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

Q. Michael, you got a really tough wide receiver matchup. What’s the key to stopping guys like Emeka [Egbuka] and Jeremiah [Smith] and whoever else they run out there?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: Yeah, they’ve got an impressive group out at receiver. They’ve got four or five guys that are really dangerous. Obviously, Jeremiah is really good. Obviously, Emeka, No. 2, is elite. No. 17 (Tate Carnell), No. 11 (Brandon Inniss). They’ve got guys you’ve got to respect out there.

Knowing that’s the game plan, knowing what you’re trying to do to them, knowing what they’re trying to do to us, and just being ready and being confident.

Q. You played against Will Howard when he was at K-State, obviously. What do you recall playing against him, and what have you learned the last two weeks playing against quarterbacks that can move pretty well?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: He’s competitive. He wants to win; it was obvious in that game. He was willing to do whatever it took. It came down to the last throw. It came down to that last little second when he was scrambling around, trying to find somebody open in the end zone.

So, he’s competitive. He does what it takes to win, and I don’t assume anything less from him in this matchup come Friday. So, he can put the ball where he needs to. He can do it with his legs. He’s a guy that those guys like on offense.

Q. Have you ever played against an 18-year-old receiver who is 6’3″ and 225 (Jeremiah Smith)?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: I can’t say that I have. Everything that he offers is just incredible. He’s a guy that looks like he’s NFL-ready already on tape. He’s going up and getting the ball over two, three defenders.

So, I think they’ve got a lot of trust in him. It doesn’t matter how good of coverage the defense has. Will [Howard] is still giving them a chance. Clearly he’s making it, making money. He’s very talented. There’s no way that he’s actually 18. He’s a dog and I’m ready to go compete against him.

Q. Just kind of piggybacking off of that, is there anybody that you guys have faced this year from a receiver perspective that kind of resembles either Jeremiah Smith or any of the guys that Ohio State has?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: I don’t think you can compare anybody to Jeremiah. The whole country knows what type of talent he has, what type of football player he is. I think he’s only getting better, because he’s 18 years old. So, I really don’t know how much you can compare anybody else to him.

I think, number two, just being in that system for a while, and knowing that system, it looks like

they trust him a lot. It seems like he’s slide-blocking like a tight end sometimes, and kind of seems like a Jay Witt (former NFL TE Jason Witten) type of guy.

I bet that whole locker room loves him. It shows on tape. He’s doing those extra effort type of plays. I wouldn’t say he’s a receiver like Jay Witt, but doing whatever it takes to win, and you can really tell on tape.

Q. I did some research, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe you’ve ever lost at AT&T Stadium in your football career. So, what really allows you to cut it loose when you’re playing there?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: I kind of go by the motto “big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.” And whenever you’re in AT&T Stadium, that’s always a big-time game.

So, you’ve got to show up. You’ve got to show out. You’ve got to be confident. Not a lot of people are betting on the underdog, and most of the times that I’ve played there, I’ve been the underdog. And so, I just believe in myself and kind of live by that motto.

Q. Ohio State’s just been dominating people in this playoff, obviously. And there have been some concerns about you guys finishing and having the killer instinct. Kind of like in the Peach Bowl when you had the 16-point lead. Is that a concern of yours? And why do you feel like that is? And how do you fix it?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: No, I don’t feel like that’s a concern. Obviously, we’ve got to keep harping on finishing. We started really fast last week, and we’ve got to always preach finishing.

I gave up one of my first go balls this year late in the game on a deep go ball against [Cam] Skattebo. I went to the sideline and said that’s on me. If you’re preaching it, you’ve got to do it also. Almost all of that was on me.

Yes, you’ve got to keep preaching it, but I think there’s just so many situations that happened in that game that the football gods, if there is any, they were on Arizona State’s side for all that second half. And it just seemed like nothing could go our way, and that happens in football.

But at the end of the day, we came out with a W. And no matter what it took, we were willing to do it. And thank God for Quinn Ewers, who checked the projection on fourth and 13 and delivered a nice ball to a wheel route by Matthew Golden.

Q. Michael, you guys have allowed more passing yards in each of these two CFP games than you did any of the regular season games. What do you attribute that to? And what are the things you feel like you have to clean up going into this game?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: Yeah, just communicate. Just communicate with one another. I think you’ve got ten days to prepare for each one of these games. Arizona State had 20 days to prepare for their game.

So, you know, you have 15 games on tape of what type of schemes you run. And so, I think with every defense, there’s always a beater to a defense. That’s why defensive coordinators are always on the sideline throwing their hats, throwing their headsets down, because there’s always some type of beater to every single defensive scheme.

And so, when you have that much tape out there, all the games that we’ve played and ten days to get ready for that and to scheme a defensive back group, then I think that happens.

And so, is it okay? No, it’s not okay at all. We’ve got to do whatever it takes to hold people to under our standard of yards given up and then touchdowns given up.

But I think that’s kind of where it comes from. We’re playing really good teams. There’s no coincidence that Ohio State made it to the Final Four. There’s no coincidence that we made it to the Final Four.

But you’ve got to know what they’re trying to attack, and you’ve got to be confident in yourself.

Q. Michael, I wanted to ask you a little bit about the places you’ve played. You guys just came from a game in Atlanta, which of course, you played a few weeks ago. You mentioned the AT&T Stadium familiarity. Obviously, the team played for a Big 12 title there. Is there a tangible benefit to playing in venues that you have some familiarity with?

DB MICHAEL TAAFFE: Yeah, I think it gets those nerves out a little bit when you know what the stadium looks like, what the atmosphere is, what the air smells like in that dome or that stadium.

So you think those nerves kind of rush out. It’s good to have nerves, I truly believe that. But too much built-up nerves where you’re not playing your game because you’re thinking about something else, I think that’s where it can go wrong. And when you have that familiarity, then those nerves kind of subside.

And so, having that familiarity, then that comes with confidence and poise and composure.

And so I think it’s great that we get to go back to AT&T Stadium. I know that the Burnt Orange will be there. And they’ll be rowdy. They’ll have the juice, and they’ll be loud on third downs.