CHUCK DUNLAP: We'll take questions for Jahdae.
Q. I'm sure you've been asked about this already. One of the reasons you talked about coming back was to be a candidate for the Thorpe Award. What does it mean to you to be a finalist for that award?
JAHDAE BARRON: I mean, it's a blessing just to have the opportunity. It's one thing to say you want something, but to actually go out there and get it, accomplish it, it pushes me and it strives me just to keep going out there, elevate my game from a positive standpoint, not only for myself but for my team, so I can help put my team in the best position.
Just for me to be on that final list, it took a lot of hard work. My teammates, they pushed me. I get a lot of help from those guys. It's a self award. One name goes on that award. But all those guys helped me be dominant. My coaches put me in a position to create plays.
Q. How motivating is that for you guys, to go on the road? You've been in tough places to play already.
JAHDAE BARRON: Just to go on the road and know (indiscernible) with us. We always harp on culture. You can have culture and you can have talent, but when you have both of those things, it's dangerous, he tells us. We strive on culture, not the field, but also off the field. I think that's what keeps us going.
Q. What has allowed you guys as a secondary doing a good job of tracking the ball and putting yourself in the right place? Is it film study? Communication? A little bit of everything?
JAHDAE BARRON: I mean, it's a lot of things. I think it starts off with Coach PK giving his credit. He's an amazing coach. He's always putting us in position. I say it jokingly, but being serious. If we don't make the play, it's not his fault. He makes the right call, we just have to execute it.
On the other side, they have schemes, too. I would say it's a lot of things. It's PK. It's God's will. He gives us the gift to go out there, play for him and his glory.
Also we trust each other. We trust one another is going to be in the position to make plays. We trust leverages when we're playing man. We trust cover four, cover three when we have a post player. It's just little things.
It has a lot to do with culture, just trusting your brother is going to be in his spot doing his job, trusting me I'm going to do my job. I would say all those go hand-in-hand, doubling down to the communication standpoint.
Q. Is playing in an environment like that on Saturday night, does something like that help you leading up a week away playing for the SEC title?
JAHDAE BARRON: I mean, I always tell myself a game is a game. The lines are not going to change. If you try to get so worried about the chaotic things that's going outside, it being College GameDay or it being a crazy environment, it can kind of blind you from what's in front of you.
You just have to respect what's in front of you. That's just respecting the game of football, respecting something we've been loving. Everybody has been playing this game since we were little kids. Just to have a steady (indiscernible), easy mind, going out there and playing freely.
For me, I can go out there and play freely because I know who my Lord is, I know who my savior is. Just going out there and playing fast. I can't make no mistake to Him. It has a lot to do with a lot of things. At the end of the day it's just football.
Q. Have you all had payback on your mind since October 19th?
JAHDAE BARRON: It's not payback. We have it in the back of our heads what they done to us. We have respect for them, but we don't fear them.
We have to go out there and just play our game, be enamored with us. Clean up things we messed up in the past, buying into us, being one. I think we started off good today on a Monday practice. We're just going to go from there.
Q. How much did y'all see that kind of red zone package for Arch in practice? What about him makes that difficult to defend for other teams?
JAHDAE BARRON: I mean, Coach Sark, he's a genius. He dials up a lot of things. Hats off to Coach Sark. He's just smart and he knows what to do in certain situations to create success for us, so...
Q. To get to the championship game Texas' first year, what does it say about the culture?
JAHDAE BARRON: To start off, what it says about our culture, it's who our leader is. Fully hats off to him. I trust him with my life on and off the field. He's changed my life. He's changed this program around. He said he was going to do that from the day he came in and what he was about. He's a man of his word. He's changed this culture, changed people's lives outside of football.
It was him from when we came in 5 to 7. He just wanted everybody to buy in. Every year you seen a few guys just buy in. I can go down the list from people starting off with Roschon, Jay Witt. You just have other players buying in every single year. The more you can get people to buy in, everybody will follow. It's an effect.
I think that's we just start on to do, just trusting Sark. He was vulnerable with us. He opened up with us his first year and every year for all the new players that's came in. He just open up with you. You're able to open up with him. That's how we were able to open up with each other on the team. I think that's what creates us to have successful stuff.
CHUCK DUNLAP: That's all the questions. Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports