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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 20, 2014DeAndre WashingtonQ. DeAndre, two weeks‑‑ you had 29 carries a couple weeks ago, 23 last week. How are you feeling physically? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Feeling pretty good. Off‑season, like I said, just trying to take care of my body and get myself mentally prepared, physically prepared for the season. So feeling pretty good. Q. The last couple weeks, was there a shot where you feel like somebody got you pretty good? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: No, I haven't. That's been the main reason why I've been able to go into games and sustain going into‑‑ handling a lot of the load with the carries I've had just because I try not to let the defense get a square‑up shot on me. I think it's helped me last longer in the long run. Q. How do you feel about playing on grass? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I actually don't mind. I actually prefer grass over turf, just me personally. I think it's kind of just to each his own type of deal with the players, but I actually like the grass. Q. What do you like about it? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: It's just softer. It has more give than the turf. You feel like you're making better cuts, if that makes sense. Q. Have you had much of a chance to speak to Jakeem? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I talked to him Saturday, and I talked to him today. He's doing good. That's the main thing, as long as he's doing good. That's all I'm really worried about. Q. When you first got the news, what was your reaction? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Yeah, it was just a scary thing, just when you hear about something like that, especially happened that late in the night. He's doing good, so that was my biggest concern. Q. Do you know how many of the guys were at that event? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I don't. Q. Obviously, it's good for you, but how do you feel with Tech being more balanced getting the run in. You're getting a lot of runs in there, getting more yards, and helping the offense? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I think it's definitely a good feeling. I mean, if you watch us over the course of this year, when we're more balanced, offensively, we're doing a better job of making plays and going downfield. So it's definitely a good feeling just to keep this balanced attack going. Q. Which part of TCU's defense concerns you the most, the line, the linebackers? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: They just have great athletes all around the board. Probably the best athletes we've seen all year. I think their D‑line, very active. In the back end, very fast, very athletic. So I think the best defense we've seen all year. But we've played against those guys from high school to college. So I mean, at the end of the day, it's just football. It's man on man. So we're looking forward to the challenge. Q. Talk about that rivalry aspect with TCU. It's another Texas school. Like you said, you played against a lot of these guys in high school. Does it give you a little something extra going into this game? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Yeah, it's definitely fun with them being a Texas school, and just because it's TCU. It's a big brand school, and it's always a good game every time we play those guys. So I think it will definitely be a fun environment. Like I said, we're looking forward to it. Q. You're going to be going against a former coach, Sonny Cumbie. What's that going to be like for you? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I think it will be fun. I think it will be interesting. We pretty much know what they're going to do on offense. They know what we're going to do on offense. So just by lining up and executing, who has better execution and the least amount of penalties and turnovers, I think, has a better chance of winning the game. I think it will definitely be fun going against Coach Cumbie. Q. Coach said that you guys were happy that you didn't reach a certain level of penalties where you get punishment or whatever. What does that involve? These last two weeks when you all got a lot of penalties. DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Definitely. We have a little mark where, if we get below a certain amount of penalties, we won't have to do any, as he called it, extracurricular activities after practice. It's definitely going to be a good feeling this week not having to do that. Q. What are some of the extracurricular activities that you guys get stuck doing? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Just a combination of a lot of things. Kliff, he's always kind of spontaneous with it, however he's feeling. It could be extra conditioning, extra lifting, just whatever he feels for that week. Thank God we don't have to do it for this week though. Q. Is this the first week that you all have not had to do it? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Yes, since we started. We started it about a couple weeks ago, so this is the first week that we hit below that mark. Q. Is it the players who commit the penalties that have to do it, or is it a team‑wide thing, offense‑wide thing? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: It's a team‑wide thing, everybody. Everyone is involved. Q. And does he go by number of penalties or number of yards? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Number of penalties. Q. What's that number? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I think it's seven or six. Six or seven, somewhere around there. As long as we stay below that mark, then much better Monday. Q. Obviously feels a lot more joyful when you win. You guys always come in with the belief, oh, we're going to beat this team, but does this give you a heightened sense of belief you can go and beat TCU? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I think more so for the younger guys, just give them some confidence, some good spirit. But I think with this team, we know what we can be when we're doing what we're capable of doing and not shooting ourselves in the foot. This win was definitely a positive step toward the second half of the season and making a push at this thing. Q. Is there any talk around the locker room about getting to a Bowl? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Definitely. That's definitely the goal. We kind of put ourself in a hole early on in the season. So that's definitely what we want. That's the plan. My freshman year when I came in, we didn't make a Bowl game, and that was probably the longest off‑season that I've ever been a part of in all my years of football. So I definitely don't want to have to endure that feeling again. We're trying to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen again. Q. DeAndre, the fact that you guys beat TCU down there last time and then beat them here last year, do you think that gives the opponent any more incentive or a bit more fired up? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Yeah, not too much. Those guys are a totally different team from where they were last year and where they were two years ago. I think it just comes down to execution. It's good to know that a lot of those guys, the same players that was on those teams are still there. I mean, as far as that, but it's not‑‑ like I said, each year is different. So you don't really look too much into that. Q. What have you said to Kenny the last week? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: I'm just happy to have him back over. Kenny, he's our war hawk. You can put that man on D‑line, O‑line, safety, running back, he does it all, special teams. He's just an all around guy. I'm glad to have him back. Just another asset to our locker room. Q. What's his role mainly on offense? DeANDRE WASHINGTON: Similar to what it was last year. He'll do a lot of short yardage. He'll still play. We'll use him in the pass game as well. It's kind of similar to where he was last year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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