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00:00 All right, good afternoon.
00:01 I am literally straight off the practice field today.
00:04 So we're on a slightly later schedule this week
00:09 just due to school not being in session.
00:11 So happy Thanksgiving to everybody
00:13 and a really good win for us on Saturday versus Cincinnati.
00:16 Finished up home slate five and one.
00:18 I thought we controlled the game on both lines of scrimmages.
00:21 I thought that's where we won it.
00:23 Really happy for all those guys that walked on Saturday,
00:26 played their final home game.
00:28 Glad they got to finish with a win.
00:30 I'll kind of recap the game.
00:32 Special teams, thought the positives were this.
00:35 We only punted one time, and I thought our coverage was good.
00:40 Our kickoff coverage has been much improved.
00:42 They tried to bring one out,
00:43 and I think we tackled it inside the 20
00:44 and got a block in the back penalty as well
00:47 because we did a really nice job with the technique that we coach,
00:51 and they had to start within the 10.
00:53 Our field goal protection was good.
00:54 Field goal block, we got a really good push.
00:56 I thought we should have blocked one.
00:59 Special teams-wise, you know,
01:00 Ollie's got to keep that punt out of the end zone.
01:02 You know, I think we had a chance to pin him inside the 10.
01:05 He kicked it in the end zone.
01:07 And then our punt return group's got to do a better job
01:10 of giving Preston some space.
01:11 You know, we did a much better job of that early in the year.
01:14 Not good enough on Saturday.
01:17 Defensively, I think the positives,
01:19 fast start, four punts to start the game.
01:24 And I thought we held -- I think they were fifth in the country
01:27 in rushing coming into the game.
01:28 We held them well below their average,
01:31 both rushing and total offense, well below their average.
01:34 And, you know, Kiner, who I think is really good running back,
01:37 we held him to under 60 yards.
01:39 And so I thought our run fits were really good.
01:41 I thought we got a bunch of hats to the ball.
01:43 We still missed some tackles,
01:45 but we had guys there to cover it up.
01:47 And we got improved.
01:48 We didn't finish very well in the fourth quarter,
01:50 and so we had some different guys out there,
01:52 but we still got to play the way you're supposed to play.
01:55 And then we got to get some takeaways.
01:56 You know, they did not turn the ball over.
01:59 And we had our hands on two,
02:01 really two big missed opportunities on interceptions
02:03 that both of those may have resulted in points.
02:06 So offensively, positives, we ran the ball for 424 yards
02:11 and averaged 9.8 yards per play.
02:13 And so held the ball for 35 minutes,
02:17 eight of 11 on end of possession downs.
02:19 And so a lot of explosive plays.
02:23 You know, the things that weren't good enough,
02:25 we had two penalties that killed drives.
02:27 The first drive of the game, we're driving,
02:29 we get a holding penalty, and then we miss a field goal.
02:31 Second one, we get a tripping call,
02:33 which was the right call on Jaheim.
02:35 And then we throw an interception
02:37 that the ball should have never been thrown.
02:39 And so we got to clean up those things.
02:42 But finishing up Cincinnati, Players of the Week,
02:47 Offensive Lineman of the Week,
02:49 is a guy that was really challenged all week.
02:51 Probably had the toughest matchup on the entire field
02:53 against their best player.
02:55 And he graded out 95%, had 43 production points,
02:58 10 great blocks, two knockdowns.
03:00 And Zach Frazier, he played really, really well.
03:04 And that'll be a game that'll help him
03:06 as he gets into senior poll and all the draft stuff.
03:10 So Special Teams Player of the Week, we did co.
03:14 Special teams this week, we really didn't do anything
03:17 that would necessarily change the game,
03:19 but we didn't do anything to hurt us.
03:20 But two guys that over the course of the last few weeks
03:23 have done a nice job.
03:25 First one is Day Day Hawkins.
03:27 He's really disruptive on our punt block team in the middle.
03:30 And then he's on our kickoff team.
03:32 You know, he's 270-something pounds
03:34 running down on kickoff and does a nice job there.
