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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEAugust 31, 2015Kliff KingsburyEric MorrisDavid GibbsLubbock, Texas Q. The elephant in the room, are you ready to tell us who you're picking as your quarterback? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, we'll be out there and we'll play. But feel very good about that position, that room with the way those two guys battled, got better this camp, and Nic Shimonek earning his scholarship. Most solid I've felt about that room since I've been here, so that's exciting for me. Q. Has the team prepared not knowing who the quarterback is? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I would think so. Q. When did you tell the team you had a starter? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I didn't. Q. They just came up with it on their own? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't know if they've figured it out or not, so just rotate them and play. Q. You've talked about how well both played. Has one distinguished himself more than the other that the one that you'll trot out there? KLIFF KINGSBURY: The best way I can put it is the one that's best for us right now, and that's we listed them as or because we do feel like we have two starters and two guys that can win games and two guys that deserve to be the starter. But we can only play one, so we'll play one and see how it goes. Q. You had said you wanted to name your quarterback early. What made it so hard to not name them early? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I just liked the way it was going. It wasn't that anything was hard. I just liked the competition. I liked the way guys were practicing and the way our team was handling it, so we just rolled with it. Q. The two obviously do some things differently. How much does it change the feel for an offensive lineman or wide receiver? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Maybe a little bit. Pat gets out a little bit more, I'd say and extends plays, but Davis has that ability as well. Davis probably checks a little bit more at the line. He's very cerebral in his approach, so those are two things that if I just looked at it on paper were the two biggest differences. Q. Are you considering getting both guys some extended action to kind of further that competition? KLIFF KINGSBURY: We'll see. We're trying to win the game first and foremost, so that's a good team. I'd love for both guys to get to play because they both earned it. But first and foremost, we need to try to win this game. Q. Other than a win, what are the three things that you want to see come out of this game? Not that you'd expect, but that you want to see? KLIFF KINGSBURY: First and foremost discipline, then protecting the football and just enthusiasm, excitement, energy. You want to see them be excited for their teammates when they make plays on the big stage. Q. A name that we were really looking forward to hearing was Mike Mitchell. We didn't see him at all on the depth chart. Is there a reason for that? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, he'll play Saturday. It's just Mike's, you all put a lot on Mike, and rightfully so. He's a big time recruit, very physical, very athletic, so we just kind of put the guys that have been here and rolled with it. Q. What is it that you and your staff saw in camp over the summer from Tony Brown that allowed him to work his way into the two deep? KLIFF KINGSBURY: He just picked up the system quick. Very athletic, played corner and wide receiver in high school. Could return punts, do it all. But he's very football savvy. Understood what we were trying to accomplish. Worked hard all summer, was in great shape when he got here. Only was here for the second session, but came in in great shape and earned his role. He was very good in camp and for a young guy did not back down from a challenge. Q. (Indiscernible) have the best opportunity to play (Indiscernible)? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I'd say D'Vonta on defense, Keke Coutee, Donta Thompson, and that's really about it right now, but more may play. Just off the top of my head, that's who jumps out. Q. Do you have a status update on Reginald Davis for Saturday's game? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I do not. You'll just have to tune in to see. Q. Coach at the start of the starting quarterback throws, will there be a quick hook? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, there won't be a quick hook. We feel like both guys can play, and we're going to let guys play and get their way into the game. But if anything were to occur and we needed to get our team jump started and get going, we feel like we have two guys that can get it done. Q. Could you point to something maybe at the beginning of camp that you were unsure or uncertain about that you now feel better about on the other side of the ball? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think linebacking corps, just none of those guys have played a ton. Mike really stepped up this camp and has been all over the field. Kris Williams, Malik Jenkins, Sam Atoe, Dakota Allen, young guys that we needed to step up. I feel like they've progressed nicely. Not where we want them to be yet, but excited to watch them in that first game. Q. Coach, what about Sam Houston State? What stands out about their defense in particular? