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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 17, 2016

Kliff Kingsbury

Lubbock, Texas

Q. Are you expecting to see a lot of rushing this week?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think so. Those two backs are as good a combination as I've seen since I've been in coaching. They really offset each other well. Both of them can catch out of the back field and strong, physical runners that will both play on Sunday, so I would expect to see a heavy dose of them.

Q. Coach, I know a lot of people want to get this thing fixed as fast as possible, and that's not always possible to do. What do you guys do as a coaching staff? Do you just try to get things set as best as you can?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, there is a lot to fix. There is no doubt. Just midway point, reassess what we're doing, how we're doing it as far as practice goes. Personnel-wise, who we're playing, I think we took a look at really everything on Sunday, and trying to figure out what we need to tighten up and who needs to be playing and what changes we need to make in this last part of the season to be the most effective.

Q. You guys were coming out flat on Saturday. Was there something that you feel like maybe was the reason for that?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, I don't. I don't. If you come out flat for homecoming, then it's not very good. I'm not sure what the cause of that was. If we were intimidated. If we were nervous. But it wasn't the normal energy we've had, particularly when we're playing at home.

Q. When you assess how you practice, are there some changes that you'd make?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We're going to do some different things in practice. The next part of the season there a lot of similar offenses to what we run in the Big 12, and we'll do some more good-on-good-type situations to try to give the best looks possible for each other.

Q. What are you doing to hold the players accountable for the after play penalties, the personal fouls, those kind of things?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, that's a great question. We have a punishment in place. Murphy got ejected, which he won't start this next half, and then Payton, we should have taken Peyton out of the game, but he was in for Kisean, so we really didn't have another safety. But, yeah, they'll come out of the ballgame and won't play much if that occurs moving forward. Then they'll have punishment during that week as well.

Q. You showed plenty of resolve as a player. But right now at halftime, you guys are trailing. You're just 1-19. Just from a coach's perspective, what do you feel like is preventing the comebacks from happening?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: That's a great question. I'm not sure. We've got to be mentally tougher. There is no doubt about it. When you get down and can't respond, that's not what you want to be labeled as a player or a team, and that's kind of where we're at. I think when we get rolling and we're hot, we're pretty good. Right now when we get behind, we don't handle that that well.

Q. (Indiscernible) before you played you guys, talked about how he changed his approach a few years ago. After a loss like that, do you look at their sideline and say maybe that's where up-tempo teams are headed right now, where they're running the ball a little bit more, investing more in defense? Does that change your approach at all?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: No. They've done a great job. They have a good team. But as far as philosophies go, it's very similar to what theirs is. They had really good players, they have a good scheme, and they beat us.

Q. Do you feel like their philosophy (Indiscernible) is heading in the right direction right now?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yes.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Just knowing what I have seen here and what we have.

Q. Do you feel like you're going to see that on the field week in and week out through the season?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We did not last week, no.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, probably a little bit different. I don't do anything for show as far as trying to show off for the fans or make a point so the fans see it. But that gets dealt with on its own.

Q. What is the process?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I'm not going to go into consequences of what the punishment is or what they do or what's said, but it's handled.

Q. (Indiscernible) do you feel pretty good that there's not going to be any animosity on the field?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I mean, any time a player was out of school and comes back, there will be some of that volatility, I'm sure. But for me, the way it's worked out, it's been three years. It's just trying to get prepared to beat a very good OU team.

Q. Do you feel like that situation continues to get drawn out?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I do. I think it's all worked itself out in a way where everybody's happy. He's playing well, so I don't see the issue anymore.

Q. Is that something you expect to be in the player's minds at all?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't think so. I think we have enough on our minds that we know we have to get better at this week and focus on those things.

Q. You talked about (Indiscernible) this isn't just something you can pick up (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We'll find out. You know, you just make it a point of emphasis, that we have to play tougher, we'll practice. We'll try to ramp up practices and see if we can bring more energy and more enthusiasm, more mental toughness this week.

