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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 30, 2017Nic ShimonekJah'Shawn JohnsonLubbock, Texas Oklahoma State - 41, Texas Tech - 34 Q. Towards the end of the game, when you had a chance there, (indiscernible) throw the ball? NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah. I mean they gave us the ball back. We had a chance to go score and close it out. And bad communication on my part with T.J. Vasher. I just gotta be better with those guys. Q. What do you mean by that? Was that something that you didn't see that he saw? NIC SHIMONEK: No, I flashed a signal to him late. But he wasn't looking at me. But, like I said, it's my fault. I've got to make sure he gets the sign. And I think if he gets the sign, we might have a chance. But, again, he did what he was told to do, what I originally told him to do. And, like I said, I flashed the sign late. He just didn't pick it up. So communications issues on my part. Q. Just overall, couldn't see what you all did on the running attack, what do you want to improve on? NIC SHIMONEK: On the run? Q. On the run game. NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, you know, we've just got to, said it before, gotta run the ball, is going to make everybody's job easier. Going to make my job easier, our receivers. They'll be more open if the safeties have to honor the box, which I felt like we -- Stock played a great game. Whenever Nisby got in there, he did what he does and got a few yards, and Tre King as well. So obviously it didn't end up how we wanted, but it's one game. Just gotta get better, move on to Kansas. Q. Coach talked about how last year this team didn't handle losses very well. How do you expect this group to handle the loss and what will you do differently? NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, you know, I guess if there is a positive to take from this, it was that you could tell in the locker room after the game that it really hurt everybody. Last year, it was kind of -- we lost, we just lost the game. You could tell that everybody in that locker room expects to win. And obviously whenever we don't, like tonight, you can just see the passion. So, yeah, hopefully we don't have too many of these. Q. What happened when Keke went down, in terms of what you guys were able to do? NIC SHIMONEK: Not a lot. Obviously he's a great player. But whenever it comes down to it, we still just gotta be able to execute the offense. We'd love to have him out there. One of the best, if not the best, playmaker in the country. And he's a threat every time he gets near the ball. But, like I said, it's football; things like that happen. People get hurt. And we just gotta get better, gotta move on. Q. What were they doing differently to shut down your running lanes tonight for the run game? NIC SHIMONEK: They played hard, I guess. I don't know. We thought we had what we wanted a couple times. And it seemed like one guy would beat us over the top, or we wouldn't have the cutback, or whatever. And a lot of that is on me, because I can pull a couple of those balls like Mason did. But, like I said, we had a chance to win. Defense gave us a chance to win. We can't ask for anything else at the end of the game. We just didn't get it done. Q. Can you comment on the atmosphere tonight? NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, it was awesome. Anytime we play here, it gets rowdy down there. And it made it tough on them. Like Coach Kingsbury alluded to, it's a great offense that just came in. And held them to, what, 41 points, and had a chance to win if I threw Cantrell a better ball in the end zone and he catches that, and I also throw Derrick a better back shoulder at the end of the first half. We had to settle for field goals. So that takes eight points off the board as opposed to two. If you get inside the five, you've got to score touchdowns, can't settle for field goals. But, yeah, same thing. Like I alluded to, we've got to get better. We can't hang our heads. And move on to Kansas. Q. What's your impressions of Mason Rudolph; is he one of the top quarterbacks in the country? NIC SHIMONEK: Yeah, yeah. I guess that's what people say. So... Q. Did you think Justin was in right before halftime, did you feel that he had touched the pylon? NIC SHIMONEK: I thought he was in. But that's what they have replay for. If he was in, they probably would have got it correct. So I guess he wasn't. Q. Going into this game there were a lot of people who said Texas Tech couldn't play with OSU, how does it feel to prove them wrong? NIC SHIMONEK: I mean, we lost. So it doesn't feel good at all. Whether we lost by a point or 40, we lost the game. So not here to compete with people; we're here to win football games. Q. As it relates to Damarcus' pick-six, how excited was the defense after that, that you guys were able to start out pretty quickly there? JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: Yeah, it was very exciting. Takeaways, it was one of the emphasis of this game. We knew we had to get the ball and give our offense back the ball somehow and limit them from being on the field. So he made a great play and a great return. Q. I know it won't show in the final stats, but (indiscernible), was that y'all at least generally were trying to do, to stay in striking distance, to give you a chance? JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: Every week we want to give our offense a chance to win. I know we have plenty of plays we wish we could have back. It's just how it goes, and we'll just get better this week. Q. Frustrating to see the offense get inside of the five a couple times, you were able to hold OSU to field goals. I guess was that positive for the defense? JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: Yeah, when you get down there, but it's better off to keep them from down there and make them punt the ball. So, like I said, we'll get better this week on that and move on to Kansas. Q. How would you like this team to respond differently this year to losses than similar to your experience last year, what will you do different? JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: Just get in the film room, correct it. Just come out in practice and read our keys better. Make more tackles. I know the running back got out a couple times, he's a shifty guy, but we gotta be able to get him down and limit those explosive plays. Q. Did you feel the team makeup is different, this team compared to a year ago, in terms of how you might handle adversity based on what you've experienced? JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: It's definitely different. I don't think anyone thought we would lose that game on that sideline. We were all encouraging each other. The fans have done a great job of keeping us up as well. But we've got to find a way to get it done. Q. Did you take some positives from the way guys played, at times there in that third and fourth quarter there? JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: It's hard to be positive when you lose. But I mean, yeah, we got a couple of stops. That's about it. But, I mean, shouldn't have even came down to that. We know we're a lot better than that. They made some great plays on third down. You gotta credit those guys. The receivers were great. Their quarterback is -- I mean, he's great. He pulled the ball, put them in tight spaces. We've just got to get off the field somehow. Q. Can you take us through that last touchdown and what happened defensively for you guys? JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: Just miscommunication. Called a blitz. And I guess we took the wrong guy and left him free. We knew he would pull the ball in the red zone area. And, yeah, he made a great read. Q. (Indiscernible), looked like they were going to pull away, you held them to a field goal and they were able to stay in the game -- JAH'SHAWN JOHNSON: Just respond. I mean, Coach Gibbs is big on that. We can't control what happens. We just gotta go out and do what we gotta do to get our offense back the ball. And, I mean, we've done a great job on that possession and, yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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