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think they have ten starters back. It was a very good defense last year. They played at big games. They played at LSU last year, so they're not going to be intimidated by an environment. A lot of those guys have been at D 1 schools, and so had a lot of success. They're a good team, a veteran group, and they'll come in here expecting to win the game. Q. Defensive line obviously at strength, talk about Breiden Fehoko stepping up for you guys? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Breiden made a huge difference for him coming in last spring. He picked up the system last spring, took his lumps a little bit, and this summer really made big strides in the weight room in his conditioning, understanding the system and just progressed through camp. It's been a disruptive force for them all through camp. So I hope that carries over to the game. I'm sure it will. Student of the game. Works at it, takes care of his body, and everything you want in a young guy. Q. Did you settle on a field goal kicker or point after kicker yet? KLIFF KINGSBURY: We have not. We like what both of them have done, and Taylor Symmank as well is handling kicking duties along with the punting, but that will be a feel thing. Hopefully we can get everybody some kicks in these first couple of weeks and then kind of go from there. Q. Sadler was kicking with Batson and holding. Is there anything to that? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Possibly. We've rotated holders, Sadler, Batson and Barden and Hatfield, Symmank have all kicked. So, like I said, we're not set there like we were last year at that position at all, and we're still working through that. Q. Any concerns on kickers? Are probably one (Indiscernible)? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, I mean, they both played well. Just neither one has taken over the job, put it that way. They're making kicks. We just want to have some live game situations to see how they handle it. Q. Going into this first game, is there anything that you are feeling disquieted by? That you're not feeling good about? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, just excited for the game. It's been a long off season, but excited to watch how a lot of these young guys that were throwing the fire last year, how they've grown up over the course of eight months. Q. What's it say about a guy like Quinton White basically switching positions? And how does that open up your offense, especially when you go to that pistol and have them like the quarterback and you're opening up some other options? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, Quinton's really matured on and off the field. That was a role he wanted to take on. Has embraced it. He knows DeAndre and Justin are going to get the majority of the carries. But when Quinton has the ball in his hands, good things tend to happen. He's become a much better receiver out of the back field and much better blocker. So his role continues to expand. He's been great on special teams and has become a really solid football player for us. Q. No. 92 on game day for Sam Houston State, P.J. Hall, five blocked kicks last year. Was that something that maybe other teams weren't doing well against him or does he stand out to you? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, he's athletic. He definitely flashes on film. Both their ends do. Their entire defense, really. Active linebackers, good secondary. But I just think sometimes guys have a knack for that and he seemed to have that. Q. What have you seen from Ian Sadler? KLIFF KINGSBURY: He's progressed. Last year in the beginning he was feeling it out and had some rough moments, but end of last year through the spring, through the summer camp he's been really good. You get the ball in his hands, just like he was in high school, he tends to make good things happen. Ian and Pat and Davis, and all those guys come and throw all summer. So they all have a good rapport with each other. He's somehow tends to get open. Q. Could you talk about Tony Morales in his first start, fifth year senior? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Knock on wood. Yeah, this hopefully will be the first time he gets to suit up and play in a game, which is awesome. He's come back through a bunch of injuries. Great kid, really has worked hard and we couldn't be more pleased with his progress thus far at that position. Q. Does that perseverance help with the rest of the team when they see a guy like that battling? Does that carry over to the rest of your team? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think so. He's a guy who can speak from experience about appreciating each day, each practice, each time you getting to out on that field. So guys see that. They see what he's gone through, and it definitely, I think, sends some inspirational messages when they watch him trot out there. Q. When you look at your offensive line in general, the youngest kid is a junior. How much does that help your team having all that experience? KLIFF KINGSBURY: They've grown with us, so that's been good. The first year we got here we were all trying to figure it out, and that group has really taken a new leadership role. Three of them are seniors. One of them has played since he was a true freshman, so it's been great. They did a great job blocking for DeAndre and the running backs last year, and I expect that to improve this year. Q. What was Conner Dyer like, just with your coaches in making that decision on the last side of your offensive line? Two or three different plays you all could have called? