On Thursday afternoon, Texas Tech DL Eli Howard, DB Vaughnte Dorsey, WR Dylan Cantrell and QB Nic Shimonek met with the media following practice.

Here are the takeaways from the session

- Dorsey said he personally is enjoying everything about bowl preparation besides the cold weather. He mentioned his injury back against Houston was a real wake-up call moment as he has grown from it on the field.

- “I would say the tempo of the game is extremely different to me,” Dorsey said. “I would say the light came on for me probably a couple of games after my injury. I kind of had a relapse and then came back and was seeing things a little different, things were more slowed down.”

- Shimonek and Howard both said it’s nice having academics out of the way so that the team can focus on USF and the bowl game.

- “Obviously they have a lot of great athletes,” Shimonek said. “They recruit that state pretty good. Head coach is going to have them ready to play, but as far ... as pressure, at the end of the day, we’re both going to Birmingham. I wouldn’t say – I haven’t heard anything about pressure. I can’t speak on them but like I said – ready to get out there on the 23rd and have some fun.”

- WRs Quan Shorts, Antoine Wesley, TJ Vasher and De’Quan Bowman are all receivers that Cantrell and Shimonek said will benefit well with the extra reps. All four have received approval from Cantrell as the guys to watch for within the next few years.

- Shimonek said that practice began on Tuesday and that the vibe was a little different than normal in-season practice.

- Cantrell stated that it’s nice having those extra reps in, especially for the seniors, so that the team chemistry is still rising. He added that practice is still competitive but that they’re all happy to be playing an extra game together.

- “Finally, to be done with school – me hopefully forever – to focus on football is nice,” Cantrell said. “We’re ready to get after it and start game planning. It’s just a lot of fun. Practice is more fun. I wouldn’t say relaxed but guys are just more comfortable and having fun. Either way we’re going to attack every practice and prepare to win a game”

- As for his backups, Shimonek said Jett Duffey and McLane Carter are both splitting reps. He added that both have a great shot at becoming the man that takes over. He said that could become clear as soon as spring camp or summer.

- For Shimonek, he will begin training for the next level as soon as the day after Christmas.

- “I don’t plan on taking a whole lot of time off,” Shimonek said. “I feel like there’s guys not playing in a bowl game that are trying to get to the next level as well that have been training for the past two or three weeks.”

- Cantrell said his main focus is the bowl game for now but he will also begin training for the NFL following the game.

- “To us it’s the next game so therefore it’s the most important game,” Dorsey said. “We look to win every game we go into so it’s very important.”

- More on the defense, Howard gave a shout-out to Noah Jones on the defensive line. He said the young lineman has been learning to bat down balls at the line and even hauled some in.

- Howard’s take on USF’s QB Quinton Flowers is the mindset of bend but don’t break. He said Flowers is going to make plays against them – that’s a given. But, the defenses focus will be stop his running ability to force the Bulls offense to go aerial.

- One similarity to the Big 12 that USF has is their leader Charlie Strong, former Texas coach.

- Howard said they’ll see formations they’ve seen before since they had to go up against Strong in the past. The goal will be to stop the run in general.

- Leading that defense in doing so is defensive coordinator David Gibbs who turned around a lackluster 2016 defense into one that led the Big 12 in turnovers this season.

- “Coach Gibbs is a great coach,” Dorsey said. “He pays attention to detail so he’s teaching me when things get rough for me on the field that I still have to keep good body language and just go about things the right way even in times of distress.

- “He teaches a lot of technique and he has a way of being a man and just teaching us to be a man. So I think it comes together and plays a role in learning technique as well so it all works together.”