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IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 19, 2019

Matt Campbell

Lubbock, Texas

Iowa State - 34, Texas Tech - 24

MATT CAMPBELL: All right, guys, let's just talk really quick about this game. First of all, I want to tip my hat to Coach Wells. I thought their kids played really hard, and obviously they didn't give up until the very end of the football game. I've got a lot of respect for Coach Wells, obviously what he's doing and building. I am very proud of our kids. I thought our kids -- I thought they were outstanding and resilient throughout the football game. I just told them, really positive about our attitude, our effort, our togetherness, our toughness. Our details got to continue to get better if we want to be a team that has the ability to reach its full potential. With that said, I'll open it up to you guys for questions.

Q. Matt, the first half you guys were pretty much perfect. What was the difference in halves? I'm not saying it wasn't that bad in the second half, but I would say so-so in the second half.
MATT CAMPBELL: Just an awkward flow to the game, to be honest with you. I'd say almost perfect. It would have been perfect if you make a field goal, if you get the extra point, and then I think it's a different football game, too. We had the opportunity to maybe put an end to the football game earlier, and we never did that, and I think that's another growth pattern for this team that we're going to have to continue to figure out.

You know, the second half I think it was kind of one of those where you're trying to -- there's a big play that goes 80 yards, it's kind of an awkward series in terms of the third quarter of the game, but I thought guys stepped up and made plays when they needed to really on both sides of the football.

But again, I would say our detail, both in the first half and the second half, must get better for us to be the best us we can be.

Q. Breece had the big touchdown in the third quarter and then kind of the dagger in the fourth quarter. Just how big were both of those plays at that time in the game?
MATT CAMPBELL: Yeah, I mean, I think those were game changers. I mean, the one in terms of they kick a field goal and we're able to match that, that's -- the play he makes on the sidelines, incredible. And then the next one -- and Bryce Meeker has got an incredible block. You know, Bryce has -- Bryce has gotten maybe a lot put on him from the Baylor game, but Bryce Meeker has come back and played outstanding football, and that block he makes on that run is incredible, and then the second thing that happened, you've got to give the O-line and the tight ends great credit. I think Charlie Kolar obviously had a great game catching the ball, where I thought he was outstanding is he's got the touchdown block on Breece's big run.

Yes, Breece, great job, that O-line and those tight ends I thought did a great job, as well.

Q. (Indiscernible).
MATT CAMPBELL: Yeah, and that's the one I'm talking about. That's Charlie and those tight ends creating a big edge, and Breece did a great job finishing the run for sure.

Q. Because of some of you guys' quick strike drives, I think the play differential was like 30. The fact that the defense is maybe playing 30 more plays and I think on two of those scoring drives there was 15 and 16 plays for Texas Tech to score. What did you think of the defense?
MATT CAMPBELL: Yeah, I thought we did some really good things defensively. You know, still, when we run to the football, that's when we're at our best. I think there was a couple moments where their tempo, they got the ball out into space, and I don't know if we were as good or as sharp as we needed to be, but for the overall product I thought we did some really good things. Against a team like this, you want to continue to make them play other snaps, and we did that at times. But you know, again, I think the offense and the defense and our special teams all have the same thing, a lot of really good. Our detail in some critical moments where we needed to be better still showed up, and we've got to continue to grind away and get better.

Q. Charlie Kolar has been strong from the start of the season, but even the last few weeks, how comfortable did he look and what kind of mismatch can he be there?
MATT CAMPBELL: Yeah, you know, Chuck is a long athlete, and he's got really good ball skills. You know, he's a guy that understands spacing because I think of his basketball background, and he was more of a wide receiver than he was a tight end in high school, and give credit to Chuck, he's worked really hard to be a good blocker, and so I think what he's done is he's made himself into that all-around football player that at tight end if you want to be a great tight end, you've got to be able to do it all really well. He's really working in that direction right now.

Q. Brock took more shots down the field in the first half than he had in the past. What was there for him that allowed that to happen?
MATT CAMPBELL: You know, they just played such tight coverage. I think their idea of trying to a lot of times suffocate you in the running game with extra halves and playing tight coverage, Brock was really special. The dagger he throws at the end of the football game to Tarique, whoo. I thought Brock was outstanding today, and we put a lot on his plate in this football game, especially early, and he certainly responded.

Q. Did you see the same amount of consistency during this week leading up to the game out of Breece that you had seen last week? Is it to a point now where you kind of expect it?
MATT CAMPBELL: Well, it's hard to expect it yet. He's still a freshman. And I think the great challenge for a talented young player is, you know, and don't take this the wrong way, but the media is going to tell you how great you are, your mom and dad are going to tell you how great you are, and everybody in the world is going to tell you how great you are. And unfortunately in our sport, that can be really short-lived. One week, yes, the next week that can be really tough. So I just think it's grinding through everything. It's grinding through school for the first time. We're getting into the really hard part of the semester academically. You're talking about your body wearing down where you've got a lot of snaps, and I think these are a lot of firsts. We're fortunate that running back room is really talented, and he's going to have to still work to earn the right to be the guy, but he's proving great points on the field, and obviously that part I'm really proud of him, so I think you'll see a young man that will work really hard to continue to be the best him that he can be.

Q. You guys have been on a pretty good roll since a rough first three quarters in your other trip to Texas. What did you think of how you all came along from that point, and what do you think the difference has been?
MATT CAMPBELL: Yeah, you know, I said, you know, we lost our way a little bit in terms of the joy of playing football early in the season. You know, it almost felt like a relief. We love to practice, and it was a relief to play in a game, and boy, that's never fun. That should never be the way here, to be quite honest with you. And whether that was me as a head coach having to do a better job with our kids, whether it was our leadership of our team, finding that, but somewhere along down 20-0 in Waco, we found our joy of playing football again.

You know, we'll have to keep plugging away, and that's hard, because obviously you continue to have positive things happen to you. You want to continue that to happen. But if you just work on being the best version of you, usually great things can really happen.

Q. You've mentioned a couple times at the top about how you guys -- it seems like some of the things that stick out about you weren't perfect. What does it say you led the whole game even when you don't feel like you were exactly what you wanted to be?
MATT CAMPBELL: Yeah, I don't know what that says. I think this is a really resilient group of kids. I think we learned a lot about the early part of the season and handling adversity. Every team is different. We've learned that along the way here really to be quite honest with you over the last three or four years, but the leadership of this group really just stays the course. They continue to trust in each other, and I appreciate it about them.

Q. Is kicker something you're just going to kind of feel your way through, or those just happened to be misses?
MATT CAMPBELL: Yeah, you've got to earn the right to play, and we'll keep evaluating that each week.

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