ousooners182
10/7/2008, 10:07 PM
Keenan Clayton ended up being selected as co-defensive player of the week by the Big 12 Conference following his 14-tackle performance against Baylor. This week Clayton returns to Texas to take on the Longhorns in Dallas. SoonerScoop.com caught up with Clayton along with the rest of the media on Tuesday to get his take on the Red River Rivalry.
Associated Press
Clayton is starting to make a major impact from his linebacker position
Q: Being from Texas, how much does this game mean to you?
Keenan Clayton: This is one of the games, being from Texas, that you look at on the schedule with a lot of anticipation. It's going to be a big game a big rivalry. But I can't get overwhelmed with it being a big rivalry and how big the game is going to be. I just have to take it one game at a time and make sure I'm prepared mentally and physically for what they have to offer on Saturday.
Q: Take us back to recruiting; did you think a lot about Texas?
Clayton: Growing up I was a Texas fan to the fullest. Just the fact that I was from Texas, when I was young and started realizing that I was going to have a chance to go to college and play ball I figured I would be going to UT. I thought "Hey I'm from Texas, UT has a great team and this all makes since," but things didn't work out that way I wanted to from the aspect when I was young. But once I got older and started to understand the game more, I realized what was going on with the rivalry and who had the better edge. Now you can say I ended up in a better spot. I'm not mad I didn't go to Texas, I'm glad. God put me here for a reason and that's just how it is. It's working out pretty good.
Q: Talk about this linebacking core so far. Ryan Reynolds graded out at 100 percent against Baylor. For a core everyone worried about at the beginning of the season, they don't seem to worried now.
Clayton: I continue to say it, Ryan is the backbone of this core. He teaches me and Travis a lot as far as communication, going to practice every day and practicing hard. He's a guy that you can watch and follow in the weight room and in the workouts. He's a guy I love being around and following. Looking back at Saturday with Ryan grading out at 100 percent with 14 tackles, that's a great game the way I look at it. But you know people slept on us. They thought we were going to be the weakest link of the group but the guys around us won't let us be the weakest link. They made us come together as a whole eleven instead of a three solo who's not getting the job done. I got to give credit to all the guys around us and to Coach V for preparing us mentally and physically, day in and day out, and always to Ryan for taking the time to keep me and Travis in line when things aren't going so great on the field.
Q: There's not a defense out there who doesn't have a Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher who isn't running things behind the scenes. Am I correct?
Clayton: Right and Ryan is definitely that guy that runs things. Last year Curtis was the guy that ran things while Ryan just kind of sat back in the shadows, and he kind of sat back and fed off Curtis and saw what he had to do to get where he was at. Now me and Travis do the same thing and hopefully by the end of the season we will be so in tune with things that we'll all three be making the calls instead of just Ryan.
Q: Talk about Texas. What do you think of their offense and what have you seen so far?
Clayton: It's a given that every year they are going to have a great offense. They have two main receivers in Cosby and Shipley both have wheels and can run so the cover game is going to have to be on top of its game. They don't seem to have a premiere back like they did with Jamaal Charles but they have a bunch of backs who can all run really well, who have great size and speed. We're going to have to really tackle well and fly to the ball on Saturday. Then you have Colt McCoy. I don't have to say anything about him. His name speaks for itself. He opened up his game and shown everyone how well he can run and we all knew he had an arm from the first day he stepped on campus. It's definitely going to be a game where we have to be great in all phases, run, pass and tackle.
Q: Only once in this rivalry in the last ten years has the winning team been outrushed. How much does that speak to how important it will be to stop the run?
Clayton: That hasn't been brought to my attention until you said that. We can't let the things that have happened in the past effect what we do on Saturday. We just have to go out there and play ball, defend the run like it's supposed to be defended and defend the pass like it's supposed to be defended.
Q: Talk about the relationship between the two teams. It seemed like today, all the Texas players had something nice to say about you guys and it seems the same the other way around. Is the hatred dead in this rivalry?
Clayton: I don't think it's hatred between the players. I think it's more about players earning respect. It's almost whoever loses; they HAVE to respect the other. I think more of the hatred is in the stands between the fans. You have to remember, a lot of us are from Texas and we grew up playing ball with some of the guys over there, some are kin to them or in some shape or form are close to those guys. So it's more of respect between the players.
Q: Talk about their running back (Ogbannaya). He's a little different then what you've seen this year in the sense that he can make things happen as catching the ball as well.
