UCF head coach Gus Malzahn reviews the loss at Oklahoma while looking ahead to this week's homecoming game against West Virginia.

Opening statement:

"Okay, coming off a tough loss, I will say this, we played our best football game of the year. Came up a little short against one of the top teams in the country on their home field. I think that's the big picture view of everything.

"We had a good practice last night. Our guys are looking forward to finishing the season strong. So obviously we're playing West Virginia, a team that has a head coach I've got a lot of respect for. Offensively they run the football, defensively they present some different things.

"They're No. 7 in the country in time of possession, they run the football, they get off the field, their good on third down. The No. 15 in the country in penalties, so they're a disciplined team.

"We did get better in that area. That was one of our focuses too, not beating ourselves with the penalties. We've got to continue to improve in that area. We're excited about homecoming, excited about playing at home. Like I said, our guys are really excited to play this one."

What's the health status of your team entering game week? We know a lot of guys were down with flu-like symptoms.

"Yeah. The flu bug got us on the way over there. There was a lot of people, but our guys showed a lot of guts. I mean, they pushed through. Had a handful of guys that we were a little worried about, even not playing, that they ended up gutting it out for our team. So I'm real proud of them.

"We had a couple guys that didn't practice last night that we had to send home. We're hoping as the week gets going on, we can kind of get that behind us. As far as, you know, banged up, I mean, that was a physical game. Got a couple guys a little banged up. I think you probably saw that fought through to the end and tried to help us win. So we'll have to get those guys healed up too."

How many two-point plays do you have and what makes a good two-point play?

"Yeah, that is effective. That's bottom line about two point plays. Yeah, that was one that at the time, obviously we went with, it didn't work. And anytime you got a play like that and it doesn't work, you're going to be criticized, and rightfully so. I mean, that's a big moment.

"But at the time, that was a play that's worked. And so we had probably two or three others that you carry. You always got to be prepared for overtime with the new rules and all that. But obviously it didn't work. It didn't work. And a big moment like that, we'll have to do a better job next time that presents itself."

You said your guys played their best game of the season. I know you're not into moral victories, but how important is it for players to carry that over.

"You can ask our two players are going to be appearing in a minute, but just getting our edge back to who we are. The off week, it really changed a lot of things and kind of getting back to really who we are at our core. And that really helped. And just accountability, the discipline part. We played cleaner football, I mean there were still some penalties, but we played cleaner football.

"We played extremely hard. We played together. Our coaches coached with great energy. So we're in a spot and after the game, that wasn't like a coach speak. I mean, I really believe we're going to finish strong and I know our players do too.

"Trying to be the best version of us. Like I always say, there's not a whole lot of teams in college football that can get better. And the fact it's game seven and we got better, that's really good. Getting kind of back to who we are, that will help us."

A chief criticism on the two-point play is you're taking the ball out of the quarterback's hands. How do you respond to that?

"I think that's a fair criticism when a play doesn't work like that. If it had worked, we wouldn't have this conversation. But it didn't work. The quarterback didn't have it in his hands. I think that's a fair criticism."

You've coached a lot of football. Have you ever lost four games in a row? And in your experience, what can you do to try to keep the locker room not only together but also keep these guys moving forward?

"I'll say this. I know it's the first time in college I've lost four games in a row. It's a little new territory with that. But, you know, as far as our locker room. Our locker room is strong. I mean, our guys, they're not flinching. They're ready for the next game. We've got a bunch of high character team type guys and you'll see the way we play moving forward. But this deal is not about me. I need to do everything in my power to help our guys win. And really, that's the only thing on my mind."

As you mentioned, West Virginia is a very run-heavy team iff not run dependent. So what sort of trends did you notice in the Oklahoma game where you guys were successful against the run that you carry over?

"We've got to just continue to grow. Stopping the runs with our integrity of our run fits and everything coordinated together. We did get better. We took a step up. We still got areas to improve on. We still got some things we can even do better. And we're committed to doing that. You do that in practice and our guys practiced extremely hard the last two weeks, last night in practice you wouldn't know we came off a tough loss. I mean they were ready to play. They were ready to compete. Looking forward to their next opportunity."

It seemed like the score difference wasn't necessarily the two-point conversion, but those opportunities in the third quarter when you had to settle for field goals and didn't get touchdowns. When you reviewed everything, what did you see?

