Transcribed by Bill Seals
Opening comments:
“First of all, it was a weird game in a lot of ways. I’m really proud of our football team. Most of the moments tonight, our kids kept pretty good composure. It was a very different flow to the football game in a lot of ways. I thought our fan base was incredible. It wasn’t the perfect evening by any stretch of the imagination weather-wise, but they were awesome. I’m glad we could complete a really great weekend for our University. I know Coach Prohm and Coach Fennelly are off to great starts.”
On what he thought of the fight between the two teams in the third quarter:
“It’s too much right now to even have a response. Emotionally, it was a very unfortunate situation. I thought our kids kept really good poise. Until I watch it, I don’t want to even comment on it and what transpired. From an officials standpoint, they did what they needed to do throughout the game.”
On what his thoughts were on David Montgomery apologizing soon after he was ejected:
“David is a leader. The last thing that I’d say he had anything to do was starting any controversy tonight. I think he was protecting his teammates and it looked like it was a secondary action of any response he might have had. It’s very unfortunate and something we’ll have to look at and evaluate.”
On if there’s any concerns from him about Montgomery being suspended for Texas game:
“I guess I don’t know enough of the rules and how the conference works in terms of that response. If we would lose him for a period of the game or at a point in the game, some other guys would have to respond and ready to go. A lot of guys did. Johnny (Lang) came in and did a great job and Sheldon (Croney) did a really good job. It’s one of those situations we’ll have to deal with once we figure it all out and let the smoke clear.”
On his concerns from how the defense played against Baylor:
“Just from the coverage aspect of it to getting pressure on the quarterback, we struggled to sustain any consistency tonight. We’ll have to evaluate that aspect of it. Early on it worked, kind of the bend but don’t break. Especially in the first half where our red zone defense certainly was the difference in the game. We just never got into a great rhythm in the entire game. Offensively, the first three possessions of the game we got exactly what we wanted. It was really hard in the second half to get any flow, because there was really a lack of flow from our football team. We’ll look and see what we did well and didn’t do well. There are some things we’ll have to continue to clean up. A lot of it was a credit to missed tackles and opportunities to get guys down. We didn’t do a great job of that at all tonight.”
On the play of Brock Purdy:
“I thought he was incredible tonight. He was magnificent, at least the first three quarters of the football game. If you’re going to be harsh, the only harshness I’d have is on the opportunity where he could have thrown it away late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter and ended up taking a sack. Other than that, his poise was tremendous and he was spot on. We needed that and he certainly delivered.”
On what it’s like to be playing big games in the month of November:
“It’s what we always wanted to be. From the day we stepped foot on campus, we said we wanted to have opportunities to play meaningful games in November and have an opportunity to compete for and hopefully win a Big 12 championship. There’s still a lot of work to be done. We’re such a young football team. The key for our success is can we continue to improve. What was neat for me today was to watch and see there was a lot of improvement in some areas we needed to improve. There are some areas we need to continue to shore up. I know that our best is still out there. It’s all about us and our ability to grind away at that process we talk about so much.”
On just getting bowl eligibility no longer being the standard for which they’re judged:
“When you haven’t been to one in so long, certainly that is a reward felt by the players and fanbase. The reality is we’re never defined until the end of the season. Did we or did we not reach our full potential? College football seasons are a marathon and not a sprint. It’s your ability to keep grinding away at it. People love the ups and downs of the college football season. It’s overwhelming.”
On what positives can be said about the defense against Baylor:
“Against a team like that, they’re very skilled and have been able to put up some points the past two weeks. The ability to win situational football wasn’t on third down tonight, but on the flip side it was having the ability to win in the red zone that was huge for this team. I’ll be anxious to watch the film and will have better answers on Tuesday. A lot of it was our missed tackles. How can we continue to clean that up and put our guys in the best position to be ready to do those things?”
On how his composure was following the third-quarter ejections:
“I probably had to refocus myself. I don’t know if I did a great job of it, because it was so chaotic. I will say the officiating crew did a great job of communicating with both coaches and letting us get Josh (Knipfel) back. Their initial response was not 32 out of the game but 66. That was buzzed down from up top, so we’ll figure out why that happened and move forward. The reality of it is our kids were able to make a big field goal and then come back down and score a touchdown and get the two-point conversion. Those things were really big and showed maturity in a young freshman quarterback. It was big from a momentum standpoint for the offense.”
