Red Raiders Continue Bowl Preparations
December 30, 2005 | Football
Dec. 30, 2005
DALLAS, Texas - Under warm, sunny skies for the fourth consecutive day, the Texas Tech Red Raiders (No. 15 BCS/No. 18 AP) continued its preparations for the 70th AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. The Red Raiders will face the No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday, Jan. 2 at 10:00 a.m.
The team worked out in pads and shorts for just over 90 minutes at Texas Stadium in what was considered a normal "Wednesday" practice.
While the early start is unusual, Texas Tech is as accustomed to morning kickoffs as any team in the country. The Red Raiders had three games start at 11 a.m. local time during the season.
"We haven't played at 10 in the morning, but we played several times at 11," head coach Mike Leach said. "To me, the perfect time to play is 3 in the afternoon, and night games are fun because it gives fans plenty of time to get ready. We'll have to wake up at 5:45 (in the morning), but it's not necessarily a concern. You play when you play."
Attending today's practice were four members of the Scovell family, all of whom played football at Texas Tech: father John (1965-67), and sons Field (1994-96), King (1998-2001) and Dupree (2001-03). John's father was Field Scovell, who was known as "Mr. Cotton Bowl" and whose name graces the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic trophy presented to the winning team.
Texas Tech is at full strength with no players injured heading into the Classic.
Tonight Texas Tech will attend an NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Golden State Warriors at American Airlines Center.
The Red Raiders will work out tomorrow from 3 until 4:30 p.m. at Texas Stadium. TOMORROW'S PRACTICE IS CLOSED TO THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC. Coach Leach and his assistant coaches will be available for interviews following practice. THIS WILL BE THE LAST MEDIA AVAILABILITY OF ANY COACHES UNTIL AFTER THE GAME ON MONDAY.
The 70th AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic will be nationally televised by FOX Sports. Westwood One will handle the national radio broadcast on Jan. 2.
Press Conference Transcript
Head Coach Mike Leach
Opening statement: "We're excited to be here at the AT&T Cotton Bowl. The reputation of this bowl and the tradition of this bowl are famous for anybody who has ever been involved with football. It more than measures up to its reputation. We're excited to be here and in the middle of a great experience. We're just looking forward to a good game. You guys who know me know I don't really do opening statements so go ahead and fire your questions."
On what annual bowl experiences mean to the Texas Tech program: "Every bowl I have been to is great. I like all the bowls. It's exciting for your players to get out there and play another one. I think we probably have a couple of guys on our team like that fellow at Alabama that thinks he should be having more fun (comment made in reference to an earlier question). Well, most of what we do here is not predicated on him having fun, at least not from my standpoint. ... The bowl is a great experience, but you also need to get your work done. Part of that is to eliminate the distractions. To play a tradition like the University of Alabama and the great team that they have, that's always fun. The thing that makes it kind of tense and exciting both is the fact that you don't play any bad teams in bowl games. They're always good teams. ... They've all been great experiences. Last year (at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego) was no exception. Like Mike (Shula) said, you try to learn from the previous experience and get better in all facets of your game."
On the benefit of facing a team from another conference not familiar with the Tech system: "It's hard to gauge. As you watch film from the other conference, drawing parallels is a little more difficult because you don't know so much about the teams that they're playing and things like that. You just go through the film and do the best you can. I don't know if it's an advantage or not. Ultimately, you go out there and figure out what they like to do, and then try to practice the best you can, and make sure you improve every day in practice."
On whether Texas Tech was hurt by having to play 11 straight weeks without a bye: "I really don't think so. There has been a lot of time between then. The 11 straight weeks is tough. You would like to have a bye week somewhere there in the middle. But that's the way it goes. It has been a month and a half since the end of the season. You just go out there and prepare well and go from there. So I don't think it really affects anything."
On how the preparation in Dallas compares to the three previous Tech bowl games: "I feel like we've prepared well. I don't know that the last few years have a great deal to do with it. Each team is kind of separate. But I think that we've had good preparation. We've had a good tempo out there in practice. But we still have more practices left this week. We have to keep building on that."
On his impressions of the Alabama defense: "They're a great defense. What impresses me the most is how the whole unit plays together and how quickly they get to the ball. You run some play, and then all of a sudden he is surrounded by three Alabama guys. ... Some teams are saying, `How did we get our other guys over there?' I'm not sure that Coach (Joe) Kines (Alabama defensive coordinator) isn't saying, `Well, there's 10 of them. Where's that 11th guy? What's he doing?' ... It's a nice little story line - the Tech offense and the Alabama defense. But this game is going to be impacted by all sides of the ball. Both special teams are critically important to this game. And their offense and our defense are going to be incredible factors. What's most important to us is to get all facets of our game at as high a level as we can."
On Alabama Head Coach Mike Shula being a former Alabama quarterback: "Cody Hodges graduates next year, so I would like Mike Shula to come out and be our quarterback for the next year. And we can get started practicing here today if he doesn't have anything going on."
On whether there is a greater emphasis on winning from fans due to the Cotton Bowl tradition: "It's tough for me to answer. As a team and as a coach, you want to win all of them. I think there's more of an attachment to the state. ... The Cotton Bowl is a bowl that not just your players have heard about for a long, long time, but their parents have and their grandparents have. It's a bowl that has been big throughout the history of American football, not just now but for generation after generation after generation. ... It's huge for everybody. The tradition and its attachment to the state of Texas make it big. But, you know, I grew up in Wyoming, and I heard all about the Cotton Bowl ever since I was a child. So there isn't anyplace in America that is insulated from the Cotton Bowl and its tradition. So I think that part is exciting. And, of course, in the state of Texas, the feelings might run even deeper. But don't underestimate how big a deal the Cotton Bowl is from coast to coast."
On how the Tech team has matured during the course of the season: "Something you battle every week is how you get everybody focused on the task at hand. I think our team has done a good job of that. You constantly work at it, but I think we've done a pretty good job of that. We just need to continue to improve and carry that into the off-season."
On the wins by Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma in bowl games: "They were pretty wild games. ... I think it says we're better than average (Texas Tech beat all three of those teams). I think the Big 12 is really a good conference. It has been competitive from start to finish. ... It is hard to gauge how good the teams around you really are. I think the conference from top to bottom was really, really competitive this year. All three of those teams were outright wars this year. It speaks well for the conference. But with that said, the SEC was pretty similar. I said this throughout the course of the year - the best conferences are the Big 12 and the SEC. Every time those teams play within their conferences, it's always a war. ... That speaks to the power of those conferences. I kind of root for the Big 12. Sometimes you look out there and watch a team from the other conference and you say, `Now you guys know what I had to go through with these people.' Anyway, it's exciting. I'm happy for the Big 12. They're all three really good teams, and our team has the bruises to prove it."
