TCU 34, Stanford 27 | Sonny Dykes, Josh Hoover, Johnny Hodges Media Availability

first of all got to give Stanford a lot of credit um thought Troy and his staff did an excellent job getting those guys ready to play um they came out with an entirely new defense a new scheme um you know gave us problems not something that we spent a lot of time preparing for and again you got to give those guys a ton of credit uh for doing that and I thought you they did a great job of of game planning and putting their players in a position to to win the football game so hat off hats off to to Stanford and and um like I said I thought they their guys played hard thought they played smart um thought they played disciplined and kind of like you would expect Stanford to play uh us you know we were fortunate anytime you go on the road and you make some of the mistakes that we made um you know typically you get beat and so really proud of this football team for sticking with it um just keeping their head down and continuing to play hard and grinding through it because there was some moments where it didn't look particularly good um but like I said really proud of the of the effort and you know we talked a lot about about being you know tough mentally tough and I thought we were we got down guys never blinked you know when we had to get stops defensively we got them when we had to score touchdowns at the end on offense we scored touchdowns um but you know we I thought we played physical you know we talked to the guys about about playing physical and I thought we did that and we were able to run the ball better as the game went along I thought we got a little bit more physical at the point of attack um but we didn't play very disciplined you know you think about it first drive of the game I think was was kind of the way the night went uh we had we were off the field twice on third down uh two penalties to keep the drive alive and and Stanford went down the score had a long quarterback scramble um and so we just we made some critical critical mistakes that typically you know get you beat so we were fortunate to win and again credit our guys for for sticking with it and making plays and and doing what they had to do to win some of those mistakes do you just kind of attribute at the first game Jitters or yeah yeah I think so you know what's funny I think this I this team was really ready to play I don't know that I've had a team that was more focused uh and excited to play an opener certainly in a long time and uh and these guys I think because of that we might have played a little tight early you know what I mean and I think probably tried to do a little too much early um and you know as the game went on a little bit you could tell we got a little frustrated but I thought I thought our guys were you know like I said really mentally tough and just fought through it kept their head down so a lot of things we got to get fixed you know we were you know got down the Red Zone and turn the ball over uh you know we had opportuni to kind of pull away and we just couldn't make plays and typically again when you do that normally you don't win the game you that's Josh's performance especially on the drive after good yeah I thought I mean look I don't know how many drops we had we had a bunch of drops I bet we had five six drops um I thought he was accurate thought he made good decisions throwing the football thought he seemed calm and poised you know there's there's some decisions that we got to get cleaned up a little bit you know some times where you know run pass options we ran the ball or which when we should have thrown it or threw it when we should have run it um you know but I thought for a guy that hasn't started that many football games when when things got tough I thought he he got better and so I was encouraged by that I first first part what went into the decision to start Jack at the outside receiver and just obviously had a great game what were you thought yeah we' had some guys banged up you know we had had um uh dalen had kind of got banged up at the end of Camp was we weren't sure if he was going to be available JoJo Earl was kind of banged up as well we weren't sure if he was going to be available so for us it was just trying to get the best guys on the field you know we felt like Jack was was you know could have a game like he had tonight you know he's just that kind of guy and the more he plays the more opportunities he has to catch the ball more opportunities he has to make plays he does it and so you know he's just a guy that Josh really counts on and believes in so we felt like you know four or five days ago that that we were going ahead and make that move and and he came in and you know for a guy that hadn't played that position a lot he uh he really played well Sunny welcome back to the bayk I had you for you know three years yes sir yes sir um can you highlight three plays for me please uh the first touchdown from from uh Hoover to Savon in the corner also the Deep ball that he hit in the first half you know that didn't lead to a touchdown but was to a field goal and the third play is Cam scoring last touchdown all effort yeah yeah yeah the the first one you know was was just a great matchup you know Savon is uh a guy that obviously we count on you know and especially we we were really trying to get him involved in the game early and and he made a bunch of plays early in the game and finish that drive off and Josh had a really good job of getting the ball out on time and it was it all the ball got out there so quick that the defender was trying to play Sav and saon had an opportunity to play the ball so that was that the long the long was the the kind of poster outout to bash um really