The Craig Way Show
Craig Way chats with Jahdae Barron and Quinn Ewers
(upbeat music) - Back to the Craig Way Show. Connect with Craig through the text line by texting Texas to 81530 followed by your message. Standard message and data rates may apply. (upbeat music) - Monday's show back here on the Craig Way Show, Cameron Parker filling in for Craig Way's. Out in Atlanta, Georgia, preparing for Texas in Arizona State. Today is media day at the College Football Hall of Fame where Texas and Arizona State players and coaches able to visit with the media. That includes Craig Way, who's out on assignment maybe, you might say, and got to sit down with Texas offensive back Thorpe winner and Flugerville native Jade Barrett earlier this afternoon. So has anybody brought up the subject that there's a finite number of games left for you? Whether it's, hopefully three, but does that cross your mind thinking, "Hey, I want to make the most of every practice." You try to do that anyway with your effort, but do you enjoy the moment even on the practice field as well as in the games? - I mean, most definitely, that's been one of the, another one of the goals just to practice, you know, better practice habits. And Coach PK and Coach Joseph, them just pushing me, just to go out there and have that effort and have it tally. And then even Coach Banks and Coach Stark just pushing me on a special team standpoint. So I think that's always been the mindset, but, you know, when you know things are limited, you know, for one, we're not promised anything. We're not promised today. I'm not promised the next second, the next hour, the next day, but ultimately, you just got to enjoy, you know, enjoy the process. And then, you know, don't be afraid of anything. You know, just put your trust in God and then just go out there and have fun. So I think just going out there and having fun to shoot today when I go to practice, you know, going out there and having fun. I mean, during these interviews and things like that, I think that's how you get the best experience and the most experience out of everything. - When it comes to Arizona State, one thing that's continually said about them is that they are non-complicated, that there is nothing really weird about what they do. They come right at you, they go right ahead, they just got to be running back in the way they do. What strikes you most about them? - I mean, I mean, that too, but you know, they had two, three weeks to prepare for, you know, both teams, the teams who have won. So just the preparation and the time they had and the period of time, you know, was definitely installing some things, you know, you know, a lot of things, you know, this is a big game on a big stage. So they're going to put their best foot forward. You know, I don't know what they were presenting until the time comes, but I mean, they have a great team and amazing coach. So the opportunity's going to be good. - Has it also been kind of like a mini buy for you guys, being able to head a little bit of time after the Clemson game and then the Christmas break tucked in there? - Most definitely, you know, we got enough time to get our bodies back and things like that, you know, you see we got players back. So I know that's going to help contribute to our success. But I think it's been a good amount of time for us as a collective group, you know, to just to prepare a meeting standpoint and a body standpoint and practice. - Okay, now about Quinn Ewers. Of course, we played some sound from him earlier today, addressing the Sam Levitt comments and we have some other stuff too, but here's a little bit from Quinn Ewers at today's media availability in Atlanta, Georgia. - Do you know how many of this game do you already have? One last week and now here you are in the final game. It's like a beach ball. It's what that means. - It means a lot to just still be playing football at the end of the day, you know, obviously we're blessed with the opportunity to still be playing and, you know, it couldn't be more excited for all these guys in the rest of the season. - What about taking on the ASU UK scholars on stage? What are you seeing so far in the building? - Yeah, you know, I don't think they do a whole lot, which means that they're really good at what they do. And, you know, they know their assignments really well, especially in the open field, first to second down. You know, obviously they're not a little different, but it's going to be a fun matchup for sure. - That's the best way you would go over here. It's the same today here in Atlanta. Back in the beach ball here in Atlanta. Hope we'll be back here in Atlanta for the natties. It's almost kind of like you all trying to make this your second residence. - That's right, yeah, for sure. I mean, like you said, we were here for SEC and we just, it feels like we just always were. We're going to keep trying to get back here. So yeah, for sure. - Point how you think has it been a perfect four new format, right played at home for the first college football playoff experience now on the road again for quarterfinals. What's that week of preparation been like for you all since? - You know, it's been good. Excited to be in Atlanta, for sure. Again, just excited for the opportunity to get to play. You know, a good team like Arizona State. Let's see what happens. - You know, we heard a lot of things about how different things were with the playoff. The time frame and all that sort of stuff. He kind of come off a mini buy a little bit. Did it help in terms of risk, preparation, all of that kind of stuff in the middle, it does, but. - Yeah, you know, it's definitely nice to get some time off, not only for your mental side, but you know, for your body as well. It's cool. You said it's like a mini buy for sure. It definitely is nice. - How long did you get the Christmas with the family? - We got two days. So Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day. We were back to 26, so. It was nice. It was nice to go home. - It seemed like a waiting ride. - Yeah. It was really nice. - It was a big wall. It's first year in the SEC. I'm from the big 12. You all have the success that you had in your first year. What are some of the things that you've learned transitioning from the big 12? Some of the different things that you've learned. - Yeah, well, I mean, I think away games are a little harder for sure, but. No, I think we did a really good job of just focusing on us and not all the stuff that's going around us and really just focus on the opinions inside of our four walls and just stay in a name with us. And overall, that's what helped us, you know, win all these games. When you guys come in, there's two touchdown favorites in this game. How tough is it? - Russell had come up a little bit there, so sorry about that. I'm sorry about the Texas fight song playing in the background. I don't know what's going on at media today. I'm going to ask Craig about that. But enjoy that sound from Quinn Ewers as Texas prepares for Arizona State. Taking the high road when Nast about Sam Levitt's comments does not mean that Quinn Ewers is not a confident quarterback. Sam Levitt, Kim Skadaboo like to maybe express their confidence, you know, through their words. But I think some players like to express their confidence by the way they play football, the way they carry themselves on the football field. And I can't speak to Quinn's level of confidence 'cause I don't know what it is at. But I think at times we do see it on the football field and the way he does celebrate with this players. I do think he's a confident quarterback. I think he played well against Clemson. I think he played well against Georgia. And I think Texas needs him to play well against Arizona State. And they do have a past defense that I think is very susceptible to getting thrown on. Looking at their EPA in terms of defensive success rate on dropbacks, 101st in the country. It tells him that Texas will be able to move the ball against the Arizona State secondary. And I think they'll be able to do it against the rush as well. They're 40th in terms of EPA and defensive success rate, defending the rush plays. That's not that great. That's outside the top 25, their 70th overall. The number that I think Texas can take advantage of, and we're gonna see this on Wednesday. I do not think Texas will have any trouble with the Arizona State defensive line or the offensive line. You win football games in the trenches. We saw it against Clemson. And I fully expect to see it on Wednesday against Arizona State. More than come here on The Craigaway Show gonna wrap up our number two and hear more from Kyle Flood, from Steve Sarkeesian, Michael Tath, Anthony Hill, and more as The Craigaway Show continues on this Monday afternoon. Ranked number one in innovation, 10 consecutive years. Arizona State University isn't just ahead of the curve. It's creating new paths to success. Learn from notable clinical and research faculty online. That's a degree better. Explore programs at asuonline.asu.edu.
Craig Way visited with Texas players Jahdae Barron and Quinn Ewers at the Peach Bowl Media Day.