California Head Coach Sonny Dykes
Opening Statement:
"Hell of a ball game. I want to give Texas a lot of credit for playing the way they played and battling back. It shows that they have what it takes to become a good football team, and I think all the fans should be proud of the effort they put forth. I am really proud of our guys and our effort down the stretch. Darius White blocked the extra point, and that was the game-winner for us. I told all our guys that every play was going to matter in this game, and the extra point is usually an insignificant play until someone makes a play like that. Give Jerrod Heard a lot of credit. He put on a show, had (163) yards rushing and put them back in the ball game, but we were fortunate enough to win."

On not closing out the game:
"We needed to make some first downs is what we needed. We needed one first down to seal the ball game, and we couldn't get it. We dropped a pass, which we talked about leading up to the game. If we wanted to run the clock out on the game, we were going to stay aggressive. Steven Anderson dropped it, and he has the best hands in the world, so I'm not unhappy with the way it turned out. Darius White made a great play and here we are."

On getting a signature win:
"We are 3-0. We get to play a game next week; and if we win that, then we will be 4-0. Anytime you get the chance to play in front of a crowd of 100,000 people, and you hang out and figure out a way to win, that shows you have a lot of character. I am just proud of the way our guys hung in there, and if the game went into overtime, I was confident of what we would do in overtime. It was a heck of a ball game."

On third quarter success:
"We had a nice little run. I think we scored the last 10 in (the first half and) the first 21 and were on a 31-0 run at one point. We executed and got some stops defensively. There were plays to be made out there, we just needed to do that. Once we settled down and just started, we were able to make some plays, especially in the third quarter."

On QB Jared Goff:
"He played well. He figures out ways to make plays. He did a good job taking care of the ball. It was a frustrating first half. We were our own worst enemy in the first half. But Jared [Goff] just keeps believing and does what he is coached to do. Our players have a lot of confidence in him."

Jared Goff
On coming from behind:
"We play better from behind. I don't know why that is. It probably shouldn't be that way, but sometimes that's the way it goes, so when we saw we were behind, it didn't really phase us, not with this group. The defense made big plays, and we got some momentum, and we were able to capitalize on it."

On the blocked extra point:
"At first I thought it was like the Arizona game; and then they were saying they missed it. I still didn't believe it; and then the refs made the call, and that was it. Unbelievable."

On upsetting Texas at home:
"It's a big win, obviously. You go on the road to a Power 5 team, and you get a team like Texas who's traditionally a good team, it's a huge win. We played ourselves into that one-point win; and if we played as well as we should have, it probably should have been a 21-point win. At the end of the day a missed field goal is a lucky way to end it, but at the end of the day, I think we deserved the win."

Vic Enwere
On the game being a homecoming:
"It was a very fun homecoming. There was a lot of emotion in it, but we came out to win, and it was a great feeling."

On the running backs:
"We practice every day. All of us just have to be ready when our number's called. It really wasn't very much as far as the conversation that changed. We all have been prepared like we are going to start the game, and we have been doing that since the day all of us got here. So there wasn't too much conversation, we were just ready to play."

On knowing that UT might give up a lot of yards based on the past two games:
"We came in knowing that we had a chance to win the ball. We played our game, the fundamentals that we have. We knew coming in that we had the opportunity to win the football."

On the offensive line:
"I can't praise those guys enough. There are not enough words in the English dictionary that I can say to show my gratitude. They really fight every play, every down, and that means so much to me. Hats off to them. All the praise they can get, they deserve it."

On how many friends and family came to support tonight:
"I couldn't even tell you. A lot of people came out and supported. My immediate family came, high school coaches. Everybody was here."

Darius White
On the blocked extra point:
"I was just lined up with the field goal blocking up, I went a hundred percent like I do every play. I block them. I tip them."

On the details of the blocked extra point:
"A little bit because we were watching film on the team, and we saw that the edge wasn't as strong as other teams. If we rushed really hard, we could tell that we could get a tip on him [Nick Rose], and that is all I did. Trusting my technique and doing what my coach told me to do.

On the edges they weren't blocking as hard. If we went really hard, really fast, quick, did our job and what we were supposed to do, everything was going to work out. That is all I did."

On the importance of not giving up on that last play:
"It feels really good because that is what our coaches are doing, to never give up, to never quit. That is what we go by every play, and that is what we are going to continue to go by."

Khalfani Muhammad
On his 74-yard run:
"Yeah, that was a phenomenal run. The whole line did an excellent job of opening up the hole. We had Malik McMorris on the block, and it was just right off him for a touchdown."

