Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma Post Game Quotes
Nov 06, 2010 | Football
Nov. 6, 2010
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TEXAS A&M QUOTES
SENIOR LB MICHAEL HODGES
On the fans chanting Wrecking Crew at the end of the game... "It gave me chills. It's an indescribable feeling to hear the fans screaming that for us. That's a goal of ours (regaining the Wrecking Crew) and we took a big step towards that today."
On his fourth-quarter touchdown catch... "It was a typical spacing play actually. We ran it earlier in the ball game. The safety was really coming down the route and I told (QB Ryan) Tannehill that the safety was really biting. We both were on the same page and we came back to it a second time and it popped wide open. Tannehill made a great throw and he got great protection. It really worked out for us."
On the momentum swing after OU's missed fake field goal attempt... "We had trouble in that third quarter executing. We knew at halftime that going into the second half it was a 0-0 ball game and that OU would be hungry. We had to come out and execute. The defense really helped us out tonight. We made plays in the fourth quarter. That fake field goal caught us off guard, but gave us momentum. We carried that into the fourth quarter."
On the feeling on the sideline when the defense was making goal-line stands... "It was a great feeling. They really came out and played their tails off. I give credit to all those guys out there, the defense especially around the goal line. They were hungry today. They were getting after it. They came off the sideline with energy and the offense took over that energy. It was a great night. The defense did a lot of great things tonight."
On the locker room pregame and postgame... "(Before the game) It was quiet. Everyone was so focused. I was so hungry. I looked in everyone's eyes and they had fight in their eyes. I knew we'd do well. After the game it was a great feeling, like we won the Super Bowl. We'll continue to work hard and hopefully play the same next week."
On Coryell Judie's kickoff return... "It was so exciting. He'd been doing a great job this week in practice. He'd been hitting it so hard I told Coach (Randy) Jordan I thought he'd take it to the house. That's probably one of the most exciting plays since I've been here."
On getting bowl eligible... "It's a great feeling for the team. We all needed that. But it's just one game and you have to continue to play hard."
On watching the defense's effort... "It was so great. I've always seen our defense so aggressive but this game they really stepped it up. When you play OU you have to bring your lunch pail, and they did every down."
HEAD COACH Mike Sherman
"I'm proud of the guys. I thought they prepared well this week. This was a big game for us and was the next step for us. It wasn't the final step, but the next step. We played real well. We responded in difficult situations. They played with the heart of an Aggie and I'm proud of them. Offensively we did some good things in the first quarter. We slowed down in the middle but picked it up in the end. We were finally able to get a rhythm going. Our field position was circumspect and we were backed up quite a bit at times. In the third quarter we couldn't get anything going. In the fourth quarter we responded well. Hats off to OU, they played a great game, but we had them here at home and we were able to pull it off."
On the team not panicking after OU's comeback... "They haven't panicked at all this year, even in games they lost. They kept the course. It was very similar to last week, where we possibly could go down 14-0, but they kept playing. They really believe in each other. They played hard. They never wavered. You'd look on the sidelines and you could see they never thought we wouldn't win the game."
On tonight's effort defensively... "There were a lot of guys out there laying it out there play after play after play. A lot of guys were cramping up. They had a great tempo, they ran over 100 plays and were coming at us pretty good with that tempo and running the football. That wears you down and we had to get some guys out of there and other guys in there. We had a bunch of guys contribute to this victory."
On what it was like to hear fans chanting "Wrecking Crew" at the end... "I've got to be honest with you, I didn't really hear it. I was spent at the end of game. I was just beside myself. It's been a long week of preparation. We worked the dog out of these kids this week to get them ready for this ballgame. I was just finally catching my breath there at the end. I thought that was neat though. We still have some ways to go to be equal to those guys (wrecking crew), but I think we're making the right steps."
On whether or not the wrecking crew is back... "You can't anoint yourself the Wrecking Crew. When people recognize it and they say it, and if we play hard the rest of the way maybe we'll hear that again. When the guys who built that Wrecking Crew and maintained that say that our guys are in the club, then they're in the club."
On how satisfying it was to knock off OU... "Very satisfying. But we have a lot of work to do this season. There's a lot of football to play. Baylor's really putting up big numbers. Nebraska got a big win at Iowa State today. Texas is Texas, that game is always meaningful to both teams and the alumni and fans. There's a lot of football to be played. There's not a lot of time to enjoy this, we've got to come in tomorrow and get ready for Baylor and move forward."
On Ryan Tannehill's effort... "I thought he responded well to adversity. He made throws I think he'll agree he shouldn't have made. He tried to force some he shouldn't, but that goes with lack of experience I think. He'll learn from this. He's a great student of the game. He was playing against a pretty dang good opponent as well. The windows weren't as big to throw through. I think he'll learn and grow from it."
On Cyrus Gray... "I don't have favorites on this team but if I did he'd be near the top of the list. He's just an unselfish player. He's an unselfish teammate. He'll do whatever you ask him to do. He's just a tremendous person as well as a player. It's nice to see him get his night. Tonight was his night offensively. He did some great things. He really came in to his own."
On his interception... "Coach gave a great call. I knew we were getting close to halftime and I had to step up and make a big play."
On his kickoff return... "We had good looks from the scout team at practice. They did their job. I saw the hole and I hit it."
