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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 7, 2013Kliff KingsburyCOACH KINGSBURY: I'll start off just saying I know for a fact I'm not the last quarterback to lose to Iowa State. So we can get that out of the way and move on. Q. As a follow‑up to that, can you tell us about Baker's knee, and in as great of detail as possible? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, as it appears and what I've heard from the Doc so far is that there is no structural damage, so we've got to get him over here today and see what all he can do on it, but that's about where we're at. It doesn't appear to be a season‑ending type injury. So timetable‑wise, I'm not sure yet, but that was good news. Q. So he won't start this Saturday? COACH KINGSBURY: Don't know. Don't know. Got to get him over here. See how he's moving around, see how he's feeling and take it from there. Q. Do you expect him to practice today? COACH KINGSBURY: I haven't seen him yet. So once I get him over here and see how he's feeling, we'll take that from there. Q. Would you assume that there's quite a bit of soreness involved though that might make it difficult for him this week? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, it just depends if he missed Monday. Monday is a lighter practice for us anyways, more mental stuff. So that wouldn't be a big deal. So we'll just have to see how he feels today. Q. Does that accelerate your timeframe for (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: It just depends. If Baker can't go, then, obviously, he'd get more reps than he's been getting and just see how those other two guys are doing this week in practice. Q. (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: He did well. He protected the ball well, which is what we had talked about. I thought in a couple of games he was trying to make every play and trying to hit a home run with every throw, and he really did a good job just running the offense when he was in there. Q. Coach, we had Coach Rhoads on our show this morning, and I asked him about watching your game and what he thought. He said that he saw a calmness to your team. When you hear something like that from another coach, does that please you when you know how the game started to kind of where you had to go from and work from? COACH KINGSBURY: I think it's more just a credit to some of our senior leaders, especially defense. Those guys didn't panic at all. They made their adjustments and really pitched a shutout after we got down 10‑0. So that is more a compliment to those guys. They played a bunch of football and knew, hey, this is the first quarter, and we can make this happen. Q. With the circumstances at the Iowa State game the other night, do you anticipate those guys being fired up? COACH KINGSBURY: From what I saw in that press conference, they'll be fired up. He does an incredible job motivating those guys. You see that on tape the effort, first and foremost, of what jumps out to you. All those guys play their butts off each and every snap. And that is a compliment to that head coach. Q. Were you pleased with the running game that you guys showed on Saturday? COACH KINGSBURY: I thought we had some good movement up front. We'd still like to be better, but it really kind of kick‑started our offense when we had that one drive where we were able to hand it off a few times in a row, get the quarterbacks comfortable and score some points. Q. You used the 2011 Iowa State game as motivation, or is that in the past? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not big into looking back. I'm sure the guys in here know what that felt like, especially coming off the big victory they had. But this is 2013, new coaches, new regime. So that's kind of where it's at. Q. Did you get to watch that game live, and what were your feelings about it? COACH KINGSBURY: In 2011? Being a Red Raider, it wasn't a good night for us, obviously. It was disappointing. But that happens in football. Yeah, obviously, I'd cheer for the Red Raiders. So didn't like that. Q. Are you expecting to be 5‑0 at this point? COACH KINGSBURY: We expect to win every game. Like I said since I got here, we're trying to get better each and every day. It wasn't a goal to be 5‑0 or 6‑0. Just every time we took the field we want to get better. That's still how we're approaching it. Q. With the win this Saturday you become bowl eligible. What's that mean to you in your first year? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, like I said, I expected to win every game. So the big plus to that is knowing you had those 15 extra practices with your younger guys. I think that's what all coaches look forward to. Being bowl eligible means in December, you get to practice with those young guys and get them more reps. Q. How comforting is it for you that you guys can be down 10‑0, but the defense, like you said, pitched the shutout the rest of the way? How comforting is that that you guys can still do what you want to do, run the ball, and throw the ball and do the things that you want to do knowing that our defense is pretty stout this year? COACH KINGSBURY: It's very comforting, especially with a younger offense that's still trying to develop and find its rhythm. They've carried us. I've said it all along they've carried us so far. Even in spring, they had the senior leadership that really showed up. So hopefully that will continue, and hopefully our offense will catch up and who knows what will happen. Q. Are you going to try to use the running game yardage that you had last week to kind of try to keep that going this week? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, we'll see. You know how I am. I don't care how it gets done, as long as we get the ball in the end zone. So we'll see if we can get it rolling again this week. That will be nice. If not, we'll just throw it every play. So that's kind of where we're at. Q. Do you think Beau Carpenter factored into the running game's improvement? COACH KINGSBURY: He did a good job. He's a talented player and has played a lot of football. I think that showed up on tape. He's still a little rusty, and he'll continue to get better. But I think his confidence in the huddle, you can see it kind of calms the entire offensive line knowing they have a guy that's played that much next to them. Q. You talked about wanting to get more touchdowns, but how does a guy like (Indiscernible) leading the country in points. What's it like having that this year? COACH KINGSBURY: It's been nice. We don't want to send him out there, but every time he's stepped up and made big kicks, so I hope he'll keep doing it. I've been very impressed by his poise and the way he's handled himself. Q. Could you talk about Mayfield's development? It seems like he's getting more comfortable. He alluded a lot of sacks and was very patient it looked like in the pocket on Saturday. COACH KINGSBURY: He was much more patient. Like I said, Texas State, we probably did him a disservice because I don't think he was really ready to go. He wasn't able to move around like he likes to do in his game. So that showed up in that game. But he did a good job protecting it for the most part, staying in the pocket, getting through his reads. So as a young quarterback, as the season goes on, you're usually going to get better. Q. This injury is to his right knee? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not even sure to be honest, yeah. Q. So you don't even know if it's the same leg? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not sure, no. I just listen to what they tell me. Q. Could you talk about the student attendance? They say it was like 13,900 and poised to break an a attendance record at home. COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, it's been incredible. That student section, I've never seen one like it. So hopefully they'll keep coming. I know our players feel that to have their peers in the stands cheering for them goes a long way for them. It really shows what Texas Tech is all about to have that kind of school spirit. Q. Could you elaborate on that? Because there was a report that says student attendance was basically down around the country except here right now where it's 100% plus. What's it like knowing that? COACH KINGSBURY: Like I said, to have your peers, when you're a student‑athlete and having your peers cheering and supporting you on that level each and every Saturday, it means the world to them. They're here early during warm‑ups and getting us going. It's been a huge, huge part of our success at home so far. Q. Have you watched tape on Iowa State? What are your concerns about them? COACH KINGSBURY: Very sound. They don't give up anything, and the effort jumps out at you. You have to match their intensity. They're going to show up ready to go, and they're not going to make mistakes. You have to play a clean ballgame to have a chance against them. Q. Playing your first (Indiscernible) game of the season, you came out a little slow. Does it help playing two weeks in a row and you guys know what to expect? COACH KINGSBURY: I'm not sure if it helps or not. I thought our energy was good to start the game. We just had some things go against us. But I thought they were ready to play. So I'm sure with that crowd this week they'll be fired up and ready to go at 11. That can never be an excuse. Football is football. I never thought it was that big of a deal. Q. 9 out of 13 times, Iowa State has scored a touchdown in the red zone. What is stopping them? COACH KINGSBURY: Our defense has been pretty stout down there. Hopefully just keep tightening it up in that area. That's something they've taken pride in. They've been very stingy on point when's teams do get in the red zone, so hopefully that will continue. Q. Is Michael Brewer in position to win the quarterback position this week? COACH KINGSBURY: We'll see how he practices. It's kind of all up in the air. I know about as much as you do at this point. We'll get everybody here to the building today and sort through it as we go. But he progressed nicely last week, so we'll see how he does this week. Q. Did Baker go to the hospital when he got back here and take X‑rays? COACH KINGSBURY: I think he just went and got it scanned. That is the last I heard was that they checked out the images and there was no serious structural damage. Q. That would be an MRI? COACH KINGSBURY: Yes, ma'am. Q. (No microphone). COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I've been really happy with the special teams overall. We had some issues on coverage this past week, but just you turn on the tape and it's clean. Guys are going in the right spot, they know what they're doing, and there is good effort special teams wise. Obviously the defense everybody knows they played well. Offensively we haven't scored like we should be able to with all plate makers we have. That's just coming together, getting used to new quarterbacks, new guys up front, and hopefully that continues to progress. But it's exciting that we haven't peeked. We haven't played our best game and our guys know that. Q. Can you talk about Dylan Cantrell? He was in early and then the nice catch at the end of the game. COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, he's a guy who steps right in. He was playing at White House last year at this time. So to see him step up and just play and not be afraid of the moment, it was fun to see, great catch at the end. So I was excited that he had that success. Q. Alfredo Morales, he was suited up (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: He'll be back this week. I don't know what extent, but he'll be active and ready to go. Q. Jackson Richards leads the team in turnovers (No microphone)? COACH KINGSBURY: Just right place, right time. He told us all he does is make plays. So we need to find ways to get him in more. He's an excitable kid. He does everything right the way he works, the way he handles himself in school. The way he practices. He's got a great energy. So you're excited to see him have that type of success. Q. Then you've got your own team to worry about as a guy that calls plays. Is it hard not to be impressed with what Baylor's doing right now? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I mean, I just really watch us more than anything. So that's kind of where we're at. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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