MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (October 3, 2017) - West Virginia University assistant coaches and select members of the West Virginia University football team met with the media on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, at the Milan Puskar Center Team Room.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On the bye week
Hopefully we can get healthy. That’s the biggest thing, we needed it. It’s not like it broke up any momentum of us playing really well so it came at the right time. We had two really good days of practice last week. I thought Sunday we had a lot of pep in our step. It’s good to get everybody back out there and run around. Watching film and making sure that our guys are (in the right place); we fixed some things, we simplified a little bit. Hopefully that will help out.
On what needs to get better to improve the run defense
Tackle. If you look last week, I guess that is what you are referring to, there were two runs that went over 120 yards. We misfit a gap and then the other one we had about eight guys miss a tackle. That is the biggest problem right now in run defense.
On if freshman defensive lineman Lamonte McDougle will start this week
He will play a lot. This stuff changes daily and I am not just giving you a general answer here, it’s the truth. If he goes out there and doesn’t have two good days, then his reps will be cut. That’s the process of where we are at. We do not have 11 guys right now that I feel confident in saying ‘you are our starters’ and then just let them coast through the week. We are not that good right now. Every day is a competition at every position. Probably the guy that when you look overall and looking back and a lot of times that we watch film and he has missed some tackles, but (redshirt senior linebacker) Al (Rasheed Benton). If we don’t have Al, who knows how many yards Kansas rushes for. It seemed like he made every tackle. It’s disheartening at times to watch and look at that film and think ‘Wow how did we get to this point’.
Assistant Coach (Safeties) Matt Caponi
On how redshirt junior safety Dravon Askew-Henry continues to progress
Coming back from a knee injury of that magnitude, I wouldn’t call it rust but it’s not having that full live speed experience that you’ve had in the past. It’s taken him a little bit of time to get some quickness back and have some trust in what he’s doing, but he’s come a long way since that opener against Virginia Tech. He’s progressively getting better each week. I would expect that his best football is ahead of him over these next eight weeks.
On how to defend against TCU quarterback Kenny Hill and his offense
They’re managing the game a lot better. Obviously, their main priority right now is to run the ball first. That takes a little bit of stress off their defense too, trying to control the clock and have their defense not play as many snaps. They’re doing the right things. Running the ball to set up the play action and it makes the game more manageable for him (TCU senior quarterback Kenny Hill) as a quarterback. It’s not relying on him to throw the ball 40 or 50 times a game. They’re going to put it up at least 25 or 30 where he feels comfortable and not try to force too much on him. It’s a little bit different from last year. They’re actually throwing it a little bit more, but that falls into helping him manage the game better and be a better player here through these first five weeks.
On how to defend against option plays from TCU’s offense
It’s all based on what they’re seeing defensively, as a scheme. They obviously don’t want (Kenny Hill) running the ball 20, 30 times a game. Just like they don’t want him throwing it 50 or 60. If the defense is giving them that, then it’s a good changeup to their zone game and power game. If they’re getting a certain look, then they’ll run a little bit of option. Obviously, we’ve got to prepare for it every week with what we do defensively. We expect to be in the game plan and we have to be able to stop it.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Bruce Tall
On where he thinks the defensive line is at so far in the season
There is no question, when you look at it from a statistical standpoint, it is unacceptable. We know that. I take full responsibility for that. Guys, like anything, they have a lot of pride in what they do. It is just unacceptable so we have to get better.
On how many players are in the rotation right now
Yeah, we are on seven. We definitely have seven in the rotation. We can go as high as eight and nine, but seven is in the rotation.
On redshirt junior defensive lineman Jalen Harvey
He has done a nice job. We have been using him, what’s interesting is that you don’t usually use three nose guards but I have. Each week, every opportunity that he has gotten he has got better and better and been ready to play more. Sometimes because his rotations have been three-and-out or turnovers, just how the rotations go in, he hasn’t maybe got the reps that he would like but he has done a nice job where he has had opportunities. He graded out high.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On his relationship with TCU senior quarterback Kenny Hill
Kenny, of course I was a part of recruiting him at Texas A&M. He redshirted the first year behind Johnny Manziel. I really got to spend two years with the kid, who is an exceptional kid. Pretty impressive what he is doing. He had a bunch of highs and lows over the course of Texas A&M, but then to overcome all of that adversity, have a clean slate, start all over again and to actually have some success right now. He has a Top-10 team right now. He is doing a great job leading them and he is doing well with the offense. There have been some text messages exchanged throughout the course of the last couple of weeks. I talk to the kid all the time. I have always been a big fan of him. He is a pretty good quarterback. I always check in to see how he is doing, to see how the family is doing. This one, the talking has been kind of limited now over the past 10 days, but it has been pretty funny going back. I have just been sending emoji’s to him, like the surprised face emoji, just to see how he reacts to it and he just laughs and says 'I'll see you Saturday'. I am looking forward to seeing him and the family.
