Takeaways: Kingsbury, Red Raiders turn focus to Kansas following loss

Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury addressed the media on Sunday after taking in a day following a loss to No. 15 Oklahoma State in the Red Raiders’ Big 12 opener. Joining Kingsbury was WR Cameron Batson, DL Kolin Hill and DL Tony Jones.

Opening up the session was an update on WR Keke Coutee who left the game with an injury.

Kingsbury said he would be day-to-day from here on out and is unsure if the Lufkin native will be available this week.

Coutee had an MRI on his leg Sunday morning, but Kingsbury said he didn’t practice. The severity of the injury is unknown to Kingsbury but he mentioned that Coutee will still be watched closely even if it isn’t serious.

Moving forward, WRs Antoine Wesley, Ja’Deion High, JoJo Robinson, along with Batson, will be in the mix moving forward if needed.

“We’re a little thin there but we have faith in those guys,” Kingsbury said. “They can make plays. I thought Antoine came in and competed last night well.”

A more positive note from the game was seeing LB Jordyn Brooks and DB Vaughnte Dorsey on the field for the Red Raiders after suffering injuries against Houston the previous week.

Kingsbury mentioned that Brooks was near 100 percent going into the game.

“That was big time. Both of them worked through the week, worked through their injuries,” Kingsbury said. “They were able to go out their and play on limited practice and play a bunch, so you have to tip your hat to those guys. They’re competitive young men and wanted to be out there and wanted to help their team win the game, so you have to give them a lot of credit.”

Kingsbury said his primary takeaway from the game was immediately moving forward and looking at the areas the team struggled in.

In this case, it was the offensive line play, running attack and opposing QB ground game that hurt them along with a variety of other things.

“I think as a coach you initially see that side of things – see what you could’ve done better. So that’s what we’re trying to evaluate and see how we can improve.”

Kingsbury focused on Oklahoma State’s play by saying how good of a team he saw and faced.

Opposing QB Mason Rudolph scored the Cowboys’ final score, that eventually secured the win, on a pull where he was allowed to run free into the end zone. Kingsbury said the team was missed aligned at the times Rudolph rushed.

Jones said Rudolph is an NFL type QB and was the toughest guy the defense has played so far on the year.

He also mentioned that the preparation for the rest of the Big 12 was set last night even with the loss.

Kingsbury added that the locker room atmosphere was a sense of understanding following the loss, but more importantly how the crowd and energy was there to back the team.

“The crowd was unbelievable. It was great energy. It was electric,” Kingsbury said. “We wanted to win the game for them, obviously, our fans. Didn’t get it done but there’s a lot of games left. We know we haven’t played our best game yet. I think they’re encouraged by that but obviously disappointed.”

Jones spoke about the crowd and energy the team felt on the field from the fans, too.

He said he didn’t pay attention enough to notice that the crowd size would diminish in the previous games, but that wasn’t the case last night as a majority of the crowd stayed until the final whistle.

“I didn’t really know about that from the past, but I recognized we had a minute something left and all the fans were still here. That just shows how much support they have for us.”

Moving over on the special teams side of things, Hill said communication and a lack of execution was apparent whenever the Cowboys were able to block a punt to get the ball inside the red zone.

Hill said the defense wasn’t down today at practice. He added that the veteran leaders were vocal, but that everyone was trying to get each other motivated during game time.

“One thing that we need to do better is execute the calls that we had,” Hill said. “There were some plays that we just weren’t executing plays and some calls. That’s what we’re going to practice better at.”

For QB Nic Shimonek, Kingsbury said his message to him moving forward is to keep his head up and focus the upcoming week on Kansas.

“He’s always hard on himself,” Kingsbury said. “Make sure (he has) 24 hours to pout and move on because he’s had a heck of a start to this season. He’s done a lot of great things – battled his tail off last night; had us in a position to win, but we just didn’t get it done. Just make sure he enjoys the ride.”

Shimonek could be seen looking toward the sidelines often, but Kingsbury assured that this wasn’t due to confusion, but just something the coaches want to do.

Batson added that offensively the team was up against a tough, experienced Oklahoma State secondary. He added that you have to give credit to the Cowboys, but the team needs to find that killer instinct again.

“I felt like we could’ve executed better,” Batson said. “You know the coaches, they said they took the blame for it, could’ve called some different plays. But at the end of the day that’s what we want – five minutes left, we’re out there on the field, our offense. We need to be able to score in those situations. So looking forward, whenever our foot is on someone’s throat we have to be able to finish. We can’t give OSU’s offense a second chance because they have a great offense over there as well. So giving them the ball back, they were able to score. We just have to learn from it. Next time we have five minutes left we have to be able to punch the ball in the end zone.”