03:37 And then EJ Horton, who's been a gunner on our punt team
03:41 and running down on kickoff.
03:43 He's first one down on kickoff, first one down on punt,
03:45 doing a really nice job in those coverage areas.
03:48 Our Defensive Player of the Week,
03:51 playing his last home game,
03:52 Lee Koba had 10 tackles, a sack, a quarterback hurry,
03:55 and really played a great fundamental game,
03:57 his best fundamental game that he's had.
03:59 Offense Player of the Week, two obvious choices,
04:03 didn't want to choose between, but Jaheim.
04:06 Had 21 rushes, 210 yards, a touchdown,
04:09 a reception for a touchdown of 75 yards.
04:11 Just kind of a huge game for him.
04:15 And that's been coming, you know,
04:16 he's been really productive here
04:17 in the last month of the season,
04:18 month and a half, I should say.
04:21 Then Garrett with a bounce back, 11 rushes, 154 yards,
04:24 three touchdowns, 12 and 19 passing for 210 and a touchdown.
04:27 So, big, really big bounce back game for him.
04:30 I was happy for him.
04:32 The Blue Collar Award that we give on offense,
04:35 Traylon Davis and Jaquay Hubbard.
04:37 Jaquay played his best game of the year,
04:39 played a lot of football here.
04:40 He's really physical in the game.
04:42 And then Traylon was really key.
04:44 We ran a lot of counter where he was the second puller.
04:47 And I thought he was, I thought he played his best game.
04:50 And defensively, Jared Bartlett played his best game.
04:53 May not show up in the stat,
04:54 but really big reason why we fit the run game so well
04:57 was how he played to the boundary.
04:59 And we cleaned up some stakes that he made.
05:01 And he ran out and played really good fundamental
05:03 and did his job within the defense.
05:05 And then Ben Cutter, Ben Cutter played well.
05:08 Only had four tackles on the day,
05:09 but did a nice job spilling the football,
05:12 getting it back to other people.
05:13 And so our scout team players, CJ Cole on offense,
05:17 who starts on two special teams for us,
05:21 turned into a really good special teams player.
05:23 On scout defense player, Corey McIntyre,
05:26 who played in the game, really should have had a sack.
05:30 But he's coming along.
05:31 He's going to be a really good player here.
05:32 I'm glad we get to red shirt him,
05:34 but he's going to be a really good player.
05:36 And then our scout special teams player
05:38 is Terran Fitzpatrick,
05:40 who's from George Washington down in Charleston.
05:43 And so he did a nice job.
05:44 And then our juice award, our energy award,
05:48 Grayson Malasiewicz,
05:49 who's a battle back from a couple injuries
05:52 and back on our punt return team starting,
05:56 but he had great energy in the game.
05:57 So that's kind of a wrap up on Cincinnati.
06:00 Moving on to Baylor.
06:01 This is, I tell our guys, if you want to be a pro,
06:05 this is the week where you're kind of in training.
06:07 There's no class in session.
06:09 It's just kind of football.
06:10 And I guess the secondary piece would be food,
06:12 but it's all football.
06:14 And so we're going to go to Baylor.
06:17 It's a tough place to play.
06:18 We haven't had a lot of success there as a program
06:22 and a lot of respect for Dave Aranda.
06:25 I think as a person, as a head coach,
06:27 and as a defensive mind, a lot of respect for him.
06:30 If you look at him from a special team standpoint,
06:33 first thing is their special teams analyst
06:35 was here with us for two years, Tyler Hancock.
06:39 And they're really good on punt.
06:43 They've done a nice job of covering.
06:46 Their kickoff returns have had several explosives.
06:48 You know, they mix up the returners.
06:51 And then their punt return's been the real bright spot
06:54 for them.
06:55 And they've got one of the receivers,
06:57 number 34, Josh Cameron, and he's a big kid, man.
07:00 He's 6'1", 215, 220 pounds.
07:03 So bigger than your normal punt returner,
07:05 but he's doing a really nice job, you know.
07:07 And he's had multiple explosive returns.
07:09 And then they've been, they've ran a lot of fakes.
