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NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY BOWL: ARIZONA STATE v TEXAS TECHDecember 28, 2013Kliff KingsburySAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: This is Coach Kliff Kingsbury, Texas tech. Coach? COACH KINGSBURY: Like Coach Graham said, on behalf of Texas tech, I would like to thank everybody involved with the Holiday Bowl, particularly the red coats. It's been an incredible experience for our entire program. Our players have been able to do and see things they have never done before in their life and as a staff, that's a neat deal for us. To get to play one of the top teams in the country who just hosted the Pac 12 championship, the most talented team I've seen this year on film on both sides of the ball, we know it's going to be a great challenge and our kids have had great practices this week leading up to it. The weather has put a perk in their step and we're excited to get to the game on Monday night. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach? Q. Coach, how have your two quarterbacks looked so far? COACH KINGSBURY: It's been good. With one guy gone their reps have jumped up and they've taken advantage of it. We jumped back to the basics and did a reinstall after the bowl announcement and they have looked good. I'm excited to see 'em both play on Monday. Q. Coach, just kind of curious, you guys don't often fraternize with the enemy quite so much as you get to during a bowl week. Can you learn anything about the other team while you're doing that or do you have to be careful about what you're saying and doing? COACH KINGSBURY: I think everybody keeps their cards pretty close to him on that deal and we're around them on a couple of luncheons and that's about it. I've known Coach Graham since he was at Tulsa and I was coaching at the University of Houston so always had a great amount of respect for him as a coach and as a defensive mind to watch his schemes evolve and how he's adopted to personnel, it's been fun to watch. Q. Coach, have you named a starter yet or is it going to be we're going to know on Monday night? COACH KINGSBURY: The quarterbacks, no, but we'll let them trot out there and y'all will see when everybody else sees. Q. They are known for their pass rush. Being a quarterback yourself how do you normally avoid that pass rush knowing that it's coming at you? COACH KINGSBURY: You better be really fast, I guess. It's the best defensive line I've seen since I've been coaching. Sutton is probably the best "D" lineman I've seen since I've been coaching, so we're going to have our hands full, we know that. We got to find ways to try to slow them down a little bit and neutralize it. They're going to get there and they do a great job reading the schemes and attacking the football. It's a great scheme and it will be a huge challenge for those young quarterbacks. Q. Coach, we're not going to let you off the hook on that quarterback question. Is one a better runner and one a better passer? Can you identify which looked best in practice? COACH KINGSBURY: No, can't identify that, but I would say one is a sophomore he has more experience, the other is a true freshman who has played in more games but both played the spread systems in high school, are familiar with what we do and have moved the football when we have been in. I wouldn't be surprised if both of 'em end up playing. Q. They both have some experience but given the situation it's a little unusual, how challenging has it been to go into a bowl game with that unsettled at that position? COACH KINGSBURY: It's been a unique year throughout with what happened with Brewer who had a great spring and a lot of people expected him to be the starter and you're playing two freshman and they're playing through and it's been mentally tough on the quarterbacks, and I can understand that and I think they have both grown a lot and they will be better for it. I don't think it unsettled any of them and I think they saw it as a challenge and continued to compete this past month. Q. A guy like Davis who went through spring practice as a true freshman, getting to play and having to sit, how have you seen him grow? COACH KINGSBURY: It's been night and day, I think, just his leadership role. It's hard coming in there at 18 years old and trying to take over that huddle with a bunch of 22, 23 year old seniors but as he's played and shown what he's about I think the team has bought in that he will do whatever it takes to try and help us win. That's been a great asset of his. Q. Have you guys and you Coach Wallerstedt, the defensive coordinator. Have you guys collaborated on what we can possibly do to stop the run game to some degree? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, we have talked about it and we have been trying to slow it down for a few weeks. Teams have had success doin' it. They're one of the best rushing teams in the country and have a quarterback that can hurt you with his feet and his arm. It will be a huge challenge. Q. Being an offensive coach, can you elaborate more on what most impresses you about Arizona State's offense, which personnel or their package and what they do. COACH KINGSBURY: I think schematically they do such a good job with shifts and motions and tempoing and unbalanced formations and you can tell their quarterback ‑‑ I heard Coach Graham mention he had the highest GPA on the team, and you can see that the way he executes, they do things at a high level and they don't turn it over and Coach Norvell on that side of the ball does a great job of scheming things up and the match‑ups they get in the run game with the way they play is well done. Q. Coach, this being your first year how important have these seniors been and how crucial to your first season at Texas Tech? COACH KINGSBURY: It's not easy. A lot of these guys have had three head coaches, so it's not easy for them. For them to buy in and show the leadership we needed this year, I think it will help us build this program from here on out. It's a good group. You have Kerry Hyder and Eric Ward, guys that have played football here all four years and played well for us all year. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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