Coach, First off, it seems like this season has a
little bit of everything throughout the year and a lot
of things have been up and down.
But last week when you looked on that sideline and
you can see faces, you can see guys reaction.
I didn't see much flinch out of them.
Did you see the same or did you see something
else out of your team when you looked up down
that sideline, especially late in the ball game?
Yeah, You know, I sent some disappointment and a little
bit of doubt at times because we weren't playing well.
Once we Scott rolling offensively, I felt like, OK, when
we get hot on offense, we get hot.
We usually can roll.
I think we have four straight possessions of touchdowns.
And I just knew I kept trying to we got
to find stops.
We got to find stops.
Every time we get a stop, we got a chance
to score.
And once we scored the the two-minute drive there to
Dom, I was like, we we we got a chance.
This thing, I know you try to create adversity with
your practices, but your team has had to face a
lot of adversity in games.
How beneficial has it been that you've had to go
through those in those big games and it helps you
as you look forward to this part of the season?
Yeah, it does.
You know, you're going to be in tough battles moving
forward.
You're only playing teams that are top in the country.
And I feel like we've been doing that anyway with
our schedule.
So we're certainly a resilient bunch.
We can respond to anything.
I would like to to start fast and play our
best regardless of the score.
That's the goal each week.
Every other most aerial position on the field, they get
multiple shots at it.
But you got three dudes and Thorson and Gardner and
Peyton who they get one shot at it and obviously
those three guys are found this for their particular positions.
Have you seen those guys grow and how productive have
they been for you in your eyes?
Yeah, the the growth of all those guys have been
awesome.
You know, Bo comes in and jumps right in and
one of the best snappers in the country.
We're fortunate to get him from UCLA.
But the other two have been working really hard.
They were really good at their craft last year.
Now they're tops in the country at their craft.
They're both really good athletes and just great kids, man.
They care about the program and they'll do anything they
can to make sure we win.
You got a bunch of good dudes on that defence
side ball who played a lot of good ball for
you, made a bunch of plays for you.
But 17 continues to shine and continues to put good
things on tape.
What does he mean to this defense and this team
as a whole?
I was just a competitor, man.
He he cares.
He he does everything the right way.
When he speaks, you know, guys listen, people like him.
He's so likable and he's so nice.
He just he's got a charisma about him that you
you want to play with him and you want to
play for him.
And I think that's a really good characteristic.
All right, let's talk about this big game, obviously one
that is always exciting, one everybody wants to be in.
What does it mean to you to have your team
in this game again?
Well, at the start of the year, that was a
that was a benchmark.
That was a like a goal and it was not
going to be easy.
And there were times throughout the year that that you
can make a case that was in doubt.
And we had one of the hardest schedules, probably the
hardest schedule in the country.
And we still found a way to get to our
conference championship, which speaks volumes to our kids and our
staff in this organization that they were to navigate that
and still be here.
I'll tell you it was the number one schedule.
Obviously, it's hard to beat A-Team twice.
We know we've been a part of it.
You've been a part of the number of times when
you look at them offensively and their two quarterbacks didn't
play really well virtually last time, but they have grown,
they have evolved.
What have you seen from them since the last time
you guys played them that you got to make sure
a, we got to make sure be aware of this
offense and things they do well.
One, they played better teams since us, you know, they
they, they coming into our game, they had not played
maybe the quality they have since our game.
I think that makes you better just like us, like
iron sharpens iron.
You play better teams.
So they have played really tough SEC competition all the
way up to the A&M game, who's a tremendous defensive
football team.
And they Texas has played better with each and every
opportunity.
So they're they're not the same team we face then.
And I do think that they're committed to running the
ball at a much higher clip.
Now for your defense in this style, what's going to
be important for you guys?
I mean, last week it was all the different things
that I can all stuff going on.
What's going to be important for your defense this week?
Tackle, punch out balls, get off field on 3rd down.
They they, they, they are really good at what they
do and they create issues and matchups.
They're really good at that.
You got to simplify things.
You got to play great zone break on the ball
and knock balls out.
This is a defense for Texas that the third in
the nation and interceptions first in the SEC.
They got 18 on the year.
They got three last time you played first the Dogs.
What about their defense and that ball hacking ability?
It makes you say, you know what we got to
be extra careful with when we prepare for these guys.
It's just that they got great instinctive football players when
you look at their DBS, they're all talented and then
they played, they they play to their strengths.
So those kids are very good zone.
They anticipate throws, they get hands on balls.
A lot of the balls are tipped over throws and,
and they, they cash in on them and that makes
it, you know, it's hard.
It makes you want to commit to the run and
be able to run the ball.
But to to, to get explosive, you got to be
able to throw it and make explosives in the passing
game.
So they create issues defensively.
Is Run the Rock a big part of staying on
schedule?
Absolutely it is.
You got to be able to run the ball in
any SEC championship to be able to take a little
pressure off your quarterback on 3rd down.
Obviously playing in this game, you have a bunch of
guys who played in it, but also a bunch of
guys who haven't played in it.
Do you think it benefits you that you had that
first game inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium for guys who haven't played
in it or you think, you know, this is a
different style of game than that first one?
Yeah, I think it helps, but it's it's more your
quarterback.
I think your quarterback gets familiar with what's going on,
where the clocks are, where everything is.
And in the fact he's played in it multiple times,
I think that helps.
Will it take for the Dogs to capture the third
SEC title on Saturday when the explosives in the turnover
battle?
I mean, I think that it always comes back to
those two things.