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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 2, 2013Eric WardQ. Did you think you had 150 yards when you left the field? ERIC WARD: No, I really didn't care about what I had. I was glad we got a win. We just went down there and did what we came to do. We just laid it out on the field. Q. Talk about those back‑to‑back plays or those two plays in that series where you got 50 of those yards? Can you take us through those two plays? ERIC WARD: It was just one of those plays when your number is called, you've just got to make the play. So I went out there and just did my job like I was supposed to. I just went out there and handled it well, and that's what happened. Q. Did Baker stay pretty confident throughout the game? Was he a little shaky at the beginning? Any comments you want to make about him? ERIC WARD: Baker is a different type of player. He's always confident. You should see him in practice. He's not your average walk‑on. I know the media refers to him as a walk‑on, but to us, he's not a walk‑on. He's a scholarship guy. He goes out there and tears the defense up like Kerry hit on. I'm excited how he handled the game and handled the pressure. Q. Are you looking forward to working with him more this season? ERIC WARD: Of course. He's a great guy, a great athlete, and the quarterback of the team. So I'm looking forward to working out with him. Q. How long did it take you to see that there was something different about him compared to so many freshmen? ERIC WARD: I mean, at first, it's hard to kind of notice, because when he came in he was kind of third and was kind of last because he was a new addition to the team. But as time progressed and things got shaky, he really stepped his game up. That's when I started to notice that he was really a phenomenal player. Q. During your time at Texas Tech, you've caught a lot of passes from a lot of quarterbacks. What makes Baker special? ERIC WARD: His consistency. I mean, he's very consistent, and he has a firm touch on the ball. So he throws really fast, and he has the fast release. So you've got to keep your eye open when he's throwing the ball to you. Q. How much extra pride do you put in yourself to be a reliable target for a guy like Baker? Whoever, maybe it's Davis Webb at some point down the line. But being a senior and a security blanket for a freshman that's frying to find his way. How much extra pride do you find yourself being in that role? ERIC WARD: The main thing for me is always being prepared for any situation, because no matter who the receiver is or quarterback is, you always want to catch the ball. The quarterback has to get the ball to you. It's always being prepared in those tough situations or when a ball is coming to you. I always put pressure on me to be prepared. Q. How do you feel like you guys handled the up‑tempo pace by the end of the night? ERIC WARD: I mean, it was 105°. It was a lot of humidity. It was pretty tough. We practice this tempo every day. So that's when it came to our advantage because we were like prepared for it and the defense wasn't. So I think we handled it pretty well. Q. Do you expect Baker to start this Saturday? ERIC WARD: I mean, that's up to the coach. I mean, he had a phenomenal game. But that's up to the coaches if he's going to start or not. Q. So he hasn't told you guys? ERIC WARD: I mean, I don't really ask questions about that. That's his job. Q. Can you talk about the slip screen or ball screen you got three or four times in a row? Can you talk about the receivers that were out there like Hines Ward bench pressing the DBs? Can you talk about you guys taking pride in catching the ball and blocking? ERIC WARD: With those type of plays they tell us all the time it's specifically like for four yards, a four‑yard gain. So anything over four yards is considered an explosive play. So that's like a run play that's hitting to the second level. So if you get past four yards on those type of plays, that's a really good plus on the offense, because that's basically a first down every time you touch the ball. Q. (Indiscernible)? ERIC WARD: Yes, most definitely. Because without them blocking, there is nothing you can do because the defense is going to surround you really fast. So when you've got teammates out there willing to block for you, it means a lot because you're willing to block for them. It helps the team be that much better. Q. It sure looked like there was a lot of enthusiasm on the sideline throughout the game, which seems a marked departure from last year sometimes. Did you guys notice that? Did players notice that? ERIC WARD: Yeah, I think we have a lot of players that like to play for coach. They're excited about playing football. It's actually having fun and playing loose, where in the past it was just being out there playing for the coach. So I mean, we just have a whole different perspective on going out there and playing in the football games. It's all about having fun, being loose and being excited every play. Q. You took a few snaps on the inside. Was that the result of Jace being out that first half? ERIC WARD: I mean, it's up to the coach. For the most part, it's for Jace being out. It's just a different look for the defenses to come across. I mean, when Jace being out, it played a huge role in our offense because he's a big target, and a big fella that contributes a lot to the offense. Q. What did you notice as a receiver in that first half when Jace wasn't there? Coveragewise, what were you seeing? ERIC WARD: The coverage didn't roll a lot. So they were kind of sturdy in the cover four zone, and they played a lot of off man. So when Jace came, they had to roll around because Jace is a big guy, and it's hard to guard him. He played a huge role in them changing the coverages up. Q. Did the coaches make any adjustments at halftime? Did they say, okay, we're going to (Indiscernible)? ERIC WARD: That was just a result of what we saw on film. We just took what they gave us and we just went from there. Q. Did you sense that SMU's defense kind of wore down as that game went along? ERIC WARD: Most definitely. It's a fast‑tempo offense. That is the advantage of running this offense is to wear the defense down, and it worked well. Q. You guys were snapping the ball with 29, 26 seconds on the play clock. What kind of condition are you in? ERIC WARD: Right now we're in the top of the line conditioning because we do this every day in practice. So it's second nature to us. But when you come across a defense that's not used to the tempo that fast, it breaks the will to play. Q. Did it feel like it was slower game time? You guys were practicing so fast, did it feel slowed down and had you to run things executing well? ERIC WARD: Somewhat, because you had to wait for the ref to set the ball to start the next play. Sometimes it goes so fast they have to blow the whistle because the defense isn't prepared. That is the whole point of the tempo. Q. Eric, a handful of BCS teams lost to FBS teams this week. Did that get your guys attention? Did the coaches let you know about that? ERIC WARD: They really don't care about what other teams are doing as far as what we're doing in this building. We just go out there and play our game every weekend. So as far as upsets, upsets are going to happen. That's college football. This is not a perfect sport. So we just go out there and prepare because you don't want that to be your team. Q. Your thoughts on your final home opener? ERIC WARD: My final home opener, I just want to go out there and do the best I can to help the team. Q. How good was it to see so many Texas Tech fans out there at SMU? It almost felt like a home game at times. How exciting was that? ERIC WARD: It was very exciting. There was a lot of red out there, I mean our red because SMU is red too. But it was exciting to see a lot of Tech fans out there, and you know the whole community is coming together for one common goal, and that is for us to do good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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