Wanted to ask you about Jonathan Taylor, what you've seen from him. Obviously, he's been a pretty special player for a few years. What's the challenge when you approach trying to handle him?
COACH AVALOS: I think, number one, he's been blessed with a size-speed combination you don't always see, his change of direction. To go along with that, his vision is really, really good. And obviously within their offense they run multiple run schemes, whether it be zone schemes, gap schemes. And he does a really good job seeing and fitting all those things in, obviously working off the blockers.
The challenging thing is, on our side of the ball, when we're looking at defenders, especially defenders that stand up, we're always looking for read and react, guys that have the ability to feel and react to what's happening. And he's got really good read and react skills in terms of finding the holes.
Is there a guy in your conference you feel compares to him in any way, or is this going to be a completely new challenge for your group?
COACH AVALOS: You know, every week is a completely new challenge. We always talk about how each game has a life of its own because of the personnel, the players, the scheme within it.
And obviously with the challenges that Wisconsin poses, there's a lot of guys that are very talented, the running back being extremely talented. But the O-line is really good, too.
And we've seen some pretty good backs this year. But by no question, this is the best back we've seen this year.
What do you think the key has been for your defense in turnover total? Not only that but especially the picks. So many guys contributing and guys forcing fumbles.
COACH AVALOS: You know what, it's the emphasis with which we create. Number one, the number of guys contributing, I think collectively as a whole is guys buying into the philosophy of, number one, we're going to play a lot of guys. We always talk about having dependable depth. Everyone wants depth but we want dependable depth. We want to be able to work guys in. We're not worried about who is in there, it doesn't fall off from who is out there on the field when the game's started. And the habits and traits are consistent all the way through and that's what we're trying to build.
And obviously we preach a lot about the ball. This game is about having the ball and tackling the man that has the ball. So our coaches do a great job of spending time and teaching different ways and studying the positions we've got to put our players in that are coming up in the games.
We were able to talk to a couple of the guys about Kayvon [Thibodeaux] and both of them basically said, we knew as soon as we saw him he would contribute. How long did it take you to realize that he would be a significant factor on this defense this year?
COACH AVALOS: No question, not very long at all. For most freshmen, it's a matter of learning the language, because we try to simplify things, and a lot of times football is football. It's about learning a language, learning techniques, and becoming consistent with those techniques so that you can contribute.
Not only – for him early on, it started off in pass-down situations. As we progressed through the year, naturally as a freshman coming in, playing in the run-down situations, he got better and better. And obviously now he's a 1-through-4-down player. And that was what we were hoping to get done by the end of the year and naturally progress.
But it's not just – for a freshman coming in now, it's not just about the football stuff. It's everything that goes into it. It's school, being away from home, managing your time, and learning how to prepare at a whole different level and how you prepare and things like that.
And so not only with KT, but we have a bunch of other freshmen that have done a really good job this year, and guys that did redshirt that we could have played. But maybe we do have seniors or whatever that were in front of them this year.
I assume his ability to get in early and contributed to him getting acclimated off the field and all that stuff as well.
COACH AVALOS: Yeah, no question, no question. He's done a great job on and off the field, and it's a challenge. It's a challenge for a fourth-year senior, a junior. It's a challenge. The standard that we set at Oregon and the way you've got to practice and prepare every single day, it's hard.
And so that's a challenge that we make the guys meet each and every day, each and every week. Like we said, each week has a life of its own, and meeting that challenge is probably the hardest thing.
COACH AVALOS: I think, number one, he's been blessed with a size-speed combination you don't always see, his change of direction. To go along with that, his vision is really, really good. And obviously within their offense they run multiple run schemes, whether it be zone schemes, gap schemes. And he does a really good job seeing and fitting all those things in, obviously working off the blockers.
The challenging thing is, on our side of the ball, when we're looking at defenders, especially defenders that stand up, we're always looking for read and react, guys that have the ability to feel and react to what's happening. And he's got really good read and react skills in terms of finding the holes.
Is there a guy in your conference you feel compares to him in any way, or is this going to be a completely new challenge for your group?
COACH AVALOS: You know, every week is a completely new challenge. We always talk about how each game has a life of its own because of the personnel, the players, the scheme within it.
And obviously with the challenges that Wisconsin poses, there's a lot of guys that are very talented, the running back being extremely talented. But the O-line is really good, too.
And we've seen some pretty good backs this year. But by no question, this is the best back we've seen this year.
What do you think the key has been for your defense in turnover total? Not only that but especially the picks. So many guys contributing and guys forcing fumbles.
COACH AVALOS: You know what, it's the emphasis with which we create. Number one, the number of guys contributing, I think collectively as a whole is guys buying into the philosophy of, number one, we're going to play a lot of guys. We always talk about having dependable depth. Everyone wants depth but we want dependable depth. We want to be able to work guys in. We're not worried about who is in there, it doesn't fall off from who is out there on the field when the game's started. And the habits and traits are consistent all the way through and that's what we're trying to build.
And obviously we preach a lot about the ball. This game is about having the ball and tackling the man that has the ball. So our coaches do a great job of spending time and teaching different ways and studying the positions we've got to put our players in that are coming up in the games.
We were able to talk to a couple of the guys about Kayvon [Thibodeaux] and both of them basically said, we knew as soon as we saw him he would contribute. How long did it take you to realize that he would be a significant factor on this defense this year?
COACH AVALOS: No question, not very long at all. For most freshmen, it's a matter of learning the language, because we try to simplify things, and a lot of times football is football. It's about learning a language, learning techniques, and becoming consistent with those techniques so that you can contribute.
Not only – for him early on, it started off in pass-down situations. As we progressed through the year, naturally as a freshman coming in, playing in the run-down situations, he got better and better. And obviously now he's a 1-through-4-down player. And that was what we were hoping to get done by the end of the year and naturally progress.
But it's not just – for a freshman coming in now, it's not just about the football stuff. It's everything that goes into it. It's school, being away from home, managing your time, and learning how to prepare at a whole different level and how you prepare and things like that.
And so not only with KT, but we have a bunch of other freshmen that have done a really good job this year, and guys that did redshirt that we could have played. But maybe we do have seniors or whatever that were in front of them this year.
I assume his ability to get in early and contributed to him getting acclimated off the field and all that stuff as well.
COACH AVALOS: Yeah, no question, no question. He's done a great job on and off the field, and it's a challenge. It's a challenge for a fourth-year senior, a junior. It's a challenge. The standard that we set at Oregon and the way you've got to practice and prepare every single day, it's hard.
And so that's a challenge that we make the guys meet each and every day, each and every week. Like we said, each week has a life of its own, and meeting that challenge is probably the hardest thing.
