Quick Hits: RB Rotation, Prather Stepping Up, Development of O-Line, Horns Down + More

Keys to beating Texas

"If we can hold onto the ball, if we can stop the run, and run the football we've got a chance against anybody we play. Our league, it's tough. It's getting some respect nationally now. But if you look at it one through ten, there's no layups on that card. For us, it's going to be turnover margin, being able to run the football, and being able to stop the run. If we can do those things, then we feel good about it."

Development of o-line

"It's very similar to the approach that we took at Kentucky when I was the offensive coordinator. We came in and had really a less than ideal situation and we really chose to be a development group there. If you look at what they've done from an offensive line perspective, they've recruited, they've developed, and they've played really well for an extended period of time. And we're really mirroring that here. It was less than ideal when we got here. We went in on the development and we played young and we took some lumps when we were young. Some of those lumps that we took, there's growth there and now we're reaping some of those benefits and it's gone from a weakness to now it's a strength of ours. We felt like that was the case going into the year and that's how it's played out. Now we have to continue it through the heart of our conference schedule. But we've recruited at a high level and those guys are developing through Matt Moore, through Mike Joseph and his crew. We're not to the finish line yet. Our depth is not where we want it to be. We're about a year away from that, but we feel good about the progress we've made."

Reminding the team about horns down being a penalty

"No. I've put zero thought into it really. Every time I listen to Greg Burks talk about it, I'm more confused than I was before. He's probably tired of talking about it. I might mention it before leaving the hotel on Saturday, that's it."

How Jacolby Spells played vs Virginia Tech

"Yeah, I think he gave up one completion. Played a deep ball really nicely. He's only going to continue to get better. He's just learning how to prepare, learning how to play. He only played that position two years at American Heritage. He was a receiver. Athletically and length and strength and being able to have explosion, he's got what we want. When you play young people, you've got to be comfortable with some mistakes and that's kind of where we're at. He's going to continue to play and I think he'll continue to improve as well."

Kaden Prather's development

"The last three weeks he's played how I thought he would probably play as a sophomore. Didn't play his best Week 1. I think it was a learning point for him. He's gotten better. He and Bryce [Ford-Wheaton] have been a big part of the run game. Bryce got a little more attention last game and he can play better too. He'll bounce back, he'll play better this week, but they're very complimentary off of each other."

Justin Johnson Jr. producing

"He was good last spring. He was good in fall camp and so, really not surprised. We felt good about him and Tony [Mathis]. We didn't really know because CJ [Donaldson] is a true freshman. We liked what he did in fall camp but obviously, CJ's proved to be a plus player. And those other two guys, like Tony played really really well on that long drive. We'll continue to use all three and whoever has got the hot hand will play more but we'll use all three of them."

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