Postgame Quotes
September 13, 2008 | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Texas Tech Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Mike Leach
On the defense
"Defensively I couldn't be happier. We talked about seeing how good we can be and we are going to take some things from this game and learn and improve defensively. We're going to see where our efforts take us. I was proud of our kids out there. Daniel Charbonnet did some great things, he is a very versatile player. Darcel McBath looked really good. He just exploded downhill and made things happen. McKinner Dixon just went out there and really looked good today, and it has been a long time coming. There were times when he looked unstoppable and he needs to keep doing that. The defensive front set the tempo defensively."
On SMU
"They are a well coached team. June Jones is a great coach. I have stolen all kinds of things from him. He has one of the best demeanors of any coach in the business, he is really composed."
On if he thinks the team has improved
"There is no question about it. We have made a lot of progress as a team. We have got it narrowed down to two positions on offense. And our kicking game needs some help. We have got a whole bunch of other people stating to take shape. There is no time for relaxation"
On the fans
"Our fans were incredibly impressive. I don't know about the other conferences. I don't know if they go and play at places like Kyle field. Someone got upset at the PA system which wasn't as loud as I would have liked. But our fans stepped up and made some noise; I could even hear some of them out in the parking lot."
On special teams
"Special teams, we need to get better on field goal and points after. We let them out on kickoff coverage. We did some good things on that. We were explosive on special teams, but I would like to see them more consistent."
Defensive Coordinator Ruffin McNeil
On his overall impressions of the game
"I am happy with the win, our kids played well and hard. We knew they could move the ball and throw the ball. I am proud of us responding to their offense. Coach Jones is a great football coach and he is going to have a good time at SMU. I am proud that our guys contributed and stepped up."
On Bo Levi Mitchell being a young quarterback
"I didn't worry about that. I just try to defend what he is doing. He is going to be a great player."
On McKinner Dixon
"He is a great, great rusher and football player. He kept fighting through it"
On the team's improvement
"I think it's a work in progress. We have higher expectations in the locker room then everyone else does. We want to improve each week and daily as a group and individuals. We took a little more of a step to where we can be, but were not even close to where we expect to be."
Running back Baron Batch
On playing again this season
"God is good, he is. You know, it's great to get out there and get tired in a game and know how it feels like to almost cramp up. I had a blast; it was a lot of fun."
On improving
"I feel like I'm getting better every day, especially in the game situations. I'm just seeing things a bit better and feel like the game is slowing down for me."
On being a running offense too
"Shannon and I always talk about that. We are going to make plays so if were passing and that's working, then that's fine with me. But we can always run; we have play makers in every position."
On friendly competition with Shannon Woods
"We ask each other, `man you can't make another tackle?' It's fun to have Coach Leach put it on us like he did and give us those opportunities he did tonight."
Safety Daniel Charbonnet
On being at the right place at the right time
"A lot of games, you go to the right place and they never throw your way, but it felt good. Everyone was going to the right place, and I just happened to get lucky and they threw it my way. It's just a blessing."
On the tipped pass that would have been his fourth interception
"I was real close. I saw them throw to the inside guy, so I broke inside because I thought he was going to catch it, so I was going to hit him, but he tipped it a little too far from me. If I would have stayed in the same place, it would have come right to me, but should of, would of, could of. "
On Mitchell's (SMU quarterback) inexperience and struggles
"He's a true freshman I think, so he's probably not ever seen a d-line like ours that rushes him that well. He's probably never seen linebackers that get really physical with the receivers. I attribute a lot to that and just our d-line and linebackers getting after him and feeling their every throws. He's got a lot to learn, but I attribute a lot of it to him being a true freshman."
Safety Darcel McBath
On the defense getting better
"I mean we try. We definitely got better in the passing game this week. We had five interceptions, so that was the biggest thing we were harping on this week to get better because last week we gave up some big games in the passing game. We thought that they thought they could exploit us on some of that, so we definitely took it personal this week."
On Daniel Charbonnet's night
"Man, Charb (Daniel Charbonnet) is just Johnny on the Spot. He's just always around the ball, or made a ball, stripping the ball or getting interceptions. That's just how Charb plays football, so I wasn't surprised at all. We knew the DBs would have a big game, and he showed up with a huge game. Kudos to him because he did a great job; he was exactly where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there, and he made a lot of plays."
SMU Postgame Quotes
Head Coach June Jones
On the positive aspects of the game
"Well we didn't quit, in fact our kids played really hard. I thought that defensively if you would have said to me before the game that we would play that way against them, I would think that we would have been good enough to win the game. We just didn't play our game on offense. They're young and made a lot of quarterback mistakes, but we'll continue to get better and learn from it and hopefully everybody will do a better job; I didn't do a good enough job today, our receivers didn't either. I thought that they were much more physical than us and hopefully we'll learn from it and get better."
On forced quarterback mistakes
"Yeah, he didn't do the things he needed to do, yet at the same time, I don't think we gave him a whole lot of help either. I thought the offensive line did some good things but I thought that we didn't do anything offensively good enough to win."
On Tech's defense
"They played very conservatively, they've just got good team speed and they do a good job in their scheme. And if you can play us in a 4-1 defense and we can't run the ball, you're going to have a problem."
On the effect on SMU's team from playing Tech
"They're the number 12th ranked team in the country; it was a great night, great place to play football, I just wished we would have played better."
On Tech's atmosphere affecting their game
"We weren't good enough to win on the road tonight and if we play that way next week, we won't be good enough to win at home."
On SMU quarterback B.L. Mitchell
"He's just got to play within the scheme of things. He hasn't thrown the ball; in his high school, he hasn't been a real passing quarterback. You scramble around and you've got to be able to run the ball and not pass back into the middle of the field. Those are the kind of things you'll see rookies in the NFL doing, too. He's an 18 year-old-kid trying to make things happen and he's just got to learn to play within himself."
On Michael Crabtree's performance
"He's a big time player, but like I said, I was proud of our defense. He's going to get that on a lot of people. But we made enough plays on defense; we stopped him, stopped the ball. We did enough things to keep the game interesting, at least."
Wide Receiver Emmanuel Sanders
On Tech's defense
"Tech had a great defense. They are a veteran defense, so I expect that from them."
On Bo Levi Mitchell and forcing the ball
"Bo is going to be a great quarterback. It's a process, champions aren't made over night. It's the progress that feels the best. It's just growing pains, for all of us, it's not just Bo Levi Mitchell, it's this whole team."
On chances at the goal line
"We got to execute. Coach (Jones) always talks about execution, execution. That's what killed us, we go to take care of what we do. It doesn't matter what the defense do, it's what we do."
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell
On chances at the goal line
"That's just us growing up and being more physical down on the goal line."
On still learning the offense
"Absolutely, I won't be done learning this offense until the end of the year. I'm glad I've picked up what I've picked up so far. I got to play my heart out every single game and really just do what the coaches tell me to do. The thing is, you can only learn so much in practice, it's all about game time decisions and getting out there and playing the games and going against a defense with another color."
