What Texas players said following Horns' 23-6 win over No. 6 Oklahoma

No. 6 Oklahoma came to Dallas with an unblemished record and a wagon full of confidence. They left the Cotton Bowl with bumps, bruises, and a loss to the rival Longhorns, 23-6, from the State Fair on Saturday. Here’s what the players had to say.

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Arch Manning, QB

“We’ve got a lot of talented playmakers. Get it to them quick and go make plays.”

Tre Wisner, RB

(On confidence gained from first drive of the third quarter)
“We just knew that coming out of halftime, we were going to run the ball. Being able to convert on third down. Not only was the offense hyped up, but so was the defense. It gave us a sense of urgency.”

Trevor Goosby, OT

(On the offensive line’s response after the Florida loss)
“I think for us it was all about the response. I think all week we really leveled up and it really showed on the field today. Blocking out the noise and realizing, hey, we just have to go out and do what we know we have to do.”

(On regrouping after early penalties)
“Poise and composure. Coach [Sarkisian] is always preaching it, and we really just brought it to the field. Obviously, the penalties, we were a little excited, but at the end of the day, we came together and we locked in.”

(On whether the win impacts team’s confidence)
“I think so. We don’t want to get too high, just like we didn’t get too low last week. It’s a great win for us, for sure, but we have to make sure that we lock in for next week as well.”

(On Arch Manning’s participation at practice helping the team)
“For me, that just solidified the fact that Arch [Manning] has the heart of a champion. Arch is willing to compete and willing to put his body through the ringer for the team. I really love that about him, and that’s why we block as hard as we do for him.”

(On changes following last week’s game)
“Really just the mindset. Realizing that people aren’t going to believe in us and just taking that and letting it fuel our intensity and physicality.”

(On facing such a challenging defensive line)
“We were really looking forward to it. Obviously, they’re an amazing defensive line, and coming off last week, it was really a real challenge for us. It was a real opportunity for us to go show what we are capable of.”

Parker Livingstone, WR

(On offense’s ability to shake off slow start and produce successful drives)
“I think it helps tremendously. It’s unbelievable when you can put a drive together that weighs six minutes or five minutes, whatever it is. So waste time off that, score, get points out of it, too. It is truly unbelievable. But we’ve got to start faster, like that. We had to do that the first time. So go back to work, see what we can learn on, what we can improve on, and then off to Kentucky.”

(On what today’s win means)
“Everything. Out of my friend group, I have a lot of friends who go to the University of Oklahoma. I grew up in Dallas, went to this game once a year, every Saturday. So, to win this, to rep Texas to win as a Longhorn is unbelievable.”

(On team’s goals still ahead of them)
“Last year, we lost to Georgia. We lost one SEC game, but we were in the SEC Championship. We’re in the playoffs. So just keep on going on every week, not really worrying about who we’re playing, but focus on us. Focus on the mission. I think we have a great opportunity in front of us.

Malik Muhammad, CB

(On whether it was gratifying coming back and making two interceptions)
“I wouldn’t say gratifying, but I’m just trying to go out there and play my game. I felt like I let my team down last week being injured and not playing. I wanted to come out here this week and just put my best game on display and take it from there.”

Ryan Niblett, KR/PR

(On how it felt knowing he was going to score in front of the Texas fans)
“I feel great. When I crossed fifty, I heard the crowd roar. I looked back at my teammates to see if anyone was going to block for me. It felt great the whole time. Running into the endzone felt great.”

(On what it means to him to contribute on special teams)
“Making tackles, touchdowns, running the ball, every aspect that I do makes it more and more exciting to play.