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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 28, 2015Jared KasterBranden JacksonLubbock, Texas Q. Jared, how's the team handling the tough game, the tough loss? JARED KASTER: It's good. We've got another great opportunity again against another top five team in the country in an atmosphere that's unbelievable. When you play there, it's one of the greatest experiences you'll ever have is playing there. It's a phenomenal stadium and it's a fun atmosphere. Who wouldn't be pumped up for another game like this? Q. What do you see when you look at the Baylor defensive line? JARED KASTER: They're good. I mean, they have, you know, probably two of the -- two guys that really stand out, Oakman and Billings are probably the best at their position. But you go and you prepare like you do every week and you go in there confident and you work on your technique and you prepare for it. Q. When you guys see Pat continue to play after being hurt, what does that do for the rest of this offense? JARED KASTER: It's good. It motivates us to see a guy go out there and do what he does during a stress time like that. It motivates you and keeps you going for the rest of the game. Q. Dings to the confidence because it ended up not going your way on Saturday? Everybody still feeling pretty confident? JARED KASTER: Yeah, like I said, we have another great opportunity against another top five team in the country. If you're not fired up, you're in the wrong business. Q. (No microphone.) JARED KASTER: Yeah, they really don't have to play many games, that's how good they are. They're going to come at you straight up and that's how they've always been and that's how they're going to play us, and we're going to have to get prepared for it. Q. Branden, how do you slow down the Baylor offense? BRANDEN JACKSON: We have to disrupt their timing. We've got to get back there to Russell and kind of get him off his game. Also, penetrate that big, talented offensive line and slow them down and things like that. Pretty easy question and harder to do, but we're up for the task and we'll see how that goes. Q. You guys were able to compete with them last year in a neck-and-neck game until the end. How much does that help your confidence going into this week? BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, we really haven't been using too many references from last year to kind of build on this year. We kind of feel that we're a new team and going in a new direction, so that really hasn't come to mind. But as a player, you never forget those times and like competing against players. I'm sure a couple of us remember last year's competition, but at the end of the day it didn't come out in our favor so there's not too many positives I would personally take from that game. But yeah, I'm excited for Saturday. Q. What did you see from your side of the ball the other day? How do you feel like you guys -- BRANDEN JACKSON: There was a lot of ups and downs. I see guys make plays, guys missed plays, guys be in a position to make plays. At the end of the day I see a group who were very resilient, stayed together and fought the entire time and that's all I can ask for. We'll clean up the mental mistakes and things like that, but as far as people being in position, you've just got to make those plays. Yeah, as long as no one quits, that's all I was worried about and we fought to the last 23 seconds of the game. Next time we've got to fight a little harder a little and maybe we won't have to be put in that situation. Q. You moved inside a lot when they brought Gary Moore in. Do you have a preference as far as playing inside or outside? BRANDEN JACKSON: I don't really have a preference. I just understand that we've got Pete, who's fast off the edge, and then Gary, who's been pushing me for time the entire game, so I know coach is going to get out there. I'm just happy that they have enough confidence in me to put me at three and not take me out of the game completely. Q. (No microphone.) BRANDEN JACKSON: It's very easy, actually, because we know that we try to take it on our shoulders. You know, playing Arkansas, we knew they were going to run the ball. Playing TCU, we knew it was key to try to stop Boykin and their explosive offense. And then go on to Baylor is similar to a TCU-type thing. It's not hard to play with confidence against these teams because they are the better teams. I feel like it's more difficult to play against a team that you feel like you may be a little bit further ahead than. So yeah, there's not going to be a lot of extra motivation for this game. You don't need much to get up and get going for this. It will be exciting on Saturday. Q. How much responsibility do you have yourself and the defensive line (inaudible) going up that Baylor has that might require extra men in coverage to limit how much you guys can rush the pass -- BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, A hundred percent. This defensive line wants to lead the defensive group in general, and we know that they have talented guys on the outside, they have a talented running back and talented quarterback. So we know they're obviously explosive and they're going to make plays. We put on defensive line, Coach Smith has already established that we have to make our presence known and make it often, so we have to disrupt their timing. We have to penetrate that big offensive line and get to Russell, kind of get him off his game. If the defensive line doesn't do what we're supposed to do, it may not go in our favor. So we'll put it all on our shoulders. We've got a couple big 350-pound guys, so I'm sure we can handle the workload. Q. When you guys see what Mahomes went through on Saturday, does that fire up the defense at all so you can fight through that? BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, absolutely. It doesn't surprise us at all, but I mean, it gets us going. We get to see it a lot of time and we always talk about the difference of being injured and being hurt. He wasn't injured, so he fought through that and he fought the way we practice every day. You get nicked and bruised, but if you can't go, then make them drag you off the field. I mean, that goes to his character, his work ethic and he didn't miss a beat. I'm proud of a young guy stepping in like that and like I say, it's no surprise to us. Q. Any extra motivation (inaudible)? BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, he's earned that right. Guy had a phenomenal season last year and he's a mannequin walking around. Big force, dramatic force, first-guy-off-the-bus type thing. But as a whole, he competes against everyone and we have great guys on this side of the ball that we feel like compare good with him. And yeah, it will be a good thing, but there's no extra motivation. I don't look at his stats, I'm sure Pete doesn't do anything like that. We're just going out there trying to get better, and at the end of the year we'll see and laugh about who did better. Q. How was it to see a game with as many plays for both offenses to not have a turnover in the game? BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, that's crazy. It's disappointing as the defense, but then again our offense wasn't throwing it the other way, either, so it kind of eases the pain. Coach Gibbs always talks about the turnover margin. We had a couple of them hit us in the hands that we dropped, so that's something we've got to start capitalizing on especially against these explosive offenses we have in the Big 12. When you get a chance to make the opportunity, you've got to get 'em. The gimmees, the layups, you've got to make those. You can miss a slam dunk, but the layups, it's too easy, we've got to make those. So we'll focus on I'm sure this week trying to get the ball back to our offense, give them more possessions and slow down the explosive offense. Q. Not speaking to you specifically but as college defenders in general, it seems like there's a more looking to make a bigger hit than a wrap-up tackle. Do you see that from a defensive side as well? BRANDEN JACKSON: Yes and no. You know, it's hard. There's so many rules where you can hit a person and things like that. I know back there in secondary when you've got these fast receivers transitioning from track to football and they're just running past you, if you throw your hands up too early, it's a flag. So a lot of guys look to disrupt the ball and that's just a technique the different coaches teach. But I feel like a lot of times you've got to mix it up. You've got to go to the football sometimes, you've got to slow the defender down by getting a good hit on them. That's really also up to coaching and preference and kind of the flow of the game. Q. Coach Kingsbury said this game with Baylor has kind of a bowl-like atmosphere having gone through a couple times. What are you looking forward to going in? BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, this is an amazing opportunity. It's a great atmosphere. There's always good turnout from both fans. It's electrifying. As far as being a bowl thing, it always felt like a bowl game to me until last Saturday and the Jones was rocking, and as loud as it was, that's probably the loudest I've heard any stadium since I've been in college football. So if we can come out and top what we did there, if fans can top the electric environment that we had going on in the Jones, then I'm sure I'll start feeling like that's a bowl game again, but right now I had a bowl last week and it was a great game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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