Clayton: Yea. Look at what he did on Saturday, he had one of the Top-10 plays on ESPN. The guy has some wheels on him and he's a good size back. He's probably going to be the biggest and fastest back that we've seen so far, but they have other guys to that I talked about who have our respect. It's always the guy who doesn't have your respect that will end up beating you.
Associated Press
Clayton is starting to make a major impact from his linebacker position
Q: Being from Texas, how much does this game mean to you?
Keenan Clayton: This is one of the games, being from Texas, that you look at on the schedule with a lot of anticipation. It's going to be a big game a big rivalry. But I can't get overwhelmed with it being a big rivalry and how big the game is going to be. I just have to take it one game at a time and make sure I'm prepared mentally and physically for what they have to offer on Saturday.
Q: Take us back to recruiting; did you think a lot about Texas?
Clayton: Growing up I was a Texas fan to the fullest. Just the fact that I was from Texas, when I was young and started realizing that I was going to have a chance to go to college and play ball I figured I would be going to UT. I thought "Hey I'm from Texas, UT has a great team and this all makes since," but things didn't work out that way I wanted to from the aspect when I was young. But once I got older and started to understand the game more, I realized what was going on with the rivalry and who had the better edge. Now you can say I ended up in a better spot. I'm not mad I didn't go to Texas, I'm glad. God put me here for a reason and that's just how it is. It's working out pretty good.
Q: Talk about this linebacking core so far. Ryan Reynolds graded out at 100 percent against Baylor. For a core everyone worried about at the beginning of the season, they don't seem to worried now.
Clayton: I continue to say it, Ryan is the backbone of this core. He teaches me and Travis a lot as far as communication, going to practice every day and practicing hard. He's a guy that you can watch and follow in the weight room and in the workouts. He's a guy I love being around and following. Looking back at Saturday with Ryan grading out at 100 percent with 14 tackles, that's a great game the way I look at it. But you know people slept on us. They thought we were going to be the weakest link of the group but the guys around us won't let us be the weakest link. They made us come together as a whole eleven instead of a three solo who's not getting the job done. I got to give credit to all the guys around us and to Coach V for preparing us mentally and physically, day in and day out, and always to Ryan for taking the time to keep me and Travis in line when things aren't going so great on the field.
Q: There's not a defense out there who doesn't have a Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher who isn't running things behind the scenes. Am I correct?
Clayton: Right and Ryan is definitely that guy that runs things. Last year Curtis was the guy that ran things while Ryan just kind of sat back in the shadows, and he kind of sat back and fed off Curtis and saw what he had to do to get where he was at. Now me and Travis do the same thing and hopefully by the end of the season we will be so in tune with things that we'll all three be making the calls instead of just Ryan.
Q: Talk about Texas. What do you think of their offense and what have you seen so far?
Clayton: It's a given that every year they are going to have a great offense. They have two main receivers in Cosby and Shipley both have wheels and can run so the cover game is going to have to be on top of its game. They don't seem to have a premiere back like they did with Jamaal Charles but they have a bunch of backs who can all run really well, who have great size and speed. We're going to have to really tackle well and fly to the ball on Saturday. Then you have Colt McCoy. I don't have to say anything about him. His name speaks for itself. He opened up his game and shown everyone how well he can run and we all knew he had an arm from the first day he stepped on campus. It's definitely going to be a game where we have to be great in all phases, run, pass and tackle.
Q: Only once in this rivalry in the last ten years has the winning team been outrushed. How much does that speak to how important it will be to stop the run?
Clayton: That hasn't been brought to my attention until you said that. We can't let the things that have happened in the past effect what we do on Saturday. We just have to go out there and play ball, defend the run like it's supposed to be defended and defend the pass like it's supposed to be defended.
Q: Talk about the relationship between the two teams. It seemed like today, all the Texas players had something nice to say about you guys and it seems the same the other way around. Is the hatred dead in this rivalry?
Clayton: I don't think it's hatred between the players. I think it's more about players earning respect. It's almost whoever loses; they HAVE to respect the other. I think more of the hatred is in the stands between the fans. You have to remember, a lot of us are from Texas and we grew up playing ball with some of the guys over there, some are kin to them or in some shape or form are close to those guys. So it's more of respect between the players.
Q: Talk about their running back (Ogbannaya). He's a little different then what you've seen this year in the sense that he can make things happen as catching the ball as well.
Clayton: Yea. Look at what he did on Saturday, he had one of the Top-10 plays on ESPN. The guy has some wheels on him and he's a good size back. He's probably going to be the biggest and fastest back that we've seen so far, but they have other guys to that I talked about who have our respect. It's always the guy who doesn't have your respect that will end up beating you.