On it being that open:
"No, we have been working on it all week, so we were pretty confident coming in. We got the play, and I was pretty excited for it. We went out there and just executed."

On where this team is going:
"Today, it was an excellent win. We made a lot of mistakes that we need to fix, so we have a 24-hour celebration rule where we just celebrate for 24 hours. So starting on Sunday, we are going to clean up the mistakes that we made."

On knowing UT had problems stopping the run:
"Yeah, coach told us that this should be a big game for us to come in and rush a lot of yards, but it is a lot easier said than done. We went out there and just executed our game plan, and it was beautiful day for us rushing the ball."

Texas Head Coach Charlie Strong

Opening Statement:
"Well, this one, I'm just so proud of how our team fought back from being 21-down, and they grew up tonight. I can say that about them. When you watch them, they came together and no one had a selfish attitude. They just continued to scratch and get back in the game after being down 21 in the third quarter. Probably the biggest turning point in the game was when we were up by 10, had the momentum going and there was a long run out there right before half and they scored in three plays, and they turned the ball over, and then they get a field goal. Giving up 21 points during the third quarter, that's where we had to battle from 21-down.

But just watching Jerrod and the offense and how they just kept answering and answering and answering, I'm just so happy, and we can learn a lot from this. A lot of growing up tonight, but there was a lot of mistakes out there. We've just got to get those corrected."

On strengthening the defense:
"That's the thing. Everything was gap. You see the one big run and we sit there, and the guy is in the gap, and then he turns back and tried to fight off the defender, but it's all gaps, and we've got to get off of blocks. We've got to hit blocks, get off blocks, and that's where we didn't do a good job tonight. The big runs there, even when you're in zone coverage and the ball breaks the line of scrimmage, you should have enough guys on the line of scrimmage where guys can make the tackle, and we didn't."

On the mistakes by veterans:
"Well, it's just – I can't point out seniors, juniors, freshmen or sophomores. It's a lot of mistakes that were being made, and you're right. When you're young, you have to play, almost just ball, that's mistake free, and those things can't beat you up like they're doing right now."

On if this loss will help turn the corner for Texas:
This one here hurts because you watch our team and you watch Jerrod take off, and there's a minute and 11 and we go and score, and extra point is like automatic. I didn't even look. What I'm saying, I'm on the headset saying, we've got a minute and 11, what are we going to do on defense because we have to stop them. We can't just let them – we've got to get pressure on them. We can't let them drive the ball because we had stopped them the last few times, but I said, now they're going to open it back up so we've got to go stop them. Then I look up and all of a sudden I see one of their players running down the field, and I was like, oh, my God.

I hope this is one that turned the corner for us. I hope this – because when you look at this, it's a lot of mistakes, but they can be corrected; but to watch us play and fight back the way we fought back, that's where more than anything – that 21-down and it could have really gotten away from us, and to watch our guys continue to play and get back into it.

On Jerrod Heard's performance in the fourth quarter:
"Well, you know, you look at it, we were down; and then we take the ball and go and drive it, and now you're down 14. What he can do, they start just rushing three, and he was making the throws, makes the big throw to Daje on an over route, and then once they break down, they start covering so he can get out and then make people miss in the open field.

The last run that he scored the touchdown on was really electric. I mean, you see where he takes off and we called a draw, he makes a wide-out miss and then all of a sudden – an open field is very dangerous. But just watching him, he's exciting, and he has brought the excitement into the team. You watch our whole sideline now when our offense takes the field, our guys are all just locked in. When we went back out there to go and tie the game, they just knew we were going to go out and go tie that game."

On addressing the locker room tonight:
"When I walked in I heard – I heard J-Gray (Johnathan Gray) pull them all together and they were talking, which is really good, and now that they're beginning to take ownership. So with them taking ownership, I think that's going to go a long ways. A lot of guys in there hurting, which is good. That's the first time I've seen guys like that really hurting. Where it hurts is to watch them fight back the way they fought back."

On how Texas will rebound from this loss:
"Well, we have to rebound. We have no choice but to rebound. They'll come back, and it was tough. It was a crushing loss. But they can come back. I know what you saw – what we've seen in the past is that when we get down 21, we end up getting blown out because we don't come back, and now you watch them continue to fight and fight back, fight themselves back into it and they continued to play."

