College Football Rivalry Dynamics

Table of Contents

• Texas vs. National Competition
• Texas vs. In-State Rivals
• Stanford vs. Cal Rivalry
• Perceptions of Texas Football
• Texas A&M and Baylor Competitions
• Challenges and Expectations in Rivalries
• Historical Context and Legacy
• Game Strategies and Performance
• Focus on Player and Team Development
• Stanford's Competitive Edge
• Other

Texas vs. National Competition

I think there are a lot of teams that are going to make the NCAA tournament that are not as good as Texas. With their conference, they have a chance to play some really good teams and if they can knock off one or two of them . . .

Georgia Tech beat us and Mississippi Southern tied us last year, and Texas beat us after we had the game won. We only played about five games the way we were capable of playing and lost one of those.

The easy thing to criticize Texas for in the past was they had so many stars, so many guys, there weren't enough balls to go around, ... But that doesn't seem to be the issue any more. They seem to have that team concept working for them and have done a great job with it. Texas is a real force.

To be honest, we can play a lot better. We had some turnovers and made a bad decision or two. We've got to do a better job. But Texas Tech is a really good football team.

I think (Texas) is the best all around team we have played. We have seen some good teams in the four years I have been here, but Texas is solid everywhere on the field. They are great on special teams, have a great quarterback, and one of the best offensive lines we have seen.

Texas is the most complete football team I've seen in the nation this year. They have every chance in the world to beat USC.

Texas is No. 2 in the nation for a reason. When you play against them you have to eliminate the margin for mental mistakes and turning over the ball.

There's always the stereotype that Texas can't win the big game. Until we win a national championship, there's always going to be doubters.

Texas impressed me as being as good as any team I've seen play in this league. We made a lot of mistakes, but a lot of them were forced by the way they played. We just got beat by a much, much better team.

Texas is a clear No. 2 this week -- and the foreseeable future, too -- as long as they maintain their big holds in the polls. They got to keep winning with style.

I think Texas is good, but I don't think there's a lot of difference between the two teams. I thought Gibson was a lot more active today. Texas was good today, but I was more disappointed in our team than I was impressed with Texas.

Texas has a much more national following than USC.

Texas vs. In-State Rivals

Texas and Texas A&M, for a longer period of time, have been elite teams in the conference, and that's not to take anything away from Baylor right now, but they've been playing at that level longer.

When A&M and Texas play, it's on. We're not going to have any trouble being motivated for the series.

I know for a fact the Texas Longhorns are going to show up. And that team is a great team.

We definitely see Tech on the same level with Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Texas players naturally get fired up to play other Texas players. The Boises, the Fresnos, Hawaii - they didn't even know where Texas is.

What Texas A&M beating Texas really means to me is it just confirms what I said all along - this league is not down. There are some awful good teams in this league.

Really, our expectations will not change. I say it every year. We respect Texas. We've been on both sides of it. We've been picked behind them before, and we've been picked ahead of them before. We'll get off the bus when it's time to play.

We're close. Very close. I would say it's 50/50 or better. The only thing with Texas, things change in a hurry but right now I would say we are going to play and Texas is going to come here first.

Texas played an outstanding basketball game and we give them a great deal of credit. As for us the single most significant factor was we just had a hard time making some shots.

Texas has kind of separated itself. They're the one team that cannot be at their best and win, because they're good. There's not that much difference between the rest of us right now. We're all searching.

Our team respects Texas. They have beaten us four in a row and beat us by 10 last year in Knoxville. We were not surprised.

I thought they were the best team in our league at the end of the season. I would have picked them to win the league this year. I thought about it. But I didn't want to do that to them, to Tim. So I picked them second. Being at Baylor, I wanted to put the onus on Texas, right?

Stanford vs. Cal Rivalry

Cal and Stanford are always tough houses - always! We just have to play our game, do what we've been doing and keep the crowd out of it.

I've never gotten over that one. We were much better than Stanford. But we changed our offense to an option type thing. We were running the Wishbone! We could have put our hands on three national championships.

We're going to focus on our own performance and not worry about what Stanford or Alabama is doing.

I don't think Stanford's streak means that much to most of our players. What it says is how good their program has been over the last 15 years. They execute extremely well, and they come to Pauley with a lot of confidence. We have to be ready for that, as well as the start of Pac-10.

The rivalry goes all the way to the bone-Cal kids were born to breathe, pay taxes and beat Stanford. This is a huge rallying cry for our team to get together and mold ourselves for the championship season.

What happened in Mission Bay with Stanford, as far as I am concerned, will stay in Mission Bay. Yeah, losing to Stanford sucked, I am not going to lie about that, but that is in the past and thankfully we have this weekend to let them know that Cal is back in business.

