Army 29, UTSA 24
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. Talk about the defense today.
ANDON THOMAS: It's been great. Super proud of the guys. Everybody is doing their 1/11th. Obviously not a great outing last week. So we had a great week of practice this week, bounced back, put it in the past. Everybody did their job well, communicated well. Just proud of the guys.
COLLIN MATTESON: I'd piggyback off of that. We were very intentional in practice this week. Everyone wanted to come back strong. Last week we left kind of a (indiscernible) impression to the rest of college football. That's something we wanted to work on. We all wanted to trust each other coming into this week. We were able to get the job done.
Q. (No microphone.)
ANDON THOMAS: I mean, credit to him, he's a great quarterback. I've been watching a lot of film. Making a lot of great throws, making a lot of good reads, pulling the ball when he needs to.
As I said, everybody just did their 1/11th, communicated well. Tackling, good cover technique, yeah.
COLLIN MATTESON: We were able to come out and execute our game plan. They had a really good offense, really good team, well-coached, very disciplined team. Just able to come out and get the job done.
Q. (No microphone.)
COLLIN MATTESON: Casey went down, so I came in. Something we always kind of pride ourselves on is coming into the play. Your number's called, step up. There's no dropoff there. I came in for that play, was able to go up and make a play.
Q. (No microphone.)
COLLIN MATTESON: Yes, sir. It was awesome. I think the best part about it was afterwards, having all the guys around me, my teammates. All the guys you work super hard with in the off-season, spring ball, fall camp and summer and everything, kind of accumulates. It's a really cool moment, something I won't ever forget.
Q. (No microphone.)
ANDON THOMAS: I mean, Kalib, he's obviously doing a great job. He's always in the right place. Super proud of the guy, he's my brother. Really just running the football, pursuit. We all end up where we're supposed to. The biggest thing is pursuit. That's something we really pride ourselves on, so...
Q. Take us through the play, what you saw happening on the interception, run back 41 yards.
COLLIN MATTESON: Yeah, I saw (indiscernible) kind of run vertical. I knew I had to get depth. I was able to go back and make a play.
I think Max was right in front of me as soon as I caught it. He was like, Just follow me, or something. I just followed him, followed the blocks. My teammates set me up for a great return.
Q. 29-24, they're trying to move the ball downfield. Your defense makes a big play. What did you see happening on that play?
COLLIN MATTESON: Goes back to trusting one another. We never flinched in that moment. We knew our defense had to go out and get a stop. That's what we did.
Casey did his job. Everyone did his job. Gavin came over and hit the guy. That's what caused the ball to go up in the air. Everyone was trusting each other and doing their job.
Q. (No microphone.)
ANDON THOMAS: Obviously, we pride ourselves on going 1-0 every week. There's definitely a drive for the seniors making sure this wasn't their last home game. Yeah, we're obviously blessed to have the opportunity to have another one next week, so...
Q. On the fourth and one play where you got the stop that led to the go ahead touchdown, talk us through that play. I think you and Kalib made the stop in the backfield. Were you surprised they went for it that deep or did you expect that based on the way the game was going?
ANDON THOMAS: Yeah, we kind of expected it. Obviously we had our punt block and defense ready. But we knew they wanted to run the ball. Coach Woody called a great play. We were able to rally and get him down, so...
Q. Can you talk about why is Army's secondary so effective as far as picking up interceptions this year.
COLLIN MATTESON: Coaches are doing a really good job getting us in calls to allow us to do that. We're just trusting one another. Can't have everyone in one spot doing the same thing. You got to trust someone else is going to do their job, which will lead to other guys making plays, stuff like that.
Really comes down to trust, flying to the ball. Something we pride ourselves on in the defense, is playing fast.
Q. What did you give Army's chances being in this position at the start of this season?
ANDON THOMAS: I mean, obviously going into the off-season, very intentional. We want to win everything we put our hands on. So, I mean, we've worked really hard. Really proud of the guys. We feel like this is where we deserve to be, so...
Q. What do you think about getting one more home game on Friday?
ANDON THOMAS: We're blessed, man. Super excited. One more home game for the seniors. Got to make it count.
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