Oct. 25, 2010
A full transcript of Coach Sherman's press conference, along with selected quotes from players, are available below. Audio clips are available in MP3 format to the right.
HEAD COACH Mike Sherman
On how he plans to work the quarterbacks in practice... “We have two very good quarterbacks. We're going to practice them both and go from there.”
On naming a starter for Saturday... “There's really no need to at this point. I'm going to figure it out as we go. I have a plan in mind. Last week, Tannehill played 15 snaps in the first half and 26 in the second. Jerrod played 26 in the first half and 15 in the second. You can't split it down the middle any more than that.”
More on naming a starter... “There's really no need to go into that right now. We'll play this week out and practice well. We are going to need both of them.”
On evaluating Tannehill's play Saturday... “Both quarterbacks played well. Jerrod took us down the field, and we had three scores with him right away. The plan was to get Ryan in the game. He came in, missed a couple of throws where he was forced to rush early on. He had a lot of energy working, but once he settled down he did a real good job.”
On the quarterback controversy affecting team chemistry... “What's the controversy? We have two good quarterbacks. The controversy in my mind is when you don't have a quarterback. I don't see there being one at all. Jerrod is the captain of our team, he leads our team. Ryan Tannehill leads our team. Our players are worried about their own jobs and doing their jobs right. They know and have a lot of respect for our quarterbacks. They both get along and are good friends. If they weren't unselfish and didn't like each other, then yeah, there might be (some tension and controversy). But there's absolutely, positively no friction. We have two good quarterbacks and both played well the other day.”
On how Jerrod Johnson responded to the switch... “I thought he responded well. I told him ahead of time what the plan was. I didn't specify how it would play out, but I told him. He's a competitor. No competitor wants to come out of the game. I'm sure in his own way he wasn't happy, but he didn't display that at all on the sideline.”
On Texas Tech... “Defensively, they are a lot different. They mix coverages up. They have a lot more variety on defense (than last year). Their offensive coordinator (Neal Brown) is from Troy State, and he runs a similar system to what they ran before. But it's a little bit different. So there are some differences there.”
On whether he saw something in the Kansas game that triggered the quarterback change... “There was nothing in the game that made me make the switch. That was the plan all along. There was a risk on my part to change quarterbacks at that juncture, but I wanted to see what Ryan can do. When you score 17 points (on first three drives) and take the quarterback out, there is definitely a risk factor. I wanted to see what Ryan could do. I trusted him.”
On whether he sees a two-quarterback system going forward... “I take it one week at a time. We had to win last week. We had to do what we had to do to win. Now we've got to win this week against a very good Tech team. We take it one week at time and go from there. I'm very confident in both quarterbacks.”
On the play of the offensive line and Jake Matthews in particular... “I thought they did a good job. It's the first time that group was 100 percent together. I looked out there and we had three true freshmen, with (Nehemiah) Hicks at tight end and the two tackles (Jake Matthews and Luke Joeckel). They've had growing pains, and I knew there would be. Both tackles are talented as is our tight end. The speed of the game is so much faster than it is in high school. Jake showed athleticism. There are things we've got to work on with him this week but I thought he responded well.”
On the status of Evan Eike... “It's too early to say. We're trying to get him back as soon as we can. We will take it one day at a time.”
On the intense nature of the Tech/A&M rivalry... “It has been (intense), even back to the interception Zach Thomas had for a touchdown when I was here (1995). He had a similar interception when he was with the Dolphins that brought back flashbacks for me. It's a great rivalry with great fan bases. Going out there last year we certainly felt that. We had a very good game here against them that we lost two years ago at home. But I thought for the first half (of that game) we played really well. We didn't come out in the second half with the same effectiveness. It's a great rivalry that's been going on for years and years. Our players and fans get into this one.”
