Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford spoke to the media on Wednesday, and here are the highlights from his press conference:
- Here is Bedford’s assessment of the team’s defensive performance: “The key we look at was this. In the fourth quarter, we had three series that totaled 19 yards, and two of them were three-and-outs, and we got the ball back for our offense. I talked about it last week, our first two years here, the attitude would have been such when we got down, I don’t think we could have came back. That attitude right now is the entire team believes in each other. They like each other, they care for each other. What you saw was a full team win on Sunday. There’s no doubt that in the third quarter we stunk. We didn’t do a good job. But you go to the fourth quarter, the guys did a good job.” In addition, Bedford said his team needs to be more consistent in the third quarter.
- One of Bedford’s biggest concerns is his unit becoming more consistent and defending the pass this season. Bedford wanted Notre Dame to pass, which occurred, but his team did not consistently defend the ball well.
- Bedford gave his defense a “C” for their performance on Sunday.
- Chris Nelson, Poona Ford, Paul Boyette and Charles Omenihu were praised by Bedford for battling against an NFL caliber offensive line on Sunday. Bedford said they did not get pushed around by Notre Dame.
- Bedford said spread offenses make it hard for defenses to shut down opponents: “If you look at the last three years in college football, it’s totally different. You have maybe 60 to 70 percent of the teams in spread. If you look at the offensive production the past three years compared to six or seven years ago, it isn’t even close. They spread you out. Everything is one-on-one tackle in space, and nobody is holding anything down.” However, Bedford said, “Part of our job is to find ways to stop them.”
- Nelson is a bigger version of Ford, according to Bedford (by a half inch): “You have two fireplugs. They’re good technicians. They work hard in practice every single day, and they take coach (Brick) Haley’s coaching to the practice field. I think we have two outstanding undersized defensive linemen. They do the little things right. We expect things (from) Chris and Paul.”
- When asked if Texas has more speed on defense this year than in previous seasons, Bedford said he had a lot of talent in year one. Right now, he has a young and talented team. He did say there is enough speed and athleticism to recover from big plays if his team gets in trouble.
- Bedford believes his team should be ranked 50th instead of being ranked 11th. He said Texas beat a really good football team that lost several players to the NFL. In his mind, Texas is 1-0. His biggest concern is stopping UTEP running back Aaron Jones, who rushed for 249 yards in a win against New Mexico State this past week: “I don’t care who you’re going against, he rushed for 249 yards. He’s 215 pounds, he’s wide, he’s quick, he runs downhill. He rushed for 249 yards. That’s all I could think about last night when I woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning. How are we going slow this cat down?"
- Bedford said because he likes to pressure the quarterback, teams will throw screen passes against his defense, which is what occurred on Sunday. He said Kansas State did the same thing.
- Texas safety Dylan Haines is currently day-to-day, according to Bedford. He attended practice on Tuesday, but did not participate.
- Bedford praised safety Kevin Vaccaro, safety Jason Hall and cornerback Sheroid Evans for their performances against Notre Dame. However, here is Bedford’s assessment of Davante Davis: “Davante, he was inconsistent. He got that fade route on the sixth play of the game for a touchdown. As a defensive back, you have to knock that off your shoulders. Deion Sanders got beat, but he didn’t worry about it. That’s the biggest thing you have to get to. You’re going to get beat. So what? Want to be a good defensive back? You move onto the next play. That’s something I continue to stress with our young defensive backs.”
- Kris Boyd had cramps, which is why he was not on the field against Notre Dame. Boyd will play this weekend, according to Bedford.
- Bedford on Jordan Elliott playing defensive end: “We moved Jordan Elliott outside somewhere around the second week of a two-a day camp. He likes it out there on the edge. On one play, even though he’s a freshman and 315 pounds, he hit one of those offensive tackles and knocked him back 5-yards. He doesn’t know how good he can be. He has the potential, which is a dangerous word, to be an extremely good football player, a dominant defensive lineman. He’s not there right now, but once he wakes up, and starts believing the things we say to him, he can be really special. Hopefully, sooner than later. That means this season.”
- Texas had around 14 missed tackles, according to Bedford.
- Bedford said linebacker Anthony Wheeler played well, but struggled in the passing game. However, Bedford said Wheeler was on every special teams play, and added the staff needs to discuss taking away some of those reps to keep him fresh.