Q. Did you feel like Patrick was rushed at all from Kansas State to West Virginia?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think his lack of practicing caught up to him. I think that first week he was still kind of in that streak, in that zone. And this last week not practicing as much as we would have liked probably caught up to him. Then he tried to do a little bit too much, I felt like, in the second half.

Q. In hindsight, do you feel like maybe (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't think so. Watching Pat play the week before, did a lot of good things. Felt like he'd be better this week. But I just think not getting as many reps as he's used to getting probably had an effect on his play.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It sounds like it. Sounds like he feels a lot better this week early in the week, and we'll be able to get him into practice a little bit more.

Q. How much did you feel like his shoulder wasn't there or the offensive line just was gun shy because it felt like he was running around on his own?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, a lot of those he was running around on his own. I felt like he had some things early in his progressions that probably could have taken, but got out of sync a little bit. Made some big plays as he always does, but we weren't our sharpest offensively, that's for sure.

Q. As a former quarterback, how tough is that when you don't feel like the pass protection is there, exactly, to be able to hang in there and hang in the pocket when you're a little bit gun shy and feeling like every time you've got to scramble to make a play?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, like I said, I don't feel like he had to scramble as much as he did. He did some of that on his own. But when there's pressure as a quarterback, the great ones are able to stand in there, step into their throws and make plays.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Just continue to get better, continue to gel, have some experience. Have some young guys that are trying to figure it out. But I thought they played well enough. We've got to be able to run the ball better. There is no doubt. But we were just off skill position-wise we turned the ball over, but I thought they were serviceable. Not what we want. Not ideal, but it wasn't just the worst.

Q. Speaking of (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, he did good. We felt like his presence, tough runner, little bigger body than we've had. But we needed to get him in there, get some touches and he did a good job.

Q. Has he passed (Indiscernible) on the depth charts?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't know if he's passed him as much as he's understanding what we're after. He played in a similar offense in high school than what we're running. I think he's picked it up quicker. Corey is talented. We're going to find ways to get him touches. He's just got to do a little more studying on his own and get caught up as far as the scheme goes.

Q. Rotating through some of those running backs, how much is factoring in just being able to pick up the pass protection?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we're not as good as we should be. We missed some easy pick ups last week that cost us, and that's just a focus deal, concentration deal, and once again, that's part of the reason you saw Ward in there was to get somebody that could help us pick some things up.

Q. With Murphy out for the first half, does Akamnonu get back in the mix?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we'll see. We'll have a competition this week in practice and see who plays the best and go from there.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Day to day. I have not seen him yet today. Saw him yesterday. So we'll see if he can move around today and kind of take it from there.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I do not. I do not. He's kind of the same way. It's going to be a deal where if we feel like he can play and be protected, he'll play. If not, I would guess it will be next week.

Q. Is Pat looking down field too much on the plays instead of taking an easy three-yard or five-yard scramble?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I'm not sure. I think that he just really was trying a bit too hard, trying to do too much at times. Last week we get behind big and probably pushed the envelope a little bit too much. But prior to last week's game, had been playing at a very high level, and I think not practicing, having some discomfort in that shoulder probably effected him. I know it effected him, but hopefully we can get that resolved this week.

Q. What did you think of your defense's performance?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, it wasn't good enough. There's no doubt. Didn't get lined up. Didn't make tackles when they were there. Their quarterback, I thought played well, but we had plays to be made and we didn't make them.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about Oklahoma's defense coming up?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, watching them, they've continued to get better. I thought last week against Kansas State they played very well. Good front. They've got a couple of those guys back that didn't play last week. Good linebackers, athletic, physical. Coach Stoops does a good job bringing people from everywhere and keeping you off balance. So we'll be challenged to be one of the better defenses we play.

Q. How crucial do you feel like this game is right now with where you're sitting at 3-3? And what it could do for the rest of the season?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: All of them are, from here on out. There is no doubt they're big conference games and we need to play our best in these last six and be much improved from last week.

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