On trying to prevent “laying an egg” like he said the team did against Missouri... “You try to prevent that every week. I think the egg we laid was against a pretty good football team in Missouri. I think a few teams have laid eggs against them. I thought going into the game they were very good. But I still feel like there's not a game that we can't win. If we'd played better, hopefully we'd have found a way. But they are a good football team, there's no question about that. Our team is excited about playing Tech in front of our home fans. They know how important this game is. The team rallied really well last week and they'll rally well this week.”
On Tech QB Taylor Potts... “He's a very good quarterback. I've always had lot of respect for Taylor and he does a great job. He knows his offense really well and knows his reads well. He'll be a big challenge for us.”
On the Texas Tech rushing game... “They have good running backs, there's no question about it. Very good running backs. I have a lot of respect for that part of their offense. They will challenge us in the run game.”
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Tim DeRuyter
On coaching on the field at Kansas... “I have alternated before. I've coordinated from the sideline as well as the press box. It was a little bit of a feel thing for me. We'd lost our last three ball games and I felt a shake-up was necessary. The week before against Missouri, I thought we had to make adjustments and being in the box it was a little difficult to do that. Also, to gauge guys' eyes when adversity hits them and to see if they grasp what you want them to do I felt was important. That could change week to week. The staff feels comfortable either way.”
On whether he's faced an offense like Texas Tech... “It's kind of popular now. Houston's, Oklahoma State's, Stephen F. Austin's...they're all different variations. Some of the stuff Kansas did. Everyone is running different versions of the spread. This is more of a traditional Mike Leach offense with Coach (Neal) Brown running it. It makes it difficult to substitute. They are in a four-wide personnel (grouping) most of the time. They have two excellent running backs. When they get them involved it puts that much more stress on you. I'm really impressed with their two backs, they are very good players.”
On the play of Stephen Campbell played very, very physically. He's a guy that is going to play at a fast rate of speed. He's going to go somewhere fast...not always in the right direction but he's going somewhere fast. He's got to get better on his reads. I'm encouraged because I think we have three safeties that can play when Trent (Hunter) comes back. Toney Hurd is still learning, but he's going to be good for us.”
On what he's learned about the A&M/Tech rivalry... “Enough to understand people around here are not fond of that group in west Texas (laughter). I haven't been here long enough to understand why.”
On the rushing defense's struggles at Kansas... “Saturday we were awful. Flat awful. We didn't fit the zone read play very well. We did a couple of things adjustment-wise that guys didn't handle well and we didn't coach well. A lot of the rush yards came in 3rd-and-long situations where the quarterback scrambled early. They were only successful on 4-of-18, but three came on quarterback scrambles. Part of that was we were pressuring and a guy didn't fit his gap, and that's going to happen some. But the back end guys didn't do a good job of leveraging it. We've got to do a much better job on that. We've got to have a complete understanding of where the ball will be. Late in the game when they went to the wildcat, we missed a horrendous amount of tackles. We've got to do a much better job fundamentally. We're going to work hard on that this week in practice.”
On the physical play of his defense Saturday... “I want our guys to play physically, but we've got to play smart and within the rules. I'll leave it at that.”
On whether he thinks the team played its most physical game Saturday... “I thought we played physical for the majority of the game. We didn't wrap up well on the quarterback and late on the running back. For the most part our guys were flying around. I think Steven Campbell sets the tone in a lot of ways in doing that. He will turn his body loose.”
On Mike Hodges... “He really had a nice game. He played with great intensity. He's a guy that absolutely gives you his all. He's going to go hard every single rep and play smart, physical football. He really had a nice game. There were a couple of things he wishes he had back, like every game, but he had a good, physical football game for us.”
SENIOR QB Jerrod Johnson
On his approach this week... “I'm just going into the week preparing to play. That's what I have to do. Whatever happens from there, we'll see.”
