Texas Tech Football: Kliff Kingsbury Recaps Day One Of Fall Camp

Friday, the Texas Tech football team held its first practice of fall camp and afterwards, Kilff Kingsbury met with the media to discuss injuries, kick return options and the tight end position.

The Texas Tech football team opened the 2018 fall camp with a workout Friday. While all eyes are on the quarterback position, Kliff Kingsbury stated Thursday that he is not going to name a starter until the Ole Miss game arrives.

So while he shed no light on the most pressing question of the fall, he did reveal a few interesting nuggets following the team’s first practice of the year.

When asked who stood out on Friday, Kingsbury said that senior defensive back Octavius Morgan made an impression.

"“He’s a guy who really came on in the spring. In his second year, things really slowed down for him. He understands the defense and everything Coach Gibbs is trying to accomplish on each call and he’s playing like it. He’s playing loose and fast and he made a couple of really nice plays out there today.” Kingsbury said."

This is noteworthy because there is quite a bit of competition in the Texas Tech secondary this fall. Morgan, who started five games last year as a JUCO transfer, is battling guys like Desmon Smith, Douglas Coleman, Damarcus Fields, Adrian Frye, Quincy Addison and others for snaps at corner.

As the most physical of that group and as a senior, Morgan should provide a steadying hand to a secondary that was vandalized quite a bit in the passing game last year. This year, Texas Tech must find a way to finish higher than No. 122 in the nation in pass defense as it did in 2017.

Another interesting nugget was the discussion of candidates to return kickoffs and punts this year with Cam Batson and Keke Coutee gone. Kingsbury said that there are a number of options they are looking at.

"“We fell good about some guys that have done it in high school and are sure-handed…Kisean [Allen] may be a guy we can get back there but with [Ja’Deion] High, Zach [Austin] and Seth [Collins], they are older guys, they have been in games. They’re sure-handed so we are going to start with them and go from there.” Kingsbury said."

Last season, Tech was tied for 94th in the nation with an average of 5.7 yards per punt return with Batson handling those duties almost exclusively. On kickoffs, Tech averaged 23.0 yards per return (27th in the nation) thanks to the dynamic speed of Coutee who had a kick return TD against Baylor.

And though the season is only one practice old, there are a few players dealing with nagging injuries. Senior inside receiver Zach Austin, who missed each of the last two seasons due to injury was in a blue jersey (indicating that he is a no-contact player).

"“We’re going to work him up to speed. We know…he’s a sixth-year guy…he knows the offense inside and out. He’s a very heady player…So he’s a guy we know that if we can just get him to the game, he’s going to be in the right spot.” Kingsbury said."

Another player limited by a minor injury was senior safety Jah’Shawn Johnson who is dealing with a shoulder injury according to Kingsbury. The injury was not serious enough to keep him out of practice but he was wearing a yellow jersey indicating that he was limited.

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Another senior dealing with a lingering injury is senior Antoine Wesley who is still working through the effects of a hip injury that caused him to miss part of the spring and required surgery this offseason. Wesley is the frontrunner to earn a starting sport at outside receiver this fall but it will be critical for him to get back to full speed soon as the competition at receiver is expected to be intense during camp.

Kingsbury did indicate that Wesley was expected to be a “full-go” shortly and that the team was just being cautious with him on Friday.

Finally, Kingsbury was asked about the plans for the tight end position and he said that there are at least three players in the mix.

"“…Donta [Thompson], Tyler [Carr] and Mason [Reed], we’re going to move those guys around, put them in different spots to help us in the run game…All three of those guys are bodies we can use in that role.” Kingsbury said."

Next. Four Freshmen That Will Have An Impact In 2018. dark

Texas Tech will hold its second practice of camp on Saturday before donning full pads for the first time on Sunday.

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