good throw you know typical of a Josh Hoover throw had to throw it over somebody and under the safety and um was real accurate throw and as you said we kind of wasted that opportunity a couple of times in the Red Zone we got to get better red zone offense and then touchdown at cam I mean that was it was a heck of a it's a heck of a run they blitzed right into where we were running the ball and he had to cut it all the way back back wind it back and and did a great job getting it in the end zone and you know we didn't want to get into a situation right there where you know we had to kick a field goal or something so we needed to score that was obviously a a heck of a run and a great effort and thought our offensive line picked it up pretty good cuz like I said they they blitzed and stuned right into it and uh it a heck of a cut and and a great effort play Marcel has been through a lot guante just how just how great CO as a coach have you feel to see him have these big you know it's fantastic I mean he's a guy that has been through a lot he's had injuries you know I just really love that kid I mean I just love him he loves being part of this team this team means the world to him um just really proud of him for hanging in there and and you know and sticking it out and um it's great to see him make a play I mean he's one of those guys uh that just he's he's overcome so much it's really uh rewarding when you get to see him you know make a big play and get a sack like he did tonight it's awesome we'll go two more questions son can you talk about how the new Communication System worked did you find that to be beneficial yeah yeah I thought it was good I thought it was really good I mean if you look at college football I mean this the scoring's lower it's lower scoring games it's more one score games you know in the opening weekend people are huddling more you know because of the communication systems and so the number of of of uh series that each team gets is has really that those numbers have dropped dramatically um and so it really puts an onus on you offensively you have to execute at a really high level you can't mess up possessions like we did you can't get down in the red zone and not score you can't get down the Red Zone and turn the ball over can't get down the Red Zone and kick field goals and if you do that you know you're going to run out of possession you're not going to have a chance to win the game and I think you know I think college football is changing I really do believe that I think that um you know again you look at these competitive games a lot of them are are fewer possessions and in much closer one score games and so I think you know we're going to have to to be to play more disciplined um you know as the season goes along we can't afford to get those penalties that hurt us today we can't afford to turn the ball over like we did particularly in the red zone and we got to execute better when we get down there uh but again you got to give Stanford a lot of credit they did uh showed us some looks some short yardage looks some Red Zone looks and a defense really that we hadn't seen before last one Sun third time here yeah I correct me if I'm wrong you did not win here no no she we didn't never played a competitive game here yeah when I was a cow so it's nice to win nice to nice to to come here and and win and you know I got a lot of respect for for this University and their football program and their players and and Coach uh coach Taylor and uh they're going to I think they're going to they got a good football team they really do I think they did a really good job like I said earlier putting their players in position to win a football game tonight so we were fortunate to win it's good to get that monkey off my back um always nice to visit the bay area but I'm glad I'm getting on a plane and going home thanks coach okay thank you we Josh Josh fourth quarter teams trailing got one drive is that kind of one of those moments you always dreamed about you started playing football yeah it's the it's the ones that I love you know my entire life I felt like I've been a guy that lives for those situations and uh I think we learned a lot from those situations we had last year and we worked on it all season and tonight you saw what happened went down there and score we needed to so uh it's just a credit to our guys and just the toughness the mental toughness it takes to go and execute during crunch time and obviously you know there were some things we need to clean up and uh we weren't great in certain scenarios but when it was time to make plays guys showed made plays so uh it's a situation you can only dream about and proud of the guys for going out and executed one of those guys was Jack B I know he just got the start earlier in the week at Al so what can you kind of say about how he was tonight yeah I mean he uh he was unbelievable for his first game out there um he was awesome you know great feel uh there was one down the sideline that I overthrew him by just maybe a foot and I think he would have scored so he did a great job tonight proud of him the way he adjusted and uh he's such a selfless guy play any position on the field and uh that's what makes this team special and that's what makes uh my love for this team so great it's just the guys like that that are willing to play whatever position just to help our team and he's doing that Josh you had the crazy balance interception off of Jak or fumble off of that I saw you got everybody together you had a couple of drops how do you keep your composure keep everybody locked in in those moments yeah you just keep playing I mean you can't control what's already happened and uh as a quarterback everyone's looking at you to see