play or momentum swing. This one looked like it might have been won in December in the preparation and in the seriousness with which you guys took this game. And the chip maybe that you had on your shoulder about Fiesta Bowls and BCS Bowls. Can you talk about that and how that played out? COACH STOOPS: It's fair to say that probably had a strong impact on the players. The players could probably answer that a little bit more. But in the end I don't feel we have ever not worked hard in these games. We've maybe not had the best fortune in some of the other ones, came in with not all of our players. You have some starters missing, those kind of things. You can end up you are not at your best. You are playing another championship team. You are going to have a hard time winning. I'm not going to sit here and act like we weren't ready in some other games, but we were more healthy in this one and these guys worked hard and they had an attitude to play in the game. Q. What does it mean in a BCS Bowl more than just to win but to play well for this program? TRAVIS LEWIS: It's huge. We left off where we continue -- we continued where we left off in Nebraska, to come out and play defensively like we did today, it is huge. Going into next year with most of the guys coming back, the sky is the limit for this team. It is huge to finally get this monkey off our back and to win this game versus a very good Connecticut team. This is huge. Q. How important was it that you guys got off to a fast start offensively? First two times you got the ball, you scored touchdowns and put them on their heels. How important was that for you tonight? COACH STOOPS: It obviously helps you. But in the end, if you don't, you still have to play for another 3 1/2 hours. I worry about ever stressing it too much because if it doesn't happen, you don't want everyone thinking, oh, gosh, we didn't get off to a great start. When you do, it is definitely a big boost and momentum -- it helps you with momentum and helps you. LANDRY JONES: I just think it gets you off as a quarterback, just gets you into a rhythm of the game, starting well, just gets your confidence up and maybe some shots that are a little tighter later on in the game, you throw them instead of if you start off bad, maybe checking it down or something like that. It just gets your confidence rolling. Q. Travis, for you, you said we coming back next year. Were you indicating you are coming back? TRAVIS LEWIS: You caught that? Q. Todman said he is coming out. I just... TRAVIS LEWIS: I haven't decided yet. I love being a Sooner. There is nothing better than playing for this university. So it is going to be hard to give up. Q. So no decision? TRAVIS LEWIS: No decision. Q. The question I had, though, Bob, for you and Landry, even though you look like you were in control of the game, you had to play on into late third. And it was the third-down plays that Landry and the offense came up with that seemed to be the decisive thing. COACH STOOPS: Definitely. When you have a pick-six for a touchdown, that's not really -- I saw the way that unfolded. It is not Landry's fault in that we were running a mesh route. Players -- he is anticipating the guy got knocked down on his way to the route. He is anticipating him being there. He is not there. And then those things happen. You have a pick-six and a kick-off return for a touchdown. And to me, even at the end of the half, the poor kick coverage set up the field goal. So you are sitting there looking at 17 points and the defense has been playing fabulous. But that will happen. You give up those kind of plays. So they were -- they were hanging around. It is not the most comfortable feeling when you are playing so well, but the score doesn't indicate it. Q. Just wanted to know what is it about these Bowl games? It is two 400-yard performances in a row in Bowl games for Landry. What is it that brings out the best in him in these? What's that say about his future? COACH STOOPS: Landry, I have been saying it all year, has a huge future. He has had a great -- he had a huge year this year. I mean, this guy is special. He's a long way from a finished product, and he is also a special and great quarterback, and everyone is realizing it. I'm sure Landry would credit Coach Heupel and his coaching and all his other coaches, too. And he works hard. He has got the attitude. He is humble. He pushes himself. You have that kind of guy that has talent with it, and he is going to be special. Q. Bob and Landry, can you talk a little bit about Josh calling plays for the first time and how you feel he did? LANDRY JONES: I think he did a great job. Felt like he kept a really good rhythm throughout the game with a run-pass mix. I felt like in tight situations, keeping his cool and just making some great play calls down at the end when they had press coverage on Cam, just calling a go ball by that guy and taking some shots down the field. I think he did a really good job. COACH STOOPS: I thought he did an excellent job. I was very pleased. Q. Ryan and Landry, Ryan, 13 catches again Stanford a year ago. 13 tonight. Talk about your game tonight. Looked like you were sick or hurt or something a couple of times but you kept coming back and made the spectacular catch at the end of the game. Talk about what it is in Bowl games and specifically your game tonight. And, Landry, if you can comment on him as well. RYAN BROYLES: I feel like we started to play calls. Coaches put us in great positions to make plays. Landry is out there throwing the ball, putting it on spots. It is a whole team effort on offense and it definitely helps when the defense gets their offense on the field as well. LANDRY JONES: Great players just making plays out there. And Ryan is one of our great players on the team. That catch in the end zone was a spectacular catch. He has at least, like Coach said, one of those a game. Really proud of the way he played and came out and prepared all week. Q. Bob, you mentioned when you look up you see your team is playing well and they are only up 10, 17 points. Game is over, 28-point game. What is it like for you at the end of the game to look up and see a score that reflects one team's dominance? COACH STOOPS: It feels a heck of a lot better than it did when it was 20-10. At the end you are just pleased. I'm excited for the players, for them just to play in a complete game and to finish it the way they did is -- you know, you are just proud for