Shiel Wood, Texas Tech defense prep for Oklahoma State
Shiel Wood met up with the local media at the weekly media availability to discuss this week’s matchup against Oklahoma State. Texas Tech is coming off their first loss of the season, losing 26-22 to now #24 Arizona State in Tempe. The Red Raiders defense was extremely solid against the Sun Devils. Giving the Red Raiders an opportunity to take the lead late, but Sam Leavitt and Arizona State scored with under a minute left in regulation to retake the lead and ultimately the win.
Preparing For The Cowboys
The Red Raiders will look to take care of business against 1-6 (0-4) Oklahoma State. The Cowboys in the midst of one of the worst seasons in school history, firing long-time head coach Mike Gundy in September.
“I think they’re doing a really nice job schematically. I like what they’re doing. They’re doing, just a lot of different things. From a formation standpoint, quarterback run game, they’re playing multiple quarterbacks. You know, they’ve got some plays where the running back may be going in one direction, with pullers going back the other way, where the quarterback can follow the pullers and give it to the back.”
“So they’ve got a lot of trick plays, and some play actions off of their run actions. So it’ll be a challenge for us this week.”
“Every week, there’s challenges. You know, you look at the last ball game they had a couple with every quarterbacks that they played, so, yeah, maybe a little bit. But every week it’s hard to win games, it really is.”
“And there’s challenges from a schematic standpoint, there’s challenges from a personnel standpoint. And each week, coaches, staff, players doing their dead level best to be as prepared as we can be. And this week’s no different.”
AJ Holmes
AJ Holmes had some massive shoes to fill Saturday afternoon, taking the place of Skyler Gill-Howard at defensive tackle. Shiel Wood weighs in, and how he believes Holmes performed.
“I thought he played really well. I thought I think AJ has played well in every game we played, and that was to be expected. That’s how he played last year. That’s how he’s been practicing all year. So thought he played a really good game, and looking forward to seeing him play this week.”
Learning From The Loss + Adversity
Texas Tech hadn’t trailed this season prior to mid-way thru the first quarter in Tempe. The Red Raider defense forced multiple field goals from the Sun Devils, ultimately unable to hold them to three in the final drive.
“Yeah, just like every week, just continue consistency from a fundamental standpoint, and then just some things that we got scheme to the tackle with a little bit that we can learn from.”
“Maybe coach a little bit better. And so every week, you know that’s that’s the same thing again, sometimes we’ve talked about the past years, there’s things that show up that maybe could hurt you in games that don’t, and then sometimes there’s things that show up and do.”
“So every week, as players and coaches, we just look to learn from any mistakes. Whether that’s game planning, how you’re coaching something, or a technique maybe that a player’s playing, and just try to improve. That’s how you keep making progress. And just, you know, learn from mistakes and try to not make the same mistake again.”
The Red Raiders had faced some adversity, but they had yet to face the adversity of a loss.
“I learned that when adversity stared them right in the face, they were not phased by it. They just keep battling. And I’ll be honest with you, because I learned that in a game for the first time, but that’s exactly what I expected, because that’s who they are every day, and it’s pretty cool to get a coach a group like that.”
Brenden Jordan & Deep Shots
Shiel Wood was asked about Brenden Jordan‘s performance, and his role as safety. Arizona State was able to hit a few deep during Saturday afternoon.
“Well, I think that on those plays we’re talking about really is my responsibility. I think he did the best job that he could do in the position that he got put in. They did a nice job of, really, I think, working hard as a coaching staff to find something that they could go to.”
Different Schemes On The Last Drive?
Texas Tech was able to force multiple field goal attempts from Arizona State, only allowing two touchdowns. Although the defense wasn’t able to force a field goal on the final drive, it was still a solid overall performance. Did they change up the scheme on the final drive?
“I mean, same defense that we run. We mixed up the coverages and mixed up the looks a little bit just like you would do in a two minute drill. But things that we had run during the ball game previously, and obviously, we were trying to do our best to not allow them get in the field goal range and win the game in regulation.”
“The 4th and 3 play, you know, out of field goal range, and tried to go with a play to win the game, and it just didn’t end up working out for us. So next time, we’ll try to execute better and have a better defense when we are in that situation again.”
“We got it done, and then just came up short on that last play. And then, unfortunately, you know, not only did they convert the 4th down, but then they were able to get a little bit extra yardage down the field, and then things kind of unraveled from there.”
“So, you know, again, we’ve got a two minute plan every week, and hopefully next time we’ll execute better coaching wise, maybe put them in a better situation to win that situation.”
Tired?
Texas Tech’s defense was on the field for 37:12 during Saturday’s contest. Shiel Wood gives insight into if that impacted their performance on the final drive, or other things contributed.
“Nope, our job as coaches, defensively and as players is to go out there and get stops, and doesn’t matter whether we have to play 50 reps or 150 reps. You know, that’s why we run to the ball each and every day of practice. That’s why our guys prepare, from a meeting standpoint, as hard as they do, and study going into each week’s game.”
“That’s why they’re in the training room right now getting extra work to recover so that, you know, for these five ball games left. You know, we battled seven times this season, and I’ve been really pleased with our preparation and our effort level. I think our guys are playing their rear ends off.”
“I think what I’m probably most proud of. And kind of going off on a tangent, I guess. But we got back in that game. We took the lead. You know, it looked pretty bleak at a couple points there in that fourth quarter we were down 19 to 7 in the 4th, and we went back up 22 to 19.”
“And I wish I could have done in my role a better job to help us, you know, win that 4th and 2, but the resolve that our players had in that 4th quarter and that entire game, to just continue to keep throwing punches and running to the ball and giving tremendous effort did not surprise me in the least, and I’m excited to see him do that again on Saturday.”
Ultimately
Personally, I thought the Red Raider defense was excellent Saturday afternoon but unfortunately couldn’t stop the Sun Devils from getting in the end zone. They will be facing statically one of the worst offenses in the country Saturday, and I expect them to feast at the Jones.
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