On the quarterback battle and his relationship with Ryan Tannehill... “We're fine. We're both competitions We both want to play. But we're friends and we understand it's a team. When he's out there I support him and when I'm out there he supports me. We're pretty good friends. Ryan is a quiet guy, a very smart guy. I have a lot of respect for Ryan. He's a great person. It's hard not to root for a guy like that. He played well. He's a good quarterback, and all of us knew he was a good quarterback. I wish the best for Ryan. Along with that, anyone that's been through what we've been through...there's been a lot of adversity here. That brings you together. He's been through a lot, and I wish the best for him.”
On whether it gets frustrating not playing... “Yeah, it does. Of course I want to play more than anything. I've done so much in the offseason and so much for and with the team. I definitely want to play. I feel like I put so much into what our offense does and I have such a good relationship with those guys that I want to be out there going to war with them and representing the school. At the same time, Coach Sherman makes the decisions and I stand by what he does. As a competitor and an athlete, I never want to come off the field. But at the same time, it's up to Coach Sherman and whatever decision he makes is fine with me.”
On his physical condition... “The shoulder is fine. The physical stuff is nothing. If I go out there, I'm fine. If there's a chance of any harm to me long term for being out there, I wouldn't be out there. I'm fine.”
On the focus this week... “The tempo. Tempo has been causing us problems. That's one thing that makes our offense real effective is keeping the defense on its heels. Our linemen are well-conditioned. We can wear them down. We went back to what we planned to do this year. We made an emphasis to get our tempo back last week and it worked well.”
On spreading the ball around to different receivers and not just Jeff Fuller... “It's just the reads. Teams are giving us a lot more man coverage and blitzing a lot more than last year. Last year we spread the ball around more but it's what the defense gave us. When they are in man-to-man coverage you go to matchups. And if someone is man-to-man with Jeff, I like my chances.”
SENIOR LB Michael Hodges
On the differences between Texas Tech of this year and last... “It's not as different as you'd think from last year. They are an even more mature team now too. They're a bigger threat I think. Their two running backs are going to be a factor for us to deal with. They will still spread us out, but the fact they have two backs they can hand off to at any time really will make us keep people in the box, even though the tendency is to want to get out in coverage.”
On having defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter on the field on Saturday... “That was a little bit different. We didn't have Coach (Dat) Nguyen down there talking to us every time. One of the biggest advantages was we didn't have to wait for the call to be relayed, (DeRuyter) just made the call himself. That really helps. That second or two difference really helps.”
On the difficulty of tackling KU quarterback Jordan Webb... “He's a pretty good quarterback. He's young, but definitely has some wiggle to him. I could have had a sack on one of the first drives and he completely ducked me. He just made a good move. Von (Miller) almost got to him that same play and he made Von miss, which isn't easy to do. He has a lot of potential.”
On playing very physical on Saturday... “Yeah, that is a focus for us as players. We're not often talked about being a physical defense. We take a little bit of offense to that, and we went out there hoping to change that perception a bit. A lot of those big hits came from having Steven Campbell out there, that's his game.”
JUNIOR QB/WR Ryan Tannehill
On his thoughts going in for the first time, and having the penalty on his first drive... “It was definitely frustrating to get that penalty. I had no idea how long I'd be in there or when I would get another chance. I definitely wanted to make the best of the opportunity I got. The penalty made me very nervous, but I had an opportunity to go back in and play some more.”
On when in the game he settled down... “I can't say it was a specific play, probably the second or third series. Once I got in there and completed a couple of throws, and could feel the pocket a little bit and move around in the pocket a little bit, then I felt comfortable.
On whether he's come down off the high of playing... “I've definitely calmed down. I was pretty fired up after the game. That was a big win for us and the team. There was a lot of excitement in the locker room. We were having a lot of fun out there. Any time you get a win with your best friends it's a good time.”
On his relationship with Jerrod Johnson... “We're definitely close friends. We spend countless hours each day together. This is our fourth year together. That's a lot of time. We definitely want the best for each of us. We want to see each other succeed.”
On whether he's heard anything about starting this week... “No. No clue.”
