COACH SILVERFIELD OPENING STATEMENT
"Wasn't happy with the end result. We'll never be satisfied with losses. Like I just got done telling the young men in the locker room, they battled. They gave it every single thing they had every play for the entire 60 minutes and didn't once have any fret, fear. They fought and I'm proud of that.
I'm proud of our seniors. Grateful for everything they did for this program. Really the winningest group in Memphis football history. It just didn't end the way we wanted to.
I have got to do a better job as a head coach making sure all three phases are prepared. That's 100% on me. That won't happen moving forward.
We've caught ourselves a little short. Obviously proud with the way Riley [Patterson] played. When you kick six field goals in a game and don't come up with touchdowns, you got no a chance.
We had too many self-inflicted wounds on offense, to many penalties. It starts with the offensive line, and I have got to do a better job preparing those guys as well.
Defensively, we missed too many tackles, allowed too many gaps in the run game. And we've got to make sure we're doing a better job being sound tacklers and being fundamentally sound and all that.
At the end of the day, 12-win football team, what Memphis has, winningest seniors, winningest group of players in Memphis football history. And our young guys got a chance to see what it tastes like to be in the Cotton Bowl.
It was a wonderful week. We are appreciative, enjoy being here. They certainly deserved it. But a lot of credit goes to Penn State. Coach [James] Franklin and his guys, they battled as well. He's got a heck of a ball club. Full credit goes to Penn State.
Again, I would be remorse if I didn't mention Mike Norvell. He's a major reason why we're all sitting here today. A lot of credit goes to him as well. I can promise you guys I will have this Memphis football team ready from here on out every single football team as long as I'm the head coach here."
Q. Coach, even with this loss, it doesn't put a damper on how great your season was. Reflect on the season now that the season is over with.
COACH SILVERFIELD: Like I said, 12 wins, first time outright conference champions in Memphis history. First New Year's Six bowl game. A lot to be proud of. A lot of records broken. A lot of guys had single, individual records. But you've got to be proud that you can walk away saying you won your conference championship.
I told our guys, Hold your heads up high. Be proud of what you've accomplished. Obviously, we have got a bad taste in our mouth right now. I don't want anybody getting on our plane with their eyes down not being proud of what they are. They all battled. At the end of the day, I can lay my head down tonight to rest knowing our guys went out there and fought.
Q. Obviously, fantastic day for you, 6-6, mostly no doubters from at least the media perspective. What was going right for you today, and why were you able to kick so efficiently?
PK RILEY PATTERSON: Obviously, I'm very blessed to be in a position to kick field goals for this football team. I've had such a good season kicking field goals, and God has blessed me with that opportunity. I have a great snapper, great holder, Preston Brady, the holder of the year.
And our special teams have been dominant all season, and I think that's one of the back bones of this football team. I'm really proud of all the guys on every the other phases of special teams and was glad we were able to perform today.
But obviously wanted some of those field goals to be touchdowns. It is what it is. I'm happy that we were able to make those field goals, but obviously we want to win the game and, yeah, pretty upset about that right now.
Q. Riley, I understand that you may have tweaked an ankle or something earlier this week in practice. Tell us how you got yourself ready for this game. And by the way, this is a nice stadium here. You kicked well here. Would you like to see the Dallas Cowboys draft you?
PK RILEY PATTERSON: That's the farthest thing from my mind right now. Yeah, I tweaked my ankle a pretty good earlier this week. And Larry [Reynolds] and Darrell [Turner] were so helpful in getting me back in shape. To be honest here, I was a little bit -- I didn't think I was going to be able to kick. So they just went to work day and night. They were so helpful, and I was so grateful to them.
We have a great training staff, and they just do such a great job. There's so many little things throughout the week that, I mean, you probably wouldn't even have known that happened. And they've done such a great job this year with so many different things like that. So we're grateful for them in our program and very thankful for them.
COACH SILVERFIELD: If that's how he kicks with a bum ankle, I'm going to be pushing him down stairs every game next season as well.
PK RILEY PATTERSON: Thanks, Coach.
Q. Brady, the second quarter is not going your way at all. And towards the end there you -- you get the throw to [Damonte] Coxie, a touchdown, you get a field goal. What was it like being in this game with the ebbs and flows? And what did you guys -- obviously it's not new with you guys responding like that. But what did you feel in that moment when it looked like maybe the game was slipping away and you guys didn't let it get that way?
QB BRADY WHITE: Yeah, like you mentioned, we pride ourselves on our response to both success and adversity. And I think Coach [Ryan] Silverfield just touched on it, we're fighters, man. No matter what, whether we're up 50 or down -- we're always going to be battling. Everyone cares about every single play, and that's, like, that mentality we have.
No one was fazed at all. Obviously, you're excited when you're doing well. But when maybe some adversity strikes or it's not going your way, everybody on that sideline was positive and ready to bounce back. I was proud of the way we did, obviously. If we can have a couple or a few drives back, that would be awesome. But I'm frustrated we didn't get the job done, but I was proud of the way this team battled for every single second of this game.
