Oct. 11, 2015 Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Head Coach Skip Holtz
Opening Statement …
"It's always great to win. You never take a conference win on the road for granted. We had talked all week about this being a real trap game for us. You're going to play a team with a 1-4 record, but obviously I think they're a much better football team than that when you look at who they've played. They've played some really good football teams and they've have two heart-breaking losses now with Colorado State and this one here tonight. I think they're a really good football team. We came in here and knew they were going to compete and that they were going to play hard. It was really a little bit of a different game because we started the first quarter pretty much spotting each other 10 points with the turnovers. I thought the way we played the second quarter, both offensive and defensively, was great. We were running around and doing some good things and then the two-minute drive right before halftime I thought was a work of art by Jeff [Driskel]. I thought that was one of the more impressive things that happened tonight was that two-minute drill that he put together."
On Driskel orcestrating the final drive …
"The one he did at the end of the first half and then the one at the end of the game to get points, but then there at the end the game is on the line. The control he has on that offense only being in it for about six months the way that he's doing it, the leadership that he has and the way the team follows him. I thought he did an unbelieveable job. That's exactly why you want an upperclassmen quarterback. When you have a guy that's been in your system and been there for awhile, poise comes with that, experience comes with that. I think Jeff would be the first one to tell you that one of the reasons he's able to have so much success even now is because of the experience he has. The three years he had at Florida along with this year and that's why he's able to do what he does. I can't say enough positive things about him and his growth as a quarterback and the job that he's doing."
On Craft's performance tonight …
"I thought Jarred did a great job protecting the ball. He didn't fumble it. He was carrying it with two hands on it. At times he was even looking a little awkward because he had two hands on it and wasn't letting that ball go. I thought he did a great job for a guy that is really getting his first career start. To come out and do what he did tonight in a conference game on the road in a big game like that…I thought he did a great job. I thought he competed extremely well."
On the kicking game …
"When you look at Jonathan [Barnes], Jonathan is one of the players. He's a football player that kicks. A lot fo kickers kind of march to the beat of their own drummer. Jonathan is one of the guys. He's working out with them and running with them. There's an unbelieveable amount of respect for Jonathan. To see what he's been able to do on his kick- offs and on his field goals…I think he's done a great job. He's calm. He's poised. Like I said, he's one of the guys and that's why I have great confidence in him."
Jonathan Barnes, So., K
On his thoughts as his team drives down the field on that final drive …
"Sitting there I knew that it was going to come down to a kick because we were going to get down the field. There was no doubt about that. I just looked forward to it. That's what I do this job for. I'm lucky that I was able to have a good line protect for me and the rest is that I have to do my job. It was exciting for me."
On hoping for situations like game-winning kicks as a kicker …
"Without a doubt. You're going to be called upon in big situations. Every week I talk to people and they all say the same thing, 'Every kick is the same kick.' You're just going out there to do the next one and it doesn't matter what the situation is. Whether it's the short one in the first half or the one to win the game, they're the same kick. You just try and put them through the pipes."
On the growth of the kicking game from last year to this year …
"It was the mindset. I think that last year I lost a lost a little confidence in myself towards the end of the year. In the off-season something I worked on is that you just have to trust yourself. Trust that you have the ability. You practice it and it's routine and you go out there and go get it done. That's something I've tried to look at this year. Every kick is the same. I can hit them in practice, so I just need to go out there and do it in the game."
Jeff Driskel, Sr., QB
On leading his team on a game-winning drive …
"Being a fifth-year senior, I've been there before. I have to be the guy that calms people down. Not that they are out of control or nervous out there. I think just being there before really gives me a lot of confidence. I like two-minute drives and we've been very successful with them this year. That's why you play the game for those pressure situations. In camp we did a really job of putting the pressure on ourselves and putting ourselves in those situations. So when they come up during the season, we've been there and we are ready for them."
On hoping for situations like game-winning kicks as a kicker …
"I think Jonathan Barnes is a confident dude. He put in a lot of work this summer He knows he's supposed to be making these field goals. Every time he's gone out there, I've thought they were all going to go in. He's doing a great job so far and I'm just really happy for him to just turn [the Louisiana Tech kicking game] around. He took it from one of the low points on the team last year to one of our strong suits."