To come out with this win gives us so much confidence before we head out on the road to face Cal and Stanford.

There is a lot of pressure to beat Stanford because of all the other sports. We haven't beat Stanford since I've been here.

We're disappointed (we couldn't end Stanford's streak), but we're hoping we can finish ahead of them in NCAA. We're looking forward to beating them this year.

I said all along I felt all along it would come down to the last rotation and we would have to go out and hit our floor routines exceptionally well to win the meet. This Stanford team is a great team. They just beat UCLA and they tied us two years ago at nationals.

Stanford is a scrappy, hardworking team. They may not have a very good record, but any team in this league can bite you on any given night. We don't want to be outworked by them. We will have to play well to win.

We just need to take it one game at a time. Obviously, the most formidable opponent is Stanford. We just need to come out and play hard and try to salvage this road trip.

Perceptions of Texas Football

I would imagine they are getting a reputation as a passing team. And Texas has a reputation now that they can go out and get anybody.

There's nobody close to that Texas streak. And if not for one lost year there, Ohio State would have a perfect record, too.

We like to think Texas is the home of football, even though it isn't right now. You can't imagine how much this would mean to the state of Texas. It's much more than just (UT) vs. 'SC.

I think Texas is a really good basketball state. We're ranked about 15th in our area. That tells you what the competition is like.

If Texas can hang on and get into the fourth quarter and wear them out, they could beat Ohio State, ... I picked Ohio State to play for the national championship, but I love Texas, too.

Texas Tech made us feel welcomed. We are forever indebted to them.

Texas played an opponent that is now 4-2. So that's going to help what has been a pretty weak strength of schedule so far.

You're already seeing signs that Virginia Tech is catching Texas.

The thing is, Texas is playing a decent opponent this week (No. 24 Colorado), and that will probably help Texas, at least this week. It would not surprise me if Texas fluctuates over the next few weeks.

There's lots of teams around the country Texas has never played, ... They just never played. There's no real reason to it.

Listen when I say that Baylor team is going to be heard from next year and in the coming years. There's a lot of talent there.

I've always been a fan of the SEC, ACC, down south. I never was a real big fan of Texas. It's not that I don't like them, but I grew up a Florida State fan.

Texas A&M and Baylor Competitions

Texas A&M definitely deserves to get in. There will be a lot of people who won't want to play A&M.

Athletically and speed-wise, I'd compare them to Baylor and Texas A&M.

Baylor is a vastly improved football team, and we take our hats off to them.

I think that Baylor is clearly and you guys gave me all kinds of grief for saying this during Big 12 play but clearly they are the second-best team in the league. They finished in second place and they separated themselves, is my point, from the guys that where behind them.

I know they (Baylor) are expecting a good crowd, ... They have a lot of enthusiasm on their team right now. They finished strong last year, and won their opener on the road, so I am sure we will have a great atmosphere on Saturday to play in.

Nothing against Baylor, but being in last place behind Baylor is kind of embarrassing.

We definitely see Tech on the same level with Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

I think people came out to watch Stanford play. They came out to watch some of their players. When you bring in the best team in the area you just want to come out because you know it's going to be a show and you always hope that maybe your hometown team can have a huge upset.

That's happened to some teams this year, too. Texas was ranked No. 2, and they lost to Tennessee. But we just need to focus on what we need to focus on. We know that every game we play, whoever we play, they have a chance to beat us, especially from this point on in the year.

What Texas A&M beating Texas really means to me is it just confirms what I said all along - this league is not down. There are some awful good teams in this league.

(Texas) A&M was probably the second-toughest loss I've ever experienced in my 15 years. That was a tough one.

We competed well. Baylor obviously is good, but I'm pleased with the way we fought. And to have two freshmen go out and get wins, it shows how they're improving.

Challenges and Expectations in Rivalries

They have big shoes to fill. As the defending state champions there are a lot of expectations on them. Defending the state title is not our focus. We want to develop chemistry, play well as a team and learn to compete. All that is going to prepare us for the toughest district in the state of Texas.

There (are) enough people ahead of us that could knock each other off, so we're still in a chance to move up, ... We didn't lose as much ground as I thought we would. ... What you and I and all can see, if Southern Cal don't lose and Texas don't lose, that's probably cut and dried.

If you're not playing well, it doesn't matter if you have experience or if you're playing at home or what you're doing. They're all storylines that reporters want to touch on ... but I think it has more to do with how Texas plays and how well we play.

Whatever it is, they have our number. For whatever reason, we don't get the breaks against Texas.

I would think that Texas has a tremendous amount of motivation building into this game, just as we do, and they don't need any more than that. If that helps them, then it's OK. I can't do anything about it.