On TCU’s defense
(TCU head coach) Gary Patterson is one of the greatest defensive minds in college football. What he has done over the past, I don’t know how many years, it has been like 18 years at TCU. He has done such an exceptional job at building a sound system and getting players this system that fit what he is trying to do. I have already told the guys 100 times that you are not going to be screaming down the field wide-open. You have to make contested plays. They are going to match it up. We can try to confuse them as much as possible, coach Patterson has probably seen every look imaginable thrown at him because he is consistently putting out top ranked defenses in the conference and in the country. We have to win the one-on-one battles; we have to limit our mistakes. There are going to be tough yards. I think we are ready for the challenge, we are excited to get out there and play them. They know that we are going up against a stingy defense.
On showing TCU different looks on offense
There is always going to be different wrinkles. That is something that TCU does a really good job at, is what you are good at they are going to practice it and practice it until they make sure they are comfortable enough to defend it. You have keep thinking; you have to change presentations. You have to be at your best because they are going to make you earn every single yard.
Assistant Coach (Running Backs) Tony Dews
On what he stressed during the bye week
The first thing we stressed is academics. We’ve got to make sure everybody’s on page and caught up to where they’re supposed to be school-wise. This is a good week to stay on them, we have been on them all semester, but to make sure that they’re caught up if they got behind on anything. We really stressed the academics this week. When we got out on the field to practice again, the fundamental part of it and just continue to get better at all the little things, the details. Making sure we have the ball secure. There were a couple times we got loose with the ball in my opinion against Kansas. So we don’t want to get lackadaisical with fundamentals.
On senior running back Justin Crawford getting limited carries
Justin has been completely selfless. Again, that goes back to what I said in February, once we got through spring ball and this far in the season, he understands that sometimes it helps him. Going through last year where he got banged up a little bit, he appreciates that there’s some depth in the room and that we can share the load. They also share the load in practice, so it is not one guy all practice long carrying it and carrying it and carrying it. We can get him in and out in practice, get (sophomore running back) Kennedy (McKoy) in and out in practice, get (freshman running back) Tevin (Bush) in and out and (sophomore running back) Martell (Pettaway). It has been a pleasant problem to have if it is a problem at all. The kids have been great. They have been awesome during the games. They are all pulling for each other. Like I said, there was a game where Martell caught a ball and you look on the sideline and Justin is the first one out. He is probably going to get us a penalty for being out in the white, but he had his helmet in the air running down the sideline cheering on Martell. That’s a great thing to see as a coach.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Tyron Carrier
On what the wide receiver unit needs to work on
A lot of technique work, getting guys healthy, getting their legs back under them. We didn’t ask too much of them this week, a couple practices here and there; we gave them a lot of time off. The Sunday practice we had, they came in with a lot of energy, which is expected after getting a little time off. It’s a big game and I just hope these guys stand up to it.
On how he can get the receivers to play consistently
That’s what the last week of practice was about. Getting those guys to push through when things feel easy, it is nothing to look forward to. We were really tough on them more than anything. Last week’s practices helped us a lot.
On how he will keep the receivers prepared for the long stretch of games coming up
One day at a time, one day at a time. One of the things that the conditioning guys really do a great job at is all the recovering things they have. As far as keeping their legs under them, I think we do a great job with that. Just getting more in tune with what we do and how we do it is the biggest thing. The receivers and the quarterback are getting on a really good page together. They can give each other a look and they can make those plays, different play calls. Those guys are picking it up more than anything.
Redshirt Sophomore Offensive Lineman Matt Jones
On how it feels to be ranked in No. 2 total offense in the Big 12
Yeah, it feels good, but we don’t really pay attention to that. We take it week-by-week. We’re just focused on TCU.
On what TCU’s team looks like this year
They’re a good team, a well-rounded team. They’re just a good team.