07:13 Field goal fake, punt fake.
07:15 They've tried an onside kick.
07:17 I mean, they've done a bunch of different things here
07:18 in the last few weeks.
07:19 We've got to be aware.
07:21 Offensively, Coach Grimes does a really good job.
07:24 You know, they're unique in our league.
07:27 Probably them and Iowa State are the most similar,
07:29 but a lot of 12 personnel.
07:31 They even get into some 13 personnel with three tight ends.
07:35 Their tight ends have a multitude of skills.
07:37 They do a lot of shifts and motions.
07:39 And so I think alignment will be the key,
07:41 the real critical point for us.
07:44 And they've got a good wide receiver crew.
07:45 You know, talking about the Cameron kid, number 34,
07:49 Monterey Baldwin can really run.
07:50 He had a big game against us last year as a true freshman.
07:53 I mean, he's fast, fast.
07:55 And then the guys really came on is Jackson, number 11,
07:59 and probably been their most consistent.
08:01 And he can run, downfield threat.
08:04 They've done a really nice job of passing the ball
08:08 up toward the top of every passing stat in our league.
08:11 And then they've got two good running backs.
08:12 You know, the Reese is really fast.
08:14 He hurt us last year.
08:16 And then they got the Dominic Richardson
08:19 that transferred from Oklahoma State.
08:20 And he's a really tough, hard, physical runner.
08:23 Defensively, like I said, a lot of respect for Dave.
08:26 He's done it for a long time.
08:27 We've played at multiple places.
08:29 Their DC and I work together at Kentucky.
08:32 Matt Pallage, he's a really good football mind.
08:34 For me, it starts with their D-line.
08:37 They're extremely well-coached.
08:39 They got great size and length.
08:41 They rotate a bunch of guys in there.
08:43 They can rush the passer.
08:44 You know, they're gonna play in a lot of different fronts.
08:48 A lot of simulated pressures,
08:50 five, four, five-man pressures.
08:53 Mix up their coverage looks.
08:54 And it'll be a challenge.
08:57 They're gonna definitely try to confuse Garrett.
08:58 Always have a really good third down package.
09:00 And so the key for us is we've gotta have a good week.
09:04 And then we gotta handle the travel
09:06 and handle playing at night
09:07 down in a venue that we struggled at.
09:09 So we gotta be able to answer that.
09:11 And we're playing, other than Oklahoma game,
09:13 we've played our best football
09:14 down in the last part of the season.
09:17 We gotta continue that and get better
09:19 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
09:20 And go try to get our sixth conference win
09:23 or eighth win of the season.
09:24 So with that, questions.
09:26 John, you start us off there, bud.
09:28 - I'm starting you off.
09:29 - Yep, Greg's down, Kevin's down.
09:32 Bob skipped on Saturday, so you're up.
09:34 - Yeah, well, let me think of one.
09:35 No, just overall, are you happy
09:39 with where your offense is progressing
09:41 with Garrett and the way you're been able
09:43 to play off of different things
09:45 with his running game and so forth?
09:47 - So if that Oklahoma game wasn't still stuck in my mind,
09:51 the answer would be yes.
09:52 But that was a setback for sure.
09:57 But we're becoming who I thought we would be
10:02 when we made this shift,
10:04 three or so games left in the year last year.
10:07 We're making it difficult to defend the entire field.
10:12 From a run game perspective, from sideline to sideline,
10:17 we're splitting the defense,
10:18 doing a bunch of different things,
10:21 off some base run plays,
10:22 and then vertically getting the ball downfield.
10:25 And it's all dependent on how our quarterback plays.
10:30 And he's played, other than Oklahoma game,
10:33 I think his level of play
10:34 has continued to get better and better.
10:36 And other than one real boneheaded throw the other day,
10:39 he's taking care of the football.
10:41 And so, yeah, I think there's things
10:44 we can continue to get better at,
10:46 but I like kind of where we're heading offensively.
10:48 - Real quick here, is it nice to be able to have explosives?
10:52 You think of the baseball analogy,
10:55 it takes three hits to get a run,
10:56 instead of a three run homer,
10:58 you're starting to get those three run homers.
