Nov. 1, 2010
A full transcript of Coach Sherman's press conference, along with selected quotes from players, will be available below. Audio clips are available in MP3 format to the right.
JUNIOR RB Cyrus Gray
What's the key to your success the last few weeks? “Preparation. It's always the key. Just getting in there, watching more film, and having more opportunities in practice.”
On losing Christine Michael... “That really hurts me and everyone on the team to lose a guy of that stature. C-Mike brings a lot to the game and really helps our team. Bradley (Stephens) and Ben (Malena), we have to get them ready. I told them to get ready, it's their time. And they're going to respond to it.”
On the play where Michael got hurt... “As I saw the play unfold, I didn't know what was going on. When I got closer I saw him in tears. I knew something was wrong. I wanted him to know I was there for him and was there to support him. It really hurt us seeing him go down like that.”
On Michael's spirits... “I got home (after the game) and ate with my family, then I went to visit him. I stayed with him till about 11 at night. I woke up the next morning, went to treatment and went right back to him. He's doing great. He's in high spirits, and he's got so much supporting cast--coaches, family and friends. I think he'll pull through it.”
On momentum heading in to Oklahoma... “We've won two games in a row, but that's behind us now. Our main focus is Oklahoma. They are a great team and we will have to prepare great for them. I think we can have great success, we just have to continue practicing hard and focus on details.”
On his role changing now... “I don't think it changes. I just have to make better choices and do great with my opportunities. Also, the other backs too (will get opportunities). Bradley (Stephens) will have to step up to the plate, as well as the receivers, the offensive line, (everyone). It's going to be a team effort.”
On Bradley Stephens... “I've been watching him since my freshman year. He's a very instinctive runner. He's very quick and has great speed. He's hard to tackle and can make many guys miss.”
JUNIOR QB Ryan Tannehill
On his approach this week now that he's the starter... “Well, I don't know that I'm the starter. They haven't told me yet. I just have to prepare and go to practice, and work to get better and fix the things I did wrong this week. OU is a good team with a great defense. They throw a lot of things at you.”
On the excitement of playing Saturday... “Yeah it was fun. I love to play this game. I've been playing a long time and I get real excited to play. You're with your best friends out there battling. That's what it's about and that's what we train all year for.”
On things he saw after watching film... “There's always things you can improve on, like the deep ball. I didn't trust Jeff (Fuller) enough that he'd run past his guy a couple of times. From my perspective sometimes it looked even and I just put it up as a jump ball. Also you can always s get better on your footwork. I had a couple of throws I want back. You don't always get second chances on those. I've got to clean things up.”
On conversations between him and Jerrod since Saturday... “I haven't seen him a lot. He told me 'good game' after, he was very supportive. I saw him this morning for a little bit. He's been supportive, a great friend and a great teammate. It's a tough situation. If I was in his position I know how tough it would be. He's been very supportive and I thank him for that.”
On playing against Tech helping his development... “It definitely helps out. I got a little bit of time in the Kansas game. It's good to get in the game and get some game-time action. Getting a full game and the feel for playing a full game, I haven't done that since high school at the quarterback position. It definitely was exciting and fun. It was a learning experience for sure. You definitely have to take that and learn from it.”
On Oklahoma's defense... “They are a great defense with good athletes all over the field. They throw a lot of things at you, play a lot of different coverages and bring a lot of different blitzes. As an offense you have to be ready for that. We're going to have to play really well this week.”
On the development of the offensive line... “We had great play across the board from the offensive line. They had to hang in there when I was making checks. For the offensive line to sit in their stance and get those checks and execute their blocks is crucial to the offense. I give huge props to those guys. They were giving me time to get the throw off. They saved my life a couple of times.”
On the loss of Bradley Stephens to step up and he definitely did that in the game Saturday.”
JUNIOR DB Trent Hunter
On his health... “I've just kind of got those postgame feelings right now. I'm a little sore here and there. I had to make a few more tackles than usual, so I'm a little more beat up than usual. It's nothing that a good old Monday practice can't fix.”
