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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 20, 2018

Kliff Kingsbury

Lubbock, Texas

Kansas - 16, Texas Tech - 48

THE MODERATOR: Questions for coach.

Q. What stood out to you today that really pleased you?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Probably those two stops the defense had. We gave them the ball twice inside the 10, and they got a total of three points, which is huge, stepping up. When the offense is struggling, really not protecting the ball very well, that was a couple huge drives we were able to come up and make stance.

Q. (Question about third downs.)
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We've been playing better on third down, which is encouraging. You have to get off the field in this league, continue to turn people over. Nice rhythm on third down. Hopefully we can keep that going.

Q. How would you assess Alan's performance today?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I thought he knocked some rust off in the first half. I felt the last couple drives he was really locked in, made some nice throws. It was good to get him hit so he feels comfortable again.

We'll have a full week next week to get him a bunch of reps. Hopefully we just continue with progress.

Q. How much do you think it helped him that T.J. was back?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: You saw it, right? Get it close, T.J. is going to make a play for you. Had the one touchdown called back. Was a tremendous catch. Another huge catch back in the end zone early.

He just brings that dimension. That's a quarterback's best friend. That type of wingspan, the trust if I put it up, your either going to catch it or they're not. So we need him.

Q. Might have opened up things for Antoine, too.
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It did. You can't just focus on Antoine. You have two guys that are productive players. They still haven't scratched the surface, in my opinion, of what they can be. So we got to keep them going.

But it's huge to have all your weapons back.

Q. When did you know that Alan was going to be a go for today?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It's been a while. It's been a while. We just wanted to make sure practice went well. Didn't want any setbacks. But we felt confident that, I don't know, a few days after he got out of the hospital that he'd be ready for this date. We just wanted to make sure he held up, felt good, his breathing was fine.

Q. What has David Gibbs done this year to make your defense click?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I just think continuity on the staff is huge, right? Those guys have grown up in the system now. He's going into year four, he's recruited to his system. They understand it. Same terminology. A lot of those guys are back from last year.

We still got a long way to go. We play the good offenses, we got to step up, continue to keep it close. I'm really proud of what they've been doing. It's good to see them have some success. They've been through a lot, a lot of those seniors.

Q. You aren't where you are last year turnover ratio-wise at this point, but you're winning games. Does that speak to team mentality defense?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, no doubt. We want to be better at that. We were first in the conference last year at turnover margin. We're not there yet. But they're playing great on third down. That's helping us get off the field. We're getting a lot of wins there.

Q. What did you see out of the offensive line?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Today I didn't think we ran the ball as well as we would have liked. A lot of that had to do with Kansas. They were taking away the run. We we're able to hit some things in the passing game.

But they're not a bad team, Kansas. They play hard. They do a good job coaching. So I felt like we should have run the ball better. But I got to give them a lot of credit for stopping us.

Q. (Indiscernible) two sacks today. What did you think about his performance?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: He just keeps getting better and better. He's a guy who has been here three years now. Works really hard. Tough, tough player. Handles his business. It's good to see him continue to have success and get better each week.

Last week, he had a huge tackle-for-loss. This week two sacks. So I'm really excited to see how he finishes up this season.

Q. (No microphone.)
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I know. He gets a bunch of them in practice. Hopefully that gets going. But he has a natural knack for getting his hand up, getting his hands on footballs.

Q. I know Bender wasn't exactly accurate today. The defensive backs, they seemed to be very attacking today.
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, we challenged them. We played a lot of press man, got down in their face. They have talent at wideout. The Simms kid, seems like he has been there forever. Made a ton of plays, had a tremendous catch on that touchdown. I thought they were on him tight the entire game. Everything was earned. That's what we're looking for.

Q. (No microphone.)
KLIFF KINGSBURY: You can see it, right? I mean, it's exciting just for what he went through last year. Had a bunch of stuff going on. To come back and kick the way he's kicked. It's the way we knew he could. He's a great kid. He deserves to have that type of success.

Q. (No microphone.)
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It was better. It was better. It's been better this season. Last year 125th in the country. It was an off-season emphasis. Our guys have bought into it Wednesday practice, when we really work on it, take pride in it. Good to see that improvement from last year. That's what you're looking for.

Q. (No microphone.)
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Up and down. Up and down. Fielded the one early that he shouldn't have, or should have fair caught it. You lose about 12 yards. Then had a couple nice returns. Just got to be smart, be poised back there.

But he's dynamic as a returner. He just has to make good decisions.

Q. (Question about Frye.)
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I've seen a lot of improvement from him. He keeps getting better every week. He can play any position, play nickel, safety for us, can play corner. We'll keep using him in whatever area we think he can help us.

As a cover guy, he's really come a long way.

Q. The importance of a three-game stretch, even though you're 5-2, you might be underdogs in all three of the next games?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We're underdogs in however many there in a row, Houston, Oklahoma State, TCU, too. That's just this league. We got to focus on Iowa State. They've had our number. We got to play a lot better against them.

Q. These guys getting more and more comfortable if you're underdogs, just the confidence?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't know. Each week is different. I think they understand if we play well, we can stay in every game. So we got to bring it next week.

Like I said, that team has had our number. We got to build confidence during the week, go out and play our best game.

Q. You always want more. Are you pleased with how your team is progressing each week?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think so. I think offensively we were reckless with the football, putting it on the ground a bunch today. That's got to clean up during these last five. That's going to be the difference in these games, is turnover margin. We got to find a way to come out on that.

Q. What is the offense's ceiling?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It can be really good. It can be really good. You look at the play-makers outside, the O-line, all back from last year, some dynamic runningbacks, quarterback that's making good decisions. We'll see where it goes.

But we're going to be tested next week, one of the best defenses in the country. Said it three times already, but they've had our number, so we got to have a better plan and execute as a higher level against Iowa State.

Q. You said your offense needed to start fast. Did you think they did that today?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: The first drive, we got points. I felt the hold hurt us. When we're playing downhill, avoid negative plays, we're pretty good. If we get any of those pre-snap penalties like we did against TCU, or someone losing 20 yards, we haven't been great. We got to continue to be sharp and avoid negative plays.

Q. How important was it to get Bowman with a game under his belt?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: That was huge. You could tell early he was a little bit funky, going through reads, missing some stuff he normally doesn't. Good to get him hit. He feels comfortable again that he can handle that. So next week we have to play with a lot of poise at that position.

Q. Did you want him blocking better in the game?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It's not really his deal, but that wasn't much of a block either. He knows his limitations.

Q. Did you even communicate with him much during the game regarding how he felt?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: He felt great the whole game. It wasn't much checking in. It was more just yelling at him on a couple things. But health-wise he said he was great.

Q. What did you think of the kick?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I heard the crowd. She drilled it?

Q. Drilled it.
KLIFF KINGSBURY: What did she get exactly?

Q. A trip to Vegas.
KLIFF KINGSBURY: That's it (smiling)? I thought the $230 Southwest flight from Lubbock. That's awesome. May have to check her out.

Q. What does Antoine Wesley do for you? Seems like he continues to show he can get open deep, take short passes, turn it into something big. Which of those aspects of his game are more eye-opening?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think his ability to go up and make plays. He's another guy, we'll give him a chance. You know he's either catching it or it's going to be incomplete. They're not picking it off. He's going to get his hands on it. Alan has been able to give him a chance. Even last week he caught two out of bounds that would have been huge plays. He's catching the ball. He's timing his jumps. He's attacking the ball when it's in the air.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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