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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 4, 2019

Zech McPhearson

Lubbock, Texas

Q. How do you think the locker room team defense, everyone, how do you think they have all responded through the bye week from that loss?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: Well, we definitely have tightened up. Coach KP always talks about staying linked up through adversity, through the change of emotions and all that stuff. That's one thing I think we have done really well is just, although things aren't going the way we wanted to, we just stand together as a team.

Q. What was the single biggest issue on tape that allowed Kansas to get behind you guys for those big passing plays?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: Like Coach KP said, just one-play drives. That's what really hurt us. We can't give up those, really, like, four plays, I believe, that was one-play drives that they were all touchdowns. And as a defense and as a secondary that's going to really come to hurt you if you allow teams like Kansas to do one-play drives on you.

Q. Was that an alignment thing? Just a not communicating thing?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: I would say it's more probably assignment thing. Just communicating across the back end of the secondary and making sure everybody's in the right area at the right time.

Q. This is something you guys are used to because they have been using that secondary. But how hard is it when a guy gets thrust in on second and 12 when he's cold, to come in and have that kind of occasion and be flawless?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: It's really tough. Like, in the game of football, you want to be in there, in and out, trying to stay warm, but if you're one of those guys that's just getting thrown in, everybody's going to say you got to stay ready, but it is pretty tough just getting thrown in the fire like that. But you really do got to stay ready mentally, trying to get your mental reps on the sideline because the physical reps aren't there.

Q. The way the game ended, what do you tell Doug after that ending and how has he responded this past week?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: Doug, his confidence is still high. That didn't wither at all with him. He's still the same old Doug. I mean, he's still going to make plays. But Doug's just focused on getting healthy this past bye week and coming back like he's always been.

Q. Coach mentioned the whole team really needs to learn how to finish. Specifically with you on the defense, what do you guys focus on during a bye week and heading up to these last four games to where you can play to the level you guys expect on the defense late in games to finish them out?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: I would say probably just keep getting takeaways. In a game like that we just didn't have enough takeaways. And takeaways is really what gets everything going. It gets the emotions high, it just, it just rubs off on everybody else and rubs off to the offense. So that's one thing I would say to focus on this week in practice is just like working on making plays, competing when the ball's in the air, everybody running to the ball, trying to get the ball back to the offense.

Q. What stands out to you on tape about Austin Kendall?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: He's a solid as can be. He just does what he has to do. I watched the game against Baylor. I mean, they hung in there, they put up a fight with Baylor. Just can't, we just can't let off the gas, I mean, obviously, we just got to finish this game just like any other game.

Q. In terms of West Virginia's offense, what challenges do they pose to you?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: Well, with their run game, from the run game, they didn't seem to have a pretty good run game the first eight games of the season, but you can't take that for granted, obviously. But they got a pretty solid receiving corps too. They got two really good receivers that can hurt us in the vertical shot game. But we're going to prepare for it this week.

Q. How does the Big-10 compare to the Big-12?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: In the Big-12, that's one thing I've been learning, that's what the players talk about all the time, anybody in the Big-12 no matter whether you're ranked or not, can beat anybody else. But in the Big-10, a lot of those teams in the Big-10 are ranked, I would say probably no less than top-15 and you probably going at them every week back to back to back. So I mean, the schedule in the Big-10's a little bit different, but I mean, also it's, the playing style is different in the Big-10 too.

Q. What has been the biggest difference for you in terms of playing style from the Big-10 to the Big-12?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: Definitely defending the pass game. They don't pass nowhere near as much. But this conference has been a total different type of game for me. My preparation has to be different in this type of conference, whether it's in the Big-10 I was more so defending single receiver routes instead of trying to defend four receivers routes, you know what I'm saying?

Q. How many extra tickets are you needing for the Morgantown this week?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: So far I got 20, but I'm going to need a couple more. I got a lot of family coming out to this game, so it's close to home.

Q. How much are you looking forward to this trip from that standpoint?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: I'm looking forward a lot, just to, that feeling of being around, having some family out there supporting you, because a lot of times my family can't come all the way out here. But I'm looking forward a lot. I got a couple friends that play on West Virginia so that should be fun.

Q. Who?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: Brenon Thrift. I'm friends with the quarterback too. I just -- I just met them through the recruiting process and played with Brenon through at Penn State when he was there.

Q. Any tips for Texans and Southerners about how to survive in a November game up there in West Virginia?
ZECH MCPHEARSON: Try not to think about it. I mean, if you need it, try to put some Vaseline on your arms. That's all I can say, some latex gloves. But other than that it's going to bite in the cold weather.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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