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

Q. Going back to the COVID year, you and [Andrew] Mukuba and [Michael] Taaffe, obviously, working out all the time together. He comes in this year. You win the [Jim] Thorpe [Award]. You have the number one pass defense in the country. What sort of magic power do the three of you have together? And what is the Andrew Mukuba that we don’t see like?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: For one, it all starts off with God. God just placing us here all together at the exact same time for a purpose that means a lot greater than us and any individual on the team. That’s for starters.

Second, we all work hard, and we push each other. And the level of bond and the level of trust that we have, I mean, I wouldn’t want to say we have a better trust level with everybody else on the team, but we have, obviously, known each other for over a decade and things like that. So a stronger connection when we’re out there.

Andrew Mukuba, he’s always working to be better. It starts off with his practice habits, the way he goes throughout the week. So when the game comes, he can just let it loose.

Q. What do you recall from playing Will Howard when he was playing with K-State? And what have you guys learned last couple of games playing these mobile quarterbacks?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: That’s a veteran quarterback there. A lot of ball, a lot of experience on him. Hat’s off to him.

And then, too, not downgrading his receivers at Kansas State, but he has a better group of

receivers here, better people he can work with to get the ball to. That’s a strong kid. He’s a fighter. He’ll run the ball if he has to and things like that.

So it’s going to be a great challenge for us.

Q. You guys gave up some chunk plays in the second half, which is uncharacteristic. What’s the concern level going in against Ohio State, an offense that’s playing as well as any in the CFP?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: Again, it’s not a matter of the opponent. Just being in there more, just paying attention and being dialed to PK’s (Pete Kwiatkowski) plan and what he has for us. And just executing it at the highest level we can, which we know how to do, and which we’re capable of doing.

So I would say just executing his plan to the best of our ability.

Q. You’ve shown a lot of love for Michael [Taaffe] and Andrew [Mukuba] throughout the season. I’m wondering about the other guys in your room, specifically Manny (Malik Muhammad), Gavin [Holmes]. What have you seen from them throughout this season?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: Just growth. They keep making plays. But just growth and being willing to learn from Coach [Terry] Joseph and take the learning.

But they’re all coming along. And also they’re creating themselves value for special teams and things like that. But just growth and always being engaged on the team, always helping me to be better for myself and pushing me.

Q. What stands out to you when watching Jeremiah Smith, and how exciting is it for you to have that opportunity to go head-to-head with him?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: That’s going to be an amazing opportunity to go against him. That kid can ball. He can ball. He’s a big baller. Strong, strong ability. He’s a deep threat. And they love to get him the ball, and they love to create opportunities to get him the ball.

But it will be a great challenge for him and then also for the other receivers they have. They have a great receiver group of guys. So it will just be a great challenge for us DBs in the back end to go against those guys.

Q. Just kind of following up on that. You don’t go against 6’3″ guys that often. I’m just curious, do you have to change how you approach that because this person (Jeremiah Smith) is physically bigger than the norm?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: I mean, I think everybody, once they go in the game, you’ve got to play your game. You can’t change your game based on somebody else’s to get out of your position on how you play, and things like that.

So just being enamored with my game and how I do things. And also, the game is a physical

game. He’s a physical player, and I’ll have to be also physical. I’m a physical player myself. Just being physical and going at it.

I think that’s the great thing about football, having the opportunity to go against amazing players. So, it will just be a fun opportunity to just go against those guys.

Q. You take a lot of pride in watching film. I know you love to study film. Just curious what you’ve seen from Ohio State. What has impressed you the most with this scheme that Chip Kelly and Ryan Day have developed offensively, especially since they kind of adapted it throughout the season this year?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: They have all-around great players everywhere. Starting from the veteran quarterback, two amazing backs, and then the receiver group.

Just a veteran quarterback they have, and they create opportunities for those guys to get the ball in space. They try to get those guys their touches to see what they can do.

But they love their explosive plays and things like that, so it would be our job to eliminate those explosive plays and just to play our game. Trust PK’s (Pete Kwiatkowski) plan, and ultimately, it will be a good game.

Q. How important will the pass rush be in this game, getting [Will] Howard uncomfortable and not where he can just sit there and dial throws? And then what’s the team’s level of confidence in Burt Auburn after his recent struggles?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: Burt, he’s made a lot of amazing kicks for us in the past. He’s going to come up big when we need him.

So, if he could just block out the noise. He knows we’re riding with him; we’ve got his back through it all. That’s what the culture is here. No matter the ups and downs, we’re always going to pick somebody up.

And then for our D-line, it’s always good to create pressure, mess up the timing of the routes and things like that. So I know our D-line and our guys, they’re going to get after it.

Just an amazing opportunity across the board for 11-on-11.

Q. Sark (Steve Sarkisian) keeps saying you guys haven’t played your best football yet, it’s still ahead of you. Do you feel like you have played your A-game as a team in the playoffs so far? And is it dangerous if you’re not?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: No, sir. I don’t think we’ve played our best, but that’s what practice is for, to get to that point.

But I think we can win in a lot of different ways, from special teams, offense, defense. So that’s what makes us an amazing team.

But once we have all three of those pieces together, we’re a very dangerous team. That’s the goal to get all of those three together onboard; we can just keep it rolling.

Q. What has it been like working with PK (Pete Kwiatkowski) these last four seasons? And what is it about him that has helped this defense get consistently better year in and year out?

DB JAHDAE BARRON: He’s a genius. He’s always putting people in position to make plays, and he puts us in the best position to make plays. I think honestly, with the iPads this year, he’s taken full advantage of it. He’ll go to each position groups, D-lines to the backers and come to the DBs with Coach [Terry] Joseph with the iPad to help fill everybody in.

But he’s an amazing play caller. He’s very patient. He tries to get exact on the money with offense formation, what they have going, and what look they have and the alignments and things like that. But he’s literally a genius, and his plays are always putting us in position to make plays.