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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 23, 2019

Adrian Frye

Lubbock, Texas

Q. As a defensive player, what makes Hurts so dangerous?
ADRIAN FRYE: He's a do-it (indiscernible) guy, and he's talented at both. He takes the ball and runs, just like a back, just like a tailback. But he can also sit in the pocket and pick apart defenses.

Q. Does that change how you guys are in the secondary, being aware of how much illusive he can be?
ADRIAN FRYE: We have to contain him. We have to be conscious of what he can and can't do.

Q. How was the bye week for you? Do you think it came at a good time?
ADRIAN FRYE: Perfect time, honestly. After that Arizona game, we got back off the plane like four in the morning. And everybody was just drained from that time shift and stuff. It just couldn't have come at a better time.

Q. How much is Jalen similar to what you saw in Khalil Tate, and where do they differ as quarterbacks?
ADRIAN FRYE: Well, Khalil Tate is more of an athlete. He's more of a god-given talent. But Jalen Hurts doesn't really use that as much. He can sit back, go through a progression. He can actually sit back and actually pick apart coverages and things like that. But what we saw in Khalil Tate was, I would say, like one in a million.

Q. How do you think the secondary has been growing in the first three games and even during the bye week, do you think you guys are at where right where you need to be heading into conference play?
ADRIAN FRYE: Yeah, I feel like we're moving towards what we're striving to get to. We made some tweaks here and there. But overall I feel like we're making strides to get where we want to be.

Q. Do you think you and (inaudible) are feeding off of each other back there?
ADRIAN FRYE: Yeah, definitely.

Q. Are these the best receivers you'll see all season?
ADRIAN FRYE: Honestly -- yeah, probably will be. Because Rambo is a great kid, him and Lamb. They got a great receiving corps down there in Norman. It will be probably one of the best receiving corps we'll see all season.

Q. What do you remember about going up against a guy like CeeDee Lamb last year, what makes them so much better than anyone else?
ADRIAN FRYE: They can make catches I've never seen before. Like they have -- they can do things that you don't see on a regular basis. Everybody can run a curl route, stop, catch the ball, make a turn. You know what I'm saying? But not everybody can just jump out the gym, high point a ball and things like that. Those guys are just gifted with things that not everybody else has.

Q. As a guy who plays in the secondary, goes up against wide receivers all the time, is there a bit of appreciation you can have when you watch guys like that (inaudible)?
ADRIAN FRYE: Yeah. At the same time, it, like, kind of triggers that competitive side in you. And it's I just can't wait to play against a guy that talented.

Q. How does this Oklahoma team this year compare to last year, just like as an offensive unit, because you were out there last year, too, do you think they were better a year ago or different?
ADRIAN FRYE: They're slower than they were last year because they had Hollywood on the outside and they had Kyler Murray in the back.

So they had tremendous speed back there last season. Now I don't think -- this season I don't think -- I don't think the Rambo guy is as fast as Brown was, and I know Jalen Hurts isn't as fast as Kyler Murray was.

Kyler Murray is probably the fastest quarterback I've ever seen run. But other than that, those guys might lack the speed, but those guys are just as disciplined, just as hungry as the guys were last year.

Q. Do you think that drop off in speed will benefit you guys this season?
ADRIAN FRYE: With Jalen Hurts being a dual-threat quarterback, it helps in the contain aspect. But he can still run like he's a tailback. So it will still be a challenge.

Q. Being from the Houston area, what did you know about Jalen Hurts early on, what he's become so far?
ADRIAN FRYE: When I was in high school I heard about him coming out of Channelview and doing -- Alabama and everybody, like, being behind him and supporting him and things like that.

And then I didn't really know what to think. I was just like this would be a different type of quarterback for Bama; I wonder how they'll progress or how they'll drop off. And he actually went down there and produced.

And he came back a couple times. And I seen him at the TSU Relays, I think it was my junior, senior year, one of the two. But he came back, and it was like he was a normal person.

It wasn't like he was coming back and everybody was asking him for autographs and things like that. He came back and he just blended in. And I just felt like that's something that everybody wants to do.