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we rotated a bunch of bodies through there. It really came down to which unit looked the most cohesive and which unit did the best in live scrimmages as far as moving the ball. So there is a chance you'll see different guys rotate through a little bit on that right side until we find a combination that we settle on. But it was kind of a hit or miss deal, and that's what we set it on for this first week. Q. What's Conner Dyer's status for this year? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Conner Dyer will be out this year. He hurt his knee, so he'll rehab and red shirt this year. Q. How many guys are you red shirting this year? KLIFF KINGSBURY: It appeared that way, yes, sir. Q. Is he having surgery? KLIFF KINGSBURY: He is, I believe it's one of these days coming up. I'm not sure which one. Q. You talked before the season that you wanted to run first. A lot of Red Raider fans love the air raid offense. Can you tell them what they're going to see this Saturday? KLIFF KINGSBURY: We'll be fast paced and do what we do. If we can run the ball with those backs we have, we're going to get them the ball. It really comes down to just what's the best way that we can be most effective and help our team win the game and that's what we'll do. Q. What do you see as an offensive coach when you look at your new safety in Jah'Shawn Johnson? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I see a guy who is a ball hawk. He always, in high school they set him up 7 yards from the line and he'd just go get the ball. So he had to work on some disciplined things of being where he ought to be and Coach Gibbs' scheme. But he attacks the football, always tends to be around it, so I'm excited to see what he does when the lights come on. He tends to be a guy that plays best when the pressure is on him in game like situations, so it should be fun to watch. Q. You have a pretty young secondary. I mean, older than last year when they were really young. KLIFF KINGSBURY: Right. Q. About you're playing a quarterback that's not a slouch, what are your expectations? KLIFF KINGSBURY: They'll be challenged. The quarterback is a good player. He has some experience, wide receivers. Some guys that play Division 1 football that won't be intimidated. So it will be a great first test, really. It's a great offensive coordinator that's actually spent some time up here with me, so I know that he'll have some wrinkles and they'll be challenged. Q. Who is it? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Phil Luongo. Q. You said you were looking for some players to still step up. What points were you hammering home this week before the game Saturday? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Just to take advantage of your opportunities. I felt last year we weren't prepared mentally for some of these games, and that's on me as a coach. But we have to, anytime you get to go out there and suit up in front of a home crowd or any crowd, take pride in it and be mentally prepared to go. Q. How do you prepare mentally? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Just handle your business. Do the little things right. Show up for practice on time, execute at a high level, and maximize opportunities you get when you get on the practice field. Q. A few of your players told me over the past couple weeks that the team is a lot more disciplined, the chemistry is better. Is that something that's just developed? Is that on them calling each other out during practice and making them accountable with each other or more disciplined? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I hope we are. I think it's just talk until you go out there on Saturdays and do it. So that's kind of where we're at. We put a heavy emphasis as a staff, program as a team, to get that aspect of our program right. But until we do it, it's just talk. Q. You had said earlier about field goal kicking and one of the kickers to take the job. Can you say the same thing about your quarterback situation or is that a different situation? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, I would say that's completely different. You have two really good players that both kind of deserve to start and have proven at times that they can be really good in the Big XII. So these kickers have never kicked before, never shown anything under the lights, so it's a completely different situation. Q. When will your starting QB know he's going to be the starting QB? KLIFF KINGSBURY: He does. Q. Do you see match ups? Do you see them getting things out of them as a team? KLIFF KINGSBURY: That's a tough question. They're a really good team. You saw last year we played poorly and were very unprepared last year and almost got beat against an FCS team. I think it's good for the sport because I do think there is becoming more parity in college football, even at that level. You watched that game last Saturday, North Dakota and Montana those are two very good football teams. So I think it's good for the sport and it's good for that level to continue to have those games. So I guess I'm for it. Q. What have you noticed at Sam Houston State that makes them stick out on the FCS level? You could argue they've been maybe the second most successful team in the past years. KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, they're very disciplined. They do things right. They don't make many errors when you look at it. You have to earn every yard offensively. They challenge you defensively with different schemes. They do zone read option, all sorts of things with their quarterback. So very well coached and a disciplined football team. Q. Was it a conscious decision to not be as publicly I mean like last year you had the videos and lot of things out on the field. Was that a conscious thing to sort of reign that in and say we're not going to be that team anymore? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think as a program we decided to let's get back to work. Let's worry about us and just grind really. That was the word we used. Just grind and get where we want to get. Q. How important is height for a quarterback, in terms of someone being 6 foot or 6'3" or a 6'4" guy? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Height? I don't buy into that much. You look at Russell Wilson. He's been to the last two Super Bowls, and I coached Case Keenum who owns every Division 1 record, and they're both 6 foot or under. I think it's highly overrated, I'd say. Q. So it's never tough for them to see over a 6'6" offensive lineman? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, if you're that big, you better learn to slide and find your windows. It's survival mode. Some guys can do that at that height. Most quarterbacks are 6'2", 6'3", 6'4", and those linemen are 6'7", so they're not seeing over those guys anyway. So I've always thought the height thing is very overrated. Q. Is there a too short? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't think so. I don't think so. I mean, there's been really good players. Kyler Murray comes to mind down there at A&M. Won three State Championships and never lost a game. Probably the best high school film I've ever seen. Q. Over the last month you've looked at a defense that looks, behaves energy any different than what you saw a year ago? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Definitely. A defensive staff, a defense that's just much more disciplined, holding each other accountable. Different energy, and they've matured a lot. A lot of those guys have grown up. There are a lot of seniors starting now on that defensive front. But until you go out there and do it, it's just talk. But I've been very impressed by the way that side of the ball has handled themselves and continued to get better and continued to work. Q. What do you think has held back Micah Awe in prior years since you've been here from taking on a full time role and what's changed now to give him that opportunity? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think he's matured a lot, and I think Coach Spavital came in and really broke things down for him and made him understand the defense from day one. You can see now he's not out there thinking. He's reacting. I think you'll see him all over the field Saturday, showing up and making plays. He's been as good as any linebacker I've been around in camp as far as making plays so far. So it's going to be fun to watch him Saturday. Q. Saturday night (Indiscernible) on social media that fans fearing that he was leaving the team or something to that effect. What is his status in that situation? KLIFF KINGSBURY: He'll be here today, so I don't know. He's a big Twitter guy, so I don't know what all he posts all the time, but he'll be here today. That's where we're at with that, I guess. Q. Do you have a social media policy? What players put on social media? KLIFF KINGSBURY: We are. We follow it. We have somebody who checks Instagram accounts, Twitters and all those things. We don't take it away from them, but we definitely ask them to be mature and handle themselves in the proper way. Q. I was going to say, Instagram called himself a free agent (Indiscernible) somewhere he said something about Sam Houston State. KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if he's a free agent, but he will be here today. I didn't know we had free agents in college. I don't think he's going to get that much money if he is looking for that deal. But he'll be here today. COACH DAVID GIBBS Q. How many turnovers will you take this weekend? DAVID GIBBS: How many turnovers? Shoot. I'll take as many as they'll give me. No, these guys, I can tell you one thing, if you're going to schedule somebody from the lower division, you don't want to schedule these guys. They're well coached. They don't turn the ball over very much. They're very disciplined in what they do and they win a lot of football games. It's going to be a challenge for us defensively. They've got nine guys back, maybe ten on offense. They put up crazy numbers last year. It will be exciting to watch our guys go out there and compete for the first time against somebody else. And we'll do some good things, we'll do some knucklehead things, and we'll grow from it. Looking forward to it, and we'll see what happens. Q. We're looking at a very fast, up tempo offense. We talked to Coach Keeler earlier this week, and he said we could be looking at 200 to 250 snaps throughout the entire game. You're going to have to have the defense in really good shape with the very hot temperatures we're going to see on Saturday. Do you think they're well conditioned? Do you think they're ready? DAVID GIBBS: You know, 2:30 in the afternoon here, you all know what it's going to be like on that turf. The good news is we're planning on playing a lot of guys. I think a little bit different than a year ago where we, I guess, we didn't play as many guys. I think we'll rotate more guys in