Here are the highlights of Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando’s media availability after Tuesday’s practice:
--- When asked about Kansas running back Pooka Williams Jr., Orlando described him as electric. Orlando said Williams knows how to set up an inside run, but head to the outside. In addition, Orlando’s praised the acceleration of Williams.
--- Orlando said having the same group of guys on the field against Iowa State was one contributing factor to the defensive success: “We got into a game, and it wasn’t shuffle the deck. This guy is in, so, let’s not do this. This guy is over here. This guy is going to struggle. We just played ball, and we just went. It was good to see our guys cut it loose. I thought it was a better tackling game. We talked about this before, the run game, the turnover game, and the third-down game, which we struggled in the past three weeks prior to this game. We got all three of those accomplished, which led to the results.”
--- Orlando said the young players filling in for safety Brandon Jones have done a good job, but they are getting beat up after a ballpark guess of 900 reps of regular-season football, and 1500 in practice. He said it is wearing on those guys, but they are battling through it. Overall, Orlando is proud of them.
--- Orlando believes his unit successfully pressured Iowa State’s quarterback by forcing the Cyclones to lose yards, which set up third-and-long: “We’ve been in so many intermediate third-downs, like four, six and six (yards), even when you pressure somebody, they can throw the ball out of their hands because they can get to the sticks and turn around. It [pass rush] really doesn’t get there.”
--- B.J. Foster has been working at the Joker position, according to Orlando. He likes Foster to monitor running backs, or blitz.
--- Orlando believes his team missed only four tackles against Iowa State.
--- Orlando said Kansas quarterback Peyton Bender is very efficient, and hard to pressure. Bender does not take too many sacks, according to Orlando. His goal is to corral Bender on Friday.
--- When asked what his message is to players about facing Kansas, Orlando said it is all about his team’s preparation: “Our motto, and Herm’s motto, has always been the games are won or loss on the five days of preparation. Once you get done, if you say to yourself, you practiced well, you did things the right way, I think the chips fall where they may on Friday morning. I thought yesterday’s practice was good. I thought today’s practice was good. We’ll see how we do in the next couple of days, but it’s always been about us. This is uncharted territory for this program, unfortunately, in 10 years, and then you start talking about what we can do. Like Bill Belichick with Seattle. It’s Kansas. It’s Kansas. That’s all we’re going to say, and that’s all we’re going to talk about. For us, it’s been about us. The games that we did not perform well, to me, those games are lost during the practice time when we didn’t execute in a high matter, we weren't tough enough in practice. You get the results of what you practice. That’s the biggest thing we try to preach to our guys.”
--- Orlando said described Joseph Ossai as a player with a long body, quick twitch, and is very powerful. Orlando said the next step is getting Ossai comfortable to the point where he knows this defense inside and out. Orlando said, “I’m really proud of that guy, just the way that he works at the game. He works at it harder than any other freshman that we have. Even when you’re talking about Caden [Sterns], and you’re talking about B.J., those guys that are really working the film room. He’s right there with them. Obviously, I talked about him a couple of weeks ago. He needs to be out on the field more. We’ll get him out there.”
--- When asked about Kansas running back Pooka Williams Jr., Orlando described him as electric. Orlando said Williams knows how to set up an inside run, but head to the outside. In addition, Orlando’s praised the acceleration of Williams.
--- Orlando said having the same group of guys on the field against Iowa State was one contributing factor to the defensive success: “We got into a game, and it wasn’t shuffle the deck. This guy is in, so, let’s not do this. This guy is over here. This guy is going to struggle. We just played ball, and we just went. It was good to see our guys cut it loose. I thought it was a better tackling game. We talked about this before, the run game, the turnover game, and the third-down game, which we struggled in the past three weeks prior to this game. We got all three of those accomplished, which led to the results.”
--- Orlando said the young players filling in for safety Brandon Jones have done a good job, but they are getting beat up after a ballpark guess of 900 reps of regular-season football, and 1500 in practice. He said it is wearing on those guys, but they are battling through it. Overall, Orlando is proud of them.
--- Orlando believes his unit successfully pressured Iowa State’s quarterback by forcing the Cyclones to lose yards, which set up third-and-long: “We’ve been in so many intermediate third-downs, like four, six and six (yards), even when you pressure somebody, they can throw the ball out of their hands because they can get to the sticks and turn around. It [pass rush] really doesn’t get there.”
--- B.J. Foster has been working at the Joker position, according to Orlando. He likes Foster to monitor running backs, or blitz.
--- Orlando believes his team missed only four tackles against Iowa State.
--- Orlando said Kansas quarterback Peyton Bender is very efficient, and hard to pressure. Bender does not take too many sacks, according to Orlando. His goal is to corral Bender on Friday.
--- When asked what his message is to players about facing Kansas, Orlando said it is all about his team’s preparation: “Our motto, and Herm’s motto, has always been the games are won or loss on the five days of preparation. Once you get done, if you say to yourself, you practiced well, you did things the right way, I think the chips fall where they may on Friday morning. I thought yesterday’s practice was good. I thought today’s practice was good. We’ll see how we do in the next couple of days, but it’s always been about us. This is uncharted territory for this program, unfortunately, in 10 years, and then you start talking about what we can do. Like Bill Belichick with Seattle. It’s Kansas. It’s Kansas. That’s all we’re going to say, and that’s all we’re going to talk about. For us, it’s been about us. The games that we did not perform well, to me, those games are lost during the practice time when we didn’t execute in a high matter, we weren't tough enough in practice. You get the results of what you practice. That’s the biggest thing we try to preach to our guys.”
--- Orlando said described Joseph Ossai as a player with a long body, quick twitch, and is very powerful. Orlando said the next step is getting Ossai comfortable to the point where he knows this defense inside and out. Orlando said, “I’m really proud of that guy, just the way that he works at the game. He works at it harder than any other freshman that we have. Even when you’re talking about Caden [Sterns], and you’re talking about B.J., those guys that are really working the film room. He’s right there with them. Obviously, I talked about him a couple of weeks ago. He needs to be out on the field more. We’ll get him out there.”