11:00 - Yeah, well, we have.
11:01 And early in the year we were having these drives,
11:05 it just took forever.
11:06 Well, it's good for time of possession.
11:07 Our defense ain't playing a whole lot,
11:09 but it's hard because one negative play knocks you out.
11:14 And so we feel like we've got some guys
11:19 that can make explosive plays.
11:20 Garrett has got by far the most,
11:23 but Jaheim, CJ, and then Devin has shown the ability,
11:28 Cole's shown the ability, but our young wideouts,
11:31 those are the guys that I'm kind of excited about here
11:33 as we finish up season, heading into bowl prep.
11:35 Trae and Ray, Hudson, Rodney,
11:37 Preston's been really consistent,
11:40 but I'm excited to see those young guys
11:42 and how they finish up the next two games.
11:45 - 10 years ago, when you were a foot,
11:48 you were the coach of the team that rushed to 420 yards.
11:51 And have you changed, or has football changed,
11:55 or what's changed?
11:57 - Yeah, I laugh because a guy that coached me
12:02 sent me a text the other day and said,
12:07 he was just laughing, because early on,
12:12 when I started doing this back,
12:15 calling plays back in '08,
12:17 we had a really good run there.
12:19 We were top five in passing for several years,
12:21 and now, to kind of flip it,
12:23 we had a really good rushing year at Troy,
12:25 my last year there, too.
12:27 Our starting quarterback got hurt,
12:30 and we were a predominant run team.
12:31 But yeah, it is, it's been kind of a 180.
12:35 I think this is what is best for this team.
12:41 I think that, and history's proven this, too,
12:46 here is the most effective way to win
12:49 is with a dual threat quarterback.
12:51 And so, I think that, and the game's changed, too.
12:56 I think there's some changes in the game
12:57 that have pushed us to this point, too.
13:02 But yeah, if you asked me 10 years ago
13:05 if we were gonna be fourth in the country in rushing,
13:08 I wouldn't have probably thought,
13:10 didn't have the vision for that.
13:11 But we've recruited well on the offensive line.
13:15 Our quarterback is a game changer.
13:18 We've got multiple running backs that can play,
13:21 and our tight ends have done a nice job.
13:22 So, yeah, I think the pieces we have in place right now
13:26 is we're utilizing them in the best way.
13:29 To Bob's point, though, it matches the climate
13:30 that you could encounter here, too, right?
13:33 Yeah, you know, it's, you know,
13:35 I think the climate is a factor.
13:37 You know, I think that, you know,
13:41 taking advantage of the people that are drivable
13:45 from a recruiting standpoint, too,
13:47 I think that's a factor, as well.
13:50 Yeah, you mentioned it.
13:51 Is it just coincidence that the really good
13:54 West Virginia quarterbacks, you know, Major, Pat,
13:57 are guilt-fed?
13:58 I mean, Skyler Howard, even.
14:00 Is it just coincidence?
14:01 Yeah, I don't know.
14:02 I mean, there's been some good passers, too,
14:03 some, you know, whether Geno or Bolger or Hostetler.
14:07 I mean, there's been a little bit of both.
14:10 But I think that, you know, I think the dual threat,
14:15 this is, to me, kind of where I landed on this,
14:19 you know, last December, is really kind of,
14:23 if you go back and you look, it just,
14:26 it gives you a chance.
14:28 Like, you don't have to be perfect.
14:30 You know, sometimes, if you have a passing quarterback
14:33 and you're playing people,
14:33 somebody that's more talented than you,
14:35 you got to be really perfect,
14:37 or you got to do some things that are non-traditional
14:41 as far as rub routes, you know,
14:45 different ways to protect the passer,
14:47 you know, things like that,
14:49 where if you have a dual threat,
14:51 you don't have to be as perfect.
14:53 And so that's kind of where we ended on it.
14:56 You know, so CJ, we took him out early in the third.
15:02 He will not practice today.
15:05 He didn't practice today.
15:06 He won't practice tomorrow.
15:07 We'll get him going Wednesday.
