Takeaways: Kingsbury pleased with team's week of prep so far

The Red Raiders will head out to Tempe this weekend to take on Arizona State in the primetime late game clash between the Pac-12 and Big 12. The local media spoke with Coach Kliff Kingsbury and select defensive players ahead of the contest on Tuesday night to preview the matchup...

-Coach Kingsbury has noted since Saturday night that he wasn't happy with the sloppy play and lack of physicality by the offense against SFA. So, how have things gone in the first two practices since then? Kliff's thoughts: "I think we refocused. The coaching staff seemed to all be in agreement that we had to tighten a lot of things up, work on fundamentals, techniques, and then just be more physical at the point of attack. We've worked at it the first two days, and we've got to get better at it again tomorrow, and then we'll see."

-When asked what kind of challenge that Arizona State's blitz-heavy defense poses to Patrick Mahomes and the offense, Kliff knows it'll be about pass protection and making good decisions for his starting QB and the O-line: "I like Pat to not get hit. They do a good job of getting to the quarterback, good job of causing negative plays, so he's got to be smart and known when to get rid of the ball, know when to hold onto it and make those special plays that he can make, so I think there will be a fine line for him, but he's seen some pressure defenses before, and I think he'll be ready."

-Kliff once again stressed turnover margin as one of the biggest emphasis points for the team, especially heading on the road against a power five team so early on in the season.

-So, how good does Kingsbury think the Sun Devils are, and how much of a step up will that be from SFA? His thoughts: "I don't know honestly. Obviously Arizona State is a Pac-12 team, but there's a lot of parity in college football. You see teams all over the country winning at the (FCS) level over the weekend, so I'm sure -- from what I've seen on film, they're a very good team. They'll compete in the Pac-12, so we'll see what kind of a step up it is."

-The head coach on how his two redshirt freshman tackles - Terence Steele and Madison Akamnonu - played last Saturday after getting a chance to watch the film: "They did okay. Got a long way to go, but for their first real game they had some good plays, had some bad plays. They've got to work technique, got to work fundamentals. When they got tired especially I thought some of that went out the window, so they've got to get ready to play 85 or 90 snaps a game."

-On the WWE Monday Night Raw show his strength staff put on: "I was just glad nobody died."

-Much has been made about how little Tech ran the ball against SFA on Saturday night, and many are wondering if that will change against ASU this weekend. Kliff was very straightforward with his thoughts on the run-pass balance: "I don't know. When you've got a quarterback like we have and you can throw it every play, be accurate, and protect the football, and that's what's working, that's what we'll do. I'm not one that, hey we've got to work to establish a run game and bang our heads against a wall. We're not going to do that. If we can't run the ball, we'll throw it every play."

-Center Tony Morales was named the offensive player of the week for Tech after the game on Saturday. Coach Kingsbury on the senior and why he earned the honor: "Just his leadership. He stepped in, and he's been here a long time. This is his first real chance to be a leader on that O-line, and this is his sixth year, and I just thought he handled himself very well. Great snaps, made a bunch of great calls in protection, so that was exciting to see."

-Kliff said they won't solidify the travel roster for the weekend until Wednesday evening. Guys have still been fighting and will continue to for a spot on the plane.

-As for the play of H slot receiver KeKe Coutee, while Kliff liked what he did as a playmaker with the ball in his hands, the head coach made it clear that he wasn't real thrilled with much else: "He was soft in that game, and he knows he was soft. You can't just run around and catch passes and make plays if you aren't going to block. We're emphasizing that with him this week."

-Defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko on how he thought the defense played in the season opener: "As a group, I felt like we played really well. Of course there's always room to improve, but as a first game when you compare it to where we were in our first game last year, I think there was a big difference. I think guys are starting to buy in."

-However, Fehoko knows it will be a big step up against ASU this weekend. The sophomore also had something pretty interesting to note about the defense and their expectations on a weekly basis in stopping opposing running games: "SFA is a good school, but it's not Arizona State. Going into Tempe this week, they go fast,they tempo with two big running backs, and the thing I think we need to work on this week is just playing technique, playing fundamental," he said. "As long as we're doing our job, I'm happy with it, and I think the rest of the defense is happy with it. I think if we can hold teams under 100 (rushing yards) a game, I think that's the goal. And, just playing good defense every week, just cleaning up the mistakes."

-When asked if he thought the defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage at any point last year like they did against SFA, Fehoko pointed back to the Kansas State game last year as the one time they really did that.

-Fehoko singled out Ondre Pipkens, Kolin Hill, and Kris Williams as the guys he thought had a really good day on the defensive line against SFA.

-The DT noted that he thought that the play of both himself and Ondre Pipkens in the run game on the interior would be a big key against Arizona State this weekend and the level of success the Sun Devils may or may not have on the ground: "If me and Pip can force that inside zone to bounce out, we've got good inside backers, good outside backers there to tackle the ball carrier."