Razorbacks react to season-opening victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Because through that, uh, that crazy rushing touchdown there in the second quarter right before halftime, what did you see? And, uh, when you took off, did you, did you feel like you could get to the end zone? Did you know that was, uh, kind of going to be the end of the play? Um, at first, you know, I looked at, you know, first my keys and what I have to do and the routes then I felt, you know, pressure to my right and, uh, escaped the pocket and I knew it was a two minute and I was first, was gonna throw it away. Uh, but, you know, I decided to run, but I told myself, you know, if I decide to run, you know, of course the clock, uh, keeps rolling if I get tackled. So I was like, I, I better score. And so, you know, I crossed the field and, you know, saw, saw green grass and I just, you know, let my speed do the rest. Jon, uh, you know, what do you think about your game tonight? First time as a Razorback and more specifically, maybe what you saw from the offensive line, uh, creating goals, not only for you but all the running backs tonight. Uh, I was just having fun, having fun with the guys just flying around the field and, uh, Oland did great tonight. Uh, had 100 in the first half. Klees was nothing better. Tell me, what was your reaction when you found out that the, what the first play was going to be or taking a shot and then, you know, how, how were you able to kind of bounce back from that, you know, after, you know, maybe under throwing it a little bit. I love it. You know, there's the aggressive nature, you know, coach Patrina, you know, um, me and Ty and, uh, Zane was talking about the play, um, leading up to it and, you know, of course, you know, I under threw it and, uh, he was open, you know, I'm, that's something I got to get better at and, um, but, you know, it's a next play mentality, you know, it's not always gonna be, you know, I'm not always gonna make the every everything. I mean, I hope so, you know, but, uh, it just, it's, it's all about just sticking to the next play and, you know what coach says is flushing it and on to the next play, could you walk us through the play too where you threw the touchdown at Ty Washington? It looked like that may have been one of your better throws of the night. Yeah, that's, that's straight drill work. I mean, we, uh, the quarterbacks coach Reno, we work that every single day, you know, when, when there's special teams, you know, we're always, you know, on the turf field working that, you know, exact, look in that exact play and, you know, when we saw it, you know, coach was like, that's drill work, you know, and just, uh, uh, just praise to, you know, ty for, you know, uh not stopping on the route and, you know, uh you know, caught, didn't score a touchdown, you know, had a little celebration that we've been practicing. So it was, it was fun, I guess for, for, yeah, we only got one Mike uh for, for both of you guys, Taylor. Taylor, maybe you can take a first, you know, I know you weren't here last year. The running game struggled even against Western Carolina, another F CS team and your first four touchdowns tonight were rushing, you had 100 and one yards on L A case. Well, what do you all think of the running game? And how good was it to be that productive? Maybe tail and you could take it first and then you come in, I mean, I first that speaks volumes to, you know, our coaching staff and the schemes that they, you know, put in the game plan, then it speaks volumes to, you know, the old line and the communication that they have because it's, it's a lot that goes into it. It's a lot of preparation and, you know, praise goes to the line and, you know how they handle the communication that they, uh, you know, that they did today and, you know, praise to the running backs, you know, because it's different footwork and different looks and different, you know, schemes. So, I mean, just having, having them as, you know, is, is a luxury and, you know, I, I tell them all the time, you know, the end or whoever we're reading, they, they're wrong either way, you know, if they pick the running back, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna uh run if they pick me, you know, you saw, you saw what uh JJ did with the spin move that it was crazy. I was like, ok, well, oh, can you ask the question again? He was talking so long. Yeah, I'm gonna be excited. I'm excited too. Running. The ball was not a strength last year for Arkansas. That's why you guys are here. But um how good was it to be so productive so early now you have four Russian touchdowns in the first quarter and I think 215 Russian yards in the first half, just uh, Quinn, how, how good was that to see and just, what do you think about the running game tonight? It was exciting, uh, like you said, it wasn't