Quotes of the Game
9/23/2023 3:31:00 PM | Football
TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes
On the game:
"It was a little sloppy at times, particularly in the fourth quarter. We had two possessions on their side of the field. We really could have pulled away and separated ourselves a little bit. It was hot, but I thought we grinded through it. I thought our players played with a lot of enthusiasm, which is good to see. There are a lot of things we have to get corrected. It was kind of a strange game. We didn't get to run a whole lot of plays, 59 I believe. You could start to see our physicality in the third quarter and both lines of scrimmage start to take over the game, which is what we've talked about that all week. The importance of physicality in the game. You just keep leaning on the guys and I was proud of them for doing that. I thought that was obviously a difference in the ballgame."
On Wide Receiver Major Everhart
"It's good to see him continue to get better. Major is a fast, explosive guy. I think that we have a bunch of those H (backs) that are in that mix. It's just a matter of who's going to be the most consistent and I like our group."
On Quarterback Chandler Morris' Improvement
"Chandler (Morris) is such a head's up player. There's so many things quarterbacks have to process. What Chandler (Morris) is doing a good job of is understanding the situations."
Josh Newton
On the team improving:
"Staying loyal to each other. Especially when we're down or when the game is close, just don't flinch, don't blink. We made a lot of adjustments in practice. It's been foot on the gas. Coach Dykes has been doing a great job about that, you know, just pushing us, pushing us, pushing us and we know if we practice the way we practice, we are going to get the result we want. The reason we've been coming out on top the last few weeks is because of the way we practice."
On the interception:
"We were in one free, man to man. He actually beat me, but he ended up running a dig and I undercut it. Pick."
Jared Wiley
On his first multi-touchdown game of his career:
"It feels really good. I was able to help my team out today, that was the main reason why it felt so good. I didn't even realize it until the third or fourth quarter, halfway through. I'm really excited about it."
On leaving points on the board:
"Yeah, it's extra motivation for us, you can't win three games in a row and then start to practice different or act different. You have to get back to it on Tuesday - really tomorrow. We'll be up here studying film, and practicing tomorrow, you got to get back to work every week."
On so many different receivers getting receptions:
"Everybody's been telling you that our receivers are very deep, and once we all get going it's going to be a very scary deal for defenses to handle every week. That doesn't surprise me at all that so many people got the ball and that we spread it around so much today."
Chandler Morris
On things starting to slow down:
"Coming into the season, the one thing you can't coach is experience and reps, so I was lacking in that in college. I knew it was going to be a process and that I couldn't get frustrated with it. My goal is to get better each week, it's how I attack practice and I'm using practice as an opportunity to take more snaps and get better."
On getting more decisive:
"I think I've done a good job with that, and I give credit to my o-line and receivers as well. O-line is giving me time to view the field, and my receivers are playing fast and making a clear read for me, so I give my credit to them for that."
On Emani Bailey:
"He's a warrior, I tell him that all the time. Anytime that number 9 is on the field, everybody, all 10 other players, are confident in him and all the coaches as well. He's doing a good job and he's helping get us settled in because when you need to get the run game settled in, it opens up everything else and vice versa. He's doing a great job."
Namdi Obiazor
On progressing into the linebacker position:
"I'm taking steps each and every game, kind of learning about the things I made mistakes in previous games stack into what I'm learning. If I make a bad play, it's kind of like, ok don't do it again. Being new to linebacker, it's about getting rid of all the bad habits and locking into what I have to do."
On being dominant in the third quarter:
"Any big plays or stuff we kind of messed up on, it's already written on the white board. Coach us on stuff on what to do and what they expect they're going to do and how to close out the game."
