At the Orange Bowl media day, everyone wanted to hear from Joe Mixon, the Oklahoma running back who was suspended for one year after an assault charge in 2014.
Instead, they heard nothing, as he declined to answer any questions that weren't football related in his first session with the media since his incident.
On Wednesday, Sooners head coach Bob Stoops defended the way the program handled the whole situation.
"It's a situation that was very unfortunate, and Joe was penalized," Stoops told reporters of the former five-star recruit. "Joe was removed from the team for a year, and we believe as a university that you give people second chances if they can do certain things to grow from it and learn from it."
Mixon rushed for 749 yards and seven touchdowns this year, and also caught 25 passes for 345 yards and four more TDs in helping the No. 4 Sooners get to the College Football Playoff.
Although Stoops condemns what his redshirt freshman did, he won't give up on him any time soon.
"There is no excuse, ever, for violence against women at all," Stoops said. "But Joe, again, as an 18-year-old, and the circumstances that surrounded it all, that he deserved a second chance, with strict guidelines moving forward, but he's met all of those.
"He's been a really good student. He's been a great teammate to everybody. So he continues to do the things that the university has set in front of him to do to be given that second chance."