that good last year and uh, we picking it up this year but, uh, it's, it's a lot of stuff we have to work on as well to get better and get where we wanna go. But, uh, it, it's exciting to see where we can, where we're headed and, uh, if, if you both want to hit on this, but Taylor may be more for you. But, you know, by Patrinos had a lot of big games here in Little Rock. What sense did you get from him tonight? Like how he was on the sidelines? You guys go 10 for 10 on touchdowns is what, what sense did you get from Bobby tonight? And if Jacquin, if you got a thought you want to. And after Taylor, I mean, even when, you know, we were up, uh a lot, he was still, you know, we were still watching film, we were still, you know, learning, he was still critique critiquing us, uh you know, the different stuff that we can get better at, you know, so that's what, you know, I like, you know, it's always, you know, room for improvement. Talyn did you, uh did you have any nerves starting off or anything? I know you said you under threw that first pass, it looked like you just got stronger. Maybe you had the wind behind you in the second, in the second quarter. Uh I would say a little bit, I mean, I would say, you know, just a really big focus of what we talked about on the sidelines, just getting my feet going, you know, I felt like it was a little slow in the first two drives and, you know, that's what we, you know, honed in and, uh, you know, focused on in fall camp. So we just, uh, translating that, you know, to the game and, um, that's something I got to improve on, you know, starting starting fast and it all starts in my feet, you know, and I, we have a great opportunity next week. Well, Oklahoma State, you know, so, uh, just go and have that opportunity to do it. Is there any moment where you, you can just kind of click and you're like, ok, here we go. I would say after that first throw, you know, I'm like, ok, like just breathe and lock in, you know, and, you know, JJ was, uh on the sideline talking to me too, like, bro, just go, go, do you, you know. And so, you know, he's a quarterback, he was a quarterback so he, he gets it and, you know, he knows the, the looks and just the different things that I know quarterbacks have to do. So, you know, he tells me sometimes, you know, if I'm, if I miss a throw in practice, you gonna bro, your shoulder or your arm. So he keeps me, he keeps me, uh, accountable. So I like that the point in your last run. I believe it was a 14 yarder that put you over 100. Did you know at the time that you had gone to 100 and one yards? I never know my stats during the game. I always see them after cause I don't, I don't never check my phone at half time and nothing like that. So I just be locked in on the game. That was a great job. Here we go. Your injury history and how you had to play through an injury last year just for you to be able to kind of run free a little bit tonight. Just how good did it feel? It felt great. I feel like me again, just a little heavier, but I feel like me again. I mean, how, how does that feel from the defensive perspective? Uh, it feels good, man. I mean, we ain't had one of those in a minute. I mean, it, it feels good just for our first game coming back. It, it feels pretty good, but I mean, we left a lot of stuff on the field too. We weren't perfect. So I mean, we still got a lot to prove in, but I mean, it was, it was great for us. I feel like it was good as well. Um I feel like everything we've, we've worked for is paying off now and we gotta, we gotta get better at some things, but we had a good, a good game tonight. Yeah. I, I guess for, for both guys n you could take it for, this is your first start. You got to be a captain. What, what, what did that mean to you? Uh, it meant a lot to me today. Uh, especially coming back to Little Rock, um, getting to put on the shuffle the, for the fans and it just felt good to be a captain and be a starter. And for both guys, ***, you'd take first if you want, you know, 70 nothing is hard to do much better than that. A lot of points and then not any points for the other guys. And I know this was a team you're expected to, to beat soundly and you beat them even worse. And probably the prognosticators thought is how good was it to open with a game like this when you're coming off a tough season? You obviously got a big game next week. I think it just builds us a lot of confidence to go on into next week. Um It just felt good to go out there and play against another team today. He said it was a, it was a great starter for us, man just coming back and playing against, uh, somebody else that's not our team. I mean, it, it felt good. So, I mean, it was, it's gonna be big for us. We can use the momentum to prepare us throughout the, the rest of the season. But, I mean, it was great. Travis. I think he was upstairs last