September 2, 2013 An interview with: COACH KINGSBURY Q. Kliff, first of all, congratulations on Friday night. COACH KINGSBURY: Thank you. Q. Couple questions about Baker. Did you look at him in recruiting, and after that, can you talk about how it all came about? Did you talk to his parents? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I had recruited him at the University of Houston, and got to NM, and we had another kid committed. Got here, and we had another kid committed. Coach Morris had a relationship with him, and he recruited him hard at Washington State. That's really where it all kind of went. He had some offers early. Didn't work out for him. People filled up with scholarships and coach Morris talked to him, and he wanted to come walk on here. That's really how he ended up here. Q. Did he call you? COACH KINGSBURY: He was very interested, I think, in our system and what we run. He obviously knows some Lake Travis kids on our team and felt comfortable here. Q. Did you have competition to get him as a walk on once he was established? (Indiscernible)? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I'm not sure. I know he's a really good baseball player, so I think he was kind of thinking that route a little bit. But I didn't know if any of that were really in the hunt as far as asking him to play football. Q. Were you impressed with his poise? COACH KINGSBURY: Yes, that is the main thing. You turn the tape on and there is lots of room for improvement, but the way he just held steady. There were some plays that weren't great and times it wasn't going very well, but he never blinked. He just kept pushing forward and got better as the game went on. Q. So we'll see him Saturday? COACH KINGSBURY: You will see him Saturday. COACH KINGSBURY: We'll see. We'll see, yeah. Q. What's Beau Carpenter's status? COACH KINGSBURY: Beau had an ankle sprain, and he's pretty much day-to-day. He's going to be reevaluated today. So hopefully we'll get him back out there pretty quickly. Q. Coach, I know you've been here for nine months and finally got Friday under your belt and everything. Were your duties leading up to that or after the game, being the OC and head coach, did any of that kind of like, wow or (Indiscernible) your duties? COACH KINGSBURY: A little bit. In the past I would just speak strictly to the offense and deal with that and talk to the quarterbacks. Now you just have to pay more attention in the entire game. That was really the main difference I saw. Going in, I was a little apprehensive with how that would go, but it worked well. Q. What did you say to your team pre-game and post-game? COACH KINGSBURY: I just said I was proud of their effort so far. They deserved to have a good showing, so let's go do it. As I said all along, a coaching change isn't easy. The way those kids have embraced us, and the work ethic has been great. Q. When you were looking at tape of Document1 1
the quarterbacks, what coaching points did you see that could be better? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, he was reckless with the ball. The ball touched the ground a bunch and had some balls that could have been picked off and he stared things in, and foot work is a constant battle with the young kids. When they get in the game, it kind of reverts back to what they've always done, so the foot work that fits our system. There is lots of room for improvement. But when big plays were there, he made them. That was exciting to see. Q. What do you feel about the rushing game? COACH KINGSBURY: They've traditionally been really good at stopping the run. I think last year SMU was a Top 10 defense in run defense, and we've always kind of struggled with it. That's their deal. They're going to make you earn it through the air. That being said, we have some third and shorts we've got to be able to get, and we've got to have better push-ups. With the type of running backs we have, we have got to be able to create the lanes and get them on the second level. Q. What did you see from the offensive line? COACH KINGSBURY: They played hard. They played hard. We've got to get better. We've got to get a lot better. There are some young guys playing that haven't played a lot. They just have to keep coming. Q. In the first half, more of the passes were going east and west, and hopefully get to north and south. In the second half, it looked like you were going down field a little bit more. Is that something you talked about at halftime? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, it was more, I think Baker's confidence growing. I think he got some completions early and started feeling more comfortable and taking some shots down field. COACH KINGSBURY: He did a great job bringing energy. He caught a couple balls early in that drive. Any time he's in the defense is paying attention. He's a special player. I was really proud of Jordan. He had the drop early but bounced back and made some good plays late. It was good to see he didn't get his head down and kept playing hard. Q. How much did Baker check the line on Friday? COACH KINGSBURY: I saw him make a few checks, but not a ton. I think as he gets more familiar with our offense and seeing it, and playing it at a fast tempo, that will increase. But the one to Jakeem late was a really good check that he made at the line. Q. Do you think that Mayfield has a chip on his shoulder Friday night because he was overlooked a little bit out of high school? Or is this something that's been with him? COACH KINGSBURY: No, I think he's just always kind of been the underdog. Just getting to know him a little bit and being around him, he approaches it that way. He's going to go prove people wrong every time he steps on the field, whether it's practice or in the games. That's fun to coach. It's good to see that look in his eye. Q. Was the effort good or bad? COACH KINGSBURY: I think the effort was great. But the penalties once again showed back up. We've got to clean those up. We can't have those penalties. That's going to be an ongoing battle. Protecting the football, and didn't take it away and had too many penalties which are things that hurt them last year, so we've got to get those corrected. Q. Looking forward to this week with seven FBS opponents (Indiscernible)? COACH KINGSBURY: I better not have to. It's our first home game, and we treat every opponent the same. We treat them with respect and play hard and really focus on us and how much better we have to get. So I would assume we'll be ready to play. Q. What is your take on the perceived or real faking of injuries? COACH KINGSBURY: I've had a lot of discussions with officials on that. There is nothing they can do. You'll see coaches yelling at the refs, but it does no good. So I've tried to stay away from that. Q. How do you comment on that with your program? COACH KINGSBURY: We just say don't Document1 2
get caught up in it. We take a lot of pride in our conditioning, and in the fourth quarter when guys are laying on the ground and faking injuries and doing all that, we don't get caught up in it. We just keep playing our game. Q. I think there are seven or eight (Indiscernible). What do you attribute that to? COACH KINGSBURY: I think the spread offense is a great equalizer. If you get some really good skill, you can go in there and surprise people. I think that's part of it. High school programs are doing such a great job with these seven on sevens and things of that nature that are a ton of great skill all over the country. There are just not enough Division 1 slots for those guys. Sometimes they'll slide through the cracks and end up at at FBS schools. When you turn on Stephen F. Austin, they have great skill. They can play anywhere. Q. What are your concerns about them coming in? Have you looked at film? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, they run a spread offense similar to ours. Last week, the quarterback threw 450 yards and all sorts of touchdowns and scored 40 points. Really explosive offense with great skill. And defensively they're an attacking group, had a bunch of turnovers last week. So you've got to come in and handle your business. Q. Obviously, you didn't get what you want out of the running game Friday night. When you've looked at it, did you think there is more on the offensive line? COACH KINGSBURY: I think, like I said, I think the main thing was their schemes do a good job taking away some running game. But that being said, we have the short yardage situations where you've just got to find a way to make it. I know our backs run tough and our O-line just has to continue to get better, which they have. From spring until now it looks like a completely different group. And hopefully we can show that much improvement by the end of the year. COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I would have hoped it would have been 50-50. But I've said it all along, if we can't run it, we're going to throw it. If we can run it, we're going to run it, and we just cut Baker loose. Q. We noticed early on you had a discussion or two with the officials. They seemed to be slowing the game down and not letting him keep the tempo up. Kind of what did they tell you? COACH KINGSBURY: We were doing some things personnel-wise where it looked like we were in two backs and then we go into ten personnel, and they were just confused. We weren't subbing, and it appeared to them we were. So they kept holding it, and I had to explain to them we're not subbing personnel, you can't hold the ball. We got it straightened out by the second half. Q. What did you like from the defense? COACH KINGSBURY: The energy. You'd like to have some more turnovers, but the ball was on the ground a few times and took some bad bounces and we didn't get it. Obviously, lots of sacks, could have had a lot more. But really the energy. They're excited for each other, making plays. It's a good group of seniors that have played a lot, and it was good to see them have success. Q. This week are you going to try to put more into the game plan running the ball next week? COACH KINGSBURY: No, however we can score the most points is what we're going to do, and that's what we do. I said, I would have liked to have been able to run it more and get it to those backs, but if it's not working, we're going to bang our heads against the wall. COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, Beau is pretty much day-to-day, an ankle sprain. But same with Jordan and a little hamstring. And Trey is fine. He was just tired. COACH KINGSBURY: Tony is out. Yep, he's still out. Q. Can you talk about Eric Ward? I think he was a little bit slow coming out of the locker room with the trainers? COACH KINGSBURY: Just getting rehydrated. That was the most humidity, obviously, we've been around as a team. Some of Document1 3
