Oklahoma Football: DC Zac Alley Houston postgame press conference

hey guys did you feel like it went for your you know um we made some critical stops when we had to I thought we played well on third down overall um you know I think like 27% uh completion or uh conversion percentage but uh obviously a lot of things to clean up you know we had a couple opportunities early where we could have forced him into a second and 15 those type of things and we just missed a lot of tackles um you know I think that we got to we have to work on that this week cuz uh it just showed up you know viously and they'll they'll challenge us on that next week but had quite a few times where where we were we were in the position to make the play and just have to execute a little bit better Dan set the tone for the game had six tackles on the opening drive how much he really set the tone for the defense yeah I think from from the start of the game man he was locked in he came with the Sid like I'm on fire coach you got to put me back in U I'm like yeah I hear you you know and so he he did a really good job and and and when it mattered the most in the critical moments he was you know calling the guys up and getting them ready to go and you know giving a great mindset for the for the team all night how tough was it with Gentry I know you threw him out there for one play and just to see him go out just he was trying to be real resilient get back out there how type of blow was that you know I mean obviously we love jent he's a heck of a player and uh just has had a lot of a lot of injuries uh you know just kind of one of those guys it's it's always kind of banged up and um hopefully it's nothing serious and and he'll be able to come back again next week and and help us because man he when he's good man he's one of the best in the country so we need him for sure consider you know I tell them all the time man we no no matter what happens like we control what we can control you know and so whether it's the ball's you know uh one second left with one yard to go or it's the first play of the first quarter man our standard doesn't change you know how we play how we perform Man uh you w tell me we got to get get to go win the game on defense good like that's what I want to that's how I want to think that's how we want to do when we got in the Huddle that's what they said you know good we got an opportunity to go stop them right now you know then we do get the safety right there and then come back had to do it again U but they never wavered and I was proud of them for that grayon thater absolutely man Grayson did a great job you know just doing the little things really well if you watch the play man just getting width and beating the guard right up the field and you know nothing spectacular per se just really good at doing his job and then he's a heck of a talented player so when it came down the moment to make the play he could so proud of him I mean just his development his growth you can just see that the passion's there and the the abil there and just he's he's an awesome player how have you seen him just since you've here you know I see the commitment you know I mean everybody wants ready-made products all the time you know a guy shows up he's got this he's supposed to be all these things and the reality is it takes work you know it takes work to be great it takes work to consistently improve every day and he's a guy that bought into the work you know that throughout the summer man he got stronger he you know gained weight he did everything he need to mentally to get prepared and you watch him in Camp and you sit there and be like Yep this is what we expected the last couple years has kind of been known as pass rusher what's he done to be a guy that you can lean on in all situations you know I think just the the strength and the toughness it takes to play the position is so high at that at that spot and just the development both physically and mentally over the last year man he's really matured and he's coming to his own and and you know you just you see it out there now and so um he's a guy that man we we trust to go out there and execute what's it take when your offense isn't doing much your defense keep having to go back out there and get stopped well we're a team so you know that doesn't bother us at all man it it's every time we get a opportunity to go on the field that's a good thing in our minds right got another chance to get a sack another chance to get a tfl another chance to get an interception um and so we're we're excited man and we take a win however we can get it because man they're going to be a game where they're going to bail us out and then vice versa because it's a team sport having a firefighter mentality out there how do you guys instill that as coach and stuff uh I guess my question would be what's a firefighter mentality oh I got you yeah um I mean it's just like I said we we try and play to with standard every time we take the field um and that's what we preach that's what we talk about that's what the guys are you know hearing from us every day and they they say to themselves as well because that's what we want to be you know and hey man we play to a standard we don't play with an opponent and so it doesn't matter the situation how it is what's going on that's what we're going to try and do what does that say about himh man you he's always trying to get better you know and that's why he's so successful um you know nothing's ever good enough and I think that that's the that's always the mindset I think I've got the same type of thought process man we can we can shut them out win by 100 and it's still going we going there's going to be some things we can improve on um you know when he's got that same thought process as a mature guy that's been around man he knows that probably three or four of those plays man he wish he could get him back you know because he he makes the play there maybe we're off the field we're not the situation we're in um and so I think all of us want to be you know the best versions of ourselves all the time so uh he's certainly a Minds seted type of guy that way watch interf and the very next play score come back out I think so you know we get them we had a couple times where you know we we kind of gave them the they got the ball to you know right on the edge of plus territory field goal range and and we stood up every time you know in the second half after that first series and you know you remove that penalty which you know I don't know on that one but they uh they get an opportunity right afterward and usually when you get a big penalty like that on the drive that's you're more likely to give up points uh just the straight statistics say that and so the resilience to come back and to be ready to to rear the play I thought we did a really good job man in that kind of uh that middle of the field area of just not letting them you know get down there to a point where they could score Grayson's great sack looked like he was just so fast the offensive line could react was it that simple or did he do something else to just blast through there you know I gota be honest I was looking down the field so I'm not 100% sure um I know he was there fast so however he did it I'm I'm fired up for him uh because it definitely helps in play by him it looked like that the offensive lineman couldn't even react no that's that's awesome I'm sure I'll see it on tape here in a minute just dominating like time of possession and the defense like keep coming through what does that show you about like the toughness of the group yeah I think you know the toughness of this program you know just it starts with Coach V man it was just every day you know we have a standard we're trying to be the best and trying to be the best all the time and so uh the resilience and the toughness that comes with that you know and I think that as we got you know progress through the game progress through the season man you can just see the maturity of the guys on our side of the ball in particular that just man we got a lot of like six-year veteran guys that have been through the fire you know that know what it takes to win and so it's you know as things get hard they get better um you just see that in Danny stutsman and Billy Bowman and um Ethan DS I mean you talk about leadership they got it um that certainly helps you know Drive everybody else around them a lot so I was wondering how do you handle situations when Kindle Dolby gets a 15 yard penalty at a key moment what kind of discussions do you have with a player like that you know things happen on that one uh coach V took it uh so I didn't have to say anything on there um he he grabbed him took him off to the side and so I was kind of focused on playing the next play right there myself so U but man you you know it depends on exactly what happens and and obviously you know kind of the situation per guy