On Trent Taylor's performance tonight …
"It wouldn't make sense not to look his way when coverage allows. He's a great player and he can get open against anybody. He's just a guy that I really trust and a guy that I know is going to make the play. I think I put one behind him tonight on a third down and he almost brought it down and he was mad at himself. I said, 'Trent, I threw it behind you.' He said, 'I've got to make that play.' He's just a guy that when the ball is in the air, he knows that ball is his. That gives me a lot of confidence in him."
UTSA head coach Larry Coker
COACH COKER: It was a great effort by our team, especially in the second half. Dalton in the second half, he was very precise with his passing, quick release. Guys making plays for him. We didn't do that much in the first half. We didn't have much offense, we didn't play very well in the first half. He had a few guys making plays for him and I wish we could have finished better.
Q. What was the difference from the first half to the second half it looked like the offensive line played better in the second half possible Dalton played better in the second half. Did you make some adjustments?
COACH COKER: Just some plays we called. We called a lot of quick passes, quick passes and the pass receivers and getting it in their hands. And I think that's
-- avoiding sacks in the second half, for the most part, and then running the football, which he definitely can do that.
Q. Can you talk about the last sequence on the game what were the referees explaining to you on the fourth down where it was reviewed, you called timeout, but the --
COACH COKER: Well, the call was the fact that there's a penalty, I believe it was a penalty and, again, so it was reviewed. So, but it stayed, it stood. It didn't make a change. So, it was the right call. It was the right call.
Q. How close were you to pulling Dalton out after the second interception? He got picked twice during the game.
COACH COKER: Well, we had a young player that hadn't played before, basically, and concerned, yes, I was. And again, that was warranted. But I wanted to give him a fair opportunity to compete. He came on and played well in the second half. His stats were awfully good. Three or four touchdown passes. But yeah, I thought about it, I surely did.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH COKER: Jarveon? They're very good on defense. Their defensive front is very good, very physical, very athletic and they're hard to block. And sometimes that's difficult. But, again, those are things that you have to give them credit for, they're pretty good.
Q. Can you talk about Jabryce Taylor getting loose for two touchdowns the big contributions he made?
COACH COKER: I told the players this: We have good football players and I think we can have a good football team and I think at times we are a good football team. Jabryce is a good player. We knew that when he came in here. We just have to get those guys the football and we weren't able to do that. In the second half we did that and got some big plays out of it.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH COKER: Well I thought the focus was to win the game. We knew that the pass would be the strategy to help us win the football game. It was a concern, for sure, because certainly you don't want to get another quarterback hurt, but he did a good job and made some big plays.
And there was times when they stopped him pretty good, but, no, we have -- we're always going to rely on the quarterback. I think if you look around college football, that's the nature of the game. If you have a quarterback that throws and doesn't run, that's going back to the dinosaur.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH COKER: Don't know yet. We'll see how healthy Blake is and Dalton is and we'll practice next week and I feel something good about either one of them, if they're healthy.
David Morgan
Jabryce Taylor
Dalton Sturm
Q. For all you guys, what was the difference with the offense in the second half? You guys couldn't seem to do anything in that first half. Second half you seemed to get it rolling. Dalton, start with you.
DALTON STURM: Me personally, I wasn't in the groove, I wasn't in the rhythm. I made some bad throws. My guys, luckily, stood behind me, knowing what I could do. And when I came out I got the ball to my playmakers and they made plays.
JABRYCE TAYLOR: We're known for starting off slow in the second half, but I just think that we, we had new people, new places, and we were just trying to feel ourself out and, like he said, we struggled in the first half, but we know what we have to do now and we see what we have to do better and we just have to go back and work harder.
DAVID MORGAN: I just feel it's hard to make big corrections and big changes in the first half when you're not, you don't have everyone together. We got in there in the second half and really coach said what he wanted to change up and kind of switched up our game plan a little bit, tried to spread it out a little bit, because they were doing so much blitzing and so much attention and stuff inside. Once we spread it out, we kind of got in a groove and I think once we were in a groove, we were hard to stop.
Q. Dalton, can you talk about those two interceptions? Can you run through those two plays, what did you see in how those plays developed?
DALTON STURM: The first one was just, we dropped back, we had a route called, it was a read route. I read it wrong, it was on me. I thought he was going to set it down, he didn't set it down. Which is on me. He made the right read. And I got to see that.
The second one, I just got to hold that or put it, or throw it to my flat route. When I dropped back I thought I had a window and the guy made a great play. Jumped up and picked it on me. But I just got to make better decisions than that. Coach told me, like I said, they stayed behind me and I came back and did what I could.