We only think about (losing to Stanford last year) when (reporters) ask us about it. I think everybody is totally different from last year, and right now we?re just thinking about what we need to do to get the win this year.

It's about us-we've got to play well (for) ourselves. If we play at our highest level and (Stanford) plays well, we'll take our chances.

It's a big loss for Stanford, and it's a big loss for the conference. The achievements are truly monumental, looking at it in terms of building the program, hiring outstanding coaches and building outstanding facilities. The one missing facility is the football stadium, and now that's moving forward.

We feel like Stanford will be the team to beat. We would really like to take them down.

You can't take anything away from (Texas State). They are one tough ball club. I give them a lot of credit, but there are things we need to fix.

Stanford is a scrappy, hard-working team. They may not have a very good record but any team in this league can bite you on any given night.

We've been on a pretty good roll and certainly played a bad game tonight. Texas didn't become a bad team after Duke (a 31-point setback December 10) and we didn't become a bad team after these 40 minutes. We certainly aren't going to dwell on that.

Historical Context and Legacy

It was important to bring it back and bring it back in the right way. I think the heritage of Texas College football, and Black college football deserved to be in Texas. Especially here in East Texas.

So to me, Texas Hold 'em puts me to sleep. At least when you play stud, you can be funny as you deal. Somebody some day is going to come up with a Stud show that's going to work.

The Red River Shootout (the rivalry between University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma) has been a fixture here, set against the backdrop of the Texas State Fair, since 1929,

It'd be a damn shame if they left Dallas. Texas-OU is a rare jewel. It's so unique and wonderful. Where else can you take a day and go to the State Fair, ride a Ferris wheel, grab a few cold refreshments and walk over to watch one of college football's greatest rivalries?

It'd be a damn shame if they left Dallas, ... Texas-OU is a rare jewel. It's so unique and wonderful. Where else can you take a day and go to the State Fair, ride a Ferris wheel, grab a few cold refreshments and walk over to watch one of college football's greatest rivalries?

The people at Texas Tech have been unbelievable,

I think it's lost a little luster, because both programs have come so far. It used to be like the biggest game of the year when I was playing. But Xavier has come so far and UC has, it's no longer the biggest game of the year. It's a very important game, but not the biggest. It's really a testament to both programs.

There's lots of teams around the country Texas has never played, ... They just never played. There's no real reason to it.

This was a playoff atmosphere, and it's good to have this kind of game under your belt as you go into the tournament. Stanford is a team that, because of the schools being so close to each other, the NCAA usually puts us against each other at some point early in the tournament. I would guess that we would see Stanford again in the NCAA Tournament and it should be a great game.

I thought they were the best team in our league at the end of the season. I would have picked them to win the league this year. I thought about it. But I didn't want to do that to them, to Tim. So I picked them second. Being at Baylor, I wanted to put the onus on Texas, right?

We did a lot better at Davis, but Stanford has a tougher start, plus a bigger field.

Santa Rosa was a surprise. We beat them by 20 strokes in Stanford. I hope this it's not an omen of things to come.

Game Strategies and Performance

Texas was already in the mix. (Winning the national championship) bumped them up that much more.

I kind of felt that people weren't really leaning towards us because of our opponents, but we came in, stepped up and played big and beat Texas. I think that we are going to catch a lot of people's attention.

That was a tough Texas Tech team. They fought and fought and fought.

We ran probably two-thirds of the time, ... It was a different game than what Mike Leach does. They like to pass the ball. Texas will have to be very aware of that Saturday.

Texas Tech is a very talented team. We will have to play extremely well to win, but I don't think intimidation will be a factor. It is an honor and a challenge at the same time to play a team like Tech.

A year ago we didn't have quite as much tape as we'd like on Texas. This year is a bigger problem. That is why our preparation might be a day behind. Getting tape was difficult and they don't have a lot of games on television.

That's going to be a high-scoring one. I hope that Texas can take it, but I don't think Texas can catch their running back.

We've seen some zones this year, but Texas-Pan American will play zone about 80 percent of the time.

It's a tough thing for Baylor to have to start out playing a game like this. Right off the bat, they jumped on us. I thought they started really well.

They are pretty much identical to what Texas used last year. They are trying to get us to screw up our calls, and they are trying to be sneaky. They are trying to play head games with us more than anything.

The most athletic team there is in this conference tournament. In order for Texas College to win, we have to take our smartness to another level, get the team to play hard, and we can't beat ourselves. I feel like nobody in this conference is capable of beating us except ourselves.

We are trying to cram a lot of preparation into a short time. Texas doesn't seem to have any weaknesses. It's no wonder they've had such an outstanding season.