On the team’s emphasis during the bye week
Getting healthy, continue to grow as a team and just getting better. We’re getting prepared for TCU.
On the improved communication for the offensive line
It’s improved quite a bit. We’re all more confident now and we’re gelling pretty well.
Redshirt Senior Wide Receiver Ka’Raun White
On TCU’s cornerbacks
They rotate their one’s and two’s. I wouldn’t say there’s a drop off between those two so they’re going to have fresh bodies out there and that’s going to be a big challenge for us.
On what the receiving corps worked on last week
A lot of individual work. Working on our sticks and giving cues for the quarterback so they know when to trigger the ball. Working on a few things like coming back to the ball and making contested catches. Just working on little things fundamentally.
On how important the cues are for the quarterback
(Assistant coach (Receivers) Coach (Tyron) Carrier taught us about playing receiver so there’s little things we do with our shoulders to not to give away our routes and working on our sticks so the quarterback knows when to trigger so the ball’s not late or too early. Things like that we work on, but as long as we’re doing our assignments we should be fine.
Junior Wide Receiver David Sills V
On improvements being made during practice
We’ve really just been taking all the practices very seriously. We haven’t been taking anything for granted. We’ve really been attacking every period of practice at full speed, not taking any plays off or anything like that. We’ve been working on the finer points of everything more. We’ve been working on technique and stuff like that. I think that we lost a little bit of that after the ECU game. Just matching up our hands, our feet and stuff like that. (Assistant Coach (Receivers) coach (Tyron) Carrier has been working with us. We’ve really been knocking down on that kind of stuff.
On playing on the road against TCU
Playing in a big game on the road is what you dream of when you’re a kid. You always play for the games when every seat in the house is packed, there’s no empty seats and everyone is screaming and it’s going to be a great game. We’re focused. Coming off a bye week, we’ve got a little bit of extra time to prepare for TCU and we know that they’re preparing for us just as much as we are. We really just have to get the extra film session, get the extra mental edge on them, so we can go in there and know what they’re doing and figure out how we can beat them.
On playing at TCU in 2015
It was a great environment when I went there. Last time I believe it was a Thursday night game. That was a really cool experience but we went there and we didn’t get the win. We’re definitely looking to go to TCU now and get a win out of it.
Senior Cornerback Elijah Battle
On what can be learned from last week’s matchup against Kansas
Looking at the Kansas game, we just have to get better off that film. We came out with the win, but there’s a lot of mistakes we made and we just have to fix them.
On the issue of missed tackles against Kansas
Yeah, we missed a lot of tackles. There wasn’t anything wrong with alignment or execution. We just missed a lot of tackles and stuff like that.
On the emotion of the locker room headed into the matchup with No. 8 TCU
We know it’s going to be a tough challenge. They’re a good team. We’ve got to go in there with the right mindset and prepare all week to be ready for them.
On improvements that were made during practice this week
We definitely improved things. Just getting better with technique and stuff like that; tackling and all that little stuff.
Redshirt Junior Safety Dravon Askew-Henry
On the defense’s main emphasis during the bye week
Just to get better at our tackling, our scheme and just to get better at what we do on defense.
On getting the injured players back and ready to play
Yeah, we always have to be ready to roll if somebody goes down, then the next man always has to be ready to roll.
On TCU’s offense
They are a very good football team. I have been watching film on them. We will see them Saturday and we will be ready to go. I am pretty sure they will be too.
On TCU being ranked in the Top-10
We are not really looking into what they are ranked or anything like that. We are taking it game-by-game. They are a good team and we are going to bring our A game Saturday.
Sophomore Defensive Lineman Reese Donahue
On having the bye week
I think it’s good. I always think bye weeks are good. It gives you time to heal up and set up your opponent. Sometimes it’s even good because the coaches gave us a couple days off. It’s good to get a break and get away a little bit. You come back in fresh. Obviously, I love to play a game every Saturday but it’s always good to have a bye week.
On how a college football player with a big game coming up spends two days off
Thinking about it. Definitely try to do some things. All year long we talk about recovery and getting away from it. A lot of people don’t realize that recovery isn’t just physically, sometimes you’ve got to do a little bit of mental recovery. Sometimes you have to call a family member or watch a movie. As much as you want to think about it, sometimes it’s good to get away from it so you come back fresh and ready to go.
On the biggest threat that TCU poses
Everything. You can’t let one part of your game slip. I think that they can hurt us in multiple ways so we’ve just got to go in prepared.