On how he will approach this week mentally... “I don't think it's a lot different. You have to prepare to play. If I get that opportunity then I hope I am ready to play, and if not then it wasn't my day. You have to practice hard and try to clean up things you messed up last week.”
On running over the Kansas defender on the sideline... “I'm definitely not afraid to take a hit. That's a part of the game, and at wide receiver taken shots over the years. I was just planning on getting as much as I could and get out of bounds.”
On growing up as a Texas Tech fan... “I grew up a Tech fan. Mom and dad both went to Tech, and dad played at Tech. I went to a lot of games growing up, all the way up to high school. I came here and fell in love with this place. I've been nothing but excited to be here. I'm thankful for my opportunity to be here. My parents have been supportive the whole way. There's not much Tech stuff left in our house anymore, it's all maroon.”
On his performance Saturday... “There's definitely a couple of things I could improve on. There's always things you can correct. I've got to work this week to fix them. I thought I played decent. It was just good to get in there and get an opportunity.”
On how Jerrod has handled the change... “It makes it easier that we are friends. We both want each other to succeed. We don't wish bad things on each other. When he's in there, I tell him things I saw, and when I'm in there, he tells me things he saw. It could be a tough situation, but the fact that we are friends and we want the team to win and succeed makes things much easier.”
On experience as receiver helping out... “I think it helps. I'm on the same page as some of those guys. I've been in their shoes. We can talk about what we see and the routes and how we want to run them.”
SOPHOMORE WR Ryan Swope
On whether adjustments need to be made based on quarterback... “No, not too much. We just have to go out and execute. They both do a great job with tempo and executing and leadership out on the field. Both do a tremendous job of leading our team.”
On increasing tempo... “We really did work hard last week. I could tell a difference. We did a good job last week of practicing getting the tempo going and picking up the speed of the game.”
On Texas Tech... “It's going to be a battle. They are going to be hungry from last year. We have to have a good week of practice and be ready to play. Last year we had a big win and they will come in here ready to play. We have to really take it one day at a time this week, work on our tempo and execute.”
On adjusting to the ball each quarterback throws... “I get just as many reps with Ryan as I do with Jerrod, so you get used to how they both throw the ball. It's just an adjustment you have to make. I think their throws are similar in a way. Ryan just zips the ball and Jerrod has a great deep ball. It's hard to say a difference, they are both great quarterbacks.”
JUNIOR WR Jeff Fuller
On whether things change with a different quarterback in... “You know, the great thing is both bring a lot to the game. Having Jerrod and Tannehill in there is kind of like the same thing. As far as from a leadership standpoint, both are leaders on the field.”
On how he gets so wide open... “Off the line, we just really try to take advantage of one-on-ones. When I see press man, I'm pretty confident the ball will come to me. I do everything I can to get open.”
On his conversations with Jerrod... “They've been good. They've been all positive. He's really so focused on winning and that's the number one goal. He's happy as long as we win.”
On Jerrod wanting to be out on the field... “I feel like we have some of the best competitors there are on our team. I'm sure both Jerrod and Tannehill want to be out there the whole time. I want to be out there the whole time. But at the same time, they are both focused predominantly on winning.”
JUNIOR LB Garrick Williams
On how it felt to get back on the winning track... “It felt good. It always feels good to win, especially in the Big 12 on the road. That's tough to do against any team. But this weekend we are back at Kyle Field where we want to be.”
On going up against the Texas Tech offense... “They have a complex offense, and that's something we've seen a lot. It's going to take a good week of practice, making adjustments and (learning the) game plan. We just need to go out and get a win on Kyle.”
On offenses already faced that are similar to Texas Tech... “You can say Oklahoma State, and Arkansas at times. But especially Missouri. They had a spread offense and they executed that pretty well. In the Missouri game I think we had mental errors. That's something we can fix and that's why we practice. By Saturday we should have everything fixed and be in position to make plays.”
On the importance of tackling especially Saturday... “It'll be very important. They spread you out so far, you might be 1-on-1 with a wide receiver, but you're expected to make that play.”