Gary Patterson Holds Weekly Media Lunch-In
9/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2003
FORT WORTH, Texas
(General comments on this week's game with Vanderbilt): "A lot of times, the best way to get better is to play. I'm worried about defending the pass. We have to go out and play our game. With Vanderbilt, what you see is what you get. They're going to throw the ball and they don't make a lot of mistakes. On defense, they load the box and you have to throw on them because of how well they defend the run. They're a lot more physical than the teams we've faced so far. Vanderbilt is a very good football team and their quarterback (Jay Cutler) is going to be very good by the time he's a senior.
"This will be the best defense and the most physical offense we've played. Cutler doesn't have the same reviews as a guy like J.P. Losman of Tulane, but he manages the game like we do. We've got to be ready."
(On Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson): "I watched both of Vandy's TV games. He (Bobby Johnson) is a very disciplined coach. They try not to beat themselves. Whatever they do they try to be very good at it. The only possible weakness I've seen may be their punter.
"Vanderbilt is bigger than we are, especially their offensive line. They won't be faster than us. When you have a lot of kids from Texas, not many schools can beat you in speed."
(On the Navy game): "Usually, we're gong to win if we run the ball. One of the positives about that game was we needed to throw the ball in the second half and we did that. We got a couple of good punt returns as well.
"Our young players need to learn to go down sometimes instead of taking so many hits. You have to learn to live to fight another day in some situations. Unless it's third down and you need the yardage, it's not always a smart move to fight for that one extra yard. But, you can't be negative about a kid giving extra effort."
(On what's been done because of the quarterback change): "Nothing. The offense we run is the same one Brandon ran in the spring."
(On Tye Gunn's rehab): "His rehab is going well. Next week, he can probably work with his arm above the shoulder. He won't be throwing but he'll be working to get it there."
(On losing Tye Gunn and Ricky Madison): "You can't worry about things you don't have. I could sit here and complain about not having someone like LaMarcus McDonald still on our team. You have to move forward."
(On tailbacks): "In today's game, there is no such thing as too many tailbacks. As big and physical as players are now, you just hope one ends the season healthy."
(On Brandon Hassell and Robert Merrill): "The good thing for Brandon (Hassell) was the 15 practices in the spring. We asked him how he felt at the end of spring and he said 'Good.' Our offense is based around using the weapons we have. We don't put the ball in our quarterback's hands unless we have confidence in him.
"Our defense is excited to see (Robert) Merrill and Hassell. Both guys are hard to tackle and they remember what they did in the spring.
"I feel a little better about Brandon starting than I did when Tye (Gunn) started as a redshirt freshman at Houston last year. The offense hasn't changed here the last few years and Brandon has worked with it the entire time.
"We don't know what will happen until Saturday. We're going to try to win it with them not because of them."
(On what Brandon Hassell did last spring): "He directed the offense. Sometimes you wait your whole life for an opportunity and this is Brandon's. Our players are excited about seeing him and Robert (Merrill) both, especially the defense."
(On Lonta Hobbs): "Lonta ran harder in the fourth quarter against Navy and he's been doing the same in practice. He's gaining confidence. The mental aspect of football is about 80% or maybe even higher. That's the key."
(On the team's reaction to TCU's injuries): "We've never made a big deal about them. If anything, you rally around it and come together. We haven't had a whole lot of people injured in games. It's been off-the-field kinds of things. Sometimes you have years like that. We have a hard road to travel the next few weeks and my job as a coach is to get the best players there. We have a lot of work to do."
(On the status of Jon Morgan): "He's day to day and coming along. I still don't know if he'll play this weekend."
