Texas Longhorns College Football Pregame Quote, 01/05/2025

Q. Has it sent a good shock wave through the building that you’re underdogs this week?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: We never consider ourselves underdogs. We just want to go out there and play and execute to the best of our ability. We don’t look at what they say on the internet. We just want to tune all that out.

Q. What do you see in Will Howard that makes him a dangerous quarterback? And how excited are you to prove the critics wrong that say that the Longhorns are going to get beat?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: We actually played him last year a lot. He’s an elite quarterback. He has a big frame. He can run when he needs to. He puts the ball in elite spots deep down the field intermediately. So we kind of have to limit him and make sure we’ve got him under control.

Q. Have you guys learned anything the last couple weeks playing these mobile quarterbacks like [Cade] Klubnik at Clemson and last week with Arizona State? What have you learned?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: We just learned that we have to learn how to plaster a little bit better. We’ve been working at it in practice, plastering in the secondary; being able to keep contained and have guys ready to break the contain and get ready to go for them.

Q. Just wanted to talk about the extended season. I know the body doesn’t feel great with more games on the schedule. But I am interested to know, just chemistry-wise, having more time with the guys on and off the field, do you see the benefits of having more games on the schedule?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: I mean, it’s awesome. Going into the bowl games, we’re playing games with each other a lot. We had a lot of time to spend with each other. It’s been pretty good getting extra time with some of the guys, some of the extra linebackers, some of the seniors that are going to be gone next year.

It’s been pretty cool getting extra time with them and just chilling with them.

Q. Do you feel like you lack killer instinct as a team and have an issue of putting away teams?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: I mean, we’re going against an elite football team, so we know everything is not going to be perfect, but I feel like it’s all about how you finish. And I feel like a lot of these games we’re finishing; we’re putting them away when it matters.

Q. Just talk about the need for you to get to [Will] Howard, to get him off his spot, to get him unsettled. You did have a strip sack against him last year.

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: We want to get every quarterback off the spot. It makes it better for the secondary and some of the guys that are covering. So we want to get him off the spot to make him see things and limit his time in the pocket.

Q. Anthony, not necessarily their personnel, but stylistically, when you look at Ohio State on tape, what are some of the signatures you notice from this Chip Kelly-Ryan Day offense? And stylistically, do they remind you guys of anybody you’ve faced this year?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: They haven’t really reminded me of anybody we’ve faced, but looking at their offense, they have a lot of different things they do.

They have really elite receivers, two elite backs and a great quarterback, so it’s going to be a challenge for us to stop him, and I feel like we’re up to the challenge.

Q. Just watching TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, what’s it like preparing to face two different backs of that caliber?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: It’s been pretty good. It’s been a fun week of practice to prepare for them.

They’re really patient backs, both of them. You can tell that they’re coached really well. They’re really elite out the backfield. They can catch out the backfield. So it’s going to be a challenge for the linebackers. And we’ve been doing that in practice, trying to work to get better to work with them.

Q. What are the ticket requests? It’s got to be difficult in a college football Semifinal, but the excitement for you within that to go back to your home area there. Just how much excitement is there for you going back to AT&T Stadium?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: It’s real exciting. The family don’t have to travel anywhere. Mom, dad, little brother don’t have to travel to get to the game. We’re going to have a couple extra family members there.

It’s going to be really cool. I won a state championship there, so it’s going to be fun trying to get a win back in that stadium.

Q. Everyone’s wanted the playoffs forever. Now that you guys are halfway through this. With the length of the season, how do you think the guys really do feel physically? Aside from the normal bumps and bruises.

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: At the end of the day, we signed up for this, so we can’t really complain.

Mentally, we feel like everybody’s doing good. Your body may not feel the best, but at the end of the day, nobody cares. You have to go execute and get in the training room.

Q. On that note, what are some of the things that you guys maybe did differently to start this year, maybe early in the season, to prepare your bodies? And maybe what the coach did to help you be ready to play this long of a season.

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: Just extra time in the hot tub. I mean, they took some of the load off of us in practice. A little bit less team run and just little stuff to get our bodies prepared for the long season, because we knew we felt like we would be this far.

Q. It’s Texas’ first year in the league, and you’re the only SEC team still standing. What does that say about Texas?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: We feel like we’re an elite football team, so we kind of don’t think about what other teams are doing. We just focus on ourselves. It feels good to be in the playoffs, and hopefully, we can do it again next year.

Q. Anthony, Sark (Steve Sarkisian) said after that SEC Championship you guys had a come-to-Jesus meeting about penalties. Cut them down against Clemson. It was in double digits against Arizona State.

When the competition kicks up, you’re facing elite competition, the game is moving a little faster, how do you remain cognizant of not committing penalties, kind of staying within yourself, but knowing you do have to play a little faster?

LB ANTHONY HILL JR.: I feel like it kind of all starts off with practice. You have to execute in practice really well. Make sure you have good feet, make sure you’re doing everything right in practice, so you can go out and do the stuff that you want to do in the game.