15:09 Use Doug in the same, you know,
15:11 give them a little bit more time to come back.
15:14 I think both will end up being ready to go.
15:18 I'll know more after Wednesday's practice,
15:21 but I feel like both will probably be ready.
15:24 We won't play either unless they,
15:26 they can be close to 100.
15:28 You know, CJ warmed up well,
15:29 so we gave him a few carries,
15:30 but as it cooled off, he kind of got stiff,
15:34 so we took him out.
15:36 And then defensively, just trying to think,
15:40 anybody in particular?
15:41 Those are kind of the two.
15:43 So Yates came out early in the game.
15:45 He's going through a protocol.
15:49 I think, you know, hopefully he'll be back.
15:52 We'll see how the next two days go.
15:54 You know, you talked a couple weeks ago
15:56 about the ball hawk rate stat and the aggressiveness
15:59 and actually leading the country in that,
16:01 but that it also shows you're missing turnovers.
16:04 And then that was something you brought up
16:05 as an issue in this past game, despite the win.
16:07 How would you evaluate that
16:09 since that stat was put out there?
16:11 - Yeah.
16:12 - And then are you,
16:13 is there something you can do to try to change that?
16:16 - Well, I think it just goes back to,
16:17 you got to catch the ball, you know,
16:19 and this is going to be overly simplistic,
16:21 but two things in why we're dropping interceptions.
16:25 We're leaving our feet,
16:27 which means we're jumping on balls
16:29 that you don't need to jump for.
16:31 And when you do that, anytime you leave your feet,
16:33 your level of vision changes.
16:36 And so if you're not a natural ball catcher,
16:38 it makes it even more difficult.
16:40 And so the other thing is where our hands are apart,
16:43 which is very elementary,
16:46 but if your hands are apart, you got less chance.
16:49 And so you got to get, if it's above your waist,
16:51 got your pointy fingers together.
16:52 If it's below your waist, you put your pinkies together.
16:55 And Dax and I work on it pretty standard.
16:58 And those are really the reasons
17:00 why we're missing those opportunities.
17:03 And so has changed? Probably not.
17:06 You know, we dropped two.
17:07 You know, we continue to work ball drills
17:08 every single day in the secondary,
17:10 but you got to be able to execute those fundamentals
17:12 in a game situation.
17:13 What have you seen out of Shapen?
17:18 Yeah, you know, I think the kid's really tough.
17:21 He's got hit quite a bit this year,
17:24 and he steps up in the pocket.
17:26 I thought they dropped some passes
17:28 in the first half versus TCU,
17:31 but I thought he was really on.
17:32 You know, he had a couple balls on post balls
17:36 that he hit guys in stride.
17:40 He gets the ball out fast.
17:41 You can tell he has really good control of what they do.
17:44 I like his skill set. I really do.
17:45 He's a good athlete. He can run.
17:48 You know, he probably hasn't gotten --
17:51 because what their record is,
17:53 he probably hasn't gotten talked about as much,
17:55 but the kid can play. He can spin the ball.
17:58 You had those three first plays all go to the true freshmen,
18:02 and it seems like that was by design.
18:04 What about those three guys?
18:05 Just add something else to this offense,
18:07 especially as they continue to develop into November.
18:09 Yeah, so I think they're guys that came in --
18:13 Jaheim got here early,
18:15 and so he was a little further ahead.
18:18 They're all three really good friends,
18:19 which is coincidental, but they're all good friends.
18:22 I think they all got high talent,
18:25 and they've worked and balled in.
18:27 You know, it's --
18:28 And so Rodney is a guy that -- multiple sport athlete.
18:33 You know, he's got to continue to get stronger.
18:35 This offseason is going to be big for him.
18:36 He knows that and really continue to work
18:39 on his craft running routes.
18:41 He hasn't had to do it a whole lot,
18:43 but he's shown the ability that he can make plays
18:45 with the ball in his hands. He can break tackles.
18:47 He's really elusive.
18:49 And when he learns and understands route running
18:52 and he gets stronger, I think he's got a chance to be special.
