Brice Pollock preps for massive game versus #7 BYU
Brice Pollock has been a massive playmaker for Texas Tech in the secondary. The corner has multiple picks on the year, including last week’s huge interception of Avery Johnson on the Wildcats’ first play from scrimmage. Pollock will look to continue his turnover ways in Lubbock Saturday vs #7 BYU.
Adapting to Avery Johnson
Pollock had a very good performance against Avery Johnson and Kansas State. In a pursuit of Avery Johnson he couldn’t quite tackle the talented quarterback, but on the next opportunity he was able to take full advantage of it.
“So the first one there was kind of like a blocker on me. I felt a blocker, so I just tried to beat the block before he got to me. I didn’t really trust my leverage and my players were coming inside of me.”
“So in the second one, I was like, let me just take a shot, and if I miss, I know my teammates are going on the inside me, then I made the tackle.”
The corner also shared what he saw on his interception of Avery Johnson and the development of the play.
“So I’m in a cover three concept, just in my zone, then it really just turns into man. So I see Avery scrambling. So I figure there he was going to come down, so I just drove on it. And when the ball’s in the air, just made play on it.”
Brice also spoke a little bit on the trust of this team, and specifically in the secondary to make those types of plays on the fly.
“I think everybody’s just been building confidence, getting better, and putting in work after practice. I know Amier (Boyd) stays after practice all the time to just work on his technique and get better.”
“I think we’ve all just been trusting each other, just knowing, like I have a safety back there if I mess up, so I can drive on this route a little bit more aggressively. I think our bond and connection has been growing in chemistry.”
Bear Bachmeier’s archetype
Bear Bachmeier is a very talented passer, but is also built bigger as a runner compared to Avery Johnson. The quarterback can take over a game in different ways, but BYU relies extremely heavily on the run game. The Red Raiders will need to continue their run defense dominance against the Cougars and Bachmeier.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously we’re going to focus on containing both of them, like the same but I mean, Avery had a little bit more speed than compared to bear, but they both come around. We’re going to respect them the same way.”
“He’s, like, sneaky fast. So, I mean, we know we’re gonna have to, like, focus on tackling this week again. So that’s pretty much it.”
Parker Kingston
Parker Kingston is a deep-threat receiver for the Cougars. The redshirt-junior out of Layton, Utah has 516 yards on the year; racking up 133 yards on 7 receptions vs Iowa State in their last outing. But that isn’t the only receiver the Red Raiders will be watching for Saturday morning.
“He’s got some speed on him. Good routes. He stops, pretty good, but all of them are pretty good. Number 2 (Chase Roberts), and number 5 (Cody Hagen). So we’re gonna have to be real dialed in this week and just trust our technique.”
Big game atmosphere
Words can’t say enough to just how big the game on Saturday vs BYU will be for the Red Raider’s goals. If Texas Tech can win this one and close out strong vs UCF, and West Virginia they will play in Arlington for the Big 12 Championship. Brice Pollock spoke on how big it is to play in a game like this with the environment it’ll hold.
“For me, I’ve always wanted to be on College Gameday and playing in a game like this. But I honestly feel like every game has been important, for this season, so we’re just gonna treat as another game.”
“But I can’t wait for the environment to be loud with all the fans. Yeah, it’s really exciting, like a dream come true.”
Praising Jacob Rodriguez + David Bailey
There have been multiple impact players on this defense, including Jacob Rodriguez and David Bailey who were both recognized Tuesday afternoon as two of the thirteen semifinalist for the Lombardi award. The award honors the nations top linemen in the country.
“Yeah, I’m proud of them. It’s been great seeing like how good they are, honestly, like David obviously helps me a lot by getting pressure. And then J-Rod, I’ve never seen someone so good at punching the ball out. So they’re very well deserving of those awards, for sure.”
Pollock also picked up one of the aforementioned punchouts Jacob Rodriguez forced against Kansas State.
“Yeah, so I’m on a corner blitz. I see J-Rod coming in for the tackle, and he punches it out like he always does. So I just jumped on it. He does it every week and he just works on it all the time.”
Summary
Brice Pollock will have to not allow any big plays from the BYU wide receiver core for the Red Raiders to get it done Saturday. The Red Raiders host BYU in the third meeting all-time between the two schools. College Gameday will be broadcast on campus 8 to 11AM CT on Saturday in the green space west of Jones AT&T Stadium.
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