Focus on Player and Team Development

They have big shoes to fill. As the defending state champions there are a lot of expectations on them. Defending the state title is not our focus. We want to develop chemistry, play well as a team and learn to compete. All that is going to prepare us for the toughest district in the state of Texas.

Baylor flat out-played us. I don't know if we were still in the hot dog line or what.

Texas High is undefeated for a reason, and I'm very proud of our girls for how tough they played them both times. We've hit the ball well the last three games after being in a slump, but their shortstop once again took away several base hits from us.

We accomplished our main goal of staying undefeated at home. Now we look forward to welcoming Stanford because we have a lot deeper lineup than last year. I expect a close match.

I think it's always great to win, especially when you're confidence is in the balance. We've played a tough, grueling schedule. Texas A&M Corpus Christi was ranked 53 in the RPI (ratings percentage index). They may not be a household name, but they're a good team. We've played some good folks and hopefully we'll benefit. We just had more enthusiasm tonight, and we really fought hard. And it's nice when the bench comes in and produces.

Texas finally beats Oklahoma but falls to No. 3 in the Harris poll behind Virginia Tech.

Texas State has not won a league game yet but are hungry for their first. They play very hard as a team, so we will have to come out ready to compete.

We're not turning a certain corner or direction. This season is more about continuing last year into this year. Saying that, we know we didn't play as well as we could have last season. Texas State was going to win no matter what. With the nucleus of the players we have returning, I think they should be right up there with the rest of the conference.

I was very glad they played their football in California and not Texas, because they would have been compared to me.

We're not in position to think, We're Stanford, we can show up and they're going to lay down for us,'

(The meet against Stanford) had to be the fastest dual meet ever swum at USC. It was the best performance of any Trojan team I have had.

I'm confident we are going to get back what we had. Stanford is going to be a great challenge for us. It's obviously a great team.

Stanford's Competitive Edge

Stanford will be one of the biggest matches of the year. The first time around, we had injuries and illnesses, and even through all that, we played pretty well.

We're not focused on that at all. Stanford is a big, big issue for us right now. The teams are going to get tougher and tougher along the way.

I don't think it's make or break, but we want to play well. If it's four straight or two straight, you want to protect your home court. Stanford and us are the only teams to be undefeated at home, and we want to keep it that way. The schedule turns in our favor. It doesn't matter if it's at home in the middle of the season or late, you want to win at home.

We feel like Stanford will be the team to beat. We would really like to take them down.

We just got tired and Stanford became Stanford. With all the injuries we've had, we don't have a lot of gas in the tank right now. It makes it hard to beat a Mercedes when you've got a Ford Taurus.

This race will be a little emotional. This will be a really special race for them. They will want to go out in style, but Stanford will be tough.

A race against Stanford is always important. They have a great team this year.

They're pretty well focused on this tournament. It (the previous loss) will increase their desire to win. They don't like losing to Austin.

I said all along I felt all along it would come down to the last rotation and we would have to go out and hit our floor routines exceptionally well to win the meet. This Stanford team is a great team. They just beat UCLA and they tied us two years ago at nationals.

I think that North Texas is a very nice basketball team. They can shoot it, their big guys are like warriors inside and they are a cohesive team. ... Unless they fall apart, I think they have a chance to win their conference.

We have always been impressed with Stanford. They are a solid team and never give you a game.

We just need to take it one game at a time. Obviously, the most formidable opponent is Stanford. We just need to come out and play hard and try to salvage this road trip.

Other

I don't see where we have to wait for Texas or Baylor to have a bad year for us to move up. We can have a good year at the same time.

Vanderbilt and us are in probably the toughest six-team division (SEC East) in college football. It makes it very difficult to have a breakthrough year. Stanford, by and large, doesn't have as large a hill to climb.

Everybody keeps asking me how Texas is going to capitalize on their national championship. We probably won't see that until next year.

The absence of Marsha on the Texas Tech sideline is a blow to the university, it's a blow to our conference, and it's a blow to women's basketball.

When we lost to Boston College (85-65) in the first round of the tournament last year, we played right with them except for a seven- or eight-minute span. You cannot afford to have gaps in a game with Texas because they're capable of overwhelming you in a very short period of time.

With all due respect, it's not like beating TCU, ... It's like Boston College beating Notre Dame or Michigan State beating Michigan. The Texas game is what everything is gauged by here in the state. It's the biggest game for Texas Tech. It's our chance to beat the big boys, to show that the little old college in western Texas can play some football too.

Texas is No. 2 in the nation for a reason. Everybody's upset and sad. We came in expecting a win. We've got to move forward.

If you come on this Texas trip and get two wins, you're doing really well. If you get a split, that's good too. We got the split and now we can go home, get some rest and then come back and get ready for another road trip up to Alva."

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