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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 14, 2015Kliff KingsburyLubbock, Texas Q. Last year Arkansas had one of its best running games of its entire season. Collins was pretty much lights out, 212 yards. They're struggling this year with their running game. What do you think about that? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I'm not sure, obviously, Toledo you've got to give them a lot of credit. But it's a great rushing team still. They have a great running back. He's one of the best players in the country. Their offensive line is one of the most physical in the country. So I expect to see a heavy dose of that. I think they'll be just as good as they were last year. It's just we have to improve and be better. Q. What do you think about Collins' talent? COACH KINGSBURY: He's phenomenal. Watching him up close and in person last year, he was one of the better backs I've seen since I've been coaching college football. Just has the speed to run away from you, big, physical, can make you miss in space, so he's the complete package. Q. Do you sense a confidence in your team this year after two weeks that's maybe different from a year ago? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not sure. Last year the first couple weeks we didn't feel very good about ourselves, I know that. We didn't play very well. Lots of penalties, lots of turnovers, lots of mental mistakes. So through the first two weeks it's been a cleaner couple of games which I think helps our confidence. Q. When you hear, I guess, media people talk about the SEC, a lot of times it's them being a superior conference to the other Power Fives. During your time in the SEC did you see a talent gap between that conference in particular and the rest of the Power Fives? COACH KINGSBURY: I think all those Power Fives are very good. There are great players in every conference. I think the SEC, some of the pageantry, some of the traditions are pretty special, but I think there are great players in all those conferences. Q. With the running attack they had last year, was it surprising to see them throw so many times last week? COACH KINGSBURY: You know, they have a great tight end. They have great wide receivers, so I think Toledo must have been doing something. They felt like they could take advantage of that. A lot, it looked like to me, a lot of the throws were attached to running plays, bubble screens, things of that nature. But their quarterback is one of the most underrated players in the country, I think. If you play in a system like ours he'd have gaudy numbers. They just ask him to do different things, but he's a very good player. Q. Everyone was talking about the rushing attack and the passing attack. When you look at the Arkansas defense at the end of last year was phenomenal and this year has put up big numbers. Does that worry you at all? COACH KINGSBURY: Anytime you play a defense like they have I think they're giving up 12 points a game in their last ten games. In this day and age in college football, that's phenomenal, so, yes. Across the board they're very physical. They don't make mistakes. You can tell they're well-coached. They tackle you in space, so it's going to be a great challenge for our offense. Q. What's different about Arkansas this year compared to last year? COACH KINGSBURY: I mean, they look like the same very good team to me on tape, so we'll find out. Q. Patrick in the first two games has found 11 different receivers. How much does that help you with your offensive game? COACH KINGSBURY: It's good to get everybody involved. Pat does a good job of going through his reads, going through his progressions, not honing in on one guy. I talked about it in camp. We felt like we had enough depth to rotate more bodies through and take some plays off guys, where last year they may have played 60, 70, 80 plays, the most any of those wide receivers played was around 45 last week. That's what we want. We want to keep them fresh, be able to rotate more bodies in, so that's a testament to that. Q. First road test of the season, what is really your message to the guys this week? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, just enjoy it. Enjoy the process. It's going to be an incredible atmosphere. Anytime you get a chance to play in a great venue, historic stadium like that, you've got to enjoy it. So we'll be ready to go. Q. Arkansas' loss proves they are a beatable team. But at the same time they're coming into this week extremely angry. Do you have any concerns you think that that loss helped or hurt you guys at all in your chances? COACH KINGSBURY: I'd never look at it that way. I hope our guys are extremely angry as well going in there. But they're a great team. That loss to me doesn't change who I thought they were prior to the season. They're a top 20 team. Everybody has a bad day. You've got to take your hat off to Toledo. They had a year to prepare for that team, and Arkansas hadn't seen them on film in 2015, and they came out and played a great game. Q. You guys had 7 different players able to get in the end zone. Talk about kind of just getting to spread the wealth out? COACH KINGSBURY: That's what we talk about when we talk about playing for each other and everybody getting a piece of the action if we do that. So it was good to see that come to fruition on Saturday and hopefully that continues. Q. Is your approach any different as far as handling success or is it just business as usual? COACH KINGSBURY: No, it's just business as usual. We're a long way from handling success. We need to continue to get better. I like the step we took from week one to week two and we need to continue to see that each week. Q. Will it be important for you guys to get out with the lead early so that maybe Arkansas has to pass more than run? COACH KINGSBURY: I hope we can start fast. I think the first couple weeks we did offensively, defensively probably not as fast as we'd like to. But like I said earlier, I think that quarterback can play for anybody. So whether they've got to run it or throw it, I think they're in good shape. Q. Defensively you guys will be facing the biggest O-line in football. What are you guys doing to prepare for those big guys? COACH KINGSBURY: Just continue to try to get better. We faced them last year and didn't have much success. So hopefully we've gotten a year bigger, stronger, faster and better because it's going to take that. Q. Did you go to last year at all and talk about it? COACH KINGSBURY: I don't have to. They know what that was. You don't forget a beating like that. So there are not a bunch of rah-rahs about last year. They know what that was. Q. You talk about their two tight ends, they're huge, athletic, they can pretty much do it all? COACH KINGSBURY: They are. They look like basketball players out there running down the field, great blockers. That's what jumps out to