Associate Head Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Tony Gibson
On the bye week
Hopefully we can get healthy. That’s the biggest thing, we needed it. It’s not like it broke up any momentum of us playing really well so it came at the right time. We had two really good days of practice last week. I thought Sunday we had a lot of pep in our step. It’s good to get everybody back out there and run around. Watching film and making sure that our guys are (in the right place); we fixed some things, we simplified a little bit. Hopefully that will help out.
On what needs to get better to improve the run defense
Tackle. If you look last week, I guess that is what you are referring to, there were two runs that went over 120 yards. We misfit a gap and then the other one we had about eight guys miss a tackle. That is the biggest problem right now in run defense.
On if freshman defensive lineman Lamonte McDougle will start this week
He will play a lot. This stuff changes daily and I am not just giving you a general answer here, it’s the truth. If he goes out there and doesn’t have two good days, then his reps will be cut. That’s the process of where we are at. We do not have 11 guys right now that I feel confident in saying ‘you are our starters’ and then just let them coast through the week. We are not that good right now. Every day is a competition at every position. Probably the guy that when you look overall and looking back and a lot of times that we watch film and he has missed some tackles, but (redshirt senior linebacker) Al (Rasheed Benton). If we don’t have Al, who knows how many yards Kansas rushes for. It seemed like he made every tackle. It’s disheartening at times to watch and look at that film and think ‘Wow how did we get to this point’.
Assistant Coach (Safeties) Matt Caponi
On how redshirt junior safety Dravon Askew-Henry continues to progress
Coming back from a knee injury of that magnitude, I wouldn’t call it rust but it’s not having that full live speed experience that you’ve had in the past. It’s taken him a little bit of time to get some quickness back and have some trust in what he’s doing, but he’s come a long way since that opener against Virginia Tech. He’s progressively getting better each week. I would expect that his best football is ahead of him over these next eight weeks.
On how to defend against TCU quarterback Kenny Hill and his offense
They’re managing the game a lot better. Obviously, their main priority right now is to run the ball first. That takes a little bit of stress off their defense too, trying to control the clock and have their defense not play as many snaps. They’re doing the right things. Running the ball to set up the play action and it makes the game more manageable for him (TCU senior quarterback Kenny Hill) as a quarterback. It’s not relying on him to throw the ball 40 or 50 times a game. They’re going to put it up at least 25 or 30 where he feels comfortable and not try to force too much on him. It’s a little bit different from last year. They’re actually throwing it a little bit more, but that falls into helping him manage the game better and be a better player here through these first five weeks.
On how to defend against option plays from TCU’s offense
It’s all based on what they’re seeing defensively, as a scheme. They obviously don’t want (Kenny Hill) running the ball 20, 30 times a game. Just like they don’t want him throwing it 50 or 60. If the defense is giving them that, then it’s a good changeup to their zone game and power game. If they’re getting a certain look, then they’ll run a little bit of option. Obviously, we’ve got to prepare for it every week with what we do defensively. We expect to be in the game plan and we have to be able to stop it.
Assistant Coach (Defensive Line) Bruce Tall
On where he thinks the defensive line is at so far in the season
There is no question, when you look at it from a statistical standpoint, it is unacceptable. We know that. I take full responsibility for that. Guys, like anything, they have a lot of pride in what they do. It is just unacceptable so we have to get better.
On how many players are in the rotation right now
Yeah, we are on seven. We definitely have seven in the rotation. We can go as high as eight and nine, but seven is in the rotation.
On redshirt junior defensive lineman Jalen Harvey
He has done a nice job. We have been using him, what’s interesting is that you don’t usually use three nose guards but I have. Each week, every opportunity that he has gotten he has got better and better and been ready to play more. Sometimes because his rotations have been three-and-out or turnovers, just how the rotations go in, he hasn’t maybe got the reps that he would like but he has done a nice job where he has had opportunities. He graded out high.
Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jake Spavital
On his relationship with TCU senior quarterback Kenny Hill
Kenny, of course I was a part of recruiting him at Texas A&M. He redshirted the first year behind Johnny Manziel. I really got to spend two years with the kid, who is an exceptional kid. Pretty impressive what he is doing. He had a bunch of highs and lows over the course of Texas A&M, but then to overcome all of that adversity, have a clean slate, start all over again and to actually have some success right now. He has a Top-10 team right now. He is doing a great job leading them and he is doing well with the offense. There have been some text messages exchanged throughout the course of the last couple of weeks. I talk to the kid all the time. I have always been a big fan of him. He is a pretty good quarterback. I always check in to see how he is doing, to see how the family is doing. This one, the talking has been kind of limited now over the past 10 days, but it has been pretty funny going back. I have just been sending emoji’s to him, like the surprised face emoji, just to see how he reacts to it and he just laughs and says 'I'll see you Saturday'. I am looking forward to seeing him and the family.
On TCU’s defense
(TCU head coach) Gary Patterson is one of the greatest defensive minds in college football. What he has done over the past, I don’t know how many years, it has been like 18 years at TCU. He has done such an exceptional job at building a sound system and getting players this system that fit what he is trying to do. I have already told the guys 100 times that you are not going to be screaming down the field wide-open. You have to make contested plays. They are going to match it up. We can try to confuse them as much as possible, coach Patterson has probably seen every look imaginable thrown at him because he is consistently putting out top ranked defenses in the conference and in the country. We have to win the one-on-one battles; we have to limit our mistakes. There are going to be tough yards. I think we are ready for the challenge, we are excited to get out there and play them. They know that we are going up against a stingy defense.
On showing TCU different looks on offense
There is always going to be different wrinkles. That is something that TCU does a really good job at, is what you are good at they are going to practice it and practice it until they make sure they are comfortable enough to defend it. You have keep thinking; you have to change presentations. You have to be at your best because they are going to make you earn every single yard.
Assistant Coach (Running Backs) Tony Dews
On what he stressed during the bye week
The first thing we stressed is academics. We’ve got to make sure everybody’s on page and caught up to where they’re supposed to be school-wise. This is a good week to stay on them, we have been on them all semester, but to make sure that they’re caught up if they got behind on anything. We really stressed the academics this week. When we got out on the field to practice again, the fundamental part of it and just continue to get better at all the little things, the details. Making sure we have the ball secure. There were a couple times we got loose with the ball in my opinion against Kansas. So we don’t want to get lackadaisical with fundamentals.
On senior running back Justin Crawford getting limited carries
Justin has been completely selfless. Again, that goes back to what I said in February, once we got through spring ball and this far in the season, he understands that sometimes it helps him. Going through last year where he got banged up a little bit, he appreciates that there’s some depth in the room and that we can share the load. They also share the load in practice, so it is not one guy all practice long carrying it and carrying it and carrying it. We can get him in and out in practice, get (sophomore running back) Kennedy (McKoy) in and out in practice, get (freshman running back) Tevin (Bush) in and out and (sophomore running back) Martell (Pettaway). It has been a pleasant problem to have if it is a problem at all. The kids have been great. They have been awesome during the games. They are all pulling for each other. Like I said, there was a game where Martell caught a ball and you look on the sideline and Justin is the first one out. He is probably going to get us a penalty for being out in the white, but he had his helmet in the air running down the sideline cheering on Martell. That’s a great thing to see as a coach.
Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers) Tyron Carrier
On what the wide receiver unit needs to work on
A lot of technique work, getting guys healthy, getting their legs back under them. We didn’t ask too much of them this week, a couple practices here and there; we gave them a lot of time off. The Sunday practice we had, they came in with a lot of energy, which is expected after getting a little time off. It’s a big game and I just hope these guys stand up to it.
On how he can get the receivers to play consistently
That’s what the last week of practice was about. Getting those guys to push through when things feel easy, it is nothing to look forward to. We were really tough on them more than anything. Last week’s practices helped us a lot.
On how he will keep the receivers prepared for the long stretch of games coming up
One day at a time, one day at a time. One of the things that the conditioning guys really do a great job at is all the recovering things they have. As far as keeping their legs under them, I think we do a great job with that. Just getting more in tune with what we do and how we do it is the biggest thing. The receivers and the quarterback are getting on a really good page together. They can give each other a look and they can make those plays, different play calls. Those guys are picking it up more than anything.
Redshirt Sophomore Offensive Lineman Matt Jones
On how it feels to be ranked in No. 2 total offense in the Big 12
Yeah, it feels good, but we don’t really pay attention to that. We take it week-by-week. We’re just focused on TCU.
On what TCU’s team looks like this year
They’re a good team, a well-rounded team. They’re just a good team.
On the team’s emphasis during the bye week
Getting healthy, continue to grow as a team and just getting better. We’re getting prepared for TCU.
