Domingo Bryant on '86 Cotton bowl, stopping Bo Jackson

Key quotes from Domingo Bryant interview

“I tell you, the Cotton Bowl was a really, really big game for us.  First of all, winning the Southwest Conference outright, and then having to go to the bowl game, the Cotton Bowl of all games, and playing against the Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson, I don’t think Auburn really knew how good we were.  We were really excited for that game.  We had a lot of great players on defense. Johnny Holland, Larry Kelm, Kip Corrington.  We had a great defensive line with Sammy O’Brient, Jay Muller, and Rod Saddler. We were ready.”

“All the hype was on Auburn because they had the Heisman Trophy winner.  But, we knew as we were preparing for that game, we went in knowing that we were really, really good and I don’t think the media and everyone realized how really good we were in ’86.  They did hype up Bo Jackson, and that did put a little chip on our shoulder to go out and perform a little better than what we wanted to.  It was a great bowl game for us and I’m really happy to be part of that.  To have a great group of guys that I played with my senior year, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

“Well the game plan was to just go out and do what we did. Coach Sherrill and Coach Slocum prepared us really well for that game and we were just ready.  I think any team we would have played, we would have been untouchable because we were ready.”

“You can’t take anything away from Bo Jackson.  I thought he was a great back but I also thought that Bo played scared against us.  When he caught that 75-yard screen, the reason Bo scored that touchdown was because he was afraid.  Johnny Holland, Larry Kelm, John Roper, and Dana Baptiste.  If you go back and look at that film and you look at the way that we were tackling and getting to the ball that game, we were ready for him.”

“I was a little light, so on the goal line situations they took me out and put a bigger defensive back in, like Chet Brooks.  I can’t remember exactly, I was just so excited for them stopping them on that goal line and on those plays.  We had so many guys in on those plays.  We had a hungry defensive line.  We had hungry defensive backs with James Flowers and Wayne Asberry.  My job was to support them when I wasn’t in the game and that’s what I did.  They played really, really well and stopped them on that goal line.  I can remember it like it was yesterday.”

“I was really surprised to be named Defensive MVP because Johnny Holland had an outstanding game.  I was really surprised, that was a great accomplishment for me because that was my last game, and it was the Cotton Bowl.  I thought about it after the game, that was my last time that I put on an Aggie uniform.  It was very special to me and to go out and be the Southwest Conference Champions and then the Cotton Bowl Champions, I couldn’t have asked for anything better my senior year.”

“I didn’t expect the interceptions.  We came out the second half and I dropped back into my zone and the quarterback tried to loop the ball over my head.  But you know, I was 6'4'', 103 pounds soaking wet.  I got that first interception and I was happy, of course.  We came to the end of the game with couple of minutes left, and I got that second interception and I knew the game was over after that.  Our offense with Kevin Murray and the offense we had, there were so many secret weapons on offense that once I got that second interception, I knew it was over.”

“If you go back and look at that game and look at the weapons that Kevin Murray had.  Rod Bernstine, Keith Woodside, Anthony Toney, Jeff Nelson, Shea Walker.  Murray had a lot of options and a lot of guys scored.  If you go back and look at it, a lot of guys scored on the offensive side of the ball.  They had to go up against us everyday in practice, so we had to make each other better.  It was just a great all around team for me in ’86.  I was really happy to be part of that team and I think about those guys all of the time.  And all of the coaches, you have to have great coaches to prepare you for games like that and they did.”

“It wasn’t all about me.  If I didn’t have so many great guys on that team pushing me, and so many great defensive backs pushing me to get better things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.  Like I said, I am very, very proud to have been a part of that team and very happy to have played with so many of those great guys.”

“I look at the current team kind of like our ’86 team.  Some of those guys are seniors coming up this year and they are Coach Sumlin’s first recruiting class.  They have gelled and they have been playing together and I think they are finally beginning to trust each other.  The secondary and those guys from last year played really well and I think they are going to do a heck of a lot better this year because I think they are beginning to get that trust in one another.  I look forward to a big, big season.  This year I think the defense is prime and they are right where they need to be and all they have to do is go out and play.”

“Chavis is a great defensive coach.  I think A&M made a great move getting the Chief.  As you can see from last year what he did with the short amount of time he has had with them, now he has had a little bit more time to work with them. I look forward to seeing great things from Coach Chavis this year and couldn’t be happier for him.”

“If I had had the weight that these youngsters have these days, I probably would have been playing linebacker or something.  Justin Dunning is a young guy.  Being from East Texas, I always keep up with everyone from there.  Those were my old stomping grounds.  So, I look forward to Justin Dunning playing well.  Although he has to wait his turn, but his time will come.  He is a big guy and I look for great things from him, especially being from East Texas.”