Texas held its first practice of the week leading up to the Citrus Bowl today, a 90-minute session featuring a new-look roster following the transfer portal roster churn.
The media got a chance to speak with sophomore WR Ryan Wingo, junior S Jelani McDonald and senior OG Cole Hutson about the upcoming bowl game, the 2025 season and what lies ahead.
Playing without veterans:
McDonald: “I mean, it isn’t really different for us. But as a team, we still feel the same to me, it’s keeping our energy up, focusing on the main goal for this weekend.”
Wingo: “Similar to what he said, same energy, same everything. Like we’ve said, the main goal is to go get 10 wins in the season.”
McDonald on announcing his return to Texas
“Like Mookie (Taaffe) said, trying to come in and go get a natty so that’s, that’s always a part of it. But just becoming a better man and football player overall, that’s a goal of mine. Being well prepared, or way more prepared than what I would be coming out this year. Thinking about the future.
Wingo on being a leader in place of DeAndre Moore
“Dmo was a super vocal leader. The older in the group. Got a lot of love from but, like I said, had to take another step with Parker, with Emmett, to be those leaders in the room, because we got a lot of young guys, and they’re gonna have to play, so kind of just trying to mold them be ready to play.”
On keeping young players energized ahead of a non-playoff game
Wingo: “We kind of practice like they’re going to play from the beginning of the season. Really from fall camp to be honest. So I think they’d be ready for any game that we went to. But, like, obviously, this game is not different, so they’re gonna be ready.”
How big the bowl game is for Wingo’s momentum into 2026
“Like I said before, I’m really trying to help everybody, but especially young guys, to get ready. I want to go have a good game too, but at the same time, I want to make sure that my young guys are ready when they get the opportunity to get chance to get in. So I’m kind of focusing on that a lot, obviously. And, like I said, that’s either helping with steps, routes, whatever it is, just kind of being there for whatever they need.”
On how to get motivated for a non-playoff bowl game
McDonald: “Just wanting to get over 10 wins. Wanting to compete.”
Wingo: “I’m taking it as like, we’re still in the playoffs. It’s a playoff game. It’s like that.”
Hutson: “We’re all competitors. I feel like I’m a very well versed competitor. I’m getting ready to go win, and I’m really excited about that. And a lot of the other guys see it as a chance to compete, prove ourselves, especially being in (the Playoff) in the last year, not being in this year, we get a chance to prove the committee wrong. So I’m really excited for that, and I think it should be really awesome.”
On Michigan
McDonald: “They’re fast. They’re physical. We know that. They like to compete, you can see that on film. They’re ball players too.”
Wingo: “They got some good players over there, good corners, good safety. It’ll be a good game.”
McDonald on Will Mushcamp
“I first seen him on a little video with him and coach Nick Saban. They were going crazy screaming on the sideline. Just from him being here, he’s very energetic. Good spirit. I feel like it’s going to be fun.”
“We’ve talked, talked a lot. I gave him my phone number.”
Was McDonald surprised to see Pete Kwiatkowski fired
“I mean, I wouldn’t say surprised or anything like that. I mean, shoot, business is business.”
On being back out with Xavier Filsaime
“Great, I mean, nothing’s really changed from our whole position group. It’s just, somebody else is on the field. Everything is still the same, physicality, gotta have fun.”
Is it different without Taaffe?
“Not really. I got them shoes on (now).”
On Jabbar Juluke and staff energy
Wingo: “Coach Juluke, he came with that energy from day one (they both chimed in). Team runs, he’s telling us to go in there. He’s been on that since he first got here.
Hutson: “Electric. That guy is energy all the time. You can just feel it radiates from him. So it’s really exciting to kind of get around that, at least for my time, a little little time here. But I’m really excited about what the future holds for him and kind of the room. It’s awesome.”
On the current RB room
Wingo: “They’re going to go out there and ball. Everybody is getting developed. It may take longer, it may be faster, whatever it is, we’ve still got ball players at the running back position.
Hutson: “They’ve done really well getting acclimated to kind of being the next guy, really excited to watch them and of see what they can do. We’ve seen it in practice. And so just being able to kind of translate that to a game is really going to be exciting.
On Michael Terry
Wingo: “From the first day we’ve seen him, we were like ‘Oh ok, he’s going to be in it for sure.’ Y’all going to see.”
Hutson on not opting out, playing his final game
Hutston: “I just, I think of it as my last game. I’m excited for it, and I get to go spend the week in Florida with my brothers, which is really awesome. And it’s a really good game of film. This person really good against a really good opponent.”
On the year the offensive line had
Hutson: “I say we came in every day, kind of doing our jobs, and especially when it got a little hard and little rough there, we got the chance to kind of refine ourselves and come back and finish strong. And so even though we started maybe not so well, I feel like we finished really well, and hopefully we can finish really well this game.”
On younger offensive lineman
Hutson: “A lot of the younger guys impressed me. I mean, they can do things that I can’t, so it’s great to see that. I mean, they’re a lot more athletic me, and they always look good doing it. So it’s really cool to kind of see them grow, especially from the beginning of the year summer workouts, getting there early. But it’s really cool to see them grow over the years and get acclimated.”
Leaders who have emerged
Hutson: “We have leaders like Arch there as well. Trevor Goosby has stepped up as well. Graceson Littleton. I can start naming off a bunch of guys, but the whole vibe around the locker room is that everyone’s really excited to kind of go forth and make sure that we prove something. So it’s exciting.”
Hutston reflecting on his career in Austin
“I remember whenever I first got here, you never know how it’s gonna go. You’re at the bottom of totem pole. You never know what’s going on. And then you kind of learn throughout the process. And I felt like I learned that pretty fast, being thrown in the fire as a freshman, and everything after that, I faced adversity. I’ve grown as a person, especially, that’s probably what I’m most proud of, and leaving the offensive line younger guys with someone that they could look up to, or if they need to call someone, they can call me, like, just kind of building that, like, friendship and relationship that’s going to go beyond football and kind of go beyond the years.”
Hutson on going 2-0 against A&M in his time at Texsa
“That’s awesome, especially talking with alumni. I get to talk to them about it, and I say I’m 2-0, and that’s the only two times I played them. So I mean, it’s really fun to do that. But, I mean, it’s a long-standing tradition between us. It was gone for a little bit right there, but I feel like that the rivalry will stand really kind of the test of time, and knowing that we made our mark the past two years is really something awesome.”