Terrance Carter, Skyler Gill-Howard Excited About Game 1 Success
The first game of a highly anticipated season for Texas Tech took place on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium, resulting in a 67-7 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Red Raiders took advantage of what they saw on defense early and piled up the points significantly before halftime, not allowing a touchdown from the Golden Lions until the 4th quarter.
The defense line for Tech has been one of the biggest talking points this offseason, with players like David Bailey, Lee Hunter, Romello Height, and Skyler Gill-Howard. Along with the big names up front on defense, the newest offensive threats, such as Reggie Virgil and Terrance Carter, have also created even more excitement surrounding this season. Carter and Gill-Howard spoke to the media on Saturday after the win to discuss their first game at Jones AT&T Stadium, what they saw from their teams, and more.
First Game Day as Red Raiders
With both Carter and Gill-Howard from smaller conferences, they both admitted not being used to home crowds like the Red Raiders fans showed tonight, and it was an amazing experience for both of them.
“The atmosphere was just absolutely amazing. To have a home game sell out, I’ve never had that before in my career,” Gill-Howard said. “I’ve experienced crowds like that, but never for a home game so just for the fans to come out and support us, it just means a lot.”
“I can say I definitely loved it,” Carter said. “I ain’t ever get no sold out crowd. Most people I’ve had was like 21,000 so just seeing the atmosphere and how many people came out to support it really showed a lot, and how much they care about Lubbock.”
Good things, Continuing to Improve
With any first game in a season, nothing will be perfect or exactly how you want it every single play. However, Tech showed plenty of positive signs tonight, but will continue to improve in every aspect of the game week after week.
“I’d say for me it’s just all the basics. It’s just the beginning,” Carter said. “Just working on all aspects of my game. There’s really no exact thing I’m working on. I’m really working on everything.”
“As a defense, I feel like we were really efficient on third down, keeping them off schedule, but obviously the things we got to clean up,” Gill-Howard said. “I think just keep communicating like we do, and keep playing together and trusting each other we will be just fine.”
Embracing the Moment
What many players have said all offseason is that they were just ready to play another opponent. After all the hype and anticipation, they got to go out and play like they know how and appreciate where they are. Not only do they like where they already are, but they will continue to get better.
“I think we’re all just embracing the pressure. It’s really nothing to talk about now,” Carter said. “It’s just time to put it out on display, but I think we did just that tonight.”
“I mentioned (pregame huddle) the crowd, the fans. I was like ‘look around. Be grateful and be blessed because we’re not gonna get this back, and when the clock hits zero, the game’s over,'” Gill-Howard said. “Just keeping everybody grounded and just be grateful in the moment because one day football is gonna be over for all of us. So as long as we stay grounded, be grateful for what’s in front of us, that’s what I told them to understand.”