18:55 Trae and Ray's really come on.
18:56 I say this every time we talk about him.
18:58 He didn't get here until July -- end of June, right?
19:00 So he hasn't been in college very long.
19:02 And so he's going to get -- I think this offseason,
19:05 like, when we get into spring ball,
19:06 he's going to be a really different guy
19:08 as far as how he can --
19:09 probably put on 10 pounds, and he's going to get faster.
19:12 And I think he's got a chance
19:13 of being an elite outside receiver.
19:15 And then Jaheim, it's starting to come together for him.
19:19 And, you know, he's not real tall, but he's strong.
19:24 And he's compact, and he breaks tackles.
19:27 And he's really shifty.
19:29 And I think the offseason, what it's going to do for him
19:31 is going to give him straight line speed.
19:33 He's not slow right now,
19:34 but I think he's even going to get faster.
19:36 One more about the dual-threat quarterback.
19:37 Is that going to change your philosophy,
19:39 or have you thought about that,
19:40 about how you're going to recruit kids in the future
19:43 to fit what you're doing right now?
19:45 Yeah, it has.
19:46 If you look at who we have committed,
19:49 you know, both of those guys are dual-threat guys.
19:52 And we're going to continue to stay with that.
19:56 The improvements in season on offense,
19:58 some of it's getting your quarterback LB,
20:00 being able to practice and all that.
20:01 But you say you're doing your stuff better.
20:04 Are you doing just better stuff?
20:05 It just seems like you have more bells and whistles,
20:08 like noticeable plays that seem to work.
20:10 So, what really --
20:12 And I think -- And you may have asked this a couple weeks ago.
20:16 But early in the season, once Gary got hurt,
20:18 we had to be really careful,
20:19 because it wasn't Neco's lack of ability
20:23 to do what we're doing.
20:24 He's more than capable.
20:25 But we had to be really careful with running him,
20:27 because we didn't have anybody with any experience behind him.
20:31 And so, we had to go in kind of
20:34 and be a lot more conservative than we really wanted to,
20:38 even in the run game, as far as not doing a bunch of the run --
20:41 the read stuff and things like that
20:43 that could potentially put him at risk.
20:46 And then, I think, as we've kind of moved
20:49 through the season, is, you know,
20:52 our comfortability with what Garrett can and can't do,
20:56 and understanding of what he sees in the run game.
21:00 And also, I think that our running backs
21:02 have made significant improvement.
21:05 And you can look at yards per carry
21:08 for each of the guys that's playing.
21:11 I don't think our blocking's necessarily changed.
21:13 I feel like we've blocked at a high level all year.
21:16 Our tight end play's probably been better
21:17 right at the point of contact.
21:20 But we've blocked really well all year.
21:21 What we're doing a better job of at running back
21:24 is our paths to get to the line of scrimmage are better.
21:30 We're doing a better job setting up our blocks,
21:32 and then we're breaking tackles.
21:34 And so, I think those are probably the two areas.
21:36 At quarterback, just understanding
21:38 kind of what he does best,
21:41 and then making sure we have two healthy ones.
21:43 And then our running backs, just improving their play.
21:45 And then, from a game plan perspective,
21:49 we are doing a little bit more.
21:51 Again, I think that goes back to Garrett growing
21:54 and us having a lot more confidence in him.
21:57 Phil, just a few minutes.
21:58 You had a lot of talk about just putting a lot
22:00 on his shoulders.
22:01 When do you feel comfortable doing that?
22:03 Is it after a period of time?
22:04 Do you see things consistently?
22:06 It just seems like a lot to say about someone.
22:09 Yeah, so, really, we started back in the spring.
22:12 And he's kind of a trial and error guy.
22:17 You know, like, he's going to, "Yes, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir."
22:19 And then, you know, he says that, and I'm like,
22:22 "We'll see if he really gets that or not."
22:23 You know, like, and so you trial and error
22:27 a little bit in spring, and then you do the same thing
22:29 kind of in your OTAs in the summer,
22:30 and then in fall camp.