me. They obviously found the passing game, but they're great blockers and use their leverage well. Both guys will be playing on Sundays. Q. You've talked about it before, but right now you all are tied for third in the country in turnover margin, how has that helped you guys be successful in what you're trying to do so far this season? COACH KINGSBURY: That's really everything. That's the difference in winning and losing at this level and in this conference. There is a lot of parity today in college football, and if you are at the top in that stat, you're going to have some success. So we've got it try to keep that rolling. Q. Do you have any status updates on (injured players)? COACH KINGSBURY: I don't. Same, day-to-day. Q. Can you talk a little bit about how the offensive success helps the defense in terms of when you're playing clean and everything's kind of rolling? Does that translate over to the defense too? COACH KINGSBURY: I think so. I didn't think week one we rose up together very well, but I thought last week they'd get a stop. We'd go score. They'd get a turnover and we'd go score. If we had to punt, they'd get it right back. That's what you want. You want each side, including special teams, to feed off each other. So I think we're getting better at that. Q. Does it sometimes work against keeping the defense off the field by how quickly the offense scores? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think at times and that's why you have to understand in the Big 12 defensive numbers may not be what you'd like them to be, but it's all about wins and losses because teams are playing that fast. They get a stop, you score three plays, and they're right back out there. That's obviously going to affect them. So I think it all comes down to how you view things. Q. I think in your 18 scoring drives this season that resulted in touchdowns, I think 11 of them have resulted in under a minute-and-a-half. Do you ever want that to be higher? I mean, I know you guys want to score quickly, but for your own defensive, does that run through your mind trying to control the clock a little bit more? COACH KINGSBURY: No, just get in, get in. No, just get in the end zone. Whatever it takes, however long it takes, as long as we get in the end zone. Q. As far as the defense is concerned, is it just you guys are being conditioned, I guess? COACH KINGSBURY: No, like I said, it's the Big 12. That's the league we're in. Teams are going up-tempo, no huddle, not substituting. So you get conditioned to it in practice to an extent going against our offense every day. But you have to understand what a defense, a successful defense is in this league. Q. How happy are you with the efficiency of the running game this week? COACH KINGSBURY: It was better this past Saturday. I thought the previous Saturday I probably didn't get enough runs called. Probably should have forced some more to DeAndre, but we can still get a lot better. There are still a lot of plays left on the field in the running game and against a much better defensive line this week. We're going to have to get better. Q. What did you see from Dakota Allen that was maybe different from week one and the linebackers that you had in week one? COACH KINGSBURY: I think Dakota just progressed the way we wanted throughout the week. That first week we kind of got blitzed with the tempo with a bunch of different formations and things that we're doing, had a great scheme offensively. This last week a younger guy like him was able to see it, huddle, break the huddle, see where everyone was lined up, and I think it helped him progress. Q. Does it surprise you to see that last week against Toledo that Arkansas had one of five red zone scores. Does that bode well for you all? COACH KINGSBURY: I don't know. I think that's where it's kind of deceiving. They had opportunities. They moved the ball. They had over 500 yards offense, so it wasn't like they got dominated. They went up and down the field and just didn't put it in. Sometimes that happens and hence the result. I don't know that that bodes well for us or not. It just shows they are a very good offense. Q. (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: We did not. Q. Is Michael Barden the go-to guy now in terms of your field goal kicker and your PATs? Is that still up in the air? COACH KINGSBURY: It's still really week-to-week. We think Hatfield can do it as well. So we're not set on one guy. We're going to continue to have them compete. Q. Did (No microphone) practice at all last week? COACH KINGSBURY: He did. Q. (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: Yes, sir, we're just taking it day-to-day for him. Q. Is it back spasms? COACH KINGSBURY: It is. Q. What did you think of (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: Left some plays out there. Being his first full game starting, you could tell he was a little bit anxious, but he'll get better. He has the skillset we want, and I think each week the more reps he gets, the better he's going to be. Q. Do you ever get caught up in the perception between Big 12 and SEC and just where people see them as far as power rankings are concerned? COACH KINGSBURY: I don't, no. Having been in both, like I said, I think there are great players in each one. I think if you played each other probably 50-50. I think that's kind of how it usually shakes out. So both conferences are very good, and have great players. Q. Why do you think there is that perception that they're leaps and bounds ahead of the Big 12 or other Power Five conferences? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not sure. Like I said, there is a lot of pageantry, storied traditions, there are a lot more players it seems get drafted out of the SEC. So there are stats that I can see put it that way. But you look at certain bowl games and regular season match-ups, and a lot of times it falls to about 50-50. But I think the world of both conferences. Q. So far the first two games Pat's thrown for 619 yards in the first half. Do you worry that he's putting too much in the first half and not enough in the second half, or is that just game planning? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, he hadn't played much in the second half, so I think that's probably the biggest deal. Q. It seemed like on Saturday you guys had some really wide receiver splits. It looked like some of the guys were even on the outside a yard away from the sideline. How has that helped maybe your rushing attack in creating some lanes for guys like DeAndre? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, that team was playing a lot of man coverage, so they were coming when we were going and we just took them out in space. It felt like DeAndre could match-up with their safety trying to make the tackle, so it was more just a game plan deal. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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