- Here is Bedford’s assessment of the team’s defensive performance: “The key we look at was this. In the fourth quarter, we had three series that totaled 19 yards, and two of them were three-and-outs, and we got the ball back for our offense. I talked about it last week, our first two years here, the attitude would have been such when we got down, I don’t think we could have came back. That attitude right now is the entire team believes in each other. They like each other, they care for each other. What you saw was a full team win on Sunday. There’s no doubt that in the third quarter we stunk. We didn’t do a good job. But you go to the fourth quarter, the guys did a good job.” In addition, Bedford said his team needs to be more consistent in the third quarter.
- One of Bedford’s biggest concerns is his unit becoming more consistent and defending the pass this season. Bedford wanted Notre Dame to pass, which occurred, but his team did not consistently defend the ball well.
- Bedford gave his defense a “C” for their performance on Sunday.
- Chris Nelson, Poona Ford, Paul Boyette and Charles Omenihu were praised by Bedford for battling against an NFL caliber offensive line on Sunday. Bedford said they did not get pushed around by Notre Dame.
- Bedford said spread offenses make it hard for defenses to shut down opponents: “If you look at the last three years in college football, it’s totally different. You have maybe 60 to 70 percent of the teams in spread. If you look at the offensive production the past three years compared to six or seven years ago, it isn’t even close. They spread you out. Everything is one-on-one tackle in space, and nobody is holding anything down.” However, Bedford said, “Part of our job is to find ways to stop them.”
- Nelson is a bigger version of Ford, according to Bedford (by a half inch): “You have two fireplugs. They’re good technicians. They work hard in practice every single day, and they take coach (Brick) Haley’s coaching to the practice field. I think we have two outstanding undersized defensive linemen. They do the little things right. We expect things (from) Chris and Paul.”
- When asked if Texas has more speed on defense this year than in previous seasons, Bedford said he had a lot of talent in year one. Right now, he has a young and talented team. He did say there is enough speed and athleticism to recover from big plays if his team gets in trouble.
- Bedford believes his team should be ranked 50th instead of being ranked 11th. He said Texas beat a really good football team that lost several players to the NFL. In his mind, Texas is 1-0. His biggest concern is stopping UTEP running back Aaron Jones, who rushed for 249 yards in a win against New Mexico State this past week: “I don’t care who you’re going against, he rushed for 249 yards. He’s 215 pounds, he’s wide, he’s quick, he runs downhill. He rushed for 249 yards. That’s all I could think about last night when I woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning. How are we going slow this cat down?"
- Bedford said because he likes to pressure the quarterback, teams will throw screen passes against his defense, which is what occurred on Sunday. He said Kansas State did the same thing.
- Texas safety Dylan Haines is currently day-to-day, according to Bedford. He attended practice on Tuesday, but did not participate.
- Bedford praised safety Kevin Vaccaro, safety Jason Hall and cornerback Sheroid Evans for their performances against Notre Dame. However, here is Bedford’s assessment of Davante Davis: “Davante, he was inconsistent. He got that fade route on the sixth play of the game for a touchdown. As a defensive back, you have to knock that off your shoulders. Deion Sanders got beat, but he didn’t worry about it. That’s the biggest thing you have to get to. You’re going to get beat. So what? Want to be a good defensive back? You move onto the next play. That’s something I continue to stress with our young defensive backs.”
- Kris Boyd had cramps, which is why he was not on the field against Notre Dame. Boyd will play this weekend, according to Bedford.
- Bedford on Jordan Elliott playing defensive end: “We moved Jordan Elliott outside somewhere around the second week of a two-a day camp. He likes it out there on the edge. On one play, even though he’s a freshman and 315 pounds, he hit one of those offensive tackles and knocked him back 5-yards. He doesn’t know how good he can be. He has the potential, which is a dangerous word, to be an extremely good football player, a dominant defensive lineman. He’s not there right now, but once he wakes up, and starts believing the things we say to him, he can be really special. Hopefully, sooner than later. That means this season.”
- Texas had around 14 missed tackles, according to Bedford.
- Bedford said linebacker Anthony Wheeler played well, but struggled in the passing game. However, Bedford said Wheeler was on every special teams play, and added the staff needs to discuss taking away some of those reps to keep him fresh.
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