Q. From a player perspective, Jalen Hurts has played on probably bigger stages combined than almost anyone in college football. How much -- he's had success there, too. How much do you think that kind of helps him?
ADRIAN FRYE: It helps him now because he can bleed that into his teammates because that mindset, that discipline and just the professionalism behind it, all of that, if you can feed that into others and get them on the same page, the sky's the limit.

And with him being able to play at the peak, at the pinnacle of college football, and multiple occasions, him being able to share that experience and share what he's learned and things like that, that will really benefit his team.

Q. How important was it for you all to get that first road game out of the way, now you go to Norman, Oklahoma, hostile crowd, so on and so forth?
ADRIAN FRYE: I think it was great because now we get to see how our teammates, like, how their vibe is, how the coaching staff works. And it's kind of like you gotta get in the groove.

Because the first day against Montana State, new coaching staff, new system, new rituals things like that, now it's like we've got to get used to adapting to away games. And now it's going to be a lot easier now that we've already got one out of the way.

Q. How do you think you all handled the first road game as a team, the ups and downs?
ADRIAN FRYE: It was good being able to go back-- kind of, like, go back in time because of the two-hour gap. That was good because we were able to get more sleep.

But the downside of it was we kind of had a lot of downtime. And it was a 7:30 kickoff. So it was like it was so much time that we had that we didn't have to do anything. It was kind of like abnormal. But other than that, we handled it pretty well. It was just a couple things that we faced during the game that caused the loss, rather than the traveling.

Q. When you watched the tape, was there something that stuck out that frustrated you? Because Donta mentioned, at least on the offensive side, they really didn't do anything to beat us, we beat ourselves. Did you notice that on the defensive side?
ADRIAN FRYE: Yes, we beat ourselves, too. It was a couple plays where it was just a couple mental mistakes and couple of, like, eye discipline. It's like the smallest things can cost you.

And I know on my end, I peaked in the backfield, cost us a touchdown. And it was another play when they ran their screen for like 70 yards. But that was all because somebody didn't account for the back during the blitz.

But it was just like it's like little things like that that cost us. And then on that screen play, if Doug hadn't been there hustling the way he did, that would have been six, because there was nobody there. So, I mean, it's just little things like that eat away at me. But I learn from them.

Q. Are those things you can correct, or is that just a mentality thing (inaudible)?
ADRIAN FRYE: Me, personally, it's a mentality thing. That was just a lack of discipline on my part. And then the other thing, it was that big run that Tate had when he scored, that one was just -- it kind of just happened. It was like nobody saw it coming.

And then other things, we just gotta look at them more. I know me personally it was a mental error, but everything else could have seen more and been like a rep thing.

Q. Coach Wells said both quarterbacks would like to play. You're more familiar with Jett from last year, of course. But when you faced Jackson in fall camp or drills or anything like that, what kind of quarterback is he?
ADRIAN FRYE: Despite how he looks, he can run. He looks like a traditional pocket passer. But he can tuck the ball away and get some yards downfield.

But in the passing game, he's just as good as the rest of them. Him and Jett are pretty much, they're going neck in neck this week to see who is going to start this game because they both can ball, I can tell you that right now.

Jackson's smart. Jackson's smart. Jett's smart. Though Jackson isn't as fast as Jett, I mean he can get what he can get. I mean, that's just a give -- that's just an extra. But in the passing game, both of those guys are good. Both can get it done.

Q. What's his personality like?
ADRIAN FRYE: Jackson? He's hungry. Because he got beat out of the spot at his last school. So it's kind of like he don't want to come here, make the same mistake. He's just hungry now.

He doesn't want to -- transferring is hard on anybody. And transferring because of the things you went through at the school and then getting here and going through them again, that's just frustrating.

And now it's kind of like he has a chip on his shoulder. And Jett is the same way. Both guys have chips on their shoulders. Jett has something to prove that he's really the man.

And it's like -- I seeing both of them get after it, and that's what they're doing now. And Jackson Tyner is very hungry right now.

Q. Do you see similarities between the Texas offense and Oklahoma, going against this offense all summer that can help you for this game?
ADRIAN FRYE: The spread offense. That right there is pretty much the similarity. They spread the formation out, run the ball, that's the biggest thing here. Or the biggest comparison I can make. Other than that, it's just like personnel differences that they can tweak here and there. But as far as scheme-wise, any team that runs a spread offense can pretty much do the same things.

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