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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 8, 2018

Kliff Kingsbury

Lubbock, Texas

Q. What is the status off Alan? How has he been progressing since his injury?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We'll see. He's been out there at practice, and it's an interesting injury. None of us have experience with it, so we're kind of taking it day by day, and expect him to be back sooner than later.

Q. He was in the hospital for a couple days. Was that a precautionary thing to keep him for observation and make sure he was all right?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, something to that extent.

Q. When you deal with an injury that you all have never seen before and trying to get a guy back, is that just completely asking the medical staff and kind of being dependent on what they say?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, no question. We turn it over to them, and get different opinions from different people, and see when he's ready to play, and feel goods and feels healthy.

Q. So is his status for Thursday's game still questionable?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I'm hoping to have all three guys available to play. So we'll see if that happens or not.

Q. How is McLane looking?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: He's doing better. I'm not sure if he's game ready or not. We've got a couple days left. I've said it before, his game is a little bit different so he's got to be able to push off that leg and run and make plays. If he can't do that, he won't play.

Q. How about him and Alan both, have they fully participated in practice?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, all three of them have been participating in practice.

Q. If you have all three ready, what is your game plan?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, you'll have to watch.

Q. With TCU, what have we seen from their defense? It seems like other than last weekend when Texas kind of did pretty well against Oklahoma, they were the top defense in the Big 12.
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think anytime you have a Gary Patterson coached defense, that's what you're going to get. Very disciplined, you've got to earn every yard, nothing is conceded. It's just impressive every year, no matter who the pieces are. He gets them played hard and very discipline style of football, and they're really, really good on defense.

Q. I know you were saying you're hoping to have T.J. back, has he been looking ready and has he been practicing so far?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, he's been limited in his participation. Same deal. We'll see if he can go full go. If he can't, we'll wait and have an extra day and get him ready for Kansas.

Q. With Coach Patterson saying Shawn Robinson will play but won't start, how do you work around that?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I'm not sure. We're going to have plans for both guys. Shawn is a tremendous athlete. The other kid, we haven't seen a ton of, but it sounds like he's a very talented player as well. So Coach Cumbie will have both of them ready to go. He's a great coach. So we'll have plans for both guys.

Q. I know you talked about kind of using the word finished and then fast start. What have you been doing to make sure that you can balance both going into this week?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, just talking about it. I think addressing the fast start, getting yourself ready to practice from the stretch on, from the time you walk in the building, actually. I think that's all you can do is focus on it. It's a night game on national TV. Shouldn't have any problem getting ready to go.

Q. Do you feel like the bye week was a nice way to kind of clear the mind a little bit, let the guys kind of do maybe a couple off days? Did you kind of see a difference?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think having it more mid point this season than in the past couple years, it seems it's been really early. It's probably been good. Allowed some guys to get healthy and kind of reassess where you're at, do some self-scout and see what we're doing good, what we're not doing good, and build on it.

So I think it probably came at a good time. Even though after a loss, you want to get back out there and get that taste out of your mouth. I think it probably was a pretty good break for where we're at as a program.

Q. What problems do you think, if Shawn Robinson starts on Thursday night, the problems you think he could bring to your defense?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Just that he can hurt you with his feet as well as his arm. They have dynamic play makers on the perimeter, great running backs. Then you throw him in the mix, he can run it, he can throw it, he can extend plays. It's a lot of skill, talent and skill out there that you have to be able to manage and try to contain.

Q. For Michael Collins, if he ends up getting a start, you said you weren't able to see too much of his stuff. Have you watched some of his stuff from when he was at penn or this year?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: More this year. The reps that he was able to get this year, which were limited. But I've heard good things. I've heard they're high on him, and I'm sure he's a smart kid and will execute at a high level. And Coach Cumbie always has those guys ready to go.

Q. Jeff is the guy on Thursday night to start for you guys. Has he progressed well in practice and kind of sharpened his decision making?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I mean, we'll see. You never know until you get out to a game. I feel like all three of those guys have gotten better as the year went on. That was our goal. So as a quarterback room, I feel like we've progressed in that area.

Q. Does having this game on Thursday change the way you all kind of look at your preparation schedule? Or since you had a bye, does it cancel that out?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think the Big 12 does right by the teams. If you're going to have a Thursday night game, you have the previous weekend off. So we were able to set up our game week the same as it's been, just back it up. So nothing has really changed as far as the preparation goes schedule-wise.

Q. Has Alan been cleared for air travel or does that present any issue with his lung?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We'll see. That's kind of one of the things we're working through. We've had different opinions, varied opinions. There is varying research out there. So we're trying to be as thorough as we can. What have you found in your research?

Q. I've read that they usually don't recommend it after -- before three weeks after. Although if the game is in the Metroplex and he were ready otherwise, you could drive him down there, right?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah.

Q. You were talking about self-scouting, what you did well and what you did not do well after. After self-scouting last week, what are some things that you want to do better, I guess, besides the obvious start faster?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think defensively the midway point, we just allowed too many big plays. Whether it's pass game, run game. Last week we let the draw get out for 40 yards, giving up big plays in the pass game. We've got to limit the big plays. We've got to make teams earn it.

Then offensively last week the big thing that jumped out was protecting the football, three turnovers, one is a pick-six. You can't win football games doing that. So that's been the emphasis this week, and we'll try to improve in those areas.

Q. All right, Da'Leon and Trey full go this week against TCU?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I hope so. They've practiced more and more this week, so we're hoping to have all those guys ready to go for Thursday.

Q. Going back to Trey and Ward, they both played in the second half of the last game. Was that a coach's decision? Was it injury related that you were just testing them out? What was the thought process there?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think just getting back in the mix, getting back in the flow of the game. They hadn't practiced a ton, so wanted to ease them back in and see where they were at.

Q. Following up on that with the running backs, when you have all five available, which has not been the case very often this season, how many do you feel like you had -- how many make sense to have in a game rotation?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, that's what we've been working through. With that many backs we feel like can get it done, I think the bye came at a good time to reassess who are we going to hang our hat on in crucial situations. So we're working through that this week. But we don't expect to play all five. So we've got to find roles for those guys, whether it be special teams or somewhere else.

Q. If you don't play all five, and I don't know off the top of my head, but I think Sarodorick has played in three, I believe, or four, he's still within the red-shirt window. Would you all think about trying to hold him back?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, he would be one, I think, we'll see where it goes. But been really impressed with his development. He's a guy with that many backs that we feel are serviceable, that if we can red shirt him, we'd like to be able to do that.

Q. You mentioned limiting the big plays. What are your thoughts on Jalen Reagor and the problems he can pose for your defense?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, he's a phenomenal player. We obviously know him very well. He was committed to us for a while. I played with his father. Is great young man, great family, tremendous athlete. He's going to give anybody fits. So we have to do a good job of trying to take him away. The problem is they have other guys that can beat you as well. Jalen Austin and Turpin are tremendous wideouts. But we're going to know where Reagor's at. It's one thing to know where he's at. It's another thing to try and stop him.

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