PRESS CONFERENCE | Monday's normal press conference happened. You can find the transcript here (PDF) and as always, I enjoy reading this. This week there was QB Seth Doege and CB Cornelius Douglas speaking. I could take the time and highlight a good part of this, but it's worth your time to peruse at your leisure. I always try to take note as to who was named as the scout team defensive and offensive players of the week and on the offensive side, Casey Parkhill a tight end, and on the defensive side, Brad Duru, a defensive tackle, took the honors. I really don't know anything about either of these guys. I also took the time to transcribe the bit of audio from DC Art Kaufman and OC Neal Brown (hat-tip Double-T 104.3).
DC Art Kaufman: Going back to Iowa St., thought front defensive line played physical. Challenged them going into the game. Secondary guys fit into the run, stayed close with their receivers. They had one run in the first quarter, we had a mis-fit there, and the quarterback scramble. I thought our guys played hard, created some turnovers. Sometimes they come to you and you're able to make them. The thing that Cornelius Douglas brings is his intelligence of the game and from an offensive position, he's able to translate that into playing cornerback.
OC Neal Brown: Doege did definitely play well in the 1st quarter. Managed the game well in the second half. Our defense played well. We wanted to extend the drives and he did a nice job, I gave him some leeway with some run-pass options. I told you guys during the preseason that he thought Seth had matured and Saturday night was the first time that he's faced adversity all year and he bounced back. We wanted to do more empty backfield, they were changing up things, actually quite a bit more. The two back stuff, it got condensed, wanted to keep them spread out. If we can get them in space, we had a better opportunity than if we kept them in tight.
WRAPPING UP IOWA ST. | RRS.com's Jeff Gunter has his post-mortem from Iowa St. as does RP.com's Joe Yeager with some post game thoughts.
PRAISE FOR THE DEFENSE | Turfburner's Jay Beck with his weekly power poll as Texas Tech checks in at #5. Kansas City Star's Blair Kerkoff writes about the improved Texas Tech defense and ranks the Big 12 teams. Yahoo! Sports Pat Forde notes that Texas Tech could be a team that surprises this year:
DON'T SLEEP ON: Texas Tech (11). No, the Red Raiders don't have a landmark victory yet, but beating Iowa State isn't automatic anymore – just ask Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Texas. Tommy Tuberville has drastically improved the Tech defense, which leads the nation in fewest yards allowed. Tech has only surrendered one play from scrimmage longer than 30 yards in its first four games.
FIVE BIG GAMES | LAJ's Don Williams writes about the next five games and how all of these next five opponents are all ranked. Here's DE Jackson Richards:
"We’ve just got to come every day," defensive end Jackson Richards said Monday. "We’ve got to treat our bodies right. If you’re hurt, get treatment type of thing. It’s going to be a grind. I don’t think we had anything like this last year. We played great teams, but it wasn’t five teams in a row like this, so we’ve got to support each other and keep working."
LAJ's Nick Kosmider has a notebook also rounding up some press-conference thoughts as does DT's Michael DuPont II.
(ALMOST) TOUCHDOWN BREAKDOWN | TTU's Brandon Rawe has CB Cornelius Douglas and S D.J. Johnson re-enact the hit that led to Douglas' interception and taking the ball to the 10 yard line.
(Almost) Touchdown Breakdown (via techathletics)