how's he going to react or when you know we had a couple uh drops or miscommunications uh with running backs and putting the ball on the ground and just things like that and uh you just have to keep playing you have to you have to persevere and uh you can't let that affect you and you have to flush it and it's hard but I think our guys did a good job flushing the mistakes and continuing to fight and press and work and um you know I gathered everybody up and just told everyone to relax I said it's you can't do anything about it just relax play our game they can't stop us we're stopping ourselves so um that was my speech to everybody does it feel good to fin a bre after this R game I'm sorry do it does it feel good finally take a breather after this R game yeah no it feels good to feels good to win a game I mean it's it's uh it's a good feeling to win and obviously you uh you'd rather learn a lot after a win then after a loss and so we're sure thankful for the win and um you know God has been good to us and uh we're going to continue to praise him Josh can you I ask coach to the same thing highlight two plays for me the first touchdown to Sav in the corner and also your deep ball in the first half that didn't lead to a touchdown but a field goal you know the touch on the passes you know beautiful can you just talk about those two plays ah it makes it easy when you got studs out there you know all I have to do is put it in the air and they're going to go get it um both of those plays I just threw it up to Sav On And so oh he's out there and he he made a play on the ball so when you got studs around you they make you look good and um I'm sure thankful for them and you know I get you know probably too much credit for some stuff those guys are making plays on the ball and super thankful for the way they they can go down the field and track it and make plays so it's all let me ask you one other question and it just you know you you have limited experience you know you're you're young in your college career you know being on the west coast playing after midnight Dallas time uh The Limited number of plays you know what what feels unusual to you about being at Stanford tonight you know something that's kind of out of your real yeah it was kind of a strange atmosphere you know like in the South you were used to you know footballs everything you know and so it wasn't it was just a little bit a different atmosphere a little more laid-back relaxed and the weather was awesome I mean I take this weather any day I haven't felt this in August in a long time so but uh it was just a little bit of a different vibe but the guys did a great job of uh not letting that affect the way that they you know got ready to play and the way they came out hot and we started really fast on offense and um so it was just kind of a different feel but proud of our guys for you know not letting the external factors affect the way they showed up and played and just continue to press on no matter what their surroundings were two more questions Jos can you talk a little bit about uh sorry can we talk a little bit about the communication system and and what that was like having that in your headset TR yeah it was fine it was good um we did a good job I thought breaking the Huddle on time and Coach BR did a good job with the communication uh within the game and giving me some you know reminders every now and then about hey you know tell saon to get on the ball or stuff like that just to help with communication so it was really good I thought the process was was really good for us and uh you know there was maybe a time or two where it was kind of hard to hear um but you know I think that's just part of the crowd no way sometimes they had the music up both times and so I think it's some of the games where it's louder you know you have to cover your ears and and try to uh communicate that way but I thought it went well pretty smooth for the first time out his first half wasn't great but what can you kind of say about cam could kind of just keeping the process going and kind of breaking down the second half yeah I told Cam just to continue trusting him up front those those gaps are going to they're going to be there and um you know sometimes we all have a tendency you know early if if something's not you know going well the holes aren't there exactly where you think they are guys can kind of start trying to do too much and so that the thing I said to him was just continue to trust them and uh it's going to open up they're going to get it going up front and they did so um props the cam for continuing to press it and doing a good job running the ball thanks Josh second player coming short go straight to question Johnny Johnny new system I guess this your first first evaluation how you guys did tonight um thought we played hard and I thought we played physical for sure we got to clean up the penalties though I mean we were given a lot to to their team and uh you know we knew they like to do draw we like they like certain things and we're letting them letting them do it so we got to be a little bit more disciplined but I'm really proud of the guys for how physical they played and how hard they played and you know I don't think there's too many busts which is you know critical for a new defense but we got to clean up the the penalties and disciplin stuff for sure what did you see on that first drive which was very confusing I guys did a great job of you know making Stanford playoff schedule there was a loss and the next thing you know they in the inside I think it goes down to discipline there's penalties I mean we're just laying people out when the balls s out of bounds stuff like that I'm like guys what are we doing let's get