22:33 And kind of cautious in the Penn State game
22:37 because I wanted to make sure that he had a level of success
22:41 because, you know, in that environment versus that defense
22:44 in the first game of the season,
22:47 could have done some real harm, you know,
22:48 could have set him back confident level.
22:50 And then we were getting ready to kind of break wide open
22:53 and kind of do what we've been doing against Pitt
22:55 when he got hurt.
22:57 And I thought, you know, he had kind of, like,
22:59 he had the Penn State game, had confidence coming out there.
23:01 He practiced really well for two weeks.
23:02 He threw those deep balls really well versus Duquesne,
23:05 you know, after the lightning break.
23:08 And so his confidence was really coming along,
23:09 and we were getting -- and then the injury hit.
23:12 And so -- and then after TCU, once I felt like,
23:17 okay, he's healthy, he can run, that's kind of when we were,
23:21 like, okay, hey, we're going to go, you know,
23:23 we're going to win games because of him.
23:27 Yes, I was kind of just going to clarify
23:29 that his health and ability almost in --
23:33 not to say the early season was in any way
23:34 treated like an NFL preseason,
23:36 but he needed games under his belt
23:39 to kind of get that progression.
23:41 That was what allowed you to be
23:42 even more aggressive as a play caller?
23:44 Well, no, I think, like, we were --
23:46 we wanted to make sure that he had a really good understanding
23:49 of what we were trying to do.
23:51 You know, I think that we were careful in the Penn State game
23:55 because, you know, that could have been
23:57 a real detrimental game to his confidence level
23:59 because how good they were in that environment.
24:02 But he played well.
24:03 He missed a couple throws, but he played well.
24:05 And then he hit those, you know,
24:06 three for a bunch of yards versus Duquesne.
24:09 And then after the injury, so, you know,
24:14 going back to that TCU week,
24:16 he didn't practice all week until Thursday.
24:18 And so he goes out and plays
24:21 and played pretty well for not practicing.
24:23 And I think for him, he was like,
24:25 okay, I'm back, my ankle's fine, and I can do this.
24:31 And he made some wild runs and a couple wild throws.
24:35 If you remember that touchdown run he had versus TCU
24:37 where he just pulled down and scrambled,
24:39 you know, that was by far like four --
24:41 like, almost like -- almost a full four miles per hour faster
24:45 than he'd ran in, like, two, two and a half weeks.
24:47 And so that was a wild run.
24:49 And if you remember, we had a two-minute drill
24:52 right before the half.
24:54 And it was one of those deals we had, like, 30 seconds to go,
24:58 and we could have just taken a knee.
25:00 And I was like -- and I told the guys on the headset,
25:02 I was like, listen, we're going to --
25:04 we're going to go try to score here.
25:06 Let's see what he's got.
25:07 And he threw a BB on a dig and set up a field goal.
25:12 He had two bang -- he had a scramble,
25:14 and then he threw that dig and set up a field goal that we made,
25:18 but then it was taken away because Malone jumped off sides.
25:22 But really, from that point forward, I was like,
25:25 okay, all right, he's ready.
25:26 Let's go do this.
25:29 Real quick, Penn State game,
25:30 you went inside and turned the noise up.
25:33 Do you go inside and turn the heat up this week?
25:35 Yeah, I haven't looked at the weather yet, John.
25:38 It's probably going to be warmer there than it is here.
25:41 But, you know --
25:43 Yeah, it's -- we practice inside today
25:46 just because we're trying to keep them,
25:48 you know, minimal running.
25:49 It's easier to kind of manage workloads inside.
25:52 But if it's going to be warm there, we've done that before.
25:55 You know, we did that when we went out to Arizona
25:57 for the bowl game, and we'll do that.
26:01 This is more an NFL thing,
26:03 but is this like a track game scenario for you guys?
26:06 You know, the team with a bad record,
26:08 and you don't want to overlook them at the end of the year.
26:10 Yeah, I'm not sure we need to be overlooking anybody.
26:13 You know, I think, to me, it's just about finishing.
26:16 You know, this is -- got a singular focus this week
26:18 on the game.
26:20 There's not any school stuff to worry about.
