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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 13, 2018

Kliff Kingsbury

Lubbock, Texas

Q. Coach, I know you did mention this on Sunday but would you mind repeating again what Coach Bill Snyder has meant to the Big 12 Conference and to yourself, personally?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: A legend in the game, and for him to be in our conference and to be able to compete against him not only as a player but as a coach has been a complete honor for me in my career. He was always great to me, wrote me letter that really meant a lot to me after my sophomore year. I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for the way he does things, the amount of success he's had, and the man he is.

He's been a great part of college football for a long time and we're very lucky to have him here in our conference.

Q. Do you still have the letter he wrote to you?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Maybe at home somewhere.

Q. Do you remember what he said?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Just really positive. We had lost up there and gotten beaten up pretty good, and I just remember him being very positive and kind of trying to find your way first year in Coach Leach's offense. It just meant a lot to me.

Q. If you could write a letter to anyone in the world, who would you write and what would you say?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I'll get back to you on that one, all right?

Q. Broderick Washington talked about the last time you were at Kansas State and he talked about the energy of the crowd and how he fed off that. What do you tell your team about playing this there this weekend?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, it's going to be Senior Day. They're coming off a big win. It is a tremendous college football atmosphere they have the synchronized chants, and the fans do their research on your girlfriends and your high school mascots and everything else. They do it right there, and it will be great energy in that stadium.

Q. Kliff, you've gotten positive attention not for writing letters but just for commending players on opposing teams after games. Can you kind of detail a little bit why you want to do that?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think sometimes when you're in it you're a little bit close to the fire as a player to know how people view you from the outside. So anytime you get a chance to see those young men -- it always meant a lot to me when opposing coaches would recognize what I was doing or thought that I played hard or did certain things well, so if I see players and I appreciate the way they are and the type of talent they are, I do my best to try to let them know that.

Q. I wasn't on the conference call yesterday, but did you say you don't expect Allen to play this week?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't, not this week. Still in the healing process. We're going to be overly cautious as we were before and see where it goes.

Q. Is it possible that he could be back against Baylor?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It's possible. We'll see.

Q. I've asked you this before, but would Allen even go to Kansas or have y'all ruled that out?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: We haven't gotten that far yet. We're going to get him checked out this week and see where we're at.

Q. Dakota? What's his status?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It's day-to-day. We thought he could go last week, and he wasn't able to, so it's going to be late in the week, how he feels. Don't want to put him out there unless he's 100%. We want to be smart and do right by him so it will be a Thursday, Friday-type decision.

Q. What is Ta'Zhawn's status?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: He's dealing with a toe issue. He is not able to push off and have the explosiveness that he's had. Really has two turf toes, and we're trying to manage that.

Q. The 2015 team had a similar situation, kind of a crossroads, 5-5 and finished out with two big wins against Kansas State and Texas and seemed like talking to those players they said they rallied, they recognized where they were at in the crossroads and that was the difference. What's the team moral right now?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think really good. I think they understand three tough losses but they understand we're more competitive than we've every been here, and we still have a long way to go in finishing and doing things right to make the plays necessary to actually win those big games, but I think moral is really high and they know what we can be when we play well.

Q. Coach, you talked about Manhattan earlier on, game day, what makes it tough for this team to win for this season and just in the years past? The passion they have there or what makes it so tough to win there?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It's a great home field advantage for them. They show up, they're loud, the players feed off of it and you're dealing with Coach Snyder who is a legend, makes great coaching decisions and has a tremendous staff. It's a number of things.

Q. You guys went to Stillwater, won at TCU. We have heard this team has a road warrior mentality. Is there something different about this team on the road or how they come together?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think it's a close-knit group, so when they're on the road and it's an us against everybody mentality, they thrive off that and play really well and come out with great intensity in the all the opposing stadiums we've been in, and hopefully that continues.

Q. What makes Barnes such an explosive back?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: He's patient. He doesn't miss a hole when it's there. He's got great vision. And when he gets out in the open he can take on anybody. He's a skilled player who has great vision, and he's a complete back.

Q. Antoine Wesley, we ask you about him every week, it seems. He is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, and he's a guy last year what had NFL receivers ahead of him, and he had the opportunity to take advantage of this year and crushed it. Do you think he sets a good example for other guys who have just someone above them that can take that opportunity?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: No question. He's a guy who I think we only played him one game his freshman year and burned his redshirt, which is unfortunate. Last year had him out of position, moved him around inside, outside, he just kept working. He never complained, never pouted, just kept working. This spring had a good spring, got injured, instead of getting down and pouting, he kept working and has come back and had a monster year so he's a great example for those guys about determination and perseverance.

