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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 30, 2018Eli HowardLubbock, Texas THE MODERATOR: Eli Howard. Q. How different is it to go up against a guy like Kyler Murray? ELI HOWARD: I mean, essentially he's a runningback that can throw very well. He's incredibly dangerous. You got to keep him contained at all times. Any point he can bust out for a big run, just like that. Kid is incredibly fast, can accelerate really quickly. We're going to have to contain him, for sure. Q. Do you think the defensive line has grown up in the game against Iowa State? ELI HOWARD: Yes, sir. I think the group is pretty close. I think the D-line room is really close, really competitive. If we feel any kind of dropoff in the play, whether it's the ones or the twos, we try to keep it all at one pace. Everyone seems to get better in practice, really gets better in practice. That's something that kind of shows every Saturday, is our mentality towards practice and how we try to get better every week. Q. Do you find yourself having to actively think about where you need to hit somebody? ELI HOWARD: I mean, you face a lot of good runningbacks, a lot of good quarterbacks, like I said about Kyler Murray. Kind of depends when you come out of the line off a block, where your leverage is, how fast they can make a move in open space. Yeah, I mean, you try to play a hundred miles an hour, but at the same time you're trying to be very conscious of where you hit a player, where your leverage is on them. Q. Is there a frustration level that ever grows when you have a couple penalties that don't go your way? ELI HOWARD: Absolutely. It takes a lot of momentum away, especially when it's second-and-long or third-and-long, you get a roughing the passer, as I did. It takes a lot of momentum away. Iowa State went down to score a touchdown on that drive. It's something that needs to get cleaned up. We got to do a better job as players of trying to play more aware, more conscious, even though you know it's full speed for everyone out there. It's something that the defense needs to look at and try to get better at this week. I think we took a good step today in practice. Q. What are the keys for an offense like Oklahoma to get some quick three-and-outs, get them off the field quickly? What is your focus with that? ELI HOWARD: First of all, giving our offense another chance to get back out on the field. Like I said earlier, it's momentum. It really helps us, really builds the defense's confidence if we can get some quick three-and-outs, especially against an explosive offense like OU. Q. Everyone is talking about how Alan struggled in the last game. Do you think people forget he is a true freshman quarterback? ELI HOWARD: Absolutely. I mean, he's had incredible success, even up to this point. To me, I feel like it was his first game that he looked like a freshman. It is what it is. Iowa State, give a lot of credit to them. Incredible defense, always scheme it up. You look at it, they don't allow a lot of points to anyone. I think he's done pretty well. I think they had one touchdown against him. I feel like Alan Bowman did pretty well. Maybe the first game he looked like a true freshman. I think he has an incredible future. I don't think it's going to stop him at all from continuing his success this season. Q. Kyler Murray, he's their second leader rush. Do you feel in a simplistic way, if you slow down the rushing attack, that makes them a little bit one-dimensional in that sense? ELI HOWARD: Yes, sir. That's a lot of cases. That's our D-line approach, we want to stop the run, then earn the right to pass-rush. If you stop the run first and second down, you know you got them third-and-long, it's a pretty obvious passing situation. We want to get them in that situation. We feel pretty confident about that. Like I said, at any point, any player for them can bust off a big play. We're going to have to be very conscious of who is on the field, what kind of personnel we have. Q. Ever played anyone that looks as smooth as him? ELI HOWARD: If I had to compare him to anyone we've played in the last probably year, I'd probably say the quarterback from University of South Florida. He was really explosive. His name, I can't think of it right now. Incredible ballplayer. I know he's at the next level. Like I said, just like a runningback that can throw. Incredible ballplayer. We're used to seeing really athletic quarterbacks as in like Shawn Robinson, a lot of guys in the Big 12. His quickness is unseen before. We got to be pretty good at containing him. It all starts this week, how we execute this week, preparing for him. Q. What kind of guy is Tony Jones? How have you seen him grow? ELI HOWARD: Tony Jones, excellent tackler in the open space. Flying around always. I swear the ball always bounces to this guy, whether it's a fumbled snap or something, it's just going to bounce to No. 9. Tony, he's a great ballplayer. He's a great effort guy, going to chase down anyone with the ball. He flies around. He's got quite a bit of sacks this year, I think four or so. He's really been getting after it. Happy to see him have some success. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. ELI HOWARD: Thank you. Appreciate y'all. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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