Q. Dalton, your ankle, was it bothering you pretty much out there? It looked like it was wrapped up a couple times.
DALTON STURM: That's one of the things in football you got to fight through it. Things are going to happen. People are going to get injured. But I wasn't injured, just hurt. I'm going to fight through it and keep going.
Q. How much did you grow up as the game progressed and how much did it slow down for you; and David how much confidence and how much did you guys try to pick him up after those two picks?
DAVID MORGAN: I know what he can do. People make mistakes and you get your jitters out and I have full confidence in him. And when it was his turn I was ready for him to come in and fill the spot and hit it running. There was no hesitation by anyone on the offense, we have full faith in him and obviously he came in and played a hell of a game.
Q. (No microphone.)
DALTON STURM: Coming in, I knew exactly what I had to do. We knew what we had to do as an offense. It wasn't may first rodeo. It was my first start, but it shouldn't really matter, I've been in the game, I've been doing good things. I came in, I made two crucial mistakes, which we're going to fix up, won't happen again. But just glad the guys stayed behind me and I'm glad that we progressed throughout the game.
Q. Dalton, could you talk about, before the game how much did you think about, this is my first start. You come here as a walk on, what was your thought process coming into the game?
DALTON STURM: Whenever coach told me, mid week, that I was going to have to start, under the circumstances, you never want to get this opportunity under those circumstances, because someone is hurt. I wanted to do what I could for my team. Of course, yeah, I'm a walk on, but I just tried to prove myself every day and just come through and do what I got to do. Just get the ball to my playmakers and let them do what they do.
Q. (No microphone.)
JABRYCE TAYLOR: It's frustrating. I've been here since day one. And I feel like we're always on the losing side of those games. I feel like we always -- not that we lose, but we find a way to beat ourselves in the end. I feel like, just little things. I feel like I say this every interview or whatever it is, but it's little things, little plays here and there, once we get together and get those things figured out, we'll be all right. But we got to do that first.
Q. Dalton, you looked comfortable and collected in the second half in the pocket. Was that just nerves kind of calming you down at halftime or was it X's and O's and changes?
DALTON STURM: I honestly don't think it was nerves. I wasn't really nervous coming in. I knew what I had to do. I've been in that situation before. I played in a handful of games already. It's just making bad reads, trying to do too much, pretty much. Making, turning a bad play into something worse. Just got to squeeze those balls and move to the next play and not make a bad play worse.
Q. Dalton, you mentioned it a little bit, but you seem like a different player in the first quarter, you seemed to be playing better in the second half from the kick off and you scored on that possession.
Did you feel that you modified the game plan a little bit and smoothed things out, did you feel that you felt more confident, a little more relaxed that third quarter, because you really had a good third quarter?
DALTON STURM: We came out, we talked in halftime, we talked about things. Switching things up. To what they were doing. They were bringing a lot of heat towards us so we switched things up, tried to get the ball out quicker, get the ball to our playmakers. These two right here, Gary Thomas, just need to get everybody involved. And we came out and we talked about it and we knew that we had to go down and score on that opening drive to make it a one score game. And we did that. We did that and then we just kept rolling.
Q. Jabryce, can you talk about getting your first start here, getting in the end zone twice, just how you feel like you did today.
JABRYCE TAYLOR: Well, I just want to give honor and glory to God for allowing me to get to this point. It's a blessing and an honor that the coaches have enough trust in me to put my number out there and call my name and say, this is your job Saturday and just to go out there and do what I did today. It was nothing for me, it was all for the fans and the coaches and, most importantly, my team. I just, whenever my number's called, I just try to do everything in my power to go out there and make plays for my team.
Q. (No microphone.)
DALTON STURM: No, I didn't realize that. At the end of the day we still lost. Records don't really mean anything if you don't come out with a victory. Yeah, it's nice, but nobody really cares. We're still 1-5. We got to find ways to win that game, so.
Q. (No microphone.)
JABRYCE TAYLOR: Like I say, when the ball is in my hands, I've been told by plenty of coaches that when the ball is in your hands, everybody trusts in you. And so that's one thing that I don't take lightly is people's trust.
So, I just try to go out there and when the ball is in my hands, take care of it, and get as much and do as much as I can do with the ball and just try to put points on the board, like I did tonight for the team. None of this is personal for me, it's all for my team and I won't ever think about it as just for me. I think about it as for the team. It's too bad it's not a different ending.