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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 15, 2018

Kliff Kingsbury

Lubbock, Texas

Texas Tech - 63, Houston - 49

Q. Where do you want to start first, Bowman, Henry, Wesley or all three?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: You know, those guys stepped up. We were having a hard time running the ball initially, so the passing game got going. Bowman missed a couple early that he usually doesn't miss, but settled in and protected the ball well, made a bunch of good decisions and got us rolling. It was a good game to build even more confidence going into conference as far as his progression as the QB goes.

Q. Has Bowman progressed faster than expected?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, you know, he's come along about like I thought, I think. The receivers are playing really well. O-line had great pass protection. He just did a nice job of getting through his reads on these things. Pat did it against the No. 5 team in the country, and we weren't very good, either. He's got a long ways to go to be mentioned in that category, but I like how he's progressed, and we've just got to keep working hard at it.

Q. What about Antoine Wesley; he had some terrific catches today. You said before the start of the season you thought he was going to have a big season.
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I thought beginning of spring he was really coming on. He had the injury, had a long rehab process, came back bigger, stronger, faster than ever, really worked hard at that. Drew Kruger, our trainer, had a great plan, and he just is continuing to develop that size, and he's got more quickness than people would think. He works really hard at it, does everything right, so you cheer for a guy like that.

Q. He's put up career numbers three weeks in a row now after having only 10 catches in his career. To do something like that, what does that do for a player's confidence?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think he always believed he could have been playing. We had him in the wrong position, playing inside for a couple years, and he's an outside wide receiver, and that's where he feels comfortable, and he never complained, never moaned about it, just did his job, and then we got him back outside and you just see the confidence building and him getting better and better. And like I said, you've got to give him a lot of credit because he went through a grueling rehab with his injury and has come back better than he was before.

Q. Can you take us through the decision to go for it there on 4th and 2 at the 48? Did you sense your team needed to have a little momentum change with them getting the ball at the start of the third?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we have a process we go through for that, and we felt like it was a go. When you're in a game going back and forth, they're going for it on 4th, you know you've got to score, you've got to keep up. We felt it was the right play.

Q. Talk about the contribution of Ja'Deion High today.
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, it was Ja'Deion's birthday, so we were excited for him. That's a kid who's -- he walked on here for three years. I was really, really hard on him because I believed he could be a guy, and now he's stepped in and made big play after big play for us throughout the first three weeks. Really proud of him.

Zach Austin is another guy, they came in with that Baker Mayfield walk-on class, and Taylor NuÃ±ez, and we had a bunch of guys on scholarship from that class, and for those guys to be starting in this last year, it's special for me because they're some of the only ones left that were here when I first got here.

Q. Dawson and Jacob Hines came in for Madison. What did you think about them?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: They've done a nice job. We feel like they can come in and us not skip a beat, and Dawson started at left tackle last week and then was able to play left guard, could play center if need be, so he's one of those guys that is invaluable to that offensive line and has a really bright future, and Hines has gotten better and better as a senior, never complains, works hard, and we feel like we can plug him in and not skip a beat.

Q. Did Travis aggravate what he had, or did you feel like he wasn't up for that level of defensive play?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think we just wanted to be smart. We know we have conference coming up, and we were just trying to be smart about it.

Q. What did you think about the way (indiscernible)?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I mean, he's phenomenal. We couldn't run the ball. We were getting such penetration early, so we just started throwing it, and luckily we were on. But he's a phenomenal player. The way he plays, relentlessly, every single snap, whether they're up 20 or down 20, that's how you're supposed to play the game. As a program we have a ton of respect for him and what he's accomplished, and he's going to make a lot of money.

Q. I know you had some penalties at times you probably weren't happy with, but only nine today and last week you were not happy with 14. Was this a better effort today?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It was improved but not where we need to be at all. I mean, there were big plays during the first half that we're back 2nd and 20, 1st and 25, 3rd and 20. We can't put ourselves in that position. We've got to play downhill. That's how this offense is set up. So that's -- the late penalty that put them on the 1, the personal foul defensively, it's just bad football, and we've got to get that cleaned up before next week.

Q. Have we underestimated your ability to once again build quarterbacks and receivers?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Well, time will tell. I mean, time will tell. We haven't gotten to conference yet. That was a nice step in the right direction, but I've said it all along, there's an expectation at Texas Tech that started a long time ago that we're going to play really good at quarterback and play really good on offense. When guys graduate, things happen, people move on, that expectation doesn't change, and that's how we coach it, and that's how the players practice it.