those guys got wiped out early. I mean, even pregame warm-ups was about a hundred degrees. So I think with the nerves and everything, some of them just got overheated, but he was fine. Q. Can you talk about Reginald Davis playing. Pretty nice day? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, that was good to see. He had dropped one in the series of four, so to watch him come back and make up for the play like that, I don't think we blocked one person. He did it all on his own. He's excited. He's that type of talent. He's still figuring out who he really is. The sky's the limit if he'll just buy in and work every day. Q. (Indiscernible) how impressed were you with Eric's performance? COACH KINGSBURY: Very impressed. He came back for a reason. So I was excited to see him have that type of success. He's one of the best practice players I've been around as far as his work ethic. For those young guys to see that on a daily basis over and over, it's great for our program. FastScripts by ASAP Sports Document1 4
September 2, 2013 An interview with: KERRY HYDER Q. How was the defense on Friday? KERRY HYDER: I felt like we played good. But we still have some things to clean up. It's just week one; I feel like we have a lot of growing to do as a defense. Q. What was the consensus of players on how the quarterback did in the game? KERRY HYDER: Oh, yeah. He played great. The whole team was behind him all the way. We felt like he had a great opening game. Just like everyone else, everybody has to get better this week. Q. What helps you get so much pressure off the quarterback? KERRY HYDER: Coaches, coaches calling the right plays. Effort, really coming off the ball, trying to wreak havoc. Q. (Indiscernible) close to that every week? KERRY HYDER: Definitely, definitely. I think we have the guys to constantly put pressure on the quarterback. We have a lot of different guys that can come in and create pressure. Q. What was the plan with the secondary? Were you guys kind of (Indiscernible)? KERRY HYDER: No, I'm a front guy, so I handle the front. But I felt like the DB did play it well. We might have given up a couple passes, but that's probably because we didn't get to them fast enough with the D-line. Q. How much did you notice, I guess there are seven (Indiscernible) teams Kansas State, Iowa State, some of those schools (Indiscernible)? How much are players aware? KERRY HYDER: We're definitely aware. We know that SFA is going to come out and play hard. They're going to come out and play the hardest. So we're not really worried about exactly what they're going to do. We've got to worry about ourselves and come out and play our game. Q. How do you avoid being one of those schools, that gets knocked off by a small school? KERRY HYDER: Treat them like a big school. Prepare the same way like for Oklahoma or Texas. Prepare the same way each week. Q. (Indiscernible) how excited are you to get out here in front of home fans this week? KERRY HYDER: Definitely excited with the new big screen and everything. We're definitely looking forward to opening up the stadium this week. Q. Were you surprised by the performance of your young QB? KERRY HYDER: No, not at all. He's been doing that to us in practice all week, so I expected him to do it on the field. He looked great out there. Q. How impressive is it considering that he's a guy that just walked in the door just several weeks ago? KERRY HYDER: It's impressive, but you know, we've got confidence in our coaches. They put him in that position, so we expect him to play well. He's our guy, and we expect him to do well out there. Q. Who had the best sack? KERRY HYDER: Who had the best sack? There were so many, I'm not sure. I think Document3 1
everybody did good. I think everybody was really getting after Garrett all night. So I guess I've got to give it to the front seven. We all had some good sacks last night or Friday. Q. How was it to see Thierry make that goal line tackle at the very end? KERRY HYDER: That was exciting. We didn't want to give up any points like that. I'm glad we played all the way to the end. All the way till the clock said zero, we were out there playing. Q. You probably haven't seen much film on Stephen F. Austin (Indiscernible). They throw the ball quite a bit. Just talk about not being familiar with an offense like that? KERRY HYDER: It's good that we getting to against an offense that throws the ball quite a bit in practice every week, so we'll be prepared. We're used to people throwing the ball around, so it shouldn't be a big adjustment. FastScripts by ASAP Sports Document3 2
September 2, 2013 An interview with: ERIC WARD Q. 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 Document2 1
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. 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. Document2 2
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 by ASAP Sports Document2 3