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TRANSCRIPT: Matt Rhule press conference before a trip to take on OU

September 24, 2018
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Opening statement …
“I appreciate you all for being here. First of all, I am proud of our team. On Saturday the guys came out and put together a good first half. I am really proud of our defense and how they flew around and did a bunch of good things, like created some negatives had a fourth quarter shut out and bounced back from tremendous adversity when the young man had the long run. We had some big-time efforts in the game. Chris Miller was special in the game, he flew from sideline to sideline making a bunch of great plays and I thought Grayland Arnold’s play on fourth down was a game defining play and it allowed us to have a chance to win. I am pleased with the fact we were able to get to the quarterback, we finished with four sacks and we did a tremendous job with different looks and Phil called a great game. Pleased with our defense and how Charlie handled the game on third down. We have to cut down on the penalties, it’s going to be hard to win going forward with three facemask penalties. I’m excited about the opportunity we have this week and go to Norman and play the defending Big 12 champions.”

On defending Kyler Murray…
“He is dynamic in the run game. OU has a very good power football run game but he is also capable of pulling the ball and making explosive runs. He is also a tremendous passer, so we have to keep him in the pocket and we have to rush him or else he will get out of the pocket and make plays. He has been a tremendous player his whole life. He will be a tremendous test defensively along with the rest of their offense.”

 On the impact of Grayland Arnold’s play…
“It was a critical play. We always show the guys plays like that. It all about who makes the big play when the game is on the line. After the game I got some texts from some football people that I really trust, and they kept telling me how well the defense moved around and how they played physical. It really just backs up that if you practice hard it will show up in the game. But Grayland was practicing hard and being physical all week long and it showed up on Saturday.”

On the effect of moving the defensive line around…
“Well we have to move them around because we are little short on guys at that position. We have had a few guys hurt so to make up for that we have had to shift guys inside to make sure we have our best players on the field and make sure we give the offense a bunch of different looks. We want to be a defense that people have a hard time figuring out what we are doing. Having guys with versatility is helpful. We just have to make sure those guys keep up the physicality to make sure we play well up front.”

On the confidence from the guys who played OU last year…
“I always try to tell the guys that we cannot control the other team. We can control ourselves and how we play, and we just have to focus on playing well. We just have to play well. Regardless of who we play we have to come out and give our best effort. We just have to worry about us and go out and play with tremendous energy and passion.”

On Terrel Bernard’s play…
“He is playing both WLB and MIKE spots for us, so we can get him some more reps. He is an old school throwback football player. He has instincts and toughness and he has really good discipline. He will become a really good football player since he is a redshirt freshman and can play two positions in this defense. I think he will be a single digit guy the way he carries himself and plays football.”

On the play of James Lynch...

"I think he's probably one of the better players in the Big 12 right now, in terms of production. He's also versatile, plays inside, plays outside, gets to the quarterback, produces; he's just got a natural slithery-ness to him, I call it. He doesn't ever complain. He just likes to play football. He's produced a lot for us, which has been really good."

On the holding penalties...

"We haven't had very many this year. You go back and watch the tape, there were a lot of guys giving great effort, almost too much. I think a lot of it comes down to confidence, just keep getting better, getting our hands inside, moving our feet and trusting ourselves and trusting our technique. I was really pleased with a lot of things we did on the offensive line in the first half, really pleased with our effort. We'll just keep coaching it and understanding that as long as the effort's there, we'll coach through mistakes."

On the running game progressing...

"I thought we did a lot of significantly better things, but holds really hurt us. We had some good runs called back because of holds. Kansas did a good job, they sold out to stop the run. I think we'll continue to get better. We've faced four unique defenses and now we'll face another one. I think we're getting better, but by no means are we where we need to be. We need to get a lot better, but I think we're making progress. We've got to get a little more consistent, a little more on track, to run the football better."

On Charlie Brewer showing more emotion...

"Charlie's kind of a quiet guy. He's stoic, but he likes to play. I thanked him after the game on Saturday, he really put his body on the line a lot. He ran the football. We had some designed runs where he got hit, I'd love for him to slide, he's not always doing that. But he's a competitor, he's a winner. I think as time progresses, you'll see more and more of his personality come out."

On Xavier Newman's injury affecting the offensive line...

"It's not what we want. Xavier is becoming a really good player. We have Pat Lawrence who can play tackle and guard, we have Johncarlo [Valentin] that can play tackle and guard, we have Christian Beard who started the year for us. We're working on it right now in terms of what we're going to do, game plan wise. You don't like it anytime you don't have a starter. Hopefully Josh Malin will be back either this week or next so we have a little more depth, but Xavier has played a lot of football for us, so someone will have to step up."

On if he can use anything Army did against Oklahoma...

"They're just so different. It's just like two yards, then three yards. They want to keep you off the field. I think they had 45 minutes time of possession and it's just this stifling feeling. Every possession is valuable. I don't think we're built like that. You'd love to go out there and slow the game down, keep their offense off the field, but that's not where we are right now. We'll have to go out there and just be us. Army limits mistakes and that's how they win. I thought that was a key for us last game. Army is built to keep that great Oklahoma offense off the field and I'm not sure that we're really wired for that."

On being able to communicate on the road with a loud crowd...

"I think that game [at UTSA] showed us some areas we can improve, but I think we try to make those improvements right away. We tried to be a little simpler last week. We wanted to Josh Fleeks on the field, get Tyquan [Thornton] playing and maybe we'll limit a little of what we do to make the communication easy and just go out there and play. It's great to go on the road, to go out and play Big 12 games on the road. We want to eliminate things that can cause mistakes and let our guys go play."

On if there's a conversation that needs to be had before the first conference road game...

"I'll always talk about process and it being about us. The whole goal, the chance to win Big 12 games is to play really well. We'll try to make sure that our guys understand, let's hold on to the football, let's not have mistakes, let's eliminate penalties, let's catch the football with confidence, let's go play well. When you go on the road, that's a distraction, but at the end of the day in between the white lines it's the same. We'll eliminate those distractions of doubt and fear of failure and crowd noise and scoreboard and just go play. Make it football and just go play."

On Xavier Newman's injury...

"Not sure [how long he'll be out]. It's not broken, but a high ankle sprain. Those things depend on the guy. Some guys would be out for a while, some would be back next week. Just depends on how it heels. Obviously, we'll be careful and smart with him, because we don't want anything long term with him."

On balancing Jalen Hurd between wide receiver and running back...

"Really no balance, we have great backs but he's 220 pounds. We've just been trying to use him in short yardage, goal line. He's such a team guy, he'll do whatever you need him to do. He hasn't done it in a while, so kind of getting him back in the swing of it here and there. We think JaMycal [Hasty] is a big time back and [John] Lovett is a big time back and Trestan [Ebner] is a big time back and Abram [Smith] we have a lot of confidence in. When he gets his chance he's going to be good and wait until you guys see Sqwirl [Craig Williams]. When you need that tough yard, just [Hurd's] size alone, if he just falls forward it might get us an extra yard. If we get down to the goal line, we might put Jalen in there and see what he can do."

On if Baylor has any wishbone plays...

"We've been running a little bit of triple option here and there. We ran a couple last week. But, I don't think [Oklahoma] is going to be too worried about that from us after seeing it last week with Army."

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TRANSCRIPT: Matt Rhule press conference before a trip to take on OU

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