Tyler Wilson 9-24

QB-Tyler Wilson (on if high expectations have contributed to the team's difficult start) - "I think it could be attributed to a number of things. Expectations being high, that's the way we set them. We set high expectations in 2010, 2011, and we had good results. I don't think they were set too high. It's just been a number of things."
QB-Tyler Wilson (on the mood in the locker room) - "It's wild. With a few losses and the expectations the way they were, you'd think there would be some crazy things and such happening, But the way we came out last night, it was another positive. Everybody was together, on time, worked hard, and had a great attitude. My biggest key was that we made a big stride last week. Did we win? No. Were we in a position where we could have? Yes. We have to tie those things together. And we weren't ultimately the team that executed enough to get the win. But we can be that team in the future. The attitude, the excitement, the look on everyone's face on the sideline and in the huddle was where it needed to be. The execution was not."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on going on the road) - "Road games are tough, but they are fun. It's always a challenge, especially in Texas A&M. They have a pretty good fan base, student section, a long tradition there. It's going to be loud. Offensively, it kind of says, 'Hey, we're against the world, let's go have some fun. Throw it around, execute, and score some points.'"

QB-Tyler Wilson (on if it's getting harder to keep the team involved) - "It doesn't get harder as long as you keep the guys in it. And the way the attitude was last night, I think we're all in it. You just have to keep everybody in the fight and say hey, let's go. It's about us. It's a continuation of the preparation. Like tonight, it's offensive linemen. On Mondays I get the offensive linemen together at four o'clock and we watch film and go over different formations. We understand their tendencies to certain formations. Whether they're in slot, under front, or we spread it out. A number of things that we have to be on the same page with, and I think it helped us last week. Then bringing some of the young guys along, staying after practice. You do some of those things, and I think it keeps people together and bought in. You have to do that as a player and make it about the guys in the locker room. That's my approach going forward and I'm going to make sure the guys in the locker room know I care about them. We're going to fight."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on if the team is rallying around beating Texas A&M last year) - "You pretty much can. That was a big game for us. We were down (18) points at halftime and we flipped the switch right there. Came out that second half and rallied, fought, and found a way to win it. And it turned the whole season around. That could be a very important selling point that I'm going to preach. On film, you could say it's just a hope at this point, but no. You're so close that it drives me crazy. When I'm driving home at night and I think about three or four plays that were so close, and it's a completely different ballgame. You might not see it from the stands because it looks like a one-, two-yard gain, maybe even a loss at times, but it could be a touchdown. That's what's aggravating. We have the ability, we have the right situation, we just have to go get it." 

QB-Tyler Wilson (on WR-Cobi Hamilton) - "They're probably going to pay a little more attention to him after a 300-plus yard game. I would. We have some guys that can make plays. Brandon Mitchell, which I'm excited about, gets an opportunity this week. Maybe some other guys too, but Brandon really has an opportunity to make a splash this week. They'll be paying more attention to Cobi, but we have some young guys. Mekale McKay, who made big plays on Saturday night, and made big plays the previous Saturday night. For a young guy, that's important. I'm going to work with those young guys, and bring them along, and they'll make some plays for me. The positive thing about having some young guys out there is that they don't understand the magnitude of the situation, maybe. They just go out and play. I know that was the way I was when I was young. And for those receivers, they'll make some plays. They're not worried, they're not scared, they don't know any better."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on TE-Chris Gragg) - "I think he's doing much better. I can't speak on his behalf, I don't know how he's feeling deep down. The reports from him were positive. I'll let the people that discuss that discuss it. I expect him to be okay. He's obviously a very, very good player, and if he's not out there on Saturday we'll miss him. We'll find some other ways to distribute the ball around. We did for the majority of the last game."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on losing FB-Kiero Small to injury) - "It's definitely tough, especially when you have that good of a player playing fullback for you. Kiero was a special player. He's a guy that we'd sit and have dinner every night and I'd go, 'When I'm 40 I'm going to tell my kids about Kiero Small.' He was one of those types of players. We can still run the ball out of two-back sets. We've got some guys that will hit you still. Whether it means we're bringing a tight end into that position to do some of the things he was doing, or Morgan Linton, a guy that is not afraid to hit you. We can still run the ball out of two backs, no question. I think we can also run the ball out of one back and do some things in the draw game, and do some stuff where you throw it, then hit you with that. We did a lot of it last year. We made that a key point, that one-back running game."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on last season's game against Texas A&M) - "It was a shootout last year. Especially from an offensive perspective, you don't ever let your foot off the pedal, and you keep going. The ball in that particular game, it seemed like it was always in my hand late in the game. We were trying to make the comeback, and fortunately we made some pretty key plays there at the end. I had Jarius Wright making a lot of plays. I expect it to be the same type of game. I think we're going to throw it around, have a good time out there, and do some things real similar to what we did last year. They've got a different defensive coordinator, so they can throw some different things at us, but I expect a real similar occurrence."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on being a face of the team publicly) - "It's a whole lot more fun when you are winning to be in that position. You answer different questions. It's still an honor, and it's still a privilege. I take it very seriously. I have to go out and execute, and do my job to the best of my ability every week. Hold nothing back and leave a lot of me out on that field."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on RB-Knile Davis) - "Knile is Knile. Knile's always in a pretty good state. He's a good, strong kid. There's a lot of us that are in the same boat, being strong people. You just have to continue to battle. It's not how you draw it up. It's not how it could have been, or maybe should have been. You can't live in hypotheticals a lot. It's what it is, and we just have to keep going. His breakout year in 2010, he didn't really crank it up until the back six games. We'll see how it goes, figure something out, and keep him going.

QB-Tyler Wilson (on comparing the Razorbacks situation to the New Orleans Saints) - "It's interesting how that correlates. Drew (Brees) is a great quarterback, great leader. He's got a book and it's one of the books I cling to. It's interesting how that correlates. They've got a really good team and they're going to continue to fight and believe that they have a chance to do it."

QB-Tyler Wilson (on improvements the team can make) - "The attention to detail, making the play in the crucial moment like in the red zone. It's little things like that we need to improve. That was the difference in the (Rutgers) game. From the first bit of the ULM game and the game Saturday, those are the two games that I have a really good understanding of what happened, because I was out there. In those two games, I feel like it was execution in the ULM game and execution when it counted here.