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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 12, 2015

Branden Jackson

Lubbock, Texas

An interview with:

BRANDEN JACKSON

Q. What do you expect to see from Kansas offensively this weekend?
BRANDEN JACKSON: I expect to see them try to stretch the field, run the ball a lot. I know their quarterback is a really good athlete. There is probably going to be a lot of zone read, things like that. Get the hands into skilled position and make plays.

Q. Is it going to be this week, we've already said this a lot, but everybody do their 111s specifically this week?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, absolutely. You've got to know what you've got on each possession and execute that. As I said, they're going to get the ball to the skill position and those guys are going to make plays. If we're not doing our part and anyone's trying to be superman, they can go for a big run or a big pass.

Q. I realize you're only doing your 111. But how do you stop specifically those big runs and big passes?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, it's really simple. Just do your 111. When you break it down and look, and whenever a big play hits or big run or big catch, there is always a guy who wasn't there. We've gotten to the point now where it's not hard to break down film.

When a big play happens, we can see exactly who didn't do what they're supposed to do. That's why we keep going back to doing your 111s, make sure you do your job. Everyone does their job, we're gapped out, and you have to make sure you're there to make the play.

Q. Turnovers has been a big thing that Coach Gibbs has harped on. When you guys are able to force three, what's that do for the rest of the defense?
BRANDEN JACKSON: That just gets us going. That's just another reassurance that what we're doing in practice is paying off in the game. I'm not surprised whenever turnovers come, because, as I said, we harp on it so much during practice. These guys make those plays all the time. It's just I'm happy to see it showing up on the field. Any time we get the ball back to our offense, it's a good day.

Q. Coach Kingsbury said looking at your tape last year to this year, it was night and day compared to each play. Is that something you've been focusing on for yourself?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, absolutely. Coach Smith always told me that I could go as far as I wanted to go, but I have to be able to go hard every single play.

And then Coach Gibbs came in here and did a self-evaluation of me before we got started. He said he liked the player I was, but I don't play hard enough. And I just really took that to heart. I tried to go out there every play and give it all I had. It's my last year, so there is no point in holding back.

Q. (Off microphone) move from corner to safety. When you see guys (off microphone), what does that tell younger guys?
BRANDEN JACKSON: It just tells younger guys we don't really have positions here. Coach Gibbs and Coach Smith always say the best 11 players will play for us on Saturday. The guys who do the right thing, the guys who you can use in multiple positions, that's who they're going to put on the field.

The guys who started at safety last year, got hurt, came back this year, they wanted to move in the corner, move to the corner, play a little nickel and corner, move back to safety. Had a big game this past week.

It's just embodies what we want this entire program on the defensive side to be: A bunch of guys who do a lot of things and do a lot of things well.

Q. Where have you seen the biggest improvement in the defense since the beginning of the season?
BRANDEN JACKSON: I feel like we're starting to play better together. A lot of times we had great individual efforts. We had the Big 12 sack leader, guys on watch lists and things like that. But we never really played well together. Besides a guy who made the play, there wasn't a guy celebrating with him after the play. There was a guy overlooked because someone made a great play.

I think we're starting to play better together, and it's looking cleaner on film.

Q. How do you feel the defensive line played? Because there was a lot of pressure on the quarterback.
BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, I really wasn't satisfied with our performance last week. I feel like we let them sit back there a long time and stroke the ball. He went through heavy reads before we were getting to him. We had some times where we had pressures, and at the same time we popped a few gaps. And that talented running back they had shot up there for a couple long runs, 300-something yards on the ground solely on the defensive line.

And we talk a lot about being different characters and stuff like that. But right now there are times we don't show we're a better group. So I expect a hard practice this week, and I know Coach Gibbs is going to rip us when we get in there as a team and evaluate the film.

Q. A lot of people talked about the first half from the second half all year. Have you taken that on as one of the senior leaders to say we're getting the right calls, we just need to execute? Because Coach Gibbs has not changed it so much?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Absolutely. It always started with Coach Kingsbury. He did this weird thing where every day after practice we stopped in the middle of practice, we stop practice and we go to a period called halftime period where we get ourselves amped up and talk to our position coach individually, and they make adjustments based on how practice is going and how to pick it up. We kind of took it from there.

As a senior on this team and as a leader, when we get into halftime, to see a guy like Coach Gibbs in there coaching us hard and telling us he's not going to change what he's doing. Just go out and execute the plays. Just know we're in position, and we've got to make the plays.

Q. Do you see you guys getting closer to where you want to be in the first half?
BRANDEN JACKSON: Yeah, we're starting to play three quarters of football. We've got to play four. That's what we're focused on: Going hard and playing strong for four quarters.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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