Q. Coach, how would you say Duffey has progressed, mentally?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Like I said after the game, I thought the reads and progressions took a step forward. Ball security was not good, and that's going to get you beat in this league. Three turnovers inside the red zone can't happen to anybody. I like where he's heading, but we have to protect the ball better.

Q. Going off Wesley and touching that receiving core, it seems like on some of these key and screens that, you know, they sent to the outside, how much of those, like, blocking aspects do they work on? Seems like these huge blocks give way to the awesome runs for these guys?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: They take a lot of pride in that. That's one of the things I have noticed about this offense is they're selfless. They don't care who gets the credit; they're playing hard for each other, and that gives them a chance. I've commended them this year on their effort, playing without the football.

Q. Do you think -- it passes the eye test, but do you think the defense has improved this season from last?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I'm not sure. Like I said, I'm big on where we're at right now, and last week wasn't good enough, and that's where we're at right now, and that's the reality of it. Last week we weren't good enough as a defense at all and we've got to get better, and this week to try and take that next step. I thought we had our moments, but last week was not where we need to be.

Q. Where do you think the defense needs to improve the most this week?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I think just, you know, assignment, making sure there is no easy yards and the other part that is discipline, which is all me, those cheap penalties we keep getting, personal fouls, late hits, you can't do that in our league.

Q. What can you do as a coach? That seems like it's a recurring deal. What can you do as a coach to make sure on third and 33 a guy be doesn't get a penalty on the other side of the field?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I wish I could fine them, but we can't do that. Playing time is something you have to threaten them with. We've got to be better. As a staff we've got to be better at playing with more discipline and not hurting our team.

Q. Kliff, Ta'Zhawn, when was it he got hurt?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It had been lingering for a couple of weeks, and it just got to the point where he hasn't been able to push off to the extent -- he's a quick jitterbug-type player hasn't been able to push off to the extent he needs to to be himself out there.

Q. The first part of the year, first half of the year, we asked Joe a lot about the success that y'all were having in the second half and kind of winning games in the fourth quarter, which was a recurring theme, and the last three games obviously during the streak y'all have given up points in the fourth quarter and clearly the level of competition has been a big factor in that. Is that the biggest factor or what other reasons do you see why?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Obviously those are really good football teams but I think we have had our opportunities, whether it be lack of composure or poise late, you know, or just not having done it against the upper echelon teams. I think we've got to get over that hump mentally, and we haven't been able to do that.

Q. Couple of the guys said it's not physical, because our conditioning is fine, we still feel good in the fourth quarter. They mentioned maintaining focus, because it's three hours and in a lot of cases it's close to four hours. That seems like a bigger issue than ever, staying mentally there, as sharp as you are from the first quarter?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, especially in those games that's what it's going to be. It's going to come down to one play or another in the fourth quarter, and it has three consecutive weeks, and the other team has found a way to make those and we haven't. We've got to find a way to stay locked in knowing going in it's going to be a four-hour game and you've got to keep your focus to the end.

Q. Any solutions to get the running game going beyond Jett's contribution?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: Yeah, I thought, you know, we had a good plan last week, got behind 27-10, had to scrap it, but I thought we were doing some decent things. A lot of it was Jett; we felt we could get an extra hat on people and let him make some yards, which he did, but when the game went sideways we started throwing it, so I don't think that was indicative of a lack of running game like it had been against Iowa State.

Q. How much progression have you seen from KeSean Carter this season?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: He's going to be a really good player around here. Seth has emerged more of a veteran presence and more physical in some things, but KeSean is one of the fastest players in the country and has figured some things out this year, and he's going to be a tremendous player.

Q. Talking about Antoine making that jump when he had the chance to get more playing time. Do you see that potential from the other receivers you have?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: It's all about how much they want it, how hard they're willing to work. That's one thing Antoine does is he prepares and focuses to be the best. If those guys stay the same approach, they'll have a good opportunity.

Q. Kansas State has been doing the strong quarterback run game for a while now, kind of like how Ehlinger was last week. Is there a similar approach to trying to stop their quarterback run game as it was for Texas?
KLIFF KINGSBURY: I don't know that it's similar. Everybody has their little wrinkles and ways of doing things, but they've been good at it for years, and their pass game comes off of it, so we've got to be prepared for both those things.

Thank y'all.

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