Kenny Perry coming back home to Arlington for Big 12 title game
Texas Tech special teams coordinator Kenny Perry has had plenty of experience coaching in AT&T Stadium, and with the Arlington native coming home for the Big 12 Championship game against BYU, Perry is excited about the upcoming matchup.
His special teams unit has remained dominant, forcing several blocked punts, extended returns, and even completing a fake punt. During the first matchup with the Cougars, Ashton Hampton recovered a punt after Parker Kingston muffed the ball on the catch. They were also highly successful at kicking, with Stone Harrington kicking five on the day. Now, with the red zone offense looking significantly better the past few weeks, staying true to who they are and playing their hardest is the most important thing.
“Don’t change. Just keep doing what we’re doing. I mean, what we’re doing works. You know, it’s just, you know, our coaches have done a great job this whole year, just kind of molding this team about it being about us. And my message has not changed,” Perry told the media on Tuesday. “We’re not trying to play superhero. Just go out there and do what we’ve been doing all year, and it’s worked. So don’t change what you’ve been doing. I don’t think this team will, it’s mature team, and, you know, we’re player led.”
Looking back at BYU’s special teams
The Cougars have been dominant all season, with their only loss coming from the Red Raiders in Lubbock. They are strong in all three spots on the field, and Perry expects their special teams to be as strong as it has all season on Saturday.
“I told you going back I thought they were one of the teams that was, you know, as good as us. They’re well coached. They got great specialists. They got great return guys, they really do you know they had a big return last week,” Perry said. “We’re going to have our hands full, and it’s going to come down who wins the special teams battle between us. And like I said, those guys do a great job. They’re well coached, and they got good players too. So it’ll be a challenge.”
Perry and the team’s mindset going into Saturday
At Tuesday’s press conference, Behren Morton, Jacob Rodriguez, Cam Dickey, and Romello Height also spoke to the media. When talking about the upcoming game, what was the one thing they all said was the same? That this game was no different than any other, they need to handle business, and go “1-0.” The same goes for the coaching staff. Their goal is to put together the best possible game plan to secure the Big 12 title and not worry about anything else.
“This time of year, now, it’s about winning, whatever you have to do to win the game. That’s what it’s going to be about. And you know, I I just don’t see us, I don’t see us doing anything different. I really don’t,” Perry said. “We’re going to practice hard. We’re going to practice hard on Wednesday, Thursday, our walk through day on Friday, and then we’re going to play Saturday. I don’t know why we would do something different than what we’ve done all year. And I said, once again, that goes back to coach’s message and how he’s kind of raised this team. It’s not gonna be different to me.”
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