Tennessee’s receivers left the Texas game talking about execution, responsibility and keeping the quarterback steady after a tough night.
Mike Matthews said the Volunteers were close to doing what they needed, but not sharp enough to finish the job.
"I feel like we did what we were supposed to. We just gotta execute better."
He pointed to Tennessee’s own mistakes rather than anything Texas was doing defensively.
"I would really just say nothing that they did. I mean, they, of course, they have a great defense, but really offensively, I feel like there's a lot of things that we could have executed better.
It was really us shooting ourselves in the foot, really. So, just some things we gotta clean up and use that, looking forward to next week."
Matthews also described the confidence Tennessee had after his touchdown, saying the group stayed locked in and ready for whatever came next.
"It’s strong belief hype always say it's harder for longer, so we're always pushing to our next limit, whatever that may be. And, really, just going in the field, knowing that we were all prepared for the moment.
So, just really just ready for anything going on. I know it's gonna be bullets flying, but I mean, you never know when it's your moment."
He said the receivers understood the challenge in front of them, especially with a young quarterback in a hostile setting against a strong opponent.
"For the receivers. Obviously, we're just trying to get open as quick as you can.
Young quarterback, hostile environment, with a great team that just came in here. So, we tried to do our best to get up as fast as we could, and him to get us a ball."
Braylon Staley said Tennessee’s focus now is on supporting that quarterback and getting back to work.
"Just keep his head up. Like, he know what he supposed to do.
We know what we supposed to do. We got to be there for him.
And I'll just keep your head up and come back to work."
Staley’s own view of the loss matched Matthews’ tone. He said Tennessee handled its side of the assignment but has to be cleaner going forward.
"I mean, I asked, like, maybe one time, but, like, I don't want to keep trying to bug him, trying to see what's going on. I just want to do my job.
I'm sure he's trying to do his job back there, too. So if we both do that, everything's playing out well."
Their message after the game was simple: the work was there, but the details weren’t.
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