"The focus is going to be on us": Kenny Perry's mindset remains steady heading into Arizona State
No matter how much the Red Raiders keep winning and dominating opponents, the coaching staff is still not satisfied and knows there is another level of play this team is capable of. One of the main reasons they’ve expressed for their success is that they attack each week with a “1-0” mentality and make sure to keep the main thing the main thing.
That mindset doesn’t change when Texas Tech heads to Tempe to take on Arizona State on Saturday. Continuing to focus on the football and ensuring everyone does their job is key to their success. Special teams coordinator Kenny Perry spoke to the media on Tuesday to discuss this mindset, his group’s growth, and more.
Punt returner Coy Eakin
With Tristian Gentry being injured the past few games, Coy Eakin has stepped into the spot of starting punt returner. In the 4th quarter, Eakin had a 36-yard punt return to put the Red Raiders in great field position to score again before the end of the game. After the performances he’s had, Perry is very confident in his ability to return punts while Gentry starts returning to practice.
“I’m glad he’s (Gentry) back so we can kinda see where he’s at,” Perry said. “Just kinda going with the next man up mentality here. He’s back practicing. Kid’s going to be dynamic in the future, and he’s had a good year for us so far. Coy stepped in and did great… it’s gonna be whoever’s ready to go, they’re gonna play.”
Continuing to make adjustments
During the first few games, when Gentry had some long punt returns, they were called back due to penalties. Perry was determined to improve those, and there have been very few penalties on special teams since. However, he attributes a lot of that to his players and their determination to improve.
“We’ve done a good job, except for the penalties early, you know, we had some big punt returns from Tristian, and that’s the one thing that, you know, we really focused on after those first two games, man, we just can’t shoot ourselves in the foot,” Perry said. “So our guys have really been working… we’re going to get one of those things this year pretty, pretty soon, because those guys are really they’re working their butt off up front to help us get that lane. So I love what they’re doing. Just got to keep fighting. Hopefully one will hit.”
Perry’s mentality doesn’t change this week
The matchup against the Sun Devils will be another huge road test for the Red Raiders. With Arizona State being the reigning Big 12 champs and Tech being a top 10 team in the country, there will be a lot of eyes on this game. However, the coaching staff is not worried about the outside noise, and their only focus is on the team and the football. That mindset has stayed the same from week 1 until now.
“I think everyone’s got us circled. I mean, you know, you’re playing a good team. You want to upset them, right?… I hope they got us circled, if not, then they’re not doing a good job,” Perry said. “Arizona State, that’s up to them and prepare how they’re going to prepare and we’re going to worry about us and do the same thing we’ve been doing. Coach (McGuire) has done a great job, every week, you know, getting our guys mentally and physically, you know, ready to play. So you know, we’re gonna be ready to play. And like I said, I’m gonna worry about us.”
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