TCU vs. Oklahoma Postgame Quotes
9/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2005
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Sept. 3, 2005
TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson
On the game:
"I said going into the ball game that I thought there was a little bit of an advantage in having a senior quarterback. He gave me a scare (coming out of the game after being hit)...and I told him to never do it again and he smiled at me as he was taking a rest after getting hit pretty hard there. A year ago we got criticized a lot. We didn't play the defense we played in the past at TCU. We had a reason; we were hungry. We just were very fortunate, you know. These kinds of things happen. They had a couple young quarterbacks that put the ball on the ground a couple times. We're excited about getting the chance to get off to a 1-0 start. Oklahoma's like 35-1 under Coach (Bob) Stoops at home. I think that nine times out of 10, Oklahoma wins this game. Today was our one. We got a chance to show off on national TV and show America that TCU is not gone."
On the team's attitude preparing for the game:
"I told the team that one game is one game, win or lose. If we had done the same thing at the Texas Tech game a year ago, we might not have had a losing season. We could ruin everything we did today by going to SMU and not playing well and getting beat."
On what to improve on:
"We didn't handle the crowd on offense very well. We've got to work on that. There will be other big crowds down the road. Fortunately for us, it didn't hurt us enough that we got beat because of it."
TCU Senior Quarterback Tye Gunn
On the importance of the game:
"We were focused but we knew that, even if we won, it wouldn't make our season. Like Coach said, they could be the better football team nine out of 10 times."
On what won the game for TCU:
"I think the defense decided this one. I don't know if it's maturity or game experience or what it is, but if something like that happens, whether the defense gives up a touchdown or the offense leaves the ball on the ground, the opposite side of the ball steps up and makes plays. That's huge."
On whether he was worried about having another serious injury:
"I don't know who it was, one of the defensive ends. He put a shot on me. It was my tailbone. It wasn't my legs or anything I had to worry about."
TCU Junior Wide Receiver Cory Rodgers
On the game:
"Coach Patterson did a great job of giving us confidence coming into this week. That (Oklahoma) was a great team and a great challenge in front of 85,000, which was very loud. This game was more of a measuring stick for us after coming off the first losing season in I don't know how many years."
TCU Senior Cornerback Drew Coleman
On Oklahoma's on-the-field response to TCU jumping out to a quick lead:
I wouldn't say (they were) fatigued. I would say they were more shocked than anything. I kind of think that they underestimated us. Our main focus was to come in, get on top and remain on top. Don't give them any chance, any leeway, to take the ball.
Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops
On the play of TCU:
"I would like to give my compliments to the TCU coach. They played an excellent game and they really out coached us and out played us in almost all areas. They out played us and out coached us as a whole. They deserved to win the game. They are a good team. They are a prideful program and have been successful over the years. They came in here and beat us and that is it."
On the play of Oklahoma:
"We couldn't do much as far as running the ball consistently. Overall, we didn't do a very good job of protecting the quarterback. We didn't throw the ball real well. We were very unproductive and the turnovers were critical. We need to make a lot of improvement and do a better job as coaches in order to have a chance of having any kind of success at all. We weren't near as consistent as we need to be."
On why OU couldn't put together successful drives:
"It might be the attitude and discipline we came out and played with. Or it could be the play calling. It really is hard to put your finger on it."
On learning from the loss: "I felt going into the game that we were stronger and had a little more attitude than what we showed. I just don't feel we are near as tough as we need to be and play the way we need to."
On the impact of the loss of seniors from last year: "That may be the case. I hope we can learn from this and improve as a team. We sure need to."
On the play of the secondary:
"I thought they played well for sure. We were in good shape and condition and tackled well."
On if this is the most disappointed he has been:
"Probably, I would say since 1999. I guess the way we reacted was a disappointment. I'm really disappointed across the board."
OU Sophomore running back Adrian Peterson
On preparing to play TCU:
"I don't think we overlooked them at all. They just came in and played hard all four quarters."
On the opening drive of the third quarter:
"We came out with a good drive. We thought we had it put together. After that, we just lost it. This is a game that we're going to learn from."
OU Redshirt freshman quarterback Rhett Bomar
On what the team needs to work on:
"I don't know if there's one specific thing, but turnovers really killed us today."
On Oklahoma's performance:
"It's really upsetting. They are a good team, and they just flat out beat us. We didn't play very well. You have to bring your game every week, but we didn't do it. When you don't play like Oklahoma, it's really disappointing."
OU Senior defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek
On the game:
"We didn't play very tough today. We didn't have a very good attitude. We never got tough, and we never had the attitude we needed to win. We're going to find out in the next couple of weeks what kind of team this is. We're going to go to practice on Monday and see who wants to play and who doesn't."
On his disappointment:
"This is the most disappointed I've been since I've been here, and we've lost some big ones. It's tough to lose a home opener in front of our fans. We really let our coaches down today, too."
On the defense's performance:
"I thought we played decent, but we lost the game, so we didn't play well enough. We gave up some big plays when we shouldn't have. It was on us. There were guys out of place, and they didn't get to where they needed to be. We gave up 17 points, so that's not good."
On trying to motivate the team:
"I played my best role as a cheerleader as I could by running up and down the sidelines to get guys going. It wasn't there, and it has to be to win football games. It doesn't take a talented football player to go out there and play hard. We have great talent, but we need to play with a better attitude."
OU Senior offensive lineman Davin Joseph
On how the team can improve:
"I think we need to work more on execution. We can also be more physical and more accountable, and we need to take more pride in our program."
On Oklahoma's future for the rest of the season:
"We still have the guys to make this team work. We have a lot of experience because we have a lot of guys coming back. We're just filling in a few gaps. We can still have a good team. The captains and I are going to take it personal to get this right. If that means we have to invest extra time on our own, then that's what we're going to do. If that means making some adjustments, we have to do it. We still have a chance to end this well. We still have a chance to win the conference. We have some big games coming up, so we need to step up."
OU Junior quarterback Paul Thompson
On how the team can improve:
"We have to get together and rally back. We have to get this behind us as soon as possible. This can definitely still be a successful season. We can take a lot from this game and move on."
On whether attitude or execution created more problems for Oklahoma:
"I think our problem was mainly our execution. We came out and knew what we had to do but didn't execute."
