Mack Brown Game Quotations

Nobody in the country is better with the game on the line than Vince Young because he loves the high stakes, he loves the competition, and it's just amazing to me. I was afraid he was going to score too fast ? 19 seconds was a stretch there at the end. Last year (in the Rose Bowl) we got it to none.

One of the things we like so much about the team right now is that since the Missouri game last year, this team has finished better. We've played in the fourth quarters better than any team I have been associated with in my coaching career.

Now we have a chance to accomplish the things that this game has cost us over the years.

Let's shut it up and kick it off and let people enjoy the game. Hopefully, both teams will play well enough that the game lives up to the hype because sometimes they don't.

When you're a football player at the University of Texas and you're playing in the national championship game the players understand the scrutiny is going to be a little more than usual. I think we'll handle it.

I would think we're much more ready to throw the ball in this game than we were last year.

For whatever reason, we got off to a bad start with the extra points. He's never kicked in a game before.

Our fans have been able to enjoy a national title game again. ... Now, they'll want to enjoy one every year, and that's OK. We expect to be at the Fiesta Bowl playing for the national title next year.

I think he's the story in this game that nobody is talking about.

You don't belong in a game like this if you don't feel good about yourself and walk with a swagger. If you think you can be stopped, this isn't the place for you.

Usually the coach of the year is the guy that overcame something. We didn't overcome anything. We just won a big game at the end and we hadn't been doing that. For Joe to do what he's done over the last few years and turn his program completely around is really, really special. I don't think there's any question he's deserving of this award.

That was a killer. It was early enough in the game that it shouldn't have been so big.

When we got up to 60 points with five minutes left to go in the third quarter, and with what some of those kids have been through the last week, I thought we needed to get the game over with as soon as we could and let them get home and not try to ruin their season. Some of those kids haven't heard from all of their family members.

We felt like last year was great preparation for this year. I'm in the same room in the same hotel with the same manager at the same practice field. There are a few more (media) here than there were last year. ... It's the same game with more stakes.

When you take a devastating loss, it can wear on you. I do think that'll be their point for this week. That was such a huge game for them last year and they let it slip.

Duane started as our defensive backs coach and has become more and more involved with the defense each year. Since he moved into the co-coordinator spot last year, he has played a key role in developing game plans and preparing one of the most successful defenses in the country.

We're the only two teams playing out of 119. It's the only two undefeated teams in the country. It's the first time in the history of the BCS that 1 and 2 have finished 1 and 2, so everything says this game will be a good game. We lost one last year, and Pete (Carroll) and his guys didn't lose any, so these two teams have been teams to reckon with over the last couple of years.

When you have as many things happen bad as have happened the last few years, I thought that was one thing they had to overcome, ... And they did that, they overcame the talk about the turnovers in the game and their inability to run or stop the run.

We've got a chance to be really good and we haven't played near our best game yet. We told our guys we can play much better than this and we'll have to continue to grow as a team, but the fun thing is were 4-0 and we don't think we've scratched the surface.

They're staying at home. They're practicing at SC. They were in the game two years ago. They play in this stadium every other year with UCLA's home game, and they'll have a lot of familiarity with the game itself since they played in the (Orange Bowl) last year.

This game has kept us from having a chance to go forward, ... That's why this game is important, that we can keep working and keep growing.

If you cannot have your best game out there and still score 52 points, that just shows you this team has a chance to be really special,

If you don't play your best game and you are still able to score 52 points, you know you have a special team out there.

That has to be as good a college football game as there could be. Texas and Michigan should come down to the last two seconds.

Their families are obviously in our thoughts and prayers, and it sounds like New Orleans is really in a mess. We're going to focus on the game and get ready to play.

They did not have Bobby Reid the last two weeks, and we think they'll have him back. He can make a lot of plays. Turnovers have killed them the last three weeks. When you're playing a team like that it scares you. If they fix their turnover problems, it puts you in a tough spot in a tight game on the road.

It will add some anticipation and excitement for the spring game. We'd love to see those two compete in the spring game in front of a full house, in a game setting, because they're going to be in that.

It helped us understand that all of the hype around the game is totally unimportant unless you enjoy it. Don't fight it and don't get nervous about it: enjoy it. I had a great time the week of the Ohio State game. I had never been to that stadium and I was like a kid walking in there like a fan. It was fun for our group to have all the odds against us because that doesn't happen very much for us. And that's where we are again. We've earned the right to be here but the odds are against us. And that's a good position for us to be in.

It was a fun week and a great game. The difference in that and our last game with Michigan was we could enjoy that one for six months. Now we've got to go back to work this week, and look forward to Rice coming in, and stop talking about Ohio State.

They've made the plays to win the game and we haven't.

This is a great test for us and a great challenge for the Big 12 and Big Ten conferences. You have to enjoy a game that matches two teams where Woody Hayes and Darrell Royal once coached, and there's a ton of tradition there.

This is a great game for college football. It's a game that every college football fan will watch, and because of that, I think everyone has really embraced it. This isn't a week for a weak guy. You'd better walk with a swagger.

They know it. They can count. These juniors and seniors have lost one game in two years. It's something to be proud of.

It will be a fun game for college football. The buildup started in early spring.

It was really surreal, when you're sitting there in the fourth quarter and you're down by two scores to a team who had won 34 straight game and still think you're going to win. We never ever really thought we would lose the ballgame.

This team continues to impress us as a staff. Our guys were excited about this game. But we are still a work in progress and we have the ability to play much better than we have yet. If you don't play your best game and you are still able to score 52 points, you know you have a special team out there. This is such a great win for the Longhorns.

This team has shown the ability to put an exciting win behind them, ... This will be the biggest test of getting them back and getting them ready to go because there will be less attention in this game (Oklahoma State) than there was the last three. I think they're enjoying the ride. We told them that you don't get into this position that many times in your lifetime, so you really need to enjoy it.

We were one game away from playing Miami for the national championship.

I don't think this team hasn't played its best game yet, and that's the exciting thing, sitting here 5-0, ... We can improve in so many areas, and that's why I think we've got a chance to be special before the year is over, just as long as we keep growing and don't get complacent.