On how long they’d kept the two-point conversion play under wraps:
“It’s been cooking for a while. If you need two-point conversion plays, I guess we got them. That was a good one.”
On the offense scoring on five of eight possessions on the night:
“That’s part of the growth process. You look at that offense and there are a lot of young guys. Starting with the guy that’s conducting it. You certainly see (Hakeem) Butler and Montgomery, but you’re talking a lot of new starters on the offensive line. Charlie Kolar, Chase Allen going down. Guys have had to step up and respond. It’s giving us a chance. Their willingness and humility to have some success and at the same time realize there’s a lot of work to do and they’ve got to keep getting better. Look at Brock – through four or five games you could see a young guy go the other way but he keeps grinding away at it.”
On how Purdy has managed to stay poised so far into his stretch of games leading the offense:
“The only reason that there’s a fit is because the captain quarterback that’s a senior has the humility to say he’s going to make sure he fits. I’ve said this a lot of times and will continue to say it: the MVP of our team sits as the senior captain on the offensive side and that’s Kyle Kempt. When your captain is the guy that’s coaching, leading and empowering, it sets the tone for the entire locker room. How many places in the country would that guy not want to see the freshman have success. The reality for us is that guy’s coaching that guy to be the best. He’s showing him what the process looks like and how to get there.”
On how he remained poised in the minutes that followed the melee:
“That’s why you don’t see me act a fool on the sideline, because the kids are watching how you respond. I’ve always felt like that. I had a great college coach who set the standard for that in a lot of ways. I know I’m an emotional guy and my emotions come out at different times, but I really try not to be that way around our kids. They see how you respond and take your response and roll with it. I was just trying to figure out what’s going on. When you lose 32, that’s definitely a situation where you’re confused. What I saw was opposite of what their call down looked like. It was confusing. That wasn’t the official’s call but someone upstairs.”
Opening comments:
“First of all, it was a weird game in a lot of ways. I’m really proud of our football team. Most of the moments tonight, our kids kept pretty good composure. It was a very different flow to the football game in a lot of ways. I thought our fan base was incredible. It wasn’t the perfect evening by any stretch of the imagination weather-wise, but they were awesome. I’m glad we could complete a really great weekend for our University. I know Coach Prohm and Coach Fennelly are off to great starts.”
On what he thought of the fight between the two teams in the third quarter:
“It’s too much right now to even have a response. Emotionally, it was a very unfortunate situation. I thought our kids kept really good poise. Until I watch it, I don’t want to even comment on it and what transpired. From an officials standpoint, they did what they needed to do throughout the game.”
On what his thoughts were on David Montgomery apologizing soon after he was ejected:
“David is a leader. The last thing that I’d say he had anything to do was starting any controversy tonight. I think he was protecting his teammates and it looked like it was a secondary action of any response he might have had. It’s very unfortunate and something we’ll have to look at and evaluate.”
On if there’s any concerns from him about Montgomery being suspended for Texas game:
“I guess I don’t know enough of the rules and how the conference works in terms of that response. If we would lose him for a period of the game or at a point in the game, some other guys would have to respond and ready to go. A lot of guys did. Johnny (Lang) came in and did a great job and Sheldon (Croney) did a really good job. It’s one of those situations we’ll have to deal with once we figure it all out and let the smoke clear.”
On his concerns from how the defense played against Baylor:
“Just from the coverage aspect of it to getting pressure on the quarterback, we struggled to sustain any consistency tonight. We’ll have to evaluate that aspect of it. Early on it worked, kind of the bend but don’t break. Especially in the first half where our red zone defense certainly was the difference in the game. We just never got into a great rhythm in the entire game. Offensively, the first three possessions of the game we got exactly what we wanted. It was really hard in the second half to get any flow, because there was really a lack of flow from our football team. We’ll look and see what we did well and didn’t do well. There are some things we’ll have to continue to clean up. A lot of it was a credit to missed tackles and opportunities to get guys down. We didn’t do a great job of that at all tonight.”
