TCU Horned Frogs College Football Pregame Quote, 12/29/2022

We’ve heard how physical Michigan is for weeks leading into this game. As an All-Conference offensive lineman, do you want to go out there and prove you have the physicality as well?

STEVE AVILA: I feel like this whole season we’ve proved ourselves, we’ve always been the underdog. I think we were ranked seventh at the end of the season. I just feel like being here has proven people wrong.

I know we still have a lot left on the table. This will definitely be a tough matchup for us. I feel like the Big 12 has prepared us for a game like this. They have a good defensive line, but we have a good offensive line as well.

Give me a team you played that you feel like you can kind of compare Michigan to, because I’ve gotten the same answer from every one of your teammates, and I’m expecting the same from you.

STEVE AVILA: All of our opponents are tough, but I was going to draw a comparison, I would probably say Kansas State. You can’t really point out one position group that just excels more than the other. I think it’s just something that I can point out for Michigan.

You mentioned, being ranked seventh in the Big 12, not seventh in the country. You’ve been doubted all season long. Now, you being from here, you being from Arlington, what does this mean for you to be a senior and kind of have the season y’all have, the way it started, being doubted, and now you’re here playing in the College Football Playoffs in the Semifinals?

STEVE AVILA: It means a lot for me as well. We’ve been through so much. Starting from when I got here, we’ve just been through so much trials and tribulations for us. And I just feel like us being here and us having the season that we did, just proved a lot of people wrong.

And I know that I think I said this just yesterday, it’s hard for me to say we’ll just fall off next year. I know we have a lot of good players and coaching staff for next year. But we’ve still got a job to do on Saturday and we’re hoping to play two more games.

So you mentioned everything working together, coming together. You have a first-year head coach in Sonny Dykes. How did that come together so quickly? He comes in from SMU and it looks like you don’t miss a beat.

STEVE AVILA: Well, when he first got here, a lot of guys had a sour taste in their mouth. But after a while, after maybe a week or two, we started to understand he’s here for us. He’s definitely a player’s coach.

And he had the tools to build this program and gets the trust from the players. So definitely means a lot that he came onboard and brought a lot of people onboard for us to succeed.