On OU wideout Ryan Broyles... “We expect big things from Broyles. He's got good hands, good speed and good size. He's got moves. He's pretty much everything you want in a receiver.”
Is Jeff Fuller underrated nationally? “I don't know whether or not that's the case. I know I don't hear about him as much as some of the other big name guys out here. I think Jeff is on a whole other level than the receivers we've faced this year. He's big, physical, and maybe has the strongest hands I've ever seen.”
On the emphasis of flagging helmet-to-helmet hits... “We've had guys come in and present stuff to us. The coaches harp on it every day, to be lower than the guy we're tacking. When it comes down to game time, you can't really think about that when you're making a tackle. It's so natural to be in a certain position. Sometimes the receiver is a little lower or a little higher (than you expect). It just kind of happens sometimes. We definitely take it into account. We're not going out there to hurt anyone that's for sure. We're just trying to be a physical football team.”
On what it would take to stop Oklahoma... “Play sound defense. Assignment sound, no technical errors and no mental errors. You've just got to go out there and play the best defense you can. They are a balanced offense. You've got to be on your P's and Q's when they are running or passing the ball.”
HEAD COACH Mike Sherman
On the kick return game and running back situation following Christine Michael's injury... “That's something we talked about this morning, Cyrus' availability for the kickoff return game. We're still visiting with that subject. We're going to meet again before practice and talk about it again. With him being the player he is and the impact he has on our offense, there's a chance he may not do that. We're going to decide that this afternoon. Ben Malena will step up into that role (third-string RB).”
On whether he planned to redshirt Malena... “We had, but I've said all along if we lost a back it would have to happen. We have a good run here where we need everyone. We'll prepare him to play and expect him to play.”
On Ryan Tannehill as a leader compared to Jerrod Johnson... “Both are great leaders. They lead a little differently but both are excellent leaders. Ryan knows the offense very well as does Jerrod. It's like having two extra coaches out there when talking to the receivers, or the backs, or other things. They're always coming up with ideas of things they like. He's an excellent leader and has demonstrated that pretty consistently since I've been here.”
On the performance of the two freshman offensive tackles... “Everything's relative as you well know, but in the last two weeks they've had a chance to grow up and mature a bit. I thought Luke (Joeckel) was more physical in this game than he's been. He was finishing blocks and was more confident. Jake (Matthews) was very consistent, we graded him out very high. The two of them combined, this is probably the best combo performance between them in the last two weeks.”
On Jerrod Johnson becoming more involved in the offense now... “He's very much involved in the offense. I went over to him numerous times in the game and asked him what he was seeing. It was like having an extra coach on the field so he's very involved.”
On using Jerrod Johnson in a different capacity... “I haven't really thought about that necessarily. We have guys who are doing those things right now. Jerrod will be a quarterback.”
On Christine Michael... “He's having surgery today. So he'll be out for the season.”
On the run game struggling in first half and succeeding in second half... “It was a byproduct of what (Texas Tech) were doing. They were committed to pressuring us and coming off the edges. That opened up the passing game. It forced us to throw the ball early in the game more than we'd planned to. In the second half they did less of that so that opened up the run game more.”
On what Ryan did best and what he can improve on this week... “I thought he was very decisive. When he made decisions he pulled the trigger and did a very, very good job of that. I thought he threw the ball very well and was very accurate. There was some tight coverage, particularly when throwing to (Ryan) Swope over the middle. They were covering him pretty well and Ryan had good ball location in those situations. As far as things he can improve on, he threw a few balls into coverage where they could have been picked off but weren't.”
On Oklahoma QB Landry Jones... “He's pretty good. He functions in the offense extremely well. he's their point guard so to speak moving the ball down the field and keeping the tempo alive. He also has some good players around him and some pretty good weapons he's taken advantage of. He hasn't made many mistakes. He's been pretty much mistake-free throughout the season.”