On the improved communication for the offensive line
It’s improved quite a bit. We’re all more confident now and we’re gelling pretty well.
Redshirt Senior Wide Receiver Ka’Raun White
On TCU’s cornerbacks
They rotate their one’s and two’s. I wouldn’t say there’s a drop off between those two so they’re going to have fresh bodies out there and that’s going to be a big challenge for us.
On what the receiving corps worked on last week
A lot of individual work. Working on our sticks and giving cues for the quarterback so they know when to trigger the ball. Working on a few things like coming back to the ball and making contested catches. Just working on little things fundamentally.
On how important the cues are for the quarterback
(Assistant coach (Receivers) Coach (Tyron) Carrier taught us about playing receiver so there’s little things we do with our shoulders to not to give away our routes and working on our sticks so the quarterback knows when to trigger so the ball’s not late or too early. Things like that we work on, but as long as we’re doing our assignments we should be fine.
Junior Wide Receiver David Sills V
On improvements being made during practice
We’ve really just been taking all the practices very seriously. We haven’t been taking anything for granted. We’ve really been attacking every period of practice at full speed, not taking any plays off or anything like that. We’ve been working on the finer points of everything more. We’ve been working on technique and stuff like that. I think that we lost a little bit of that after the ECU game. Just matching up our hands, our feet and stuff like that. (Assistant Coach (Receivers) coach (Tyron) Carrier has been working with us. We’ve really been knocking down on that kind of stuff.
On playing on the road against TCU
Playing in a big game on the road is what you dream of when you’re a kid. You always play for the games when every seat in the house is packed, there’s no empty seats and everyone is screaming and it’s going to be a great game. We’re focused. Coming off a bye week, we’ve got a little bit of extra time to prepare for TCU and we know that they’re preparing for us just as much as we are. We really just have to get the extra film session, get the extra mental edge on them, so we can go in there and know what they’re doing and figure out how we can beat them.
On playing at TCU in 2015
It was a great environment when I went there. Last time I believe it was a Thursday night game. That was a really cool experience but we went there and we didn’t get the win. We’re definitely looking to go to TCU now and get a win out of it.
Senior Cornerback Elijah Battle
On what can be learned from last week’s matchup against Kansas
Looking at the Kansas game, we just have to get better off that film. We came out with the win, but there’s a lot of mistakes we made and we just have to fix them.
On the issue of missed tackles against Kansas
Yeah, we missed a lot of tackles. There wasn’t anything wrong with alignment or execution. We just missed a lot of tackles and stuff like that.
On the emotion of the locker room headed into the matchup with No. 8 TCU
We know it’s going to be a tough challenge. They’re a good team. We’ve got to go in there with the right mindset and prepare all week to be ready for them.
On improvements that were made during practice this week
We definitely improved things. Just getting better with technique and stuff like that; tackling and all that little stuff.
Redshirt Junior Safety Dravon Askew-Henry
On the defense’s main emphasis during the bye week
Just to get better at our tackling, our scheme and just to get better at what we do on defense.
On getting the injured players back and ready to play
Yeah, we always have to be ready to roll if somebody goes down, then the next man always has to be ready to roll.
On TCU’s offense
They are a very good football team. I have been watching film on them. We will see them Saturday and we will be ready to go. I am pretty sure they will be too.
On TCU being ranked in the Top-10
We are not really looking into what they are ranked or anything like that. We are taking it game-by-game. They are a good team and we are going to bring our A game Saturday.
Sophomore Defensive Lineman Reese Donahue
On having the bye week
I think it’s good. I always think bye weeks are good. It gives you time to heal up and set up your opponent. Sometimes it’s even good because the coaches gave us a couple days off. It’s good to get a break and get away a little bit. You come back in fresh. Obviously, I love to play a game every Saturday but it’s always good to have a bye week.
On how a college football player with a big game coming up spends two days off
Thinking about it. Definitely try to do some things. All year long we talk about recovery and getting away from it. A lot of people don’t realize that recovery isn’t just physically, sometimes you’ve got to do a little bit of mental recovery. Sometimes you have to call a family member or watch a movie. As much as you want to think about it, sometimes it’s good to get away from it so you come back fresh and ready to go.
On the biggest threat that TCU poses
Everything. You can’t let one part of your game slip. I think that they can hurt us in multiple ways so we’ve just got to go in prepared.