On starting conference play next week against Oklahoma State:
"Yeah, because coming up next week we've got Oklahoma State, and they're a very good football team and they're ranked. We've got to get it back together, and we're coming here tomorrow, and they'll learn from it. There's a lot of mistakes, but you look at it, and we didn't play that well. We didn't play that well on defense. Offensively we turned the ball over twice and we had turnovers, but defensively we didn't play that well. So there's a lot of mistakes and a lot of things we've got to get covered. We've still got a ways to go."

On the kicking game struggle: 
"Well, Nick has been doing well, and for that to happen there, he got the pressure coming from the outside and just mishit it. Just go ahead and kick through it. If anything, the guy may have ran at you when you're ready to kick. I think he just didn't kick through the ball.

And then early in the kicking game, they was trying to kick the ball away from Daje, so once we got it straight, they didn't really give us no good kicks because (Cal) wasn't giving anybody a chance. Even if you watch them, the punts that they had were all from the quarterback because they were not going to allow us to get our return team out on the field.

I just was talking to him, and I said, you've got to get your head up. Mistakes have been made, but it's a mistake that can be corrected."

On the hope this game gives Texas for the rest of season:
"Well, it really gives you hope. Because now you watch guys, and it means something to them. It's always when you talk about where's your pride at, when are guys going to start fighting and start standing up and somebody taking ownership, so tonight to watch that in the locker room, it meant a lot."

On his level of concern with the defense: 
"My level, it's a major concern right now; because you look at us defensively, it's been three straight games where we have not played very good on defense. What we've not been able to do is make a team one-dimensional. We allow them to – it's balanced run and pass, which you can't do because now you can't play good defense; and then we're not getting pressure on the quarterback, and he can stand back there and pick us apart. Knowing that we're young in the secondary, we're playing a lot of guys, but still, though, we just have to – we're going to have to play much better, and it probably can be fixed, just guys need to stand up and start playing better".

On the unanswered 21-0 Cal stretch defensively: 
"Well, their long run is one where we jumped out of a gap; and even when it breaks the line of scrimmage, you would think you've got to get it down, and you've got to get it down in the back end and we didn't get it down in the back end, so you can't allow a long run, and it wasn't man coverage. When you're in zone coverage, you should have your eyes right on the quarterback, so you should see the long run coming at you.

So it was just gap control then; because even the one right before half where we had it there, one of our defensive backs thought the guy was tackled, and I said, no, don't ever think that, you go tackle him, but that's just youth and running up there and being in position and go make it."

On his feelings about conference play offensively and defensively: 
"Well, a combination of both. I mean, I'm excited about our offense, but it is negated by how poorly we're playing right now on defense. We have to play better, especially going into conference, because now it's going to be – it's a conference where teams can score a lot of points, and you're going to have to – offensively we can match them if the quarterback continues to play well."

On what has gone wrong with the defense: 
"Well, it's just guys not doing what they're coached to do, and it's just gap control. It's coverage principles. It's so many things that can be fixed."

 

Texas QB Jerrod Heard

Whether this was a devastating loss:
"I wouldn't say it was devastating. I'm really proud of my team. What we showed tonight is not what a lot of people can do. What we did tonight shows we can win a lot of games."

On his fourth quarter rally:
"It's just the faith I have in my guys. I know that Taylor [Doyle] and the whole offensive line are going to do the blocking and the hard work. I have faith in those guys to let me see the pocket and get the ball distributed to those good athletes I have."

On the missed extra point:
"I did watch it, but we still love Nick [Rose]. Stuff like that happens, and we are still going to rely on him to make even more critical kicks for us. No hard feelings for him. He knows what he has to do, and he's going to bounce back and be that reliable kicker we have."

Whether he thinks things could have been done better:
"Definitely. Right now, I'm still thinking about the things we could have done. At the end of the night, we rallied back and fought for our team and the Longhorns tonight."

On the offensive performance:
"Execution. That's all we needed to do, just move the ball up and down the field. It's just one of those things. We showed that we can fight all the way to the end and we can win the ball game. When it gets hard, we are still going to have faith in everyone."

On his emotions during the game:
"I don't know if I can explain it. It's one of those things that's going to build a team. We can really have growth from this and be a great team after that."

On what he said to the team during the game:
"I told them that we are going to get this ball in the end zone. I have faith in them, and Coach (Strong) called the play.  I just relied on those guys and did my part. I just keep talking to them and try to be that motivator. I knew we were going to come back and fight and that it would be a shootout in the end."

On how quickly the team will bounce back:
"What we showed tonight is great for us in the long run. By tomorrow, we are going to have a lot of confidence and be ready to start the Big 12."