Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki previews Texas Tech

Does a week like last week and getting over that hump and seeing what it meant to Jason help him?

Kotelnicki: Well, I think everyone can relate with that. I think that's important. That's what college athletics is. That's football. It's great to see somebody who struggled, who, it didn't go their way. You know what I mean? Who wasn't named a starting quarterback, to persevere and stick with it and get an opportunity to capitalize on it.

I think everyone, maybe not in college football environment, but everyone's dealt with that kind of stuff in their life before. To see him continue to get better, to continue to improve, to continue to do the things that we believe in our culture in terms of being process-minded and being relentless about his approach and to see that pay off, that's super rewarding. It is. That's a big part of the reason we get into teaching and coaching is you can see those kind of moments.

Was that his best game and did you identify a reason that it did all click in that moment?

Kotelnicki: Oh, I don't know. He played pretty good. Was it his best game? Yeah, maybe. We'd have to think back without looking at all of it, but it was good. You know what I mean? Why did it click? I don't know. I think quarterbacks have a great way to get the players that play around them better, and he started to do that. He did some really good things in that game, and the run game got going a little bit. That takes a lot of pressure off of what they have to do in the drop back game.

But he made some critical plays at some critical times. Big, long, explosive run. Those are fun for your team and demoralizing for an opponent. So, to see him pop a big one like that and utilize the speed, it's a big deal.

What was Jalon’s role on Saturday he went through warm-ups?

Kotelnicki: Well, he's working with game day communication, still with us right now and continuing to ease his way back into playing. Every day and week, it continues to advance. So excited.

Was he an emergency QB?

Kotelnicki: Yeah, I won't want to get in all where he was at the depth chart and stuff like that right now, but when he's ready, he'll be ready to go.

Devin had 32 carries. I think his previous season high for this year it was 15. Was that a concerted effort in the early going, keeping him fresh down the stretch, or did things just line up on that?

Kotelnicki: I think it lined up that way. If someone asked me what would be an ideal number, I don't really have an ideal number. But I know when a guy's ripping off long runs like that, let's keep him in the game. You know what I mean? He was seeing it well. It's a hot hand, so to speak. I think you ride those things. It's not a lack of trust of the other guys that are in that room or anything like that, but he was having a hell of a day. Let's let him have an even better one. So, it was fun to watch. I'm super excited for him, too.

What do you see from the Texas Tech defense when you're watching them?

Kotelnicki: Their front again, is really impressive. I know I said that last week and I've said that a lot of weeks. But guys, their front is good. They're multiple. They run around, they're long, they're physical. They're definitely going to pass the eyeball test. They're disruptive. Again, I literally, I think I said this last week about Oklahoma State, about as disruptive a group as you've seen on film. You can say that about Texas Tech. They're definitely defensively speaking, in the upper echelon, I would say, of the defenses that I think that we're going to face, I believe, at least at this point.

But they are multiple. They do a good job. They play hard. They do a lot of things that I think if I were a coach, to receive compliments about how hard people play, they know what they're doing, that's what I would say about them.