Takeaways: Red Raiders talk urgency, upcoming Baylor game and more
On Tuesday evening WR Keke Coutee, DL Eli Howard, LB Christian Taylor and OL Travis Bruffy addressed the media before wrapping up practices ahead of Saturday’s matchup against Baylor.
Here is what they had to say and some notes about previous weeks, finishing strong and the Matt Rhule led Bears.
- Coutee is coming off of a strong performance against Kansas State. He said it was one of his bests in weeks. He hauled in 12 receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
- Coutee said he was limited in previous outings but that he believes this will get him going.
- As for Baylor, Coutee was asked about how he was able to have a breakout performance against them last year. Here is what he had to say about that and how they appear on defense this season:
- “Just the coverages they were playing, but this year they’re going to switch it up a little bit. But hopefully all of our guys will have a lot of success. Now, everybody is doing a three-double-cloud – they’re doing it as well. They’ll play a lot of man – more than anybody we’ve played this year. So it’ll be important for us to see those routes and get open in the middle of the field.”
- This season, we saw some changes to the outside receiver positions. WR Dylan Cantrell and T.J. Vasher have stepped up at those spots and have been able to make plays for the Red Raiders.
- “Both of them are great players. T.J. is a young guy getting experience now. He’s coming up big time. Having Dylan on the other side as well, you know, you can count on Dylan anytime so both of them are producing very well for us.”
- Coutee said playing in AT&T Stadium is like no other, but he mentioned that he doesn’t get to see Dez Bryant’s locker before games. However, he said he does speak with him before games sometimes.
- Howard has also had some shining moments of his own this season with his talent of batting down passes coming out recently.
- He said he had three against Kansas State and four against the Jayhawks. He attributes his ability to coach David Gibbs saying to always play the opposing QB and that good pass rushers get their hands up if they can’t bring him down.
- Howard will also be going into Saturday without the cast he has worn in previous weeks. He said he’s going to try to get both hands on the passes instead of just batting them down.
- One thing that the defense has seen the past two weeks are ejections for targeting calls. Howard said the team has to find a happy-medium to those, meaning that they’ll have to play smarter but try not to lose that edge of aggression they play with.
- “It depends in the Big 12. It depends on the officiating – every ref is going to call it differently. But it’s not like we’re looking to target. We’re just trying to play aggressive. With pass interference we’re trying to play aggressive to not give a big pass up. You definitely got to find a happy-medium but it depends who is officiating. Every ref sees things differently. We try to be physical but definitely not try to be cheap or foul at any point in the game.”
- Howard said the urgency is fueled by sending the seniors on the team off on a positive note.
- With an ill Jordyn Brooks at linebacker, Taylor has had to fill in at times to give Riko Jeffers or Dakota Allen some rest. Taylor said it’s a learning experience playing next to Allen.
- He mentioned that the defense has been able to improve this year because the chemistry has strengthened. Taylor originally was a safety and said the transition to linebacker was difficult.
- “It was tough at first especially being so close to the line. You just want to run in there sometimes. But over the few months or year or so I feel like I’ve progressed.”
- On the flip side, Bruffy said he could say the same thing for the offensive line when it comes to blending together.
- He said the unit is playing more together and beating as one. He mentioned that the division isn’t there like it was the previous seasons.
- Bruffy’s biggest challenge on the field, not only this season but in his life, was Oklahoma DL Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. He said Okoronkwo exposed his weakness and isn’t afraid to admit that he got flat out beat against the Sooners. Threw in that he’s a player he’ll be watching play on Sunday’s.
- “I studied him more than I’ve studied any opponent ever in my life. I knew what he was going to throw at me. I knew he loved that inside spin. I knew that he was quick off the edge and I just gotta give it to him. I’m not one to make excuses or anything – that dude beat me. He was the better player that day. I’ve studied my film. I studied the habits I got into then I tried to fix it last week during practice and I think I did improve on those things because the player I played last week. He tried to do some of the same moves and I faired a lot better.”
- Bruffy said he’s studied Baylor and notices that they play hard every down despite the Bears’ record. He added that they have the most upmost respect for them and aren’t taking them lightly.
- One thing that has made its way back into the Red Raider offense is the run game with RB Tre King emerging this time. Here is what Bruffy said about blocking for him:
- “You can give that man an inch and he’ll make it look like a mile. That dude’s the best back I’ve ever been around. He’s insane. His work ethic is awesome. I mean in practice you think every rep is overtime in the Super Bowl with him. He’s an intense player. Loves what he does. Studies film with us – studies pass protection more than any other running back I’ve ever seen. I just love blocking for him.”
- Bruffy’ last question was about the urgency the team has. Here’s his response:
- “As high as it can be. We’ve had some disappointing games – all of us. We fell short. This is not the way we expected things to go but I feel like a focal point in the leadership on the team is responding to adversity. It’s something you’re going to have to learn in life – whether you learn it now in college football or learn it down the road. I feel like we’ve all come together and realize we’re not going to let the last four games beat us for a fifth time. We’re not going to let it determine what the image of this team is going to be. I feel like we have three games to really prove who we are. We’ve shown it in spurts. We’ve shown flashes of being a good team, putting it together, but for four quarters our sense of urgency is set for playing a full game, all together, all three sides of the ball and it’s something we’re looking forward to do.”