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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 5, 2015

Branden Jackson

Lubbock, Texas

Sam Houston State - 45
Texas Tech - 59

Q. (Inaudible)
BRANDEN JACKSON: He told us that we got to start capitalizing on it. We had a lot of opportunities to make big plays and prevent some of the big runs and big passes and we were in position, we just didn't do it. He was telling us when we're in position to make the easy ones to make them, don't make a -- you'll make mistakes throughout the game but don't let the easy ones just run past you.

Q. A little happier with the performance after the final two quarters?
BRANDEN JACKSON: No, not really. It wasn't exciting in the locker room afterwards. There was nothing to rejoice about, nothing to be happy about it. The team, the performance we put on today was a performance that we haven't done all camp, that was unlike us from what I've seen, just the way we played in general as a group. No one was happy about the performance and just ready to get better.

Q. What do you think happened?
BRANDEN JACKSON: A lot of things were just getting out there. They're a good team, had us game planned pretty good, ran some things we weren't expecting, had a lot of guys who were just stuck in the moment with the first game, too excited, messing up, trying to be superman and things like that, and we just let some plays get by that we usually wouldn't do, but we'll bounce back. It's no big deal as of right now.

Q. How much did it hurt not having Nigel and Micah in the second half?
BRANDEN JACKSON: It hurts whenever one of your brothers is not out there to compete with you, especially when we know it's guys who have the experience who have made plays that we could count on. For sure if we were there we would have been able to prevent some of the plays that happened. With them gone, next man up, we've got to be able to bounce back regardless of who's on the field.

Q. Was there a point today when you saw the difference between last year's defensive struggles and this year's?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Not really. Honestly I addressed the team and I told them this is the same defense that y'all let the media, y'all let the coaches all blow smoke up our noses to make us think we're really good, but we didn't come out there and perform. I know we have it in us, but as of right now, we're the same 4-8 defense that allowed people to go 200-plus yards on us and there was nothing to smile about, and that was that.

Q. What clicked defensively in the second half as far as turnovers go?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Guys started making plays. We were in position all game, (inaudible) and they all just started capitalizing on their opportunities and attacking the ball. Also, like I said, being the first game, a lot of people were riled up, second half you kind of calmed down and were able to make some plays.

Q. Last year we heard the here we go again kind of syndrome from coordinators, players, whatnot. Was that going through your mind today?
BRANDEN JACKSON: No, not at all. There was a lot of guys who I feel like didn't take it the way that we wanted them to as leaders and coaches and things like that but no one ever got down and thought, here goes the snowball effect, here goes what happened last year. It was more so a win is a win, you're always glad to have them, especially when it's a respectable opponent like Sam Houston, but at the same time, if we want to be what we set out to be, if we want to be what we put all over this facility on the walls and things like that, we have to play better.

Q. Talk about how disappointed y'all were at 4-8 last year; does this wash that nasty taste out of your mouth?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Absolutely not. I don't think that taste will be washed out of our mouths until the end of the season. We just take it one day at a time, one game at a time and try and get better.

Q. (Inaudible.) Are things better now?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, things are better now. It's a new year. You get in Lubbock and the way the fans are and the way our staff and everyone treats us, it's too hard to be down on yourself and not want to represent your school, so we got over that hump of being embarrassed, but at the same time we still feel like we let our fans down, so we're on a mission this year.

Q. Brendan, I know you said there was nothing really to be excited about, but during training camp guys like yourself and Jakeem Grant talked really highly about guys like Tevi Madison and (inaudible). What was it like seeing the performance that they were able to put on display today?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, it was a diamond in the rough. We were really excited to watch them make the plays that we have seem them make all camp and we're excited for our fans to see that. We're not going to act like there weren't good things, but the plan for this defense is to be great and to flip the tide from an offensive school to a defensive school. Right now that performance wasn't acceptable.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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