If I throw to a guy and he gets 5 yards, how is that different than if I hand to a guy and he gets 5? Balance is if you get contributions out of all...

I guess it certainly helps. But like I said, I think us and Alabama both are better than some of the teams ahead of us.

I don’t see a lot of weaknesses in the Alabama defense. They run just a basic good, old-fashioned defense, which they execute it real well. I think the strength of that team is the fact...

[Not that everything new is anything new.] Everybody’s all surprised every time this stuff happens, … It surprises me that everybody gets surprised, because it happens every year.

I don’t know a great deal about it, but if you cut off everybody who’s had a misdemeanor, we’d be short of players. For any team, that would be difficult.

Anybody that has film on us has a good idea,

There was Lance Funderburk, … He’s got big hands like Lance. He does have these mitts. The Hodges have big hands and feet.

It will be different having a chance to work with somebody that long. But I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t had a quarterback yet who didn’t leave school wishing they could spend another year...

Sometimes I think I curse some of those guys. It will be the guy that adjusts the quickest.

I thought on both sides of the ball we were sloppy to start this game. My guess would be we were trying to make too much happen on any given play, rather than try to...

It used to be our non-conference schedule was the opposite of everybody else’s in the Big 12. We used to play bowl teams, … We just decided to try out what the other guys were...

You guys are all on my side then.

They’re a good team and they created a lot of our problems. I thought we missed some opportunities where we could have played a little sharper earlier in the game, especially the first half.

I’m not sure that the first drive of the second half isn’t the most significant drive in the game in a lot of cases. That was a drive that where, if you dominate that drive,...

They both surprised me. And I think a lot of it had to do with how relentless they were as far as watching film. You’d wander through the building late at night, and they’d be...

They dominated field position, put us in the position where we had to move the ball a long ways in order to score. We successfully moved it part of the way. We didn’t move all...

Tim Couch: He’s like Couch from the point that you see him watching film in there quite a bit,

I think everybody has idiosyncrasies, … You just do your deal and constantly figure out a way to do it better.

The backup offense I thought was poor. The backup defense I thought was good for a period of time.

We felt he was as good or better than all those people. Some of it had to do with the fact that they threw the ball a lot, some of it had to do with...

I don’t care about the negative attention, … I did feel that some of our players played like the media view of how we’re supposed to play when you’re ahead. I don’t happen to subscribe...

We’re two evenly matched teams offensively and defensively, so special teams can kind of be that X factor. If we can make a big play, get a turnover or keep the field position in our...

They wanted to win the game more than we did.

It’s not just a bowl that your players have heard about for a long, long time, but their parents and their grandparents have. There isn’t anyplace in America that’s insulated from the Cotton Bowl and...

We have the ability to attack the whole field, to distribute to all of our skill players, … What we do, and everybody rolls their eyes when I say this, has a lot in common...

The fact that Alabama played real well on defense…I don’t think that takes away from either side. I think both teams are good teams.

It’s not guys not working hard.

He really does have good pocket presence. It’s not just quick feet or how fast the guy is. It’s sort of instinctual.

We are a better focused team than we were last year.

I think this is the best recruiting class that we have had since I’ve been here.

On that play, we had a return on, … I thought (Douglas) did a tremendous job.

The biggest thing I can say is I felt like from start to finish we played hard as a team.

They run it all the time, and we throw it a lot, but in my mind that’s sort of where the differences end. It’s about distribution of the ball. They make sure everybody touches the...

Their speed impacted our margin of error. Everything coming faster, their ability to react, even when we got them in a bind they were able to react quickly.

And that’s about what instant replay does.

I’ve heard people squawking about it, … But I have virtually no concern how long games are. If they were an hour longer, that would suit me just fine.

I enjoy coming back to these breakfasts every year, … They help you focus on community and things you might not always focus on.

The score affects the clock and it affects the plays you select, but it should not affect how hard you try. We had some cases where it did, and we’ll be addressing that Sunday.

The allegation is that the linemen, their helmets don’t break the belts of the center. I’ll have to look at the film and see if that’s the case.

We had a balance emphasis from last year’s class. It caused us to look at more defensive players than offensive players. I think this is the best recruiting class that we’ve had since I’ve been...

You can just tell they’ve played a lot of football and have a lot of confidence.

They hit harder than we did. They ran faster than we did. They wanted to win the game more than we did.

Some of the most interesting things about him are his ability to handle a staff and a team. He had a great presence and a John Wayne-type of quality. There is a lot to be...

They challenged us. They said, ‘Here, try to run past us, try to run inside us.’ And they were better at preventing that than we were throwing and catching it.

I think that was significant. They dominated that drive and got the upper hand.

I’ve heard people squawking about that. I have virtually no concern with how long games are. If they were to make them an hour longer, that would suit me just fine.

We’re still battling to play smart,

Each year is a new year. And in the course of winning some games, we exorcise some demons, especially for some fans, that would be great.

The speed impacted our margin of error.

It has to be the right kind of kid, somebody who has a level of reliability who could benefit from another semester of seasoning to get ready to play. It gives them a better chance...