PRESS RELEASES

TEAM NOTES
Oklahoma finishes the season with a 10-3 record.

The Sooners are now 27-18-1 in 46 bowl games. OU played in its school record 14th consecutive bowl game, the fifth-longest streak in the nation.

Bob Stoops holds a 7-7 record in bowl games. He is 149-37 (.801) as Oklahoma's head coach.

OU is 1-1 all-time in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, also defeating Arkansas, 10-3 (1/1/2002).

Oklahoma leads the all-time series against Texas A&M 19-12, including an 11-3 mark under Bob Stoops.

Today’s attendance of 87,025 was the second largest crowd in history. The largest was the 88,175 fans that watched Ole Miss face Texas Tech in 2009.

Texas A&M’s 20 third quarter points are the second most scored in that frame in history. The record of 24 is held by Texas in 1998. It was tied for 10th most scored in any quarter.

The last time a Redshirt Freshman won Outstanding Player Honors in the Classic was in 1990 when Tennessee running back Chuck Webb and defensive back Carl Pickens were named MVP.

THE MODERATOR:  Coach, your thoughts about tonight's game.
COACH STOOPS:  You give Texas A&M all the credit for playing a great, great football game, and in particular the second half.  They played outstanding.
Johnny Manziel is everything he was billed to be, expected him to be.
But, again, Coach Sumlin and his staff totally outplayed us, out coached us the whole second half.  It's a team effort.  When you lose like that in the second half, the offense goes.

Q.  229 yards on the ground, two touchdowns through the air, where do you rank this on Johnny's games this season?
RYAN SWOPE:  I think offensively, guys just bought into the system.  We knew what we had to accomplish tonight.  The coaches put us in a good situation.  We had trust in them.
Offensively, we went in at halftime, made some adjustments and knew that guys had to step up and make plays.  Everyone just bought in.  It was real fun.

THE MODERATOR:  We're joined by Coach Sumlin.
We'll let you make an opening statement.
COACH SUMLIN:  You know, my voice is about gone.  But these guys I think tonight was really indicative of this season.  It's one of the teams I thought in the country that truly got better every week.  We didn't always do everything right all the time, but I don't think there was ever a game this year where these guys didn't play with tremendous effort.

QB LANDRY JONES

On his experience at Oklahoma: “I can’t say enough about my experience here at OU and the things that I’ve gotten to do here. Coach Heupel and coach Stoops, you can’t say enough about those guys.”

On OU’s performance: “It was obvious tonight that we didn’t play the way we should have played. We couldn’t run it. We couldn’t throw it. It happens, you know.

Opening remarks: “I want to compliment all of you, Tommy Bain, Rick Baker, and all those associated with the AT&T Cotton Bowl. You all do things in a first class manner and it has been a fabulous week in all ways. Whether it has been practicing in Cowboys Stadium or staying at the Gaylord Texan, a fabulous hotel, everything has been fantastic. The players have enjoyed it and we appreciate all your hard work. Our players have handled themselves well this week among meetings and practice.

Opening comments: “First of all, thank you Texas A&M is extremely excited to be here at the AT&T Cotton Bowl. I can’t tell you after the year we have had to come to Dallas the hospitality has been fantastic at the Anatole. I want to thank our practice facility people at SMU and at Highland Park (High School). Coach (Randy) Allen has put up with us the last couple of days. For our fans, the location, the venue, everything that is going on in our time slot Friday night for viewership nationally, it is going to be a great atmosphere at Cowboys Stadium.

HEAD COACH KEVIN SUMLIN:

On running back Ben Malena playing so many roles on team: “I think it says a lot about him as a person, as a leader as a leader by example. People could not understand early in the year while he was playing and some others weren’t. It is kind of like the quarterback race, it wasn’t because the other guys were bad players, and he just outplayed them. He has been critical to what we have been trying to do as a coaching staff by rewarding players who do it all the time.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE STOOPS

On his initial impression of Johnny Manziel: “He doesn’t try to be anybody he is not. He plays to his strengths extremely well and to whom he is as a football player. He uses his gifts to help them win and that is what any great quarterback or player does. He knows exactly what he can and can’t do. His ability to extend and create plays, there’s not a defense created to defend against that.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MARK SYNDER

On Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones: “He is very (Alabama quarterback) A.J. McCarron like when I watch the film. He doesn’t get rattled. He is never out of the game. That is what comes through (from the film) to me. There is nothing he hasn’t seen. It seems like he has been there forever. He has seen it all which always concerns us. That is not always the case going into some games you can we might be able to do this to this quarterback, this quarterback hasn’t seen this, throw this up out of a bag of trips but he has seen it all.

CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR JAY NORVELL

On the overall team of Texas A&M: “We have spent time studying them and being aware of the types of challenges they put on you. We are going to be able to respond accordingly to their style of play. They figure that they will give you enough bad plays, put you behind the chains, get a sack, or cause a turnover, to where you’re not going to be able to score. If you can’t score the way they put pressure on you, it puts pressure on you to be efficient every single time you have the ball.

HEAD COACH KEVIN SUMLIN

On was there a moment when you took a step back and were just surprised about all the things that happened this season: “As a coach, especially the way our season evolved with so many things happening, number one the first game being postponed and really eliminating our bye week and going 12 straight weeks really was to handle the game that Saturday, deal with it win or lose and then move on to the next game. It probably wasn’t until, I don’t know, even when we were in New York sometime, flying around to these awards shows, I think that is when it kind of hit you that we have accomplished a lot as a team and a lot as individuals.

HEAD COACH BOB STOOPS

Opening statement: “On behalf of our football program here at the University of Oklahoma, we are incredibly excited about this opportunity to compete down here at the Cotton Bowl. We are looking forward to play an excellent football team in Texas A&M, a team we have a long history with and did not get to play this year. Texas A&M is a great football team that Coach Kevin Sumlin and his staff have done a great job in a short period of time in building.