year and he was downstairs tonight. Well, what impact did that have? I, do you think? I look like it must have worked pretty well. What, what do you guys think of having Travis on the sidelines there with you? I think it was good. I mean, he bring a lot of energy so I mean, he can't give, give that energy from upstairs to the headset to us. So him on the field just give us the extra energy and just telling us, hey, lock in focus, we have four quarters. I mean, not just one or two. So I mean, it was great having him on the sideline with us. Eg said as well. Yeah, for, for either of you, uh I guess one of the U A PB, you know, wide receivers, you know, made the comment earlier in the week. Did you get a sense that the secondary guys, you know, maybe had a little extra chip on their shoulder coming in today's game? Definitely for sure. I mean, we've seen it, I mean, we uh we talked about in meetings, I mean, I mean, last year we had ups and downs so I feel like that they were looking more so at that and not really just prepared on what we got this year, I feel. So I mean, they definitely put had they had a chip on their shoulder and they really wanted to come out and show them that we got speed. Did either of y'all happen to see, uh Taylor's touchdown run there before half of y'all's thoughts on that. Crazy. I'm glad I'm glad he played for the hogs, I guess Sam was particularly proud that, you know, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd string defense were able to preserve the shutout, I guess. What do you just kind of think of all the entire units working together to get the shutout? I think it was, I think it was big. I mean, I think it's a real confident booster for the young guys. I mean, just to get that experience of playing and just being a part of the shit. I mean, not just seeing the ones do it or even the twos do it just for the young guys to get that experience also. I mean, I feel like it was big. It's never a perfect game. And you even said there are things to clean up. What, what is it you that you sticks out to, you clean up wise? I mean, just little, little things, I mean, the stuff that we've been doing since day one, just being in our, our hands and eyes and our gaps. I mean, just transitioning better. It was, it was a lot of things that we could fix up on. I said the same thing because um it's a lot of the little techniques that we gotta clean up in order to be the, the best defensive line we could be. And I feel like we gonna flood this next week and, and get on rolling. Speaking of next week, thoughts on taking this on the road. Stillwater, Oklahoma National Television. Uh, to me, it's just another football game. I think, I think the defense is ready and the offense is ready. This is a confidence booster. I think we just gonna go out there and, and play how we know how to play football, what he said because the same thing, I mean, just gonna take it as another football game. Uh, it's a tough opponent. So we're gonna go in and study, study them. Well, uh focus on us, focus on the little details that we need to get better at. I mean, and go in and play our best game 22 parter if that's ok. Are you guys if I understood Sam? Right. You get tomorrow off, do some Saturday and get Sunday off. I mean, how nice is that? Especially going to a tough road game. You get to relax a little bit and get a little bit of time off by playing early like this. I think it's good man to just come out of fall camp. I mean, you got days on pond days just ST up, up on us. I mean, so I feel it's gonna be big, just have a, a full day off just to relax. I mean, even watch some games. I mean, it's gonna, it's gonna be big. I said the same thing, it gives the older guys some rest. You feel me? Um, we've been going hard for, for a long time, so it's gonna be good to get, give our body some rest and just sit back and just relax like Eric, he needs that rest like I do. Um And then I know you guys, obviously you're doing your thing on defense, but, you know, the running game last year, even in, in against Western Carolina F CS team, it struggled and that kind of turned out to be a red flag. How good is it to see if you got to observe in the first half? Um How good that running game was early on and really kind of setting the tone. I mean, we play against the every day of practice. I mean, so we, we believe in those guys, we see what they can do every day. So, I mean, just for them to showcase, showcase it to the world that we are able to run the ball now and we can do it efficiently. I mean, it's big. It's definitely a comfort booster for both of us defense and offense. I'm gonna say the same thing he said, uh I feel like it just, it helped them and it helped us as well. Um Running the ball good is gonna open up the pass game. So it's gonna be, we're gonna, we're gonna have a good team this year all around.