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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 2, 2017

Nic Shimonek

Lubbock, Texas

Texas Tech - 56, Eastern Washington - 10

Q. How good did that feel?
NIC SHIMONEK: It was awesome. You know, offensively we need to start faster. I'm sure Coach Kingsbury mentioned that, first, what, three, four drives resulted in punts. But man, I'm so excited for the defense, excited for the running backs. I was talking to Chris Level, when was the last time Texas Tech threw the ball 33 times and won by that margin? That's just a testament to Coach B-Jones working with those guys up front. You know, once we got going, once we worked out the kinks, things started rolling, and we were back to our old form. Very exciting.

Q. You started 14 for 14; did you know that?
NIC SHIMONEK: I didn't. I did not know that. But I've mentioned in the past, I'm a very streaky guy, so if I can hit -- the same thing in basketball, when I was in high school; man, if I hit two or three shots, I might knock the next seven or eight down, and the same thing, once you get in your rhythm, you kind of get going, a few completions here and there, run the ball, keep them honest. Yeah, it's a good feeling to be rolling on all cylinders like that.

Q. When did you feel like you were in that rhythm?
NIC SHIMONEK: You know, I wasn't -- I was expecting the first couple drives for myself since I've been waiting on this moment for so long, I was expecting to be almost too fired up, too antsy and maybe air-mail a couple passes, but from the get-go, it was like I was dialed in, which was good. Now I have expectations from here on out because Kingsbury always tells me, strive for perfection and settle for greatness, which I think we did that today. I was very upset at times the first three or four drives just because I want everything to be clicking, but once we settled down, like I mentioned just now, got things rolling, it's a fun thing to watch.

Q. He mentioned how long you've been waiting. After all that time, how was it? Did it live up to all the expectations?
NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, I mean, even before the game -- I'm a very fiery person, so I'm out there doing my thing, getting hyped with the fans, with the student section, and then obviously in the game, like I just mentioned, upset at the first three or four drives, but once we got it going, kind of got in a rhythm. It was on from there. Yeah, super excited. Glad this moment finally came to fruition, but not only excited for myself, excited for the guys on the other side of the ball, excited for the running backs, offensive line. It's not just about me. It's about the whole team. I was happy with the product that we put out there today.

Q. How much confidence will you have in that running game the rest of the year?
NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, I mean, like I mentioned earlier, Coach B-Jones, he's going to keep working with those guys up front, and then the versatility that we have at that running back position, 32 Nisby coming in there and lowering his shoulder, hitting it between the tackles, and then you've got Stock and Tre King and Felton being able to mix in a little speed in there, it's a good blend. And then as goes with any team, if the run game is working, that makes it easier on myself, easier on the receivers, keeps the defense honest, easier on the offensive line. Once we can consistently establish that run game, it's going to be beneficial for everybody.

Q. When you don't get off to exactly the fastest start that you wanted in the first couple possessions, mentally what does it do for you that your defense is flying around and playing --
NIC SHIMONEK: Oh, man, obviously, like I said, I want to score a touchdown on every drive. That's not going to happen. But that's the goal going into the game. Every time the offense has the ball, score a touchdown. So whenever that doesn't happen and then they've got our back, you know, that's one of our team commandments is have your brother's back, and they showed that today. And I kept going up to Jah'Shawn, Dakota, some of those leaders on the defense, Broderick, just be patient, we've got to work out a few things, we've been off for nine, ten months. Y'all just keep doing y'all's things, I'm going to get these guys right, and ultimately that's what we did, and things started rolling from there.

Q. How did it feel that every touchdown was helping hurricane victims?
NIC SHIMONEK: Man, it might sound like bad sportsmanship, but I wanted to keep scoring at the end just for that sole purpose, but it's devastating what happened, but you know, it's brought a lot of people together, which is great. And then obviously the J.J. Watt thing, raising so much money, and then Coach Kingsbury matching anything that we scored is great to see all those kind of things happen.

Q. Does one particular play stand out to you that you're really looking forward to seeing either later tonight or tomorrow when you're looking at film?
NIC SHIMONEK: One play? So like to start the game, the first four or five drives, I'm checking it down because they're dropping a lot of guys into coverage, and they're just not giving us anything, and I go up to Kittley, our grad assistant, quarterback coach, I'm like, man, I just want to let one go. I just want to -- somebody beat them over the top, I just want to let one ride, and sure enough, right after I said that, I threw the post to Derrick Willies for a 75-, 80-yard touchdown, so it was awesome, almost like dÃ©jÃ -vu seeing that happen. So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that play.

Q. What is the big boost that you get from Derrick and Keke, and what does that do for you?
NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, not just those two, too, it's Cam, it's Dylan, it's all those guys. It's a blessing knowing -- so comforting knowing that, man, I can throw this ball behind the line of scrimmage and we might score a touchdown. It makes my job a lot easier. And then, like you said, Derrick and Dylan being able to jump over guys, the size that they have, and then Cam and Keke being able to throw it behind the line of scrimmage and pick up 10, 15 yards at a time, it's great.

Q. People have been singing your praises kind of all throughout the summer within the program, but today what do you think you proved to people outside of the program?
NIC SHIMONEK: You know, that I could have been playing this whole time. I sat behind a guy that was a freak talent. I sat behind two guys at Iowa that got drafted and two guys here that got drafted. I could have been playing this whole time. But going back to what I mentioned previously, it's not about myself. I know social media is going to be buzzing, and I played okay, I guess, for my standards. I've got to play -- I've got to make some more throws. But yeah, it's not about me, it's about those 11 guys on the other side of the ball coming out and showing everybody -- because that's a good team. Eastern Washington, that's a good team, and for them to hold them to 10 points, that's amazing, and then like I said, the running backs, offensive line, it's not about myself, it's about us as a unit, and I'm excited for us moving forward.

Q. Will you be able to relax now that all the hype is over and into game 2, kind of looking forward to that?
NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, I'm not going to relax by any means. That's not what I am. I'll probably work harder from this moment forward just because I know how good we can be, and I think we showed some people that today. But you know, I'm going to prepare like it's -- like any other game here moving forward. Like I said, maybe even harder. Got this bye week, get some things fixed, figure out what we can do to start faster, and then two Saturday nights from now against Arizona State, things are going to be rocking, so make sure everybody is there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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