them. Q. Ryan and Cameron, could you guys talk about -- you both had big nights. You also went down field a lot. So Landry found you down field and you guys were able to find some creases or work the sideline and things. Can you talk about working against their secondary and how you came up with so many big plays. CAMERON KENNEY: Coach put us in a great position. Like I said, play calls were excellent. Landry just continues to get better and better. He is having the confidence in us to make the plays whenever we need them on crucial downs. Just a good opportunity for us to go out there and execute them when we need to. RYAN BROYLES: Ditto. Q. Travis and Ryan, about a month ago there were questions, because you guys went on the road, could you come back and win a Big 12 championship, could you win a BCS Bowl game. To have answered all those questions now, one, was there a turning point? Two, what's the end feeling like? TRAVIS LEWIS: After that A&M game, I think everybody looked themselves in the mirror and said we are a better team than this. If we could play half as well as we did at home and stopped shooting ourselves in the foot, I think we're the best team in the country. And so once we got the ball rolling and it all started with Baylor, guys got their confidence up. We just got on a roll. We never stopped believing in each other and this team. And coaches continue to put us in great positions. And they never gave up on us. We knew we were a special team. And we were a couple steps away from being where we wanted to be ultimately, and that's in a national championship. The guys on this team, we never gave up. And we kept fighting through everything. And all the adversity, so give it up to the players. RYAN BROYLES: We definitely fought through adversity. We came out, felt like we end the season well on a strong point. We definitely had confidence going in these last final games and it definitely pays off. Q. Jamell and Cameron, Jamell, talk about your interception tonight that gave Oklahoma 24-point lead and just the overall play of the secondary tonight. And for you, Cam, you finished really strong this season. The Oklahoma State game, the Big 12 championship game where you had some key third-down catches, the big touchdown tonight. Talk about how you ended your season on this nice run. JAMELL FLEMING: I broke up on the route, he tipped the ball right to my hands and I just took off and ran as hard as I could. I mean, our secondary we have been playing well. We prepare every week. And Coach Martinez always gets us ready for the game. CAMERON KENNEY: Like I said, Landry has given us an opportunity to come together as an offense. And everyone has a lot of confidence in him. I would have to give it all to him and the O line and the coaches getting us prepared. It is not just me being out there, it is them having confidence in me to come in on crucial downs and make the plays whenever I get those opportunities. And just never give up on anything you have the opportunity to do whenever you get your chance. Just go at it. Q. Travis addressed this and I think I know the answer to the question, but I have to ask it. Your plans for the future. Are you coming back? Going to the NFL? RYAN BROYLES: I haven't decided yet. Q. Landry, the third-and-five pass to Cameron, we had a angle on it to where it looked like it was going into the sideline and he runs right under it. Same type of, I guess, throw for the touchdown, the 59-yard touchdown. Talk about your confidence going into this game and how you were able to just lay a ball out for a guy. That's a funny thing for a quarterback's confidence, and you had a lot of it tonight. LANDRY JONES: Like I was talking about earlier, just getting off to that good start really gets your confidence rolling. Just coming out, preparing all week, getting that extra week is crucial for a quarterback in these games, to finalize your preparation during the week. I think that's one of the more important things that kind of get overlooked in football is watching film and knowing your opponent. Getting that extra week is really huge for us. And coming out here tonight really just seeing the defense really well, Connecticut had a good scheme against us. But I think we much just preparing all week in practice and weren't surprised by -- didn't get surprised by the schemes they were throwing at us. Q. Landry, you started off the game great, 12-12. And then you had that interception return for a touchdown. What was your mind-set at that point? It seemed like you made a couple of big throws right after that, felt like you kept your confident. Are you at the maturity level where maybe that may have hurt you but now you can overlook that? LANDRY JONES: Yeah, as a quarterback you are going to throw interceptions. In a football game, things are going to happen. Just thinking back on Oklahoma State and just some of the games where we had multiple-interception games, just learning from those experiences and guys just really brought me through a lot this season, playing bad on the road and then coming back and playing really well. And just remembering how it felt and just getting yourself over that and letting it fly the next time you get it. TRAVIS LEWIS: I told him if he threw another one, I was going to beat him up. Q. Bob, you talked about the different factors in previous BCS games. For all the consistency in this program, the success escapes a little bit at the BCS level. But to get this win tonight, is there any extra satisfaction for just finishing off the season like that? COACH STOOPS: Well, sure there is. There is always satisfaction in winning and being successful. So, yeah, it doesn't feel bad (laughter). Q. Landry, obviously you got off to that great start, the completion percentage-wise. Explain -- talk about the offensive line a little bit. They did a great job up front keeping UConn off you up until that interception, of course. But up until that point, they really did a great job keeping you pretty clean. LANDRY JONES: They did a great job all night. I don't think I was on the ground the entire night. Everybody else's jerseys and pants are all dirty, and I still look like I got mine out of the washer. So those guys did an excellent job all night, and I'm really just proud of the way they played. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you for joining us. Congratulations. End of FastScripts |
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