|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 25, 2018Kliff KingsburyLubbock, Texas Q. Can you take us through the kind of offensive staff thought process on deciding how to use all those different running back options that you have, because obviously you have five guys, and each of them has made a positive contribution, and even with two out, now you have -- how do you decide when to play DeMarcus and when to day Ta'Zhawn and -- KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we're still working through that. Each one kind of has a special skill set. They can all get the job done, and it's created good competition in that room. We don't really have a set plan. We're going to go with the hot hand and see who practices better and go from there, but it's definitely made them all better competing every day. Q. I asked Demarcus the other night if he had any sense during the week that Saturday night was going to be his night, so to speak, and he said honestly, no. Was that just a case where he seemed to be in a good rhythm -- KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, he did. He was the hot hand. He was running the ball well. The week before it was Ta'Zhawn. So whoever is on and doing their job effectively, we're going to ride. Q. Can you kind of break down why you're having so much success in the red zone? Last year that was kind of a big problem, not just with the kicking game but also punching it in. This year I believe it's 25 touchdowns in 29 attempts or something like that. KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I don't have an answer other than that was an off-season emphasis and a focus after -- we were disastrous there, last in the country last year, and a lot of that's on me, the play calling, play design down there. So we've emphasized it as a team, as a coaching staff. Did some off-season projects on it, and so far it's paying off. We've got to continue to get better there. We've made some improvements. Q. It was actually 21 out of 29, which is still remarkable. Speaking with the new coaching staff that Don brought up, Coach Johns, Coach McGuire, how does that work in concept and what have they brought to the offense? KLIFF KINGSBURY: They've done a great job. Both have been different places and had a lot of success at those other places, so they've kind of mixed their thoughts with what we were doing here already, and you can see in some of the run game, we're being more effective in certain areas, and that's a credit to those guys and what they're seeing on game day and during the week and during their film study. I think everybody is working well together on game day. I like the information we're getting, and we just have to, as a group, continue to get better. Q. Without obviously giving too much away, how does that work, the communication with Coach Johns and you and the whole staff on game day? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I mean, we've got Coach McGuire up in the box, Coach Johns up in the box, and they're watching from up there and talking through things in between plays, in between series, and then giving me information about what we like, what we don't like between series. So that's kind of how it goes. Q. In a conference with so many talented quarterbacks, what makes Will Grier so special? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think his maturity. He's obviously very talented, great arm, very poised, great pocket presence. He'll be one of the top guys taken this year and should be, and then he's got a family, he's married. He's a mature -- kind of like an NFL player already. I was hoping he would have left last year, but he stuck around and is playing through the roof. But you can tell he's mastered that system, knows it inside and out, has a great mentor there in Jake Spavital. So he's one of the best in the country, no question, and playing at a really high level. Q. The defense last week started off a little slow and settled into the rest of the game. Against a team like West Virginia where a strong start for the defense will be key with how powerful their offense really is, what kind of differences do you think you'll see from the defense this week to make sure you can keep them off the board early so they don't get a big lead early? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, there will be an emphasis. That's a group, once they get hot, they're hot, and they have so many weapons on the outside, three great running backs they rotate through, so we're going to have our hands full, but we'd like to start faster than we have the last couple weeks. Q. Back to the run game, Coach, is the success of those other guys helping you guys wait on getting Trey and Da'Leon back in, or is that specifically just injury related with those guys? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think it makes you feel more comfortable with the current situation. You want all five to be healthy and active and be ready to go, and like I said, it just creates competition day-to-day, which is what makes everybody better. But we'd like to have all five back and healthy. I think the emergence of those young guys, seeing that they can handle it on Saturday, has been great for our entire team and particularly that room. Q. Any update on Trey and Da'Leon for this week? KLIFF KINGSBURY: They'll be game-time decision. They've been limited so far, and we'll see if they're ready to go Saturday. Q. Can you just speak to what Ja'Deion has been able to do, especially on 3rd down for you? Is it a matter of -- I know it's not what he'd like in terms of the longness of his career, but it seems like he's seen a lot of football, played a lot of football, and it's more like a feel thing for him now? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, there's a comfort level there with the quarterback. He knows Ja'Deion is going to be where he's supposed to be and executing it right and doing it at a high level, so there's been some big 3rd downs, some 3rd and longs that I think he's kind of locked on him and Ja'Deion has made a play for him. That's just trusting your receiver. You've got a sixth-year guy who does everything right, always has, and he's earned everything has got, and he's going to be where he should be, and he's going to make the play for you. Q. With y'all's emphasis on finishing games this year, do you use last year against West Virginia as a teaching method? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, we don't talk too much about last year. The biggest thing we've talked about were I think we had 16 penalties for 160 yards, and you're not going to beat anybody doing that, so that's really the only point of touchdown. We've got to play a much cleaner game against this team to have a chance. Q. Having players like Will Grier and Simms and guys like that, whenever you look at trying to slow them down, is one of the main emphases trying to not give up big plays and those big shots down the field? What's the main emphasis to keep the game low scoring on their end? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think that's an area we have to improve. We've given up some big plays this year, and they're a high-powered, quick-strike offense, so you know that's coming. You know they're going to take their shots to Sills and Simms and Jennings and everybody else they've got. We're definitely aware of that. We'd like to limit those big plays and make them earn whatever they're going to get. Q. The last two weeks it seems like the team has gotten stronger as the game has gone along and the opponent is more down. What do you attribute that to? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I hope our off-season focus on finishing. Coach Whitt does a tremendous job with our strength and conditioning program, and that was what it was all about was finishing, so hopefully that has helped some. Q. Is Bowman better right now than you expected he would be at this point? KLIFF KINGSBURY: It's hard to say. We'll see how this thing goes, but his level of maturity thus far as a true freshman, I mean, I don't know if I've seen one handle it like this so far, but we've got a long way to go. We've got the heart of our schedule, we've got a great team coming in here, but he's handled things very maturely from practice-wise to his preparation to on Saturdays. That's what I've been impressed with. There's things we can do better. We had some bad throws, bad reads last week, but just the mindset, the preparation and the focus each day for a young guy, it's been impressive. Q. I obviously couldn't read lips, but it looked like you were letting him have it after the first interception, and he seemed pretty calm. Was he pretty calm after -- KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, he's got a lot from me since he got here in the spring, and we're hard on those freshman at that position. Just how we coach them here, and he handles it well. He doesn't blink, and he doesn't hesitate. The next throw he's going to come back and cut it loose, and that's what you want. That's the one quality that you can't teach in people is if you make a mistake, can you go back out there and cut it loose, and he does that. Q. Finally, big win, obviously monumental victory last week, but how important is it to build on it, not to be just a one-time deal here? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, that's what you want to be. You want to make sure that that was 1-0 in conference and we're trying to go 1-0 this week, and that's the focus, and we want to get better, and I think our team understands that. They know what's coming to town. It's a top-10 football team, at home, great opportunity, and we've got to get one week better. Q. This team was forcing a lot of turnovers a bunch of games early, and then Houston didn't force one, but then against Oklahoma State they had two. Have you seen a reemergence there? What have you seen from the defense as far as turning the ball over? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, not where we wanted to be just yet. The one was on special teams and Frye made a great interception. But we want to get the ball out more, and I think it'll come. These guys are doing the right thing, they're working at it, but it hasn't come in bunches like it did last year. Q. Was last year against West Virginia the first time y'all saw that three double cloud defense, and how much more prepared -- KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, it wasn't. Q. David Sills, you know you've mentioned him briefly. What makes him so explosive on the -- when watching film on him? KLIFF KINGSBURY: You know, he reminds me of Mike Evans with his size and physicality. You watch him punishing defenders down the field; that's what Mike did when we coached him at A&M. Never takes a play off, explodes off the ball every rep, and that's to me what separates him. He's a big physical presence. Having his quarterback background, I think it really helps him in his route running and those guys be on the same page, but he does not take a play off; whether it's the run game, the pass game, that guy is going full speed every single rep, and that was a quality that Mike had, and that's why he's one of the top guys in the NFL right now. Q. With the bye week coming up, are you thinking about making a trip to Denver to see your two proteges, Patrick Mahomes and Case, square off? KLIFF KINGSBURY: No, I hope I can stay away that long to watch it on TV. But that'll be fun. Those are two awesome human beings, two of my favorite people of all time, and glad to see them both having success. Q. There's been some pregame altercations between us and West Virginia in the past; what are you telling your players to try to avoid not being baited into one of those again? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we don't want to do that. That's not who we want to be. Last year was unfortunate, the year before was unfortunate, and we're going to make sure that doesn't happen this year. We want to settle it on the field and not get into that. Q. After that interception, obviously the cornerback made a heck of a play, but what was it that Alan did not do right? What were you communicating to him? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, just going through your reads. It probably wasn't a very good play call. Ran the same play back-to-back, and they rolled coverage, they changed coverage, and he hung on his first read instead of getting to his second read, so I was just talking about seeing the safeties and playing at a better level and a higher level, and that he's too good to make that type of mistake. Q. You would have had him throw to a different receiver? KLIFF KINGSBURY: That was the deal. It was a pretty simple read one to two, and he knew it. He just locked on to the guy and kind of guessed what was going to happen instead of actually seeing it happen. Q. And on T.J., what is his status for this week? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we'll see. We're hoping he can play, but he'll be a game-time decision, as well. He's been limited so far. Q. Did he hurt that late in the game because I didn't even notice him -- KLIFF KINGSBURY: He did, he did. I'm not sure which play, but he finished the game and then it kind of started bothering him the next day. Q. Going back and watching that game on DVR the other fight, the announcers were real complimentary of just your game plan and play calling and noticed that you used a lot of kind of misdirection and motion. Was that to kind of nullify their aggressiveness since they had all those sacks and tackles for losses? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I mean, we try to be creative every week and attack areas we see that we can take advantage of. But yeah, they were a hard-charging defense. They chased the ball hard, and so we felt like we could do some things that may have them overrun stuff. Q. You said on Sunday that it wasn't the best game that this team could play. What does that best game look like from your perspective? Is it just straight points? Is it yardage? What does that look like for you? KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we'll see when it happens. We turned the ball over a couple times, one 2nd down on the 5-yard line that you can't do going in. Had a few fewer penalties, which helped, but you gave up some big plays still. So we're still kind of searching for who we are. But that was a step in the right direction being able to finish that game and come out in the second half and make those adjustments as a team and do what we needed to do to win the game. Q. Is that the best game your team has played in the last two years, as close to the -- is that as close as they have gotten in the last two years to playing their best game? KLIFF KINGSBURY: I'm not sure. I mean, it varies each game based on your opponent, who you're playing, what's going on. But I just know there are areas where we can be a lot better at based on the talent we have and what I think we can become. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|