November 24, 1998
Talk about the emotion of the Texas game...
"I get phone calls during the week prior to the game from people that are going to the game, and then when you get there seeing the people come in and know that the people that are there are from everywhere. They're from big cities, little towns, bankers and ranchers -- from both sides. That's one of the places that I think people miss the boat sometimes, Texas has some guys that walk in there with jeans and boots and drive pickup trucks. And there's a bunch of Aggies that fly in there on their jets. It's really the Texas population from all walks that come in there to support their teams. People that grew up with different allegiances in this state for a variety of reasons. They had a cousin who went to Texas so they always kept up with Texas. Or they had an uncle who went to A&M and played in the band. Whatever all those reasons are... I know down in Orange, Steve Worster played at Texas, so there were a lot of people in Orange interested in Texas. Steve's dad worked at the plants out there. So that was ol' R.B. Worster's boy and they followed the Longhorns because of Steve. It's a special game here in this state. I have an old tape someone gave me in my office of the 1940 A&M-Texas game played in Austin. And to see the old houses around the stadium there and the guys...they actually went into a room with white tablecloths and they had the 'T' Association with a meal of some sort. Then they were out there doing 'jumping jacks.' It's funny to see something that long ago and right now we're a part of it. Some day down the road we'll look back at these games that we're playing now. It's special to be a part of something like this."
Texas A&M already has the South Championship wrapped up and top-ranked K-State is looming, but that doesn't seem to have much impact right now...
"In my mind and what I told the team is: 'you just take all that and put it on the back burner somewhere. That's not what's cooking right now. Put that on the backburner low fire and let it kinda simmer.' Right now we've got this game and that's all I'm thinking about. And with the team, I've tried to coach them and tell that we'll care of all those other things in due time. This is all you should be thinking about. You should enjoy this week, enjoy the preparation and atmosphere. That's all part of it. Enjoy the trip over there and the pregame. Let's take all this in and then next week let's worry about other things."
Having said all that, are you in the national championship hunt?
"I haven't thought about it and I haven't looked at it. I have a lot of people tell me all these things they've figured out. We don't have any control over that so it's really a waste of time to sit around and hypothesize on all that. It's all hypothetical so to me it's like a waste of time. I don't let myself get into all that."
It's every coaches' stated goal to win the national championship, but I can't stir up anyone who says he's thinking about it...
"I think most coaches are realistic. So much of that is out of your hands. Bill Snyder is up there right now undefeated with one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and he may not win the national championship, may not even play for it. He's undefeated right now and from everything I read sounds like he may not get to play for the national championship. I don't think there's any coach around that steers himself into the national championship. The ones that have gotten there, their teams have played well enough to get in there."
"It's another hypothetical situations -- would you rather win the Texas game or the next one (vs. Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship game)?"
It would still be a very close deal. (The Texas game) is one that we have to live with all year long. The next game -- no one expects us to win anyway. We'll be the underdog playing K-State. You win that one and you're in the Bowl Championship Series, but if you haven't won the Texas game to go with it, then that win is diminished. We're spending a whole lot of time talking about something that is hypothetical, but I have thought about the difference."
We're talking about national championship implications, can you talk about everything your offense has been through?
"I think people talk all the time about UCLA being in the national championship race picture, and they've had a great offense and a defense that's played well enough for them to be undefeated. We've had a real good defense, and played well enough on offense to win 10 straight games. I think if you look at teams it's not uncommon to find teams that are better one side of the ball or the other. Texas has had a great season, and I think people would say that their offense has been very good and they've hung on defensively enough to win seven games. If you evaluate them, their offense has been better than their defense and we're the opposite of that. Some teams, as I look at Kansas State, would be a little harder, but that's also why I think they're one of the best teams. When I look at them, I'm not sure if they're better on offense or defense. They're equally good. They've won because of both their offense and defense."
Would it benefit you to stand up and say, "We're as good as any team in the country?"
"That's just not my style. I'd rather do that on the field. I'm not one to get out there and make a bunch of (bold statements). I try to talk to the players about not doing things like that, so I don't want to do that as a coach. I'd rather us play our way into it. If we win this one and then turn around and beat Kansas State, it still won't matter unless some other things happen. If those other things happen then it will all take care of itself. I tell them the best thing we can do is coach and win games. If we do enough of that and do it right, then it will take care of itself. Bobby Bowden was a good coach for a long time before he won a national championship. Tom Osborne was too, and Bo Schembechler was too."
If you beat Texas and Kansas State, do you think you should be the national championship race?
"You could make arguments for it. If we beat Texas and win 11 straight games and then beat Kansas State for 12 straight wins, then I think you'd have to say they have something going for them. If you could do that, and that's two big 'ifs' right there. But that's when I, as a coach, would start saying, 'Give us a look. We won 12 straight ball games." Then you would be able to narrow (the national championship race) down with the teams left out there, and you could make comparisons and you know who you're making comparisons with. But right now there's still so much in the air, that it's a waste of time."
Are you happy that you're facing Texas the week before the Big 12 Championship game, so there's little chance of being caught looking ahead?
"I think there are pluses and minuses. It's obvious that we're going to be motivated, so we don't have to worry about a letdown or looking past them. The downside is that it will be an emotional game and a physical game, so we've got all our efforts devoted to this game. Meanwhile the opponent is sitting back right now, watching our tapes, getting some practice done at whatever pace they need to. Then they'll eat a Thanksgiving meal and watch our game on Friday, so all the sudden they should be a fresher team, both mentally and physically, than we are coming off our biggest game of the year. I've said all along that the league, if they're going to have this game, somehow in their scheduling needs to try to correct that scheduling where one team has a week off before they play the postseason championship game."