there, so regardless of who is starting because I'm sure the depth chart is going to come up regardless of who is starting, everybody's going to play. I think you have to early in the season, especially against these spread offenses who go so fast. But it's going to be a challenge. I don't know if I can make it to 250 snaps, but I'll be good through about 200. Q. (Indiscernible) to take that top spot at tackle? DAVID GIBBS: That's a good question. What depth chart are you looking at? I've seen six of them in the last three days, so I'm not sure. Q. Do you have one guy? DAVID GIBBS: They're all going to play. I promise you they're all going to play, and regardless of who steps out there first, and I realize that you all have a job to do and you're just trying to report it correctly, at the same time it could change by game time. We've got, shoot, like I said before, we'll play five or six inside guys, and five or six defensive end rush guys so they'll all be in there, they've practiced really hard, had good training camps. Like I said, I'm excited to see those guys get out there and run around. Q. I wanted to ask you about the front, what the number is and how many you'd like to rotate ideally and how many you think you've got right now that you can rely on? DAVID GIBBS: Well, we have this thing going, competition going on daily in practice and Coach Smith and myself and Coach Kingsbury will sit down and decide who is going to start. Then it comes down to when you get in the game are you productive or are you doing your job, are you jumping out of gaps? And I think in years past if they jumped out of a gap it was okay. I don't have a problem with that, because being a defensive back coach or linebacker coach or back end guy, if the front four guys won't stay where they're supposed to stay you can't coach those other guys to do their job. So I think it all depends. The flow of the game obviously will dictate some playing time. But we're going to roll them and try to keep them as fresh as we can. Q. When you look at all the depth, how does that help you guys going into the first week? DAVID GIBBS: Well, I think it helps you because they have some experience. There are guys that aren't going out on game day for the first time other than I think Breiden. It might be his first trip out there. But the rest of these guys have played college football before, which a lot of times young guys go out there and they freak out, and they can't lineup and they jump offsides and do things that 17, 18 year old kids are supposed to do. We just don't like it as coaches. It's an advantage early. The problem is the team we're playing against has a bunch of veteran guys and they're not going to freak out either. So it will be an interesting match up. Q. Coach, is there a group or player specifically that's made the biggest improvement from the start of camp to today? DAVID GIBBS: You know, people have interviewed me before. I don't like to name names. I really don't. If you brought up a name I'd talk about him. But what I'm excited about is we've got a bunch of guys who have gotten better. And I've told four or five of them today just within the scheme and the system they'll continue to get better because we're going to do the same things week in and week out. We're going to play the same techniques, same fundamentals. The scheme will not change. You might have a small wrinkle here or there, but for the most part everything's going to stay the same throughout the course of the season, which allows those guys throughout practice and even playing in football games to keep improving. Where I think a lot of times if you keep changing structure and changing schemes and changing blitzes, week in and week out that sounds good. But in college football, how do they improve? How do they get better? So we'll get a good starting point come Saturday against a good football team and we'll just continue to build throughout the remainder of the season. Q. On Jah'Shawn Johnson, I think in high school he played a lot at safety. Last year he played corner and then moved back to safety. What kind of discussions have you had on him? DAVID GIBBS: Jah'Shawn, he's a skilled guy. He could probably play corner. He could probably play anywhere in the back end. He's got a high football IQ. He's active. He's got good ball skills. Just looking for some safeties who can do a little bit of everything, because nowadays a safety can't just lineup. Like I always tell Coach Curtis. Coach Curtis could never play safety nowadays. He's 6'3", and 230 pounds and they would expose you. So the more athletic guys you can get, regardless of how tall they are, if they can cover in space and also tackle, when they do have to go down in the box, take on a blocker. So Jah'Shawn's done a good job. He hasn't played a lot of football. This will be, I don't know did he ever start last year? I don't even know. But looking forward to watching him run around also. Q. Coach, you talked about you don't specifically like to get into talking about individuals, but one of the guys in the two deep we saw that kind of split out of that starting role was J.J. Gaines. Can we still expect to see him on Saturday? You talked about guys rotating and everybody on the field. DAVID GIBBS: J.J.'s done a really good job this fall camp considering he didn't go through spring ball because of his injuries. But, yeah, you'll see J.J. early and often. He'll be in the rotation. And again, if he's playing good, he'll play a whole bunch. If he's not playing