26:22 And they really dominated us down there.
26:25 You know, not just --
26:27 I think one and four is a program down there.
26:29 And we went down there in rules last year
26:32 and had a chance to beat them.
26:33 And they beat us right at the end of the game.
26:35 And they had a really good team.
26:36 And then they smoked us down there in 21.
26:39 And so, you know, we understand it's a tough place to play.
26:44 You know, you got to stay about an hour away.
26:46 And so there's some things that we got to handle
26:48 from a travel standpoint that are a little unique.
26:52 But for me, it's just, for us,
26:54 we got to continue to play well, you know.
26:56 And that's what kind of is -- that Oklahoma game is in my crawl.
27:00 Not that we lost, but we just didn't play very well.
27:03 And so, for me, it's about playing good football.
27:05 And that's really what the push is this week,
27:07 to go play good football.
27:09 You know, this team is driven by either inexperienced
27:12 or younger players, even though you do have some veterans.
27:15 Do you have to have any conversation about,
27:16 like, a lot of bowl projections are out there,
27:18 certainly that you clinched being in something
27:20 and kind of put that away?
27:22 So, yeah, so what we talk about is really, you know,
27:26 there's a season for everything, right?
27:28 There's a season when people are going to worry about NIO,
27:33 and there's a season where they're going to worry
27:34 about transferring, and there's a season
27:35 where they're going to worry about bowl.
27:37 Well, we're in the season of we have one game a week,
27:39 we're in the regular season,
27:41 and we have to have a singular focus on this week
27:43 and simply playing our best.
27:45 And, you know, we didn't handle our last road trip very well,
27:49 and so that's kind of an extra incentive there.
27:52 But that's all we're talking.
27:53 We're not getting very carried away with it.
27:56 Mike, you had a question.
27:57 You only had 12 guys walk.
27:58 I know that's not, like, a complete list,
28:00 but that's a small number, I think.
28:01 And then do you -- I know you said that you weren't sure,
28:03 but, like, Zach's one that you know.
28:04 Are there any of those that are, like,
28:06 you're sure about that they're gone, or is it that wide open?
28:08 No, I think that -- well, a lot of those guys
28:10 are expired eligibility that walked.
28:13 And here's how I handle this,
28:15 and this is probably over-simplistic,
28:17 but this is in a team meeting, I say,
28:21 "If you want -- whoever's going to walk for senior day,
28:24 you'll stay so I can talk to them and see who's going to walk."
28:27 And then that's how we take who's going to walk.
28:30 You know, it's not --
28:32 and, you know, a few years ago, I kind of made a big deal
28:36 where -- and you learn.
28:38 You make mistakes, and you learn.
28:39 I kind of made a big deal about who was going to walk
28:42 and who wasn't, and that was going to mean
28:44 if you were coming back or not.
28:46 And so I don't think that's the best way to handle it.
28:49 I made a mistake then, so now I just kind of will handle
28:52 all those decisions after the regular season
28:55 as far as, you know, who's coming back,
28:57 who wants to use the extra year.
28:59 But those are the guys that wanted to walk.
29:01 You know, like Doug Nestor walked last year.
29:03 You know, he came back.
29:05 You know, we had other people that -- Dante did it twice.
29:08 You know, I call them senior day veterans.
29:11 But they -- so just because somebody walked
29:15 doesn't mean they're not coming back,
29:18 but it just means that, you know,
29:19 I think that they're kind of thinking through
29:21 what their future's going to be.
29:22 I know this goes against the whole
29:23 singular focus piece here,
29:25 but when it comes to the transfer portal,
29:27 what positions are you guys going to be focusing on?
29:29 Ask me next week.
29:31 Ask me next week.
29:33 That's what -- here's what you got to remember.
29:35 Like, as a coach, I got to be singular focus, too.
29:38 So I've got people that work on those things,
29:41 and we'll deal with that probably as soon as I get
29:44 on the plane to come back from Waco.
29:46 So I won't dodge that question.
29:49 I won't dodge that next week, but this week I will.
29:52 All right, y'all have a good Thanksgiving.