On the play of Brock Purdy:
“I thought he was incredible tonight. He was magnificent, at least the first three quarters of the football game. If you’re going to be harsh, the only harshness I’d have is on the opportunity where he could have thrown it away late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter and ended up taking a sack. Other than that, his poise was tremendous and he was spot on. We needed that and he certainly delivered.”
On what it’s like to be playing big games in the month of November:
“It’s what we always wanted to be. From the day we stepped foot on campus, we said we wanted to have opportunities to play meaningful games in November and have an opportunity to compete for and hopefully win a Big 12 championship. There’s still a lot of work to be done. We’re such a young football team. The key for our success is can we continue to improve. What was neat for me today was to watch and see there was a lot of improvement in some areas we needed to improve. There are some areas we need to continue to shore up. I know that our best is still out there. It’s all about us and our ability to grind away at that process we talk about so much.”
On just getting bowl eligibility no longer being the standard for which they’re judged:
“When you haven’t been to one in so long, certainly that is a reward felt by the players and fanbase. The reality is we’re never defined until the end of the season. Did we or did we not reach our full potential? College football seasons are a marathon and not a sprint. It’s your ability to keep grinding away at it. People love the ups and downs of the college football season. It’s overwhelming.”
On what positives can be said about the defense against Baylor:
“Against a team like that, they’re very skilled and have been able to put up some points the past two weeks. The ability to win situational football wasn’t on third down tonight, but on the flip side it was having the ability to win in the red zone that was huge for this team. I’ll be anxious to watch the film and will have better answers on Tuesday. A lot of it was our missed tackles. How can we continue to clean that up and put our guys in the best position to be ready to do those things?”
On how his composure was following the third-quarter ejections:
“I probably had to refocus myself. I don’t know if I did a great job of it, because it was so chaotic. I will say the officiating crew did a great job of communicating with both coaches and letting us get Josh (Knipfel) back. Their initial response was not 32 out of the game but 66. That was buzzed down from up top, so we’ll figure out why that happened and move forward. The reality of it is our kids were able to make a big field goal and then come back down and score a touchdown and get the two-point conversion. Those things were really big and showed maturity in a young freshman quarterback. It was big from a momentum standpoint for the offense.”
On how long they’d kept the two-point conversion play under wraps:
“It’s been cooking for a while. If you need two-point conversion plays, I guess we got them. That was a good one.”
On the offense scoring on five of eight possessions on the night:
“That’s part of the growth process. You look at that offense and there are a lot of young guys. Starting with the guy that’s conducting it. You certainly see (Hakeem) Butler and Montgomery, but you’re talking a lot of new starters on the offensive line. Charlie Kolar, Chase Allen going down. Guys have had to step up and respond. It’s giving us a chance. Their willingness and humility to have some success and at the same time realize there’s a lot of work to do and they’ve got to keep getting better. Look at Brock – through four or five games you could see a young guy go the other way but he keeps grinding away at it.”
On how Purdy has managed to stay poised so far into his stretch of games leading the offense:
“The only reason that there’s a fit is because the captain quarterback that’s a senior has the humility to say he’s going to make sure he fits. I’ve said this a lot of times and will continue to say it: the MVP of our team sits as the senior captain on the offensive side and that’s Kyle Kempt. When your captain is the guy that’s coaching, leading and empowering, it sets the tone for the entire locker room. How many places in the country would that guy not want to see the freshman have success. The reality for us is that guy’s coaching that guy to be the best. He’s showing him what the process looks like and how to get there.”
On how he remained poised in the minutes that followed the melee:
“That’s why you don’t see me act a fool on the sideline, because the kids are watching how you respond. I’ve always felt like that. I had a great college coach who set the standard for that in a lot of ways. I know I’m an emotional guy and my emotions come out at different times, but I really try not to be that way around our kids. They see how you respond and take your response and roll with it. I was just trying to figure out what’s going on. When you lose 32, that’s definitely a situation where you’re confused. What I saw was opposite of what their call down looked like. It was confusing. That wasn’t the official’s call but someone upstairs.”