good, he won't. But I've been, knock on wood, hopefully he stays healthy. He's a part of what we do. Q. At that back position and corner position, you've had a lot of guys that have experience. Does that give you a luxury being able to move guys around and see if guys can play in their ability in different spots? DAVID GIBBS: It does. I mean, they have versatility, but it's the same old problem. Are you moving them because they weren't very good at another spot so you're going to move them to another spot? Or are you moving them because you have somebody better beating him out at that spot? It's a fine line moving guys around. You better have somebody better than them or it doesn't do you any good to move them. So we'll see. We're a work in progress. We are by no means a finished product defensively. But, you know, not that you all would expect anything else, but these kids will go out there, they'll fight, they'll compete. And like I said, I'm excited to go out there and watch them run around. Q. How tough have you been on them? DAVID GIBBS: I've been very soft on them. I've been very sweet to them. If they play good, I'll continue to be sweet to them. If they go out there and screw around, I'm going to get really angry. We'll see. I tell you what, they've impressed me since I've been here. They've taken to coaching, they've worked their rear ends off, and it's all for not until you go out there on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 and crank it up. Q. Do you feel like does your coaching style change at all from coaching NFL defensive backs to coaching a secondary that doesn't even have a senior in it? DAVID GIBBS: Well, I think J.J.'s a senior. I'm going to throw that at you. You would get me if I said that. So I have to get you. I tell you what, coaching in the NFL has actually helped me come back to college and coach these young guys nowadays, because these kids are so entitled nowadays. They're spoiled rotten. Not just football players, but all kids in general. My kids are spoiled rotten. And I think learning how to deal with guys who make millions of dollars a year helps you come back and relate to guys who if you scream at them they want to mouth back at you or don't want to do what you tell them to do. It's not like the good old days where you could get after their rear ends and they would say, yes, sir, and do exactly what you tell them to do. Now when they say, yes, sir they don't friggin mean it. They just say it to shut you up. It's actually helped me. Gives you instant credibility when you walk in the room whether you can coach or not. But we'll see. The good news is with the secondary, I can call the defenses to help them. Whereas I think in years past when you have a coordinator who has never coached in the back end and they don't realize the pressure on those guys back there and they're not good enough to cover those guys 80 snaps a game, you can't just go play man to man every snap. No disrespect to anybody. It's the nature of the beast. But I'm excited to watch them work. If they play bad, blame Coach Curtis. If they play good, I did a good job. Q. Will you be in the box or on the field or do you have a preference? DAVID GIBBS: I'll be on the field. I'll be on the field with them. Q. What is your thought process just being on the field? DAVID GIBBS: I can't sit in that box, man. There's not enough room. I freak out. No, I like calling the game from the field. I always enjoyed doing it. I don't know if it's good or bad to be honest with you, because there are some great coaches who go up. We'll see what happens. COACH ERIC MORRIS Q. What's it like to have a guy like Quinton who is willing to move and maybe not take as much of the limelight and help the team be unselfish? How has that opened up some options there in the pistol? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, we're going to find ways to get him the ball. He'll be our third down back a lot of times. He's good in space, runs routes as well as anybody we have. We'll try to get him the ball in the passing game out of the back field a little bit. That's an extension of the wide receivers in this offense. We try to make them cover everybody. So Quinton's going to have a huge role, but he did a great job. I mean, he was squatting close to 600 pounds this summer. Really bought into it. Spent the time in the weight room to get his lower body stronger, because he knew he was going to have to block. It's pretty evident there are two really good guys in front of him and he serves his role. But just like you said, he's been unselfish, which is fun to see, and he'll play a lot of football for us. He's one of our best special teams players as well, so he'll be on the field probably 40, 50 snaps a game. Q. How much time have you guys spent as an offense preparing with one quarterback in favor of the other? ERIC MORRIS: No, I mean, they've been they've both got a ton of reps over the last, even dating back to the spring. So both those kids we're extremely confident in, and they both have their own strengths. They're really different in their own ways. So we can get a lot of things accomplished in this offense with both of them. So been really proud of the way them two have handled the situation internally, the way they've acted in front of their teammates, the way they've led when they've had opportunities to lead. So that's been a fun thing to watch. Q. How does that pistol stress defenses? Is there anything to do to kind of make them feel uncomfortable? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, I mean, one thing it does it takes some of the old I running game, schemewise we can put it in. History repeats itself in football. Some of these new pistol plays you turn on and 20 years ago the Broncos were running it, and it's just out of a different formation. So now we have Quinton White like an old fullback and DeAndre like Terrell. What was Terrell Terrell Davis who works for all those yards. So it just helps us with our angles. It lets the running back see things develop a little bit better out of it. You can get some full stretch out of it and get linebackers running sideways and it gives them angles to cut back on. So it's just an extension. We've done a lot of studying, a bunch of old run game, studies some of Nevada's pistol stuff in the off season and some of the older Denver Broncos stuff because some of the scheme really matches up together. Q. What did you guys see from Tony Brown over training camp that allowed him to work his way into the two deep receiver? ERIC MORRIS: Really didn't work his way. We started him off there because we knew the potential that he had. So he did a good job holding people off. I mean, he's been number two pretty much the whole time behind Devin. So there's been constant battle there. One thing Tony did is he made Devin a lot better. He made Devin come out and work every day to get and earn his reps. So you really saw both those guys push it, because Devin knew if he took a day or two off that Tony's right behind him and we'll slide him into that role. The biggest thing is we had competition in all four spots, which was key, and it really caused all of them to play hard and practice that way each and every day. Q. What kind of (Indiscernible) Cameron? ERIC MORRIS: Cameron's going to be a good player for us. Struggled at times last year, but he was so young. He wasn't ready, and he was our return guy, so kind of forced him into the role. So Cameron should be a red shirt freshman. I thought he had a great off season. He's another kid that did great because Keke Coutee's right behind him right now and he's pushing him every single day. So we split some of those reps. Keke's somebody you'll see play this Saturday. Him and Tony, and the one guy who you'll see a lot from too is Jonathan Giles. So those three guys going into it will probably play more than any other freshman as far as wide outs go, and really pleased with those guys. But Cameron Batson will be the number two guy. We'll put him on a rotation with Jakeem, so he's going to have his reps no matter what. He's a kids that gotten a lot better. His shoulder was a little banged up last year, and he's gotten that thing stronger and he's doing a good job for us. Q. Giles? ERIC MORRIS: Giles is Y behind Ian, him and Brad will rotate. Q. I think talking to you halfway through fall camp, Reed said Cantrell he didn't think had dropped a ball at that point. Is him getting the starting seat or just basically him deserving that role and just impressing guys in camp or maybe something that Reginald hasn't done yet to take that next step? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, we rank our top eight receivers around here. I know you guys know we've done that for a long time know that kind of, and he's been number one on most of the ballots throughout this fall camp. So, yeah, there is no doubt. It's not because of any other situation besides the fact that Dylan Cantrell came out and earned it, and he's been the most consistent wideout that we've had throughout the whole fall camp. Had an incredible off season, lower body got stronger. Same thing with him. We played a lot of these kids when they were young. I mean, Dylan really should be a red shirt off sophomore right now. He was a kid that was not ready, but we need him on special teams that first year, so he couldn't red shirt. So he's a kids that getting stronger, still hasn't played a ton of football, but played more than some people around here, but he earned a hundred percent of that starting role. Q. Last year you had some trouble with drop passes, sideline routes not timed very well. What have you done to change that? ERIC MORRIS: Just throw them a lot. That's just something repetition. People ask all the time how you get better at catching the football or doing these things. So that's what we've been working on. One thing that sticks out is we weren't great against press coverage last year on the outside on some of the deep balls. And we've got to win against press man outside. It's part of this offense. It's been that way forever and that's something we are going to continue to check too. So it's something that we've drilled them on a ton. We know no other way of getting better at it than to actually do it. So the quarterbacks are doing a great job throwing it, and throwing it behind, throwing it over the top, so our timing is better. I think that's just from some older, mature quarterbacks that have done it and learned from their mistakes. But, yeah, you're right. We've got to capitalize on some of those deep balls. Q. What about the secondary at Sam Houston State? Have you looked at their backs and what have they got? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, great group coming back. Almost all of them are back from last year. They will play a lot of man coverage too and did it all last year. So that's something we've really harped on kind of we did a mock kind of game week, and we've shown them a little bit of film up to this part. So it's something that we've been working on. We know we're going to see it all year long and it's something that we didn't do very well last year, so, yeah, we've been working on it. They've been studying the DBs film and what they like to do in the back end as far as coverages and blitzes. So, yeah, we're kind of a week ahead on them, and we'll really hit them hard on it this week. Q. Whether it's your first four guys or group of eight, group as a whole of wide receivers, how do you view them differently now as opposed to this time a year ago? ERIC MORRIS: A little older, which is good. A bunch of them, the starting four has played football. That's not an excuse. You can hear it anytime from us up here this year. But still these kids have to prove themselves on Saturdays. It all comes down to them making plays in the game when they have the opportunity. So we're going to have plenty of opportunities to do it and starting off early. So it will be interesting to see some of these kids. They've done a great job in practice. They've really taken it upon themselves that they know they're going to get manned coverage, press coverage on the outside. So they're ready to go, and I think they're ready to prove some people wrong. Q. Do you think you have a nice complement of those guys doing different things compared to one another? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, no doubt. I think Reggie and Dylan complement each other really well. Reg is a really fast guy. Dylan's a big body, more of a possession type receiver that's made some acrobatic catches. He's a kid that even when he's covered he's really not covered. Our quarterbacks, especially, Pat going back to high school, they have great chemistry. So he's not afraid to throw it up to him at anytime. I think Jakeem and Cameron are the only two that I think are kind of similar, smaller bodies. I think at Y you've got some complements with Ian and Giles, and Brad Pearson right there. You go over to the X position, Tony's a longer guy, that has extremely good ball skills and Devin's your true X that can really stretch the field at any time. So, yeah, great, great complements to one another. The only one, that H possessions, maybe they're pretty similar to each other. Q. No. 92 on the game film, their defense (Indiscernible) All Conference as a freshman. Does he stick out? What's he do that's special? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, he's a really good defensive end for them. He does everything well. He plays the run well. He's shown some speed off the edge and beaten some tackles around the edge. He's got a bull rush that's pretty good. So like any players that are all conference and people return like that, he's got a pretty good repertoire of moves. There is not one thing. So all those tackles, both Le'Raven and Baylen have both said things about him, which is good. He'll definitely be respected going in there and we'll know where 92 is. We're not going to set our front or anything to him, but those tackles know they're going to have their hands full. He's a great player. Q. Can you see much different about the defensive backs you've been going up against the last month as compared to a year ago? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, same thing. A little bit older. All those guys that are playing, same thing. I think Justis has done a great job. He's really savvy and smart and a long kid. Tevin Madison is one that sticks out. He'll battle you each and every day. He'll give you 110%. You can tell he's kind of grown up a little bit and he's played some football. J.J. Gaines, moving him out there has been great. He's as competitive as anybody we have on the defensive side of the ball and kind of a ball hawk, you know, and guesses at times, but guesses right. He's made some big plays for them. Keenon Ward is the one that sticks out in my mind. Me not being a defensive guy, just watching on the offensive side and saying, hey, he's put himself in some really good positions when we go live and especially in some scrimmage type situations. So it's been fun to watch. It's totally different, and it's helped our quarterbacks out a ton because they'll read our eyes a little bit more. It's made them be honest, and it's gotten us in trouble a couple of times. So it definitely makes us work harder offensively, and it's been fun to watch those guys grow up. Q. There were some really good players playing good in fall practice, and they got out there and the lights were too bright and they just sort of fall apart. What do you do to avoid that happening again? ERIC MORRIS: Yeah, well, I think we're not going to have as many guys that haven't seen that game time, big moment yet. And if we do, we have guys behind them that I think can step up. Offensively speaking wideouts, the one spot that that comes to my mind. Both our running backs have played good in games. Our offensive line has played a ton of football, so they've seen pretty much everything you can throw at them. Wideouts, that's something that we've got to get fixed. They know if we're not producing early we've got a slew of guys that are going to be in the game pretty fast. So excited to watch them though. They've been challenged numerous times since last year, and so it's kind of that time whereas a coach you're excited to see the progress they make on the field and see them step out and go after it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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