That was a fun night. Here's highlights from Joey's chat postgame.
On the last few weeks, resiliency to get here:
"I'll tell you what, the last few weeks have aged me. To win the game, the resiliency of this team after starting out 1-3, having the injuries that we've had, again tonight. Rabbit had a groin issue that we couldn't get loose. Jaylon, I know it's not an ACL, it's intact. Whenever I first got this job I asked the players to understand that the floor of this program is being bowl eligible. And tonight was a big part of continuing to build this program and having this mindset of what's next and where we can go. I can't say enough about those guys."
On this core and their help keeping this group focused:
"I think one of the biggest things whenever you're around 97, 95, 1, they all have a lot of pride about Texas Tech. They have a sense of this city and university doing a lot for them, and they want to repay it. They understand what we're trying to do and appreciate how we've got to get there. And I think if we didn't have their leadership to where they can really take an honest look at this season and understand how it got to where it's at. We would have a hard time harder time keeping that locker room."
A couple injury notes:
"We had a couple guys that we thought you know, they're kind of a game time. Price hurt his shoulder on the last play he caught against Kansas. He practiced on Tuesday, you know, in a non contact way and practiced on Wednesday, just tried to get it all the way into gametime. Steve Linton was the same way, we just couldn't get them to where they were comfortable. Says a lot about some of the guys."
On Hutchings:
"We're hoping Rabbit and Jaylen can be ready for Texas. He's nervous. He's, he's torn ACL before so he knows what it feels like. So he was really nervous when went out there and I was like, Oh my gosh, because once you've done it you know how it feels. But we'll check everything, get an MRI but everything's intact so hopefully we can brace him and get him back, he's such a big part of that defense."
On situational defense:
"Coach DeRutyer at half, we're looking at the stats and we're giving up a bunch of yards. But it's 14-14 and he said, like listen, let's focus on points, focus on points. You know, they're gonna move the ball, focus on points get off the field. That was big, like you said. We didn't have Tyler Owens tonight so we're playing Brendan Jordan. TO should be good, expect him to practice Monday. It was big, just to settle down."
On Dooda Banks:
"I've been really proud of him since he's come back. You know, he's really growing. He and Trey (McAlpine) are a bit different than Tony and (Jaylen) like this. He's really long, more get off the football and penetration. He got the pressure on the extra points and field goals. Great thing about him is he just keeps getting better."
On the stand at the half:
"They were down there, I think getting it down to the two, we were able to make a play for them not get in and the clock ran out. I think going in at halftime at 14-14, especially the way we played the first quarter, defensively."
On final drive:
"I thought Josh Cochran did a really good job, he helps Kittley out in the run game. I think we came up with a good 12 personnel, with Cupp and Tharp, we were able to protect the edges and they couldn't get us in negative plays. We came out and were able to run it out, that's a lot of fun to be able to do. It says a lot about the offensive line, I thought we had a really good push."
On JRod & LBs:
"We kind of played this out tonight. With Bryce not being able to go tonight, his neck was really bothering him. So the way we played Jacob tonight, we played him a ton of snaps. Most he's played since coming back from his injury. We wanted to rest Bryce, Ty Matthews had a great week so that let us rest Bryce. So our expectation is for Bryce to play next week and for Jacob to take that to maintain his redshirt."
On Morton:
"He did a really good job with our RPOs, we tried to come up with some stuff that we can get in rhythm to make him really comfortable early in the game. He did a great job. I mean, we had a long run that he checked to that we had a pass play. But you know, I think you can tell with some of his throws that he's getting more and more healthy."
On the last few weeks, resiliency to get here:
"I'll tell you what, the last few weeks have aged me. To win the game, the resiliency of this team after starting out 1-3, having the injuries that we've had, again tonight. Rabbit had a groin issue that we couldn't get loose. Jaylon, I know it's not an ACL, it's intact. Whenever I first got this job I asked the players to understand that the floor of this program is being bowl eligible. And tonight was a big part of continuing to build this program and having this mindset of what's next and where we can go. I can't say enough about those guys."
On this core and their help keeping this group focused:
"I think one of the biggest things whenever you're around 97, 95, 1, they all have a lot of pride about Texas Tech. They have a sense of this city and university doing a lot for them, and they want to repay it. They understand what we're trying to do and appreciate how we've got to get there. And I think if we didn't have their leadership to where they can really take an honest look at this season and understand how it got to where it's at. We would have a hard time harder time keeping that locker room."
A couple injury notes:
"We had a couple guys that we thought you know, they're kind of a game time. Price hurt his shoulder on the last play he caught against Kansas. He practiced on Tuesday, you know, in a non contact way and practiced on Wednesday, just tried to get it all the way into gametime. Steve Linton was the same way, we just couldn't get them to where they were comfortable. Says a lot about some of the guys."
On Hutchings:
"We're hoping Rabbit and Jaylen can be ready for Texas. He's nervous. He's, he's torn ACL before so he knows what it feels like. So he was really nervous when went out there and I was like, Oh my gosh, because once you've done it you know how it feels. But we'll check everything, get an MRI but everything's intact so hopefully we can brace him and get him back, he's such a big part of that defense."
On situational defense:
"Coach DeRutyer at half, we're looking at the stats and we're giving up a bunch of yards. But it's 14-14 and he said, like listen, let's focus on points, focus on points. You know, they're gonna move the ball, focus on points get off the field. That was big, like you said. We didn't have Tyler Owens tonight so we're playing Brendan Jordan. TO should be good, expect him to practice Monday. It was big, just to settle down."
On Dooda Banks:
"I've been really proud of him since he's come back. You know, he's really growing. He and Trey (McAlpine) are a bit different than Tony and (Jaylen) like this. He's really long, more get off the football and penetration. He got the pressure on the extra points and field goals. Great thing about him is he just keeps getting better."
On the stand at the half:
"They were down there, I think getting it down to the two, we were able to make a play for them not get in and the clock ran out. I think going in at halftime at 14-14, especially the way we played the first quarter, defensively."
On final drive:
"I thought Josh Cochran did a really good job, he helps Kittley out in the run game. I think we came up with a good 12 personnel, with Cupp and Tharp, we were able to protect the edges and they couldn't get us in negative plays. We came out and were able to run it out, that's a lot of fun to be able to do. It says a lot about the offensive line, I thought we had a really good push."
On JRod & LBs:
"We kind of played this out tonight. With Bryce not being able to go tonight, his neck was really bothering him. So the way we played Jacob tonight, we played him a ton of snaps. Most he's played since coming back from his injury. We wanted to rest Bryce, Ty Matthews had a great week so that let us rest Bryce. So our expectation is for Bryce to play next week and for Jacob to take that to maintain his redshirt."
On Morton:
"He did a really good job with our RPOs, we tried to come up with some stuff that we can get in rhythm to make him really comfortable early in the game. He did a great job. I mean, we had a long run that he checked to that we had a pass play. But you know, I think you can tell with some of his throws that he's getting more and more healthy."
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