MATT WELLS, TEXAS TECH HEAD COACH
On Henry Colombi...
“He’s the second string quarterback. We’ve said that for the last three weeks. And so that decision was made based on practice reps and reps throughout August. We thought he put himself in that position and earned the right to take those reps with the twos, and I thought Henry came in and played well. Early in the game was maybe a little rushed in terms of his timing, but I thought he really slowed down the game. He threw some balls in some tight windows, made some good decisions, made some really good checks, and scrambled. I thought he came in and played well.”
On the offense...
“We didn’t change. We didn’t alter the offense. Henry has been in this offense for three years now, so he knows it and he’s practiced it since he’s been at Tech. The things that I like are what I mentioned, he took control and handled the checks. David (Yost) gave him a lot of checks and we didn’t alter the game plan at all for him, and I thought he handled it pretty well.”
On Xavier White
“Xavier was going to be the second tailback. We made that decision earlier this week for this game. I think we have talented running backs behind Sarodorick (Thompson). All three of those guys, and he was the guy who was going to get the second set of carries, and he really got hot and we rode him for a little bit and that’s a credit to our offensive line and Travis Koontz. I thought they blocked well coming out of halftime and really paved the way. Xavier did some nice stuff. He had good vision stuff and made a couple nice cuts and you saw some of the homerun speed he had there at the end.”
On the fourth quarter...
“I don’t think it unraveled. They scored one time. We drove it down and obviously had the interception in the end zone. Then we get them to third and six and we bring the house because we know if they get the first down on third and six, that is really close to two minutes and four seconds, and at two minutes and four seconds you can basically kneel the ball out with no timeouts and at that point, we had no timeouts. That’s what happened at the end. I don’t think it unraveled. We allowed a touchdown and they drove it down and scored. Then we drove it all the way back down and obviously didn’t score, and that’s the ball game. That’s a one score game.”
HENRY COLOMBI, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK
On his preparation...
“Preparation is something we have worked on since I originally came over here. With my history when I backed up Jordan Love, the quarterback at Utah State for a couple years, so being prepared is something that I’ve been developing for the past couple years. I’m learning to prepare for games as the backup quarterback, so I don’t think preparation fazes me or any of the offense at all.”
On the game plan when he came into the game...
“I don’t think the offense changed at all. Alan Bowman and I push each other to get better everyday. We are really good friends at the same time. This is an offense that I have ran for a few years now, and I’m comfortable with all the calls and all the checks and all the things of that nature.”
XAVIER WHITE, SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK
On his rhythm and flow today...
“Really just following my blocks and finishing my runs hard. Keep doing that and stay on my track and finish my run hard.”
On the offense in the third quarter...
“If I run hard, it will open up other things, and that’s exactly what I was doing. Make sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to do and finish my runs, and if I do that, other things will open up for my team.”
On if he knew he would get on the field for a long stretch...
“No, I wasn’t really expecting that. As soon as I started running the ball I got hot, and coach Smith felt that I needed to be on the field because I was making plays.”
ZECH MCPHEARSON, SENIOR DEFENSIVE BACK
On the defensive improvement...
“Our intensity and our mindset. From week one to week two we made a big jump in emphasizing in practice that we wanted to keep our mental intensity high and do the little things right. That’s how we tried to translate it to the field these past couple weeks, and it’s been working for us. We just gotta keep closing that space and keep getting better.”
On having Damarcus Fields coming back...
“Having Damarcus back was a good thing for us. Coming back to practice this week, he’s been here a while. He’s definitely one of the leaders of the defense, but just to have his presence out there it was good, and it helped the defense as a whole.”
On Henry Colombi...
“He’s the second string quarterback. We’ve said that for the last three weeks. And so that decision was made based on practice reps and reps throughout August. We thought he put himself in that position and earned the right to take those reps with the twos, and I thought Henry came in and played well. Early in the game was maybe a little rushed in terms of his timing, but I thought he really slowed down the game. He threw some balls in some tight windows, made some good decisions, made some really good checks, and scrambled. I thought he came in and played well.”
On the offense...
“We didn’t change. We didn’t alter the offense. Henry has been in this offense for three years now, so he knows it and he’s practiced it since he’s been at Tech. The things that I like are what I mentioned, he took control and handled the checks. David (Yost) gave him a lot of checks and we didn’t alter the game plan at all for him, and I thought he handled it pretty well.”
On Xavier White
“Xavier was going to be the second tailback. We made that decision earlier this week for this game. I think we have talented running backs behind Sarodorick (Thompson). All three of those guys, and he was the guy who was going to get the second set of carries, and he really got hot and we rode him for a little bit and that’s a credit to our offensive line and Travis Koontz. I thought they blocked well coming out of halftime and really paved the way. Xavier did some nice stuff. He had good vision stuff and made a couple nice cuts and you saw some of the homerun speed he had there at the end.”
On the fourth quarter...
“I don’t think it unraveled. They scored one time. We drove it down and obviously had the interception in the end zone. Then we get them to third and six and we bring the house because we know if they get the first down on third and six, that is really close to two minutes and four seconds, and at two minutes and four seconds you can basically kneel the ball out with no timeouts and at that point, we had no timeouts. That’s what happened at the end. I don’t think it unraveled. We allowed a touchdown and they drove it down and scored. Then we drove it all the way back down and obviously didn’t score, and that’s the ball game. That’s a one score game.”
HENRY COLOMBI, JUNIOR QUARTERBACK
On his preparation...
“Preparation is something we have worked on since I originally came over here. With my history when I backed up Jordan Love, the quarterback at Utah State for a couple years, so being prepared is something that I’ve been developing for the past couple years. I’m learning to prepare for games as the backup quarterback, so I don’t think preparation fazes me or any of the offense at all.”
On the game plan when he came into the game...
“I don’t think the offense changed at all. Alan Bowman and I push each other to get better everyday. We are really good friends at the same time. This is an offense that I have ran for a few years now, and I’m comfortable with all the calls and all the checks and all the things of that nature.”
XAVIER WHITE, SOPHOMORE RUNNING BACK
On his rhythm and flow today...
“Really just following my blocks and finishing my runs hard. Keep doing that and stay on my track and finish my run hard.”
On the offense in the third quarter...
“If I run hard, it will open up other things, and that’s exactly what I was doing. Make sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to do and finish my runs, and if I do that, other things will open up for my team.”
On if he knew he would get on the field for a long stretch...
“No, I wasn’t really expecting that. As soon as I started running the ball I got hot, and coach Smith felt that I needed to be on the field because I was making plays.”
ZECH MCPHEARSON, SENIOR DEFENSIVE BACK
On the defensive improvement...
“Our intensity and our mindset. From week one to week two we made a big jump in emphasizing in practice that we wanted to keep our mental intensity high and do the little things right. That’s how we tried to translate it to the field these past couple weeks, and it’s been working for us. We just gotta keep closing that space and keep getting better.”
On having Damarcus Fields coming back...
“Having Damarcus back was a good thing for us. Coming back to practice this week, he’s been here a while. He’s definitely one of the leaders of the defense, but just to have his presence out there it was good, and it helped the defense as a whole.”