"I think we got the ball right out of half time. We had the pick on the 30 yard line and we came up short. We got to be a little more aggressive in certain situations. There was two or three things that you look back and we got to do better next time. Some of it had to do with a little bit of execution, but bottom line, we didn't score. We didn't put points on the board other than a field goal on those opportunities. When you're playing a team like that, you got to score touchdowns. That was looked at."

Coach, you've been around football locker rooms a long time. After the game, you talked about some of the negatives of social media and how it impacts the team. This past week, obviously went viral, over four million viewers on all those touchdowns. What are some of the positives and changes you've seen over the years on how social media affects the locker room? This past week, a week ago, fans were negative. This week, fans were loving everything you guys did on the field. How does that kind of change the way the team feels?

"They pay us coaches a lot of money. That's part of our jobs. But it's always like players that I always get concerned about. Because they read it, and they believe what they see. And a lot of times, football's got more and more entertainment type than it used to be. And so I always just worry about our players and how they're doing mentally through all that. And it's really a challenge for a locker room to stay together when things are going down.

"But that's a tribute to our players. Like, they hadn't flinched. Our leaders hadn't let any of that creep in. And I think that's pretty rare. And that gives us a chance to finish strong. Our guys have handled it well. And I'm proud of them for that.

The first quarter didn't go so well for the offense, but getting those missed field goals, how important was that for building confidence?

"Yeah, here's how I saw that. So we chose to take the ball, okay? And we wanted to go down and score and try to take the crowd out of it. And we went three and out or something and then we had like three possessions that we laid an egg. Our defense had short fields and they held them to field gold opportunities. That was a huge part of the game there. I mean that is a deal where, you know, short field, one of the best offenses in the country, they go down and they put a couple of touchdowns and the game is out of hand.

"So that was a critical, critical deal for our defense. I was very proud of our defense for that. And then finally our offense got rolling. But they kept us in the game right there when it could get away from you."

West Virginia is 2-2 and could easily 3-1, maybe 4-0 in the Big 12. For a team that was picked to finish last that's middle of the pack right now, what does that say about the overall strength and depth of the conference?

"When you look at that, the whole conference, I mean, you knew like from top to bottom, there's a lot of really good teams. I think you're seeing that. I think you're exactly right. I mean, they had the Houston game won and they threw up Hail Mary and they caught it. They've been really close. They're a really good team. There's a lot of good teams. I mean, there's no off weeks in this league. I think that's the number one thing that stands out to me. You got to play good football. You got to play good football to win, whether you're on the road or at home."

Coach, you said you've had more physical practices and that's translating on the field in terms of tackling. Will you be doing more of that?

"There's that fine line that a coach goes through with trying to get his team healthy to the game and then keeping that hard edge in practice. And so just from where we were at as a team, it was really common sense for me, let's go back to old school and let's get our edge back.

"Let's get that pride back, who we are in our core. And so our guys, they loved it and they appreciate it. So we kind of got that back and we'll continue to do that the rest of the year. That really helped us."

Coach, last time you guys were here at the Bounce House, everyone knows the loss to Baylor. But after last week's performance at Oklahoma, what's the confidence level that you have in your team right now?

"Yeah, I really believe that three games stretch, I really believe that's behind us. I really do. It's in our rear view mirror and we're moving forward in a positive way. And it's just a complete different mindset and approach.

"Obviously you got your quarterback John Rhys and when he's on the field, guys, we're a better team. And that's nothing against Timmy. Timmy did an outstanding job. He's a really, really good quarterback in his own right.

"But John Rhys is our leader, he's our team leader. And it's just a different deal. When we have him on the field, it helps our whole team."

For the most part, the defense played well for three quarters against Oklahoma, but in the fourth quarter they lost a little steam. What do you guys need to do to finish a game?

"We're getting a little thinner, I think that's fair to say. We did wear down a little bit, I think that's fair to say. We just got to find ways to finish. And I really believe that this team is growing in a lot of positive ways in finishing the game. I really believe we'll do a better job of that."

As a play caller, do you believe in the concept that any sort of play can be described as too cute or is it all results based?

"It just depends, I would say. Any more specifics?"

Well, the two-point conversion was described during the broadcast as being a play that was too cute because it didn't work.

"Yeah, I think that's probably fair to say if it didn't work. Like I said, you get criticized. A play like that, if it works, I mean, you know, that's good. If it doesn't, it doesn't. John Rhys didn't have a ball in his hands, so I think all those criticisms are fair. So that's answers your question."

