Mack Brown met with the media on Monday for his usual Monday press conference ahead of the unranked Texas Longhorns Thanksgiving Day tilt with Texas Tech. Â The following are quotes obtained from Brown.
Brown said he was excited about game, but stressed to players that it is senior night. Also told the team they are the only team in America which gets to play a home game every year on Thanksgiving. Need to play better if they want to keep it that way.
Brown said the team has had good practices since last game, and will practice in bubble due to the storm conditions today.
Brown officially announced QB David Ash is out for the year, and will return in the spring. Ash will also apply for a medical redshirt. Later said Ash is excited about coming back. He looks good, throwing ball, and is standing out there at practice. Brown is sure he will get his year back and have two great seasons at Texas.
Brown specifically noted Kent Perkins working at 1st team right tackle in a battle with Kennedy Estelle to see who will start. Mentioned there is a chance Josh Cochran may play this week.
Brown said Texas Tech leads nation in passing, and is back to the Mike Leach days. Said Kliff Kingsbury has done a gream job and Texas Tech may throw 70 passes. The Red Raiders have seven seniors starting on defense, and this is an important game for both teams. Brown also spoke about how important it was for everyone to show up for the senior day ceremonies.
On QB Case McCoy, Brown said he has done a bunch of great things for us and won games late. Brown did mentioned McCoy needs to scramble more and make bigger plays. He knows McCoy wants to finish this right and win the conference. Brown also said a lot of people have doubted McCoy and hes stayed the course. Says his biggest moment was beating Texas A&M.
When asked about the Red Raiders quarterbacks, Brown said all three are accurate, all are good, and Kliff Kingsbury is a great teacher. They are very productive, and speaking about Michael Brewer and Baker Mayfield, Brown said too much credit is given to system at Lake Travis High School (assuming he meant for producing system quarterbcaks). Brown said Mayfield and Brewer are both great.
On the Air Raid Offense, Brown says this version looks the same to him as it did in 2002 when Kingsbury was the quarterback under Mike Leach. When asked to compare to Kevin Sumlin’s version, Brown said he has not studied Kevin Sumlin that much since hes never coached against him. Also said everyone is learning its difficult to play everyone in your conference.
On the loss to Oklahoma State, said the team was very disappointed. Mentioned the kicking game was poor, and Texas didnt do what was needed to win the game. Everyone understands Texas we missed a great chance but have to move forward and believes the team has done so. Expects to play great Thursday night.
Brown on the suspensions of Daje Johnson and Chet Moss for team rules violations, said it was tough on the team, but has to show there are rules. Johnson may come back next week as long as he is doing what he needs to do this week. Â Moss is out for year after having surgery on this thumb. The staff does have some things they are looking at for Jalen Overstreet due to suspension and injury to Johnathan Gray.