On whether he thought Ryan Tannehill would break the school record... “I knew he would play well. He's prepared hard. How well or that he'd break the record, no I didn't anticipate that kind of day. Some of the things (Tech) did defensively allowed us to do some things that played to his strengths. That helped in some regard. He's very humble and unassuming. He did a real good job. When I said after the game that he threw an interception and had a 33-yard punt, I was joking about that in reference to the fact that there's nothing much he didn't do right in the game. He did a very good job.”
JUNIOR WR Jeff Fuller
On Ryan Tannehill as a leader... “Ryan has been doing a good job of stepping up and being a leader. He's like another coach on the field, giving you different pointers and telling you when the ball will get there and timing stuff out right.”
On his success the last few games... “I just try to improve on every game. Every week I go back and look at the film and the coaches will tell me what they want me to work on. I really try to emphasize those things in practice and have them play out in the next game.”
On memories of last year's Oklahoma game... “We took a tough loss. This year is another year. We have to just continue to get better and come out fighting Saturday.”
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR TIM DeRUYTER
On facing Oklahoma... “It will be a big-time challenge. They are a heck of a club. Coach Stoops has done a great job there. They're a well-coached, extremely talented group. They've been signing top-10 recruiting classes and it shows. They've been running the same system. They have a veteran quarterback with excellent skill players. It's a big, big time challenge for us this week.”
On whether he'll cover Ryan Broyles differently than other receivers this year... “I don't know that we'll cover him differently. Our guys will have an awareness of where he's at. He's their main target. We'll have some things in the game plan that will account for him. He's great at yards after the catch. He's really explosive. He can make guys miss in space. You'd better get multiple guys to cover him because if you don't he can embarrass you in a hurry.”
On the importance of Saturday's game... “It's huge. It's a Big 12 south game. You don't have many chances to play a top-10 team at home in front of our crowd. They play great at home. In an offensive like that and a tempo like that, they have to communicate well. If we can get the 12th Man loud like they always are we can make it tough for them. If we can do our part defensively to slow them down and hopefully create some confusion, we have a chance to win this football game. This is the biggest game of the year on our schedule, and I think our guys will go in with tremendous confidence.”
SENIOR LB Michael Hodges
On seeing success in defending Texas Tech after struggling against Missouri... “Well, I think two things. I think a big part of it was our play. We were more juiced. Everyone was excited and ready to go. I really feel like Missouri caught us on our heels and we never recovered. Luckily this week we came out strong and fast. A big part too is feeding off the offense. That was huge this weekend. We also changed up our scheme a little bit. The tendencies were a little more obvious this week. We knew what was coming, when it was coming and how it was coming at us. We were very well prepared this week.”
On the speed and tempo of Oklahoma's offense... “It will definitely be a challenge. Our offense in the spring was just as fast as these guys will be Saturday. That was definitely a challenge for us to get the calls in and get adjusted really quickly. Hopefully we'll get a lot of opportunity to practice that this week and will be prepared for Saturday.”
On the team's mentality after two straight wins... “We were still very confident even after three straight losses. We knew how good of a team we were. We knew we could have easily been a one-loss team going into these last two games. I think obviously there's more momentum. I'd have to say the confidence is a little bit better, but we're a team that didn't lose any confidence. We just didn't in those last three losses. Wins definitely make Mondays more enjoyable. The biggest difference is being able to build off the wins instead of having such a negative feeling early in the week.”
JUNIOR LB Garrick Williams
On what needs to be done to stop Oklahoma... “Be mistake-free. We have to play all four quarters, every play. We have to play with fanatical effort, mental toughness and physicality.”
On the excitement of facing OU and their run game... “For me personally, I'm always looking for a challenge. I think this will be a good game for the defense to rise up. This could put the stamp on where we are. Personally, the team feels good, We're going to go out and practice hard all week. (Ryan) Tannehill played a great game. There's nothing like being able to get a turnover and the offense get points off it. Saturday is a game we're really looking forward to.”