Q. One for Brady and one for Riley, if I could. Coming off the field, Brady, what were you saying to the fans? Acknowledging them? And how do you put this year in perspective? And for Ryan, what did you think of the scene and the turnout? It seemed to be a Memphis crowd.
QB BRADY WHITE: I was just thanking them because I know I touched on it earlier this week with the media, I mean, it's the holidays, we're traveling. And that was a pretty impressive turnout. I saw some videos and stuff yesterday. I don't even know where it was but at some event.
And, man, talk about this entire season, Memphis has shown up, not just our program but the city and our fans. And it was awesome to run out into that stadium and see a bunch of blue. So I was just thanking them because that really means a lot to me as a player, and I think that shouldn't go unnoticed.
And as far as the season, I'm just -- it's been a blessing, man. Obviously I'm pissed off that we didn't finish it with a W. But there's a lot, a lot of history that has been made, a lot of records broken, a lot of positives to take away. And the only thing you can take away from this is to have more fire under you and get ready to go back to work next season. So that's that.
COACH SILVERFIELD: You talked about the atmosphere, Jeff, and Brady just hit on it. The Memphis fans has been absolutely phenomenal all season.
We've had the support of the city, the community, the entire 901. And our players really do feel it. They can tell and coming out of that tunnel in AT&T Stadium, to look out there and see that sea of blue and the fans were yelling and cheering. And then to say and applaud our young men, our student-athletes, as they were walking off the field, they could have easily boo'd us or left early. But they stayed and clapped. Credit to our fans, credit to our players that deserve that respect.
So grateful for the way they turned out. Like I said, Brady [White] mentioned it earlier, we're always going to battle for them. It's not just the name on the back of our jersey. It's the name on the front that represents a wonderful university and a wonderful community.
Q. Coach, after looking at the mismatch between offensive passing yards and offensive rushing yards, how are you guys starting to look to produce on offense in the beginning of the game and then how did you guys adjust at halftime?
COACH SILVERFIELD: We knew they were a very stout defense, and we game planned accordingly. And there's some -- like Brady [White] mentioned, ebbs and flows of a football game. We had some success running the ball at times when we didn't think we would. And we had times throwing the football when at times I didn't think we would be able to.
Full credit goes to those guys on offense that put the plays together. The quarterback did a wonderful job. The tight ends, the running backs, the wide receivers, give a lot of credit to Kevin Johns calling a wonderful game. Our staff, they worked hard diligently these last two weeks to make sure the offense was rolling the right direction.
We don't ever go into a game saying, We have got to throw the ball this many times or run the ball this many times. We were fairly balanced. We took what they gave us. A lot of times overloaded the box, and we had to fix some throws. Brady did a fantastic job of reading the defenses and have that understanding.
Q. Today you almost threw for 500 yards and you go for over 4,000 for the season. Reflect on your season. Did you have these goals and expectations? I know you don't like to look at your numbers but reflect on your personal growth and development this season.
QB BRADY WHITE: Thank you for informing me. I didn't know that.
But I'm first going to say again, reiterate, I don't care about performances. I know you've heard this before from me, but I care about wins. And we didn't get that today. So I'm frustrated with the information just provided me. Woo-hoo, awesome job. But I want championships, I want wins.
So it's cool to hear that. And, like, kind of Riley [Patterson] touched on it, it's awesome to set records and perform well, but that's what I love about football, man. It's not about individuals. It's about the entire team. And it takes a lot of work and dedication and sacrifice to win 12 games in a season. And a lot of things got to go together. So I'm proud of that. And I guess all the stats are bonuses, which is great, but I want to win.
Q. For Coach, how did it feel being out there? Calling a little bit different? Your first time with the big headset on. And you mentioned you were going to get the team to play as hard as you can going forward. Can you get them back to this level bowl?
COACH SILVERFIELD: When you think about these two young men sitting to my left, the way they've been able to respond to questions after such a tough loss, Brady [White] and Riley [Patterson] both gave full credit to everybody but themselves. And I think that shows the type of young men we have at Memphis in our football program. Kudos to them and it makes me proud to be their head coach and sitting next to them.
Going back to that, to reiterate on your question, how do I, one, motivate them to get back to games like this, our guys work and I know they'll work hard. And I think it's nice to have guys have the understanding of what bowl games like this feel like.
We take it one game at a time and it's going to start with our preparation when they come back January 19th. And we're going to work with one goal in mind; it's to improve every single day. And, hopefully, we end up in bowl games like this. And then you talked about just the performance. We've got to do a better job. It's always going to start with me. I'll never be satisfied with a loss and the ups and downs. And, again, it starts with me coaching the offensive line. As of right now, I'm officially firing Memphis' offensive line coach. He's done with the offensive line. And, hopefully, he'll assist with it but that's my first staff change moving forward.
Q. Brady, who's got the better mustache, your assistant coach, you or Gardner Minshew?
QB BRADY WHITE: I don't know. You tell me. This will be gone soon. So get a good look.
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