On their effort and the fans chanting Wrecking Crew... "It's one step closer (to the Wrecking Crew). The more we do the more the fans will kind of appoint us the new Wrecking Crew. We're going to go out there and keep trying to make those big time goal line stands."
On the pressure created by OU's tempo... "It is a lot of pressure but at the same time we worked on it all week. We had two scout team offenses the whole time. We had a really good look from our scout team this week. Hats off to them, they did a great job. A lot of times they don't get the recognition they deserve. We were prepared for it. We had a few mishaps, and that will happen. We made mistakes but also made corrections. We came out with a really good win."
On how big a win this is... "It's a very big win for the program. Right now all I'm thinking is this win is for the seniors. They've had three hard years here and we've had some bad games against OU. Walking in there and seeing people like Von's (Miller) and Lucas' (Patterson) faces after the game, it's all worth it once you see their faces."
JUNIOR QB RYAN TANNEHILL
On the team fighting off OU's comeback... "It was just buckling down as a team. We knew it wouldn't be given to us. We knew we weren't playing well offensively and we had to move the ball to win. It came down to a bunch of guys who wanted to win. We'd been working on this since January and guys really dug down deep and played their hearts out."
On the touchdown pass to Ryan Swope... "He was actually on the back side. He's my fourth read on that play. I went through my reads pretty quickly and saw him flash open on the back side. He was able to improvise a bit and able to make something happen."
On Cyrus Gray... "He's huge for our program. He's a leader on this team. He brings his lunch pail every day. He gives you everything he has and is a great asset to this team."
On watching the defense's goal line stands... "The defense played great all night. I didn't play very well as the game went on and the defense really bailed me out. They played great all game and had huge stands on the goal line several times. A lot of those goal-line stands came out huge for us. They played with a lot of heart and determination. We had a mission that we would win this game and it really showed. The guys came together, played as a unit and made big stops."
On his feelings after the game... "It was a real emotional feeling to have Cyrus (Gray) right there with me and Tony (Jerod Eddie) and Garrick (Williams). I don't think the four of us have ever played in a game like that and had this outcome. The feeling overwhelmed me. This is what I came back for. It just feels great to beat a top-caliber team like that at home in front of all the Aggies. We've been making promises to the Aggie nation forever and it just feels good to hold up our end."
On fighting through cramps... "It was rough. I knew I had to be in there for my teammates. I knew that I just couldn't sit on the bench. I couldn't allow myself to go sit out like that. I tried to fight through it. Every time I had a cramp I had to go down and stretch it out and get back out there. I just wanted to keep playing and I knew my team needed me out there."
On whether the Wrecking Crew is back... "That's for you guys and all our Aggie brothers and sisters to decide. We go out there and try our best every day. That name is up to our fans. We try to take that mentality in to the way we practice and the way we think. But that's for everyone else to decide. We just want to go out and play and just win."
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Tim DeRuyter
On the goal-line stands... "I'm extremely proud. I couldn't be prouder of a group. These guys have been through a ton of adversity since they've been here, especially the seniors. They're guys that people have been saying things about for years, but they believed in themselves and what we do. For them to have the 12th Man backing them like they did was just something special to be a part of."
On how important the 12th Man was tonight... "It was huge. It was one of the differences in the ballgame. That up-tempo offense has got to be able to communicate at the line of scrimmage. They had a hard, hard time doing it and the fans obviously have to be thanked for doing that. When we made plays too I knew our crowd would get behind us and that inspires our kids to play that much harder."
On Von Miller... "He gives everything he can. He was cramping up at the end. He exerts so much energy that he can't go every single play. They had 104 snaps but he gave it his all when he was out there. He played like Von Miller can play tonight. He came off the edge with really phenomenal speed and put pressure on the tackles."
OKLAHOMA QUOTES
Head Coach Bob Stoops
"Congratulations to Coach Sherman's staff and Texas A&M. They played an excellent football game and did the things necessary to win. It was kind of the same recipe for us, where we had a chance to win when we crawled our way back. We started the game off in a horrible way. The ball bounced up and a safety right off the bat and they go down to score. So within three minutes we were down 9-0. I really felt good at half that it was only 12-0. We came out in the third quarter and played well. The story of the game is we clawed our way back and missed some opportunities on three different occasions down on the one yard line. I see it as very similar to the way we lost at Missouri. I'm proud of the way we fought back. We played hard, A&M just played better."
Freshman Wide Receiver Trey Franks
"I felt like we prepared well. Coming into A&M, it's a good place to play, it's pretty loud. We just couldn't connect on that one big play. I feel like we were still in it and could have come back. We just didn't finish it at the end."
Sophomore Quarterback Landry Jones
"A&M played a great game, they outplayed us tonight. They were doing a good job of covering our vertical routes. We had a go route early in the game that I missed. You can't do those things on the road and expect to win. They just stopped us on the goal line. We expect to score every time we get the ball. Once you get down there and they stuff you there's not much you can do about it. They made a great play. They played a lot more physical and had lower pads."
Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables
"I thought our guys played enough to give ourselves a chance. We were dominant, had complete and total control, in the third quarter. We gave up two long runs and a long pass when it counted the most. Different game, same story. At the end of the game it was a couple score game and we just didn't make them work for it. That's what was frustrating. Basic fundamental breakdowns gave them huge chunks of yards, field position, points and momentum when it counted the most."
