Texas Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson held his weekly get-together with the media on Tuesday to discuss the Red Raiders’ upcoming challenge against TCU on Saturday.

Patterson said the Horned Frogs’ offense begins with both quarterback Max Duggan and running back Zach Evans. Patterson noted that it’s rare to see a quarterback that big and fast, and that both Duggan and Evans have great speed and can get the football moving.

He also complimented TCU’s “excellent” skill at the receiver position, noting that the Frogs can stretch a defense horizontally and vertically and the Tech defenders will have to make sure and keep their receivers inside and in front of them.

Patterson said one thing that makes Duggan so much different from a lot of other running quarterbacks is the combination of size to go along with the speed.

“He’s doesn’t just have good speed; that guy is fast and he’s big,” Patterson said. “He’s 6-foot-2, 215 pounds and runs a 4.3. We’ve faced him the last two years and we’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

Patterson said the defense knew heading into West Virginia that it had not performed up the expectations set in the first three games of the season and viewed the game as a new opportunity. He said the defense got a little loose in the third quarter against the Mountaineers, but he was proud with how they came out to start the game with multiple three-and-outs and a sack forced fumble.

“The first three series we played just nine plays,” Patterson said. “That shows you what happens when you get off the field on third down. The way we started had a lot to do with the way we finished because we had fuel in the tank.”

Patterson said the defense takes a workmanlike approach in practice and during the week.

“We just try to not let our highs get too high or our lows get too low,” he said. “It’s all about preparation, whether it be in the film room, game plan, getting treatment, everything goes into it. You’ve got to hit the restart every week and build as the week goes on and get ready for Saturday.”

Patterson said the injuries in the secondary and losing certain players who have cross-trained at multiple defensive back positions shrinks the amount of coverage the defense can play. He said he wanted to be more aggressive in the second half last week, but with all the injuries to the defensive backs, he didn’t want to give up anything cheap and that ultimately worked out in the Red Raiders’ favor.

“I wanted to tighten up and get after them, but I just didn’t feel like I could,” said Patterson. “I just wanted to make them execute.”

Patterson said Nate Floyd is an example of the next-man-up mentality with his ability to go from being the third cornerback on the depth chart to being a part of the safety rotation last week because of injuries.

“He came in and responded (Saturday), and I loved what I saw from him,” Patterson said. “I loved what I saw from him (Tuesday) in practice. He’s rangy and he’s a good football player. He continues to get better, and we’ll continue to challenge him moving forward.”

Patterson joked that he’s still not being 100% sure what makes Colin Schooler so great at what he does.

“I’m still trying to figure that out myself,” Patterson said. “He walks into the building, and looks like Tony Hawk propping his skateboard up and he’s got his skater shoes on. The visual may not match up with the production and performance from the guy, but he’s just so naturally instinctive.”

Patterson said that on Schooler’s strip-sack he was playing a new linebacker position that he had not played this season and has now played all three linebacker spots.

“He’s a natural,” Patterson said. “He’s never ran those pressers or stunts all year long and just runs through there and strip-sacks the quarterback. It was amazing and a great play.”

Patterson said that one of his big assessments from the Texas game was that he was playing too many people on defense and the communication got exposed as a result.

“When you’ve got a guy like Riko Jeffers out there, he sounds like a coach,” Patterson said. “He’s an incredible communicator. Then suddenly, he’s off the field and you’ve got a different group of people out there and the communication is not the same. They’re trying to tempo you, panic sets in and we don’t get lined up, we’re outflanked and they’re knocking us off the ball, it just turned into a total meltdown.”

Patterson said that college football is a performance-based business for the players as well, and while Texas Tech has strong depth, not everybody can play.

Patterson said that this week isn’t much different in terms of working with Sonny Cumbie to help break down an opposing offense.

“I always pick Sonny’s brain,” Patterson said. “I do it all the time, not just because we’re playing TCU. People all the time are doing certain things and I’ll get Sonny to tell me what they’re doing whether it be protections or route combination-wise. I’m always bouncing ideas off him. This week isn’t any different.”