Who made the decision to have Addison on the sidelines and how do you think he did?

"Yeah, I just felt like we needed... Addison is a really emotional guy, like an energy guy. I said, we need to get him on the sidelines. So I made a call. (David) Gibbs went up. Gibbs hadn't been upstairs, I think in 20 years, but it was just best for our team that our defensive leader was down here. And just so the emotion part and the energy part, it was just completely different. It was different for offense too. So I thought that was really good and it really helped us."

Coach, the development of your younger guys, they're showing they're ready for this opportunity.

"There's some of those guys that they played in prime time for the first time for quality reps and I think that really helped us. We've been waiting on some of those guys to step up and we had some guys do that.

Entering homecoming week, obviously still seeking that first Big 12 conference win, what will it mean when that team finally gets one?

"Hopefully it'll happen this week. That's what we're focused on. We need to get a victory this week and our guys are committed to that and we have to earn it. And when we earn it, we'll be able to tell you exactly how that feels."

Is there a fine line between showing personality and then doing something that can be a detriment to the team? I'm referring to Javon Baker blowing the kiss to the OU sideline. Players want to do stuff that goes viral, but it could cost you penalty wise.

"Up to this point, before last week, we've been a pretty undisciplined team with our penalties. And I take responsibility, I've said that every week, we're done with that. And that was a deal that was a selfish deal. And we could have got the ball at the 40 yard line right there, could have taken away a touchdown, and then we had the celebration penalty. So that's not acceptable. I've got to do a better job of making sure our players understand that. I'm pretty confident that'll never happen again. But bottom line, it happened in a big game that hurt us. We can't do anything. I want our guys to have fun. We'll get the sideline and we'll do all that. But that's not really who we are."

You talked about the importance of getting that first Big 12 win at some point. Does this feel like a must win situation?

"Every week feels that way. That's what we got to do. I mean, every week we got to win. I mean, that's where we're at right now and that's our approach. And that's what our guys are committed to doing."

You mentioned how having John Rhys back gave you a leadership bump. How is he feeling after that game?

"I think there's two things. You think his knee, and I told y 'all all along, I mean, his knee's getting better. And he took some big time hits. The one that he kept up the middle, that looked like close to the old John Rhys. He put the jets on and he slid. So he's getting closer. But my biggest concern was he had to have three IVs in a 24 hour period.

"He didn't make the Friday night meeting. He had to go to bed. Like he was sick, sick. And for him to like go out there and perform and the guts and everything that goes with it to play quarterback. He's got a lot of winner in him and I mean there's 13 other guys that did the same thing. Xavier Townsend he may have been a little bit even sicker than John Rhys, so there's other guys too"

You praised your defense which coincides with the return of Ricky Barber and Walter Yates. How big was that?

"Yeah, those are two big keys. Those are starters right in the middle of the defense. When you don't have them, you know our depth at linebacker is not really really deep so to have him back was really important. And of course Ricky, you know he's an impact player and when you don't have an impact player like him and you didn't have John Rhys, having both those guys back was really big."

You have interceptions in six of the last seven games. Last year was a struggle with that. What does that say about the emphasis on turnovers?

"I think a lot of times too on the turnovers it's disguise and confuse and then mixing some zone with some man and all that. We've been doing a better job of that. We did have another interception right before half that was called a penalty, but I thought our guys did a great job of executing on that one."

You talked a bit about how viral plays and selfishness goes hand in hand. How has NIL affected the way how players play on the field? Are they playing as a brand?

"I don't know. That's an off the field deal. When you're on the field with your team, you do everything in your power to help your team win. That's the way I look at it."

More about West Virginia, Neal Brown was at Troy for a few years when you were at Auburn. Is that a coach you're familiar with?

"Yeah, it is. He's a really good offensive coach. He's a good football coach period. At Troy, he did an unbelievable job. And he's doing a really good job this year. I mean, I think somebody said it, they were picked last. They're not the last place team. They're a good football team that could be even better than their record. Real easy. You turn the film on and you can see. You look at the discipline of their program and that says a lot about him. And he's got the guys playing extremely hard."

You haven't played a home game in three weeks. What are you looking for from the crowd?

"There's no doubt. We're so excited to be home, with our home crowd. I hope it's a great homecoming crowd. I know it's an early game. And looking forward to playing in front of them."