	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 5, 2015

Eric Morris

Lubbock, Texas

An Interview With:

COACH ERIC MORRIS

Q. Eric, what did you think about your young receivers and how much they kind of played the second quarter, going on kind of how they played?
COACH MORRIS: Not bad. Zach Austin was probably the most consistent of all of them. Really proud of the way he played. Played really fast the whole game, blocked well actually. And the other guys were up and down. Giles got a ton of reps. He was up and down. Made some mistakes, we gotta get corrected. Same thing with Tony. He had some really good plays and then some really bad plays. Just the more they can play, it was great experience for them moving forward. You know, that's as fast of a team as we'll play. And so it's good for them to see that speed on that stage, in a place like Jerry's world, so hopefully it'll benefit them. But we need to get those other guys back, too.

Q. What about Devin? Chance he'll be back Saturday?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully we'll get Devin back. So day to day, and we'll see how he responds this week. But he's a kid that we need. You know, he's a kid that's averaging I think over 20 yards a catch, so he's got that big play factor. So really happy with the way those young guys came in and competed for us.

Q. You guys didn't run the ball real well. Does that have to do more with the talent of their front or not blocking well? What was it do you think?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah, I thought they beat us up front. Yeah, no doubt. Went to it and then got down kind of in a hurry there which causes you sometimes as a play caller to probably not run the ball as much as we should have and just stick to your guns and try to get some different stuff what they were doing schematically. They slanted the front a ton and had some success with it and after DeAndre's fumble, we kind of got away from it, and that's kind of the spot in the game where they scored pretty fast on their first five possessions and we were kind of playing from behind there early. I thought it was good, we came out and they scored in a hurry, and then we marched down and scored on them and then going back and forth, Jakeem had a big drop that we can't afford. That's a touchdown if he catches that ball. So some stuff that definitely wasn't great on our part execution wise.

Q. There was this one screen pass that you guys played. I don't know which quarter it was in, but the line on the left side just stayed in their down position?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah.

Q. Way past the snap. Is that the way it's designed?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah. It's called freeze. So yeah, no doubt. We designed it that way. We had five guys out in front for two guys and we got a holding call. So it worked perfectly how we envisioned it, and we just didn't execute it. But yeah, that was a designed play.

Q. What do you see when you look at the Iowa State defense?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah. They're a team that's better than they were last year. You know, they got some guys back on the back end. Their defensive line is better than last year. When we played them they were kind of banged up last year. So we'll have to be better up front than what we were. We're not going to be able to move them. They do some stuff schematically try to take away the inside running game. So we'll have to get some movement up front on some double teams and you know, a little bit different scheme than we've seen. It's a total three down front 100 percent of the time, which we haven't seen one yet this year. So we'll do some different things, but we just gotta play fast and execute and getting some completions first down and keeping these drives alive.

Q. Playing fast is something you feel the last couple of games you haven't been able to do or didn't plan to do?
COACH MORRIS: No. We always want to play fast. You know, I think that this past week we played 102 snaps, I think, so that's pretty fast. But our run game has been a lot more effective as we get drives started this year and that's partly the way we design it and try to get people out of position doing that. But to do that you gotta be good and get first downs and get them going. And so it's kind of the same thing. You know, we had two early negative running plays and then after that, you know, all of them were over four yards. So it wasn't a total, you know, just debacle in the run game. We just didn't get to it as much as we would like to and partly is because we were playing from behind.

Q. Your first drive to start the third quarter, and ya'll really were kind of just clicking and moved it down real quick. What do you think the difference was between that and some of the other drives you had at the end?
COACH MORRIS: You know, I don't know. I wish we knew that answer and we'd try to do whatever we did that time. The guys seemed focused at halftime. We did come out and had a great drive and then the defense got some stops for us after that. That's something that we'll reiterate to the team is we gotta do a better job playing together. When they get stops we gotta go down and score and capitalize on it and vice versa. You know, when we score they gotta come up with some stops. So we're getting better. Our kids are fighting. And you know, still, this team is day and night from last year the way they're competing, the way they're approaching every single week. And so we just gotta win, pull out some of these victories.

Q. How is the squad feeling? Are they discouraged, disappointed?
COACH MORRIS: No. They're fine. They're anxious to play again, which is good to see. You want to see that in the guys, especially, you know, the guys, some of our leaders and stuff, I think they'll come out and be extremely motivated this week. They still have a lot of football to play, and we have a lot to prove as a team, and we put a lot of effort into this year. And so you'll see, you know, we'll have a great week of practice this week based on some of these guys. They've all been up here on their own watching film, asking questions. So we want to be good. And some of our young kids have to continue to step up in some key roles. A bunch of those wide outs are going to play this week and we gotta find a replacement for Justin Murphy whoever that is. And we'll see how it goes.

Q. Is there a ^ point in last year's Iowa State game that you saw Pat do something special and that was a point where you turned the corner?
COACH MORRIS: A little bit before that probably. I think in the Oklahoma game he did some phenomenal things down the field when some stuff broke down. But he hit Devin Lauderdale on a drag route there in that game that is a throw that I haven't seen many quarterbacks be able to move, moving to his right and threw it on the money, back side drag coming across the field. So yeah, I mean that was the first time, you know, you got a win and got some confidence going and you could kind of see the swagger coming out in him. But yeah, he's night and day. Same thing this past game. He made some plays that were unbelievable in that game, scrambling around and made some throws, one to Cameron Batson where he's going left and puts it on the money, and there's not many guys in the whole entire nation that can make that throw.

Q. Where is he percentage wise?
COACH MORRIS: He's good. You know, competing out there, he's a kid that, you know, once he gets those juices flowing, he wants to win so bad that, you know, I don't even think he was worried about it.

Q. Dylan Cantrell, Ian Sadler, are they back Saturday?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah. We'll just see how they continue to progress. You'd like for them to both be back.

Q. You played with some guys that were playing through injury, quarterback or whoever it might have been. What does that do to the teammates in the huddle or even the guys that are on the sideline?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah, I think it can motivate them for sure. I know Graham broke his finger in about six places one year and told them to tape it up and told coach he couldn't go in at center but he could do everything else. Yeah, I think it can rally the guys. Just that tough nature that they bring. Quarterbacks aren't known for being gritty and tough sometimes, so when they do show that, I think it helps those other guys kind of along the way.

Q. (No microphone). Where has he made the most progress, say in the last year or so?
COACH MORRIS: Yeah. I think just confidence, you know, he's a guy that came in and tore his ACL his senior year in high school, and that first year he was kind of just working back into playing shape. And I don't think he really believed that he belonged here. I think it took him about a year and a half here to, you know, I think it was a scrimmage this past spring where he caught a ton of balls and I think that was the first time I saw in his eyes after the game that he believed he could do it. And really, to tell you the truth, we didn't miss a beat. I thought he was as quick, made great reads, great catches. He didn't bat an eye and made some tough ones, made the right reads on a bunch of stuff. He was open a ton during the game. I mean he really stuck his foot in the ground and separated for some guys in man coverage, which was good so see. So yeah, I mean I was really proud of the way he did, and he's already come in my office and said that he's ready to go. And so we took a little bit out of the game plan for that position last week, just because, you know, without Ian there, you know, it wasn't as much experience there. And so he reiterated to me today he could do it all. But he had a great game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297