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee
On the game:
"Disappointed. Kind of little bit of deja vu from two weeks ago. Our guys played extremely hard. Our guys played hard. They played physical. I'm proud of them. Early in the game, we had opportunities to get some momentum and we didn't do it. We take the opening drive down the field, looking pretty good. We have a third and one at the five, I think, or six. We just hand the ball off, I think we for sure got the first down. We might have scored on that play, but we didn't. Had to settle for a field goal. That stuff matters in games like this. Then 7-3, I think, we get another drive rolling. Run the football really well. We have third and one. I mean, we're going to get about 8 or 10 (yards) and Camar (Wheaton) slips and falls down. Now we're fourth and two, don't convert. Those are two really critical errors by us offensively in the game that kept us from gaining momentum and maybe even grabbing the lead. We fought back. The defense hung in there and made it 14-10 and a half."
"We just didn't come out in the third quarter with the execution we needed. We got behind. The guys kept battling. But you can't do that in these kind of games on the road if we want to win. Our kids played hard. They fought their butts off. Our staff had a great plan. I've got to do a better job. This one's on me. I've got to find a way to get us in position to break through in these kinds of games, because we expect to win them."
SMU safety Isaiah Nwokobia
On the game:
"Obviously, you guys know how much this game means to us, it's our rivalry game. We work so hard and of course, we're disappointed, but we're going to go back to the drawing board and get back to work."
On the disappointment:
"We were just a couple of plays away and we're super disappointed because we know we can win these games there's no doubt about it. We know where we're at and we know where we need to go and we're excited to get back to work."
SMU quarterback Preston Stone
On the game:
"I'm very disappointed. This was a tough one. I'm especially disappointed in myself. It's a big-time rivalry game. When you're going up against a big team and they're making good plays, it's the quarterback's job to step and make plays and get the team going and I don't feel like I did that today."
On preparing for the game:
"It's no secret how much weight this game holds to us - to the players, to the coaches. We treat every game the same with our preparation and personality, but there's really no team you want to beat more than TCU."
On the game:
"It was a little sloppy at times, particularly in the fourth quarter. We had two possessions on their side of the field. We really could have pulled away and separated ourselves a little bit. It was hot, but I thought we grinded through it. I thought our players played with a lot of enthusiasm, which is good to see. There are a lot of things we have to get corrected. It was kind of a strange game. We didn't get to run a whole lot of plays, 59 I believe. You could start to see our physicality in the third quarter and both lines of scrimmage start to take over the game, which is what we've talked about that all week. The importance of physicality in the game. You just keep leaning on the guys and I was proud of them for doing that. I thought that was obviously a difference in the ballgame."
On Wide Receiver Major Everhart
"It's good to see him continue to get better. Major is a fast, explosive guy. I think that we have a bunch of those H (backs) that are in that mix. It's just a matter of who's going to be the most consistent and I like our group."
On Quarterback Chandler Morris' Improvement
"Chandler (Morris) is such a head's up player. There's so many things quarterbacks have to process. What Chandler (Morris) is doing a good job of is understanding the situations."
Josh Newton
On the team improving:
"Staying loyal to each other. Especially when we're down or when the game is close, just don't flinch, don't blink. We made a lot of adjustments in practice. It's been foot on the gas. Coach Dykes has been doing a great job about that, you know, just pushing us, pushing us, pushing us and we know if we practice the way we practice, we are going to get the result we want. The reason we've been coming out on top the last few weeks is because of the way we practice."
On the interception:
"We were in one free, man to man. He actually beat me, but he ended up running a dig and I undercut it. Pick."
Jared Wiley
On his first multi-touchdown game of his career:
"It feels really good. I was able to help my team out today, that was the main reason why it felt so good. I didn't even realize it until the third or fourth quarter, halfway through. I'm really excited about it."
On leaving points on the board:
"Yeah, it's extra motivation for us, you can't win three games in a row and then start to practice different or act different. You have to get back to it on Tuesday - really tomorrow. We'll be up here studying film, and practicing tomorrow, you got to get back to work every week."
