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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 10, 2014Kliff KingsburyQ. Coach, do you feel like this bye week came at a good time to allow you to rest up and regroup so to speak? COACH KINGSBURY: I hope so. With the injuries to the quarterbacks, I think it helped us to try to get those guys back healthy and get some more reps for our young guys. Q. Do you have a status update on Patrick Mahome's and Davis Webb, please? COACH KINGSBURY: I hope they'll both being back. We'll see how it goes this week, but I hope to have them both available for the game on Saturday. Q. Did Davis practice last week? COACH KINGSBURY: Not too much. He's still been trying to get over that ankle, so we'll see how it feels for him this week. Q. Did they give you any ideas of tendon or anything? COACH KINGSBURY: I just knew it was a sprain. Q. Last Saturday, would he have been able to play if you had a need for him to play? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not sure really. We didn't have one so we didn't push it. Q. How much did Patrick (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: Probably 80% of what we did. Q. Can you talk about what likely will be a lot of rushing from Oklahoma? What is the team working on to try to really stiffen up? COACH KINGSBURY: We struggled against the run. That's no secret here for the last few years. So you know they've got a great front, great backs. The quarterbacks have done a good job running the football. So it will be a tough challenge. We tried to get ahead a little bit last week on scheme and things of that nature that OU's doing to try and help us with this week. We've got to man up and play better defense; that is the bottom line. Q. You want your receivers to take that next step, kind of all year long. I guess, how do you feel about during the bye week where those guys are? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, not bad. Marquez has been solid all year. He's been the one constant, and the other guys have been hot and cold. We've got to get more consistency at all the other positions really. I've been proud of Ian Sadler's development. I think for a young guy he's really stepped up, but the rest of them got to keep coming. Q. Did you watch the OU‑Baylor game on Saturday just on TV? COACH KINGSBURY: A little bit of it.  We had practice, but I watched some of the first quarter. That was it. I watched the tape, but not the TV game. Q. What do they do best that kind of concerns you and where do you feel like you'll take advantage of it? COACH KINGSBURY: I think they're very attacking. Striker is a guy who everybody has had a hard time blocking. Their front is good. They take away from of the inside runs you like to do. Really they played great defense all year. I think this Saturday was kind of the exception, and the game kind of got away from them a little bit, but Baylor's offense will do that to you, obviously, so not a lot of weak spots. We had to protect the football, first and foremost. Then be physical, because they're a physical group. Q. Is it tough for you to watch the Arizona State team that you all beat in December be up where it is now? COACH KINGSBURY: No, they're completely different teams. Each team lost or gained different players, so it's different. When you're 3‑6, I think you worry about yourself and trying to get out of that hole. Q. The receivers at Oklahoma, do you expect them to come up like some of the other teams have done and press you guys? COACH KINGSBURY: We'll see. We don't have that speed that Baylor does. So we'll see what approach they take, but I wouldn't be surprised. Q. Now that it's a big weapon in return games, will you scheme to try to take it away from him? COACH KINGSBURY: I hope so. I don't think we'll intentionally try to get the ball to him. So he's tremendous and he's really good in the back field as well. I think they put him as a running back. He's great at going downhill, lots of speed, so we'd like to limit his touches as much as possible. Q. What can you do to help DeAndre to get the running game going a little more? Is that having some early success with the passing? COACH KINGSBURY: You know, I think he's done a good job this year. The last couple games the way it's gone and gotten out of hand. We've gone away from the running game and that's what's going to happen when you get down that much early. But, no, we'll do what we do. Just run our offense. Q. Will you change any defensive schemes if Trevor Knight is not playing? COACH KINGSBURY: With his run threat I think schematically you have to count for that going in. We'll see if he plays or not, but the other guy they put in I'm sure will be able to do similar things. But Trevor is a tremendous athlete. You definitely have to count for him. Q. What is the mentality of the offense going in as far as counting the numbers and going and checking with the play from there? With the way DeAndre's played, the offensive lines have played pretty well too. Do you maybe take some of those and just run them? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, we've done that with these young quarterbacks starting. We've been force feeding him and he's been breaking some tackles and running the ball well against some boxes that aren't really good for the run. So you've got to give him a lot of credit. But when you're playing young quarterbacks, you're not always going to get the best looks, so you've just got to live with it. So we've been doing some of that. Q. What have you talked to the guys about as far as playing for those seniors? Obviously, probably very emotional for them. COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, it's everything. Last time for them playing in Jones Stadium, and that's what it's about. I know those guys will be ready because it's their last one, and everybody else needs to step up and match their intensity. Q. Do you remember some of your emotions when you lined up against the crimson and cream? Obviously it's somewhat of a rivalry game. Can you talk about your emotions on a Senior Day? COACH KINGSBURY: Anytime you play one of these games against an opponent you've played all four years, you're going to be fired up. Senior Day is always special knowing it's the last time you play in front of the best fans in America. Q. When will you know which quarterback is going to play Saturday? COACH KINGSBURY: At kickoff. Q. Did Testaverde get warm‑ups with the first team this past week in prep? COACH KINGSBURY: Very similar reps to the week before, but early in the week he did get some reps with the ones. Q. Coach, you know the fast pace offense. Do you change that a little bit and go to more of a huddle offense with these young quarterbacks? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, you saw what we did the last game having the huddle and actually bringing him over to the sidelines some to give instructions. You've got to adapt your personnel and we'll see where it goes. Q. What is Domonique's status? COACH KINGSBURY: He's the same as it has been. He won't be up this week. Q. He's not on the roster? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, he's been removed from the roster. Q. I also see D.J. Polite‑Bray (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: Yes, he's been working some on defense at cornerback. Q. When did you move him there? COACH KINGSBURY: Last week. Q. Coach have you paid at all attention to the College Football Playoff? Any thought about how that's gone so far? Has it been what you thought? COACH KINGSBURY: I really haven't. Like I said, we're 3‑6 and worried about the next game. So I haven't paid much attention. I'm sure it will be a great argument at the end of the year, but, no, I haven't kept up with it much. Q. Regardless of what scheme Oklahoma brings into this weekend, do you think Mike Smith and his defense will be ready to go? COACH KINGSBURY: I hope so. I hope this week recharged them and they got to get back to the basics. Effort has been good, we've just got to clean a lot of things up. And Coach Heupel does a great job over there schematically each week attacking defenses, so they'll have new wrinkles, and we've got to be prepared for them. Q. Coach, it had to be frustrating going with your third‑string quarterback. Do you come in with three different game plans? How do you approach that? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, we had a plan in place; it just wasn't the one we wanted to operate. It was a base plan that a third‑string, true‑freshman quarterback can handle. That's what we'll have in place again. We'll have plays that he likes and is comfortable with. If we get to him, we'll just have to do a better job operating. Q. Has he expanded since he's gotten more reps? COACH KINGSBURY: Definitely. He's definitely more comfortable. He got second team reps the week before. So that had helped him. I was proud of the way he handled himself. But it wasn't good enough to win, and we have to work on that. Q. How has D.J. taken to the switch on offense and defense? COACH KINGSBURY: He's excited about it. He's got some speed that we need over there on that secondary. So he's excited about a future there, and we'll see how it goes the rest of the year. Q. Did you switch him over because of the lack of depth, or what was the reason for moving him to defense? COACH KINGSBURY: A little bit I would say. Some of that, and some D.J. had an interest since he's been here of playing defense. So we felt like with the remaining three games in the bye week, it was an opportune time to move him over and see what he can do over there. Q. Is Kenny Williams going to stay more on offense then? COACH KINGSBURY:  He will. He'll play more running back and lots of special teams. Q. Looking back would you rather have seen him stay on offense from the beginning of the season? COACH KINGSBURY: No, I think it was a deal where we saw a need there and he filled a need for a time. It worked out where he could come back over. So I think it played out the way it should have. Q. Are you going to get Demetrius Alston back this week? COACH KINGSBURY: We're not sure. He'll be a game‑time decision, but he's getting close. Q. What about Sam Atoe? COACH KINGSBURY: Same, same deal. We'll have to see how the reps go in practice and how he feels. But he's close as well. Q. How many commitments do you have this year? COACH KINGSBURY: We're not sure yet. Still going through the numbers. There is obviously some attrition that will take place at the end of the semester that will clear that up for us. Q. Do you have any positions that you want to add? COACH KINGSBURY: Not yet. I think we have to see how this semester ends and where everybody goes. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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