off the field here you know giving them stuff um but hey it happens in the first game we got out with a win uh I really liked how physical played that first drive like we were you know banging heads and then we just shoot ourselves in the foot dramatically so we got to we got to clean that up but hey we W that's all that matters what what did you think about ashon Daniels obviously he did break a couple runs against you guys can you maybe just talk about some of those plays and what need to be cleaned up yeah I thought he was fast I knew he was fast cuz when you turn on the film you don't see many people you know getting sacks on him even though there's a lot of pressures uh so he definitely knows how to work in the pocket roll out I know I had a bust on a a blitz and I was so mad at myself but hey you know he's a competitor he can run he can roll and uh wishing him the best but you know we prepared for it we got to focus more obviously because you know we're really ready for the draw and then there's a couple draws that we let him get loose so um guess we're going have to go over that more but uh I think he's a very good for what's to come in the Big 12 you know there's a lot of really athletic quarterbacks so it's nice to start with an offense like that that has preach snap motion and runs a couple tricky things that are different and uh you know having a Bell cow like him who can take hits and run so how big were Marcel and Cooper for you guys tonight uh Marcel Cooper and Devon I mean it's like a little three-headed monster there you know Marcel's figuring out the plays getting better each week and we already know what he can do when he blitzes right and then Cooper and Devon they're just you know MERS strike snatch hitting guards doing the Dirty Work and uh really really fortunate they they all came here and they're really going to help out our defense GI you know obviously makes the clean up but 10 tackles for loss four sacks we heard a lot about the chaos and the pressure this defense could bring did you feel like that was a big part of your success especially in the second half oh for sure for sure we were definitely bringing uh pressure but I think what it comes down to is just effort and we played hard you know when when you do the best you can usually good things happen so we played hard we played physical we shot ourselves in a foot a bunch but hey we did get a lot of pressure a lot of tfls that sort of thing and uh there's some stuff we can clean up but if we can clean it up we're going to be a pretty good defense so from a mental I guess from a mental standpoint are you encouraged you guys were able to kind of over overcome those mistakes and not get maybe upset like be last year yeah uh I'm I'm really proud of the guys for not folding you know we came ready for a six minute fight and we had to fight for the whole game so there was times when it was looking Bleak and we were shooting ourselves in the foot and they were up and I just you know felt on the sidelines we were all like hey we got this let's just keep fighting chipping away good things are going to happen when you play hard and uh that's exactly what happened whereas last year I I don't think we probably would have come out here with the l two more questions uh Johnny this is an amination of new Big 12 also the ACC Stanford uh it's 2 a.m. in right now um just now we're about 3 2 a.m. what was different tonight you know how are you seeing the new landscape um what did you experience tonight that's you know unusual based on these new you know configurations I mean I guess a Texas team wouldn't be coming to the West Coast very often but this is you know technically preseason right like before conference play um but it it definitely is going to help us in the long run cuz we're playing teams like Utah away you know team different time zones so uh fortunately our staff our strength staff and our coaches really handled the time change well like none of us were you know Dre or anything like that but uh you know college kids are going have to start acting like professionals be able to change time zones and be able to play on you know Skip of a beat so it's definitely preparing us Johnny in the past linebackers were kind of the communicators for the defense Jamal Johnson was wearing the headset tonight what did you think of of him taking on that responsibility and how did that work for you guys uh I thought he did great I think it really helps with when the secondary has it cuz it it helps them clean up stuff in the coverage you know what I mean and the coverage is tough you have a bunch of motions you have a bunch of you know XYZ and uh as a linebacker like I said the front but I don't have to do coverage stuff so when you have the defensive coordinator year who has a aerial VI who can help them but he did a tremendous job not only did he do a job of communicating but you know that's his first game he's a red Shir freshman right so he did a phenomenal job coming in playing hard laying the boom and on top of that he communicated he's has a really bright feature and uh you know it's my neighbor so I really I really like him as it is that is that right just having aalos in the booth what was that like that's different than what you guys experienced last couple years right um it it doesn't make much of a difference for me you know he's not my position coach if he was my position coach it' probably be a little awkward a little weird except like his like you know voice in my ear but uh you know we have a signal caller changes all the time and uh it it didn't really mean much much to me but it was nice to have a you know up top so you know safeties and linebackers they could communicate to us what to be ready for thanks