Q. Everybody is going to talk about the offensive stats of Houston, but you guys made some really big defensive plays at times that kept you in the game --
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, they're really good. You can't simulate that tempo. They're going to have a great run in their conference. They've got it rolling. That quarterback is special the way he can make you miss with his feet, and he was putting balls on the money in the throwing game. Kendall had some really creative trick play type deals that got them out of 2nd and long, 3rd and long situations. So I was really proud of -- after going through that chaos in first half, they settled in, had some big 4th down stops and gave us the stops we needed to win the game, and that's what matters.

Q. What's the deal with Alan's shoes? Have you talked to him about those?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I mean, I'd like --

Q. Is he like that all the time?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I'd like him to lace them up, but if he plays like that, you can't really say anything. That's his deal, always been his deal.

Q. Any thoughts about the jersey caper and what took place there? Was there a special message at the end of the game?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: You're not going to get me. I'm going to no comment that one.

Q. There is some talk on social media about the supposed double forward pass. What did you see on that play?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I didn't see it. It was an unbelievable play design if it was -- if it was legal, it was an unbelievable play design. If they kept all those lineman from going downfield and that's what they wanted to do, I've never seen that. It was ingenious and it worked. If they were both forward, then obviously it shouldn't have worked, but I thought it was a great play design.

Q. What was the key to getting the running game going later on?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think they just -- we played a bunch of snaps in the first half. Their defense was on the field. I think we had 56, and so we knew that eventually we were going to get some seams, and Ta'Zhawn did a nice job of hitting it, O-line kept pounding, kept pounding against a really good front, but I think more than anything just the amount of players, we were able to wear them down a little bit up front and hit some seams.

Q. What's your situation at running back?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we'll see. We wanted competition, and that's what we got. Felton is doing a nice job being a senior leader stepping in, Ta'Zhawn is very explosive, SaRodorick can give us a good chance of pace, so when Da'Leon and Trey get back, we keep the competition going, and the best players are going to play.

Q. You said last week postgame that Da'Leon could have played, so did he have a setback?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we had a little bit of a setback early in the week, and he wasn't able to go, so we'll evaluate him this week, see where he's at and kind of go from there.

Q. You said it was a groin?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: A groin, mm-hmm.

Q. Was there any turning point in the game that you thought today, or did you think it just progressed and you got better as the game went on?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think being able to take the lead at halftime, kind of flip it, we were chasing, but being able to take the lead there gave us some confidence going into the locker room, and then coming out and score that first drive out, I think we felt good about things.

Q. Are you aware of the white out and how great the crowd was?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It was, and last week was, too. Our student section is phenomenal. It's the best in the country. There's 15,000 kids, and for our student athletes, there's nothing like playing in front of your peers, and then our community came out for the white out, supported us. That means the world to those players. They're great kids. They play very hard for this university and this community, and when people show up and are that loud, it goes a long way.

Q. How would you assess the play of your linebackers today?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I'll have to watch the film, but those guys were all over the place. You watch Jordan and Rico and Dakota run around and chase the football and chase people down, they're kind of the strong point and the leaders, and so I'll have to see. I don't know how many tackles they had, things of that nature, but they made a bunch of plays.

Q. Does Alan make the decision for quarterback moving forward a little easier?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We'll see. We're going to evaluate everything. Once again, I said it from day one, I felt like we had three guys capable of leading the offense, and I think you've seen at times that all three could, and that's a good problem to have. So we'll get everybody healthy and see where we're at.

Q. Are you more impressed with his poise in the pocket or how accurate he is?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: That's been his strong suit. He hangs in the pocket, he gets through his reads, and then he makes accurate throws. He missed a couple that he doesn't miss early, but he kept battling. He's very poised. So he's got some intangibles. We've got to keep working. We've got a lot to work on, but he's got some intangibles.

Q. Are you aware of the records that both Alan and Antoine were pursuing?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I wasn't until they showed it. Yeah, I didn't know.

Q. Overall, today's effort, you're pleased because last week you were not pleased with the 77 --
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think more than anything, when you get an opportunity to play some of those guys that we're getting to play, I didn't feel like they took advantage of it. It's special any time you're a Division I football player in the Big 12 at Texas Tech in that stadium, you go in there and you make the most of your opportunities and you don't take them for granted, and that was where my frustration stemmed from.

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