On so many different receivers getting receptions:
"Everybody's been telling you that our receivers are very deep, and once we all get going it's going to be a very scary deal for defenses to handle every week. That doesn't surprise me at all that so many people got the ball and that we spread it around so much today."
Chandler Morris
On things starting to slow down:
"Coming into the season, the one thing you can't coach is experience and reps, so I was lacking in that in college. I knew it was going to be a process and that I couldn't get frustrated with it. My goal is to get better each week, it's how I attack practice and I'm using practice as an opportunity to take more snaps and get better."
On getting more decisive:
"I think I've done a good job with that, and I give credit to my o-line and receivers as well. O-line is giving me time to view the field, and my receivers are playing fast and making a clear read for me, so I give my credit to them for that."
On Emani Bailey:
"He's a warrior, I tell him that all the time. Anytime that number 9 is on the field, everybody, all 10 other players, are confident in him and all the coaches as well. He's doing a good job and he's helping get us settled in because when you need to get the run game settled in, it opens up everything else and vice versa. He's doing a great job."
Namdi Obiazor
On progressing into the linebacker position:
"I'm taking steps each and every game, kind of learning about the things I made mistakes in previous games stack into what I'm learning. If I make a bad play, it's kind of like, ok don't do it again. Being new to linebacker, it's about getting rid of all the bad habits and locking into what I have to do."
On being dominant in the third quarter:
"Any big plays or stuff we kind of messed up on, it's already written on the white board. Coach us on stuff on what to do and what they expect they're going to do and how to close out the game."
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee
On the game:
"Disappointed. Kind of little bit of deja vu from two weeks ago. Our guys played extremely hard. Our guys played hard. They played physical. I'm proud of them. Early in the game, we had opportunities to get some momentum and we didn't do it. We take the opening drive down the field, looking pretty good. We have a third and one at the five, I think, or six. We just hand the ball off, I think we for sure got the first down. We might have scored on that play, but we didn't. Had to settle for a field goal. That stuff matters in games like this. Then 7-3, I think, we get another drive rolling. Run the football really well. We have third and one. I mean, we're going to get about 8 or 10 (yards) and Camar (Wheaton) slips and falls down. Now we're fourth and two, don't convert. Those are two really critical errors by us offensively in the game that kept us from gaining momentum and maybe even grabbing the lead. We fought back. The defense hung in there and made it 14-10 and a half."
"We just didn't come out in the third quarter with the execution we needed. We got behind. The guys kept battling. But you can't do that in these kind of games on the road if we want to win. Our kids played hard. They fought their butts off. Our staff had a great plan. I've got to do a better job. This one's on me. I've got to find a way to get us in position to break through in these kinds of games, because we expect to win them."
SMU safety Isaiah Nwokobia
On the game:
"Obviously, you guys know how much this game means to us, it's our rivalry game. We work so hard and of course, we're disappointed, but we're going to go back to the drawing board and get back to work."
On the disappointment:
"We were just a couple of plays away and we're super disappointed because we know we can win these games there's no doubt about it. We know where we're at and we know where we need to go and we're excited to get back to work."
SMU quarterback Preston Stone
On the game:
"I'm very disappointed. This was a tough one. I'm especially disappointed in myself. It's a big-time rivalry game. When you're going up against a big team and they're making good plays, it's the quarterback's job to step and make plays and get the team going and I don't feel like I did that today."
On preparing for the game:
"It's no secret how much weight this game holds to us - to the players, to the coaches. We treat every game the same with our preparation and personality, but there's really no team you want to beat more than TCU."
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
/ Football
CB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
TE
/ FootballTCU Football | Sonny Dykes and Players Weekly Press Conference (at Kansas State)
Tuesday, October 07
TCU Football | Frogs Beat Colorado, 35-21 (Post-Game Press Conference)
Sunday, October 05
Behind the Mic: TCU vs. Colorado
Saturday, October 04
TCU Football | Sonny Dykes and Players Weekly Press Conference (vs. Colorado)
Tuesday, September 30
