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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 26, 2017

Cameron Batson

Lubbock, Texas

Q. What do you think about last Saturday, and this being an off day, overall how you guys performed?
CAMERON BATSON: We definitely have things to work on and clear up. We watched film and had a lot of mistakes. Some of them were three-and-outs, and obviously not proud of that. But the defense definitely saved us. They played a phenomenal game. I think they had five turnovers. Those guys definitely held up their end of the bargain, and it's time for us to carry some weight around here.

Q. Can you take us through a couple weeks ago that stop and start move, touchdown you had?
CAMERON BATSON: Oh, yeah. It was just something that happened. It was spur of the moment. I give credit to Coach Sal and Coach Whitt in the strength and conditioning program because we've been working stop and starts all summer long. It was just a move that I guess was really natural.

Q. Any text messages about it afterwards?
CAMERON BATSON: Yeah, I got a lot of text messages, lot of DMs, lot of people commenting on it. So it was a lot of fun.

Q. Would you say there was a specific drill stop and starts?
CAMERON BATSON: Yeah, we work stop and starts. We'll run five or ten yards full speed and just stop and try to stop as fast as you can. They'll blow the whistle again and go full speed again. You repetitively do it, so it definitely helps out. The five, ten, five shells that we work on. We work on a lot of stuff in speed school. So Coach Sal and the strength and conditioning program does a great job of just getting us prepared for every Saturday.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
CAMERON BATSON: It was just a spring and summer thing. But obviously out there we work tackling drills in practice. We always do something that's game simulated in practice so you always get those game-like reps.

Q. You're a guy that's a senior. What does this mean to play Oklahoma State and play these guys?
CAMERON BATSON: It definitely means a lot. It's just another game on the schedule. We open conference. We need to get this win. We have a ranked opponent coming in. The Jones will be rocking at 7 p.m. so we're just looking forward to getting after these guys.

Q. How important is it to get the fans back on board with you guys and to have a big game that everybody's anticipating?
CAMERON BATSON: We just really just focused on doing what we can as players. Let the coaches make the calls and everything. We know that they'll put us in the right position to go out there and have the best game that we can on Saturday.

You know, as far as the fans, I feel like the fans are still with us. I hope they didn't switch boats. But the fans, they're great. They're always there. They're always supporters. I know we haven't been to Oklahoma State in like eight years, so we definitely look forward to getting after these guys and shock the world.

Q. After the way -- I guess, first off, can you kind of look back at last year and the frustrations of the game that you guys pretty much won?
CAMERON BATSON: Yeah, a lot of games that we lost last year were, I think, by a touchdown. We lost to Oklahoma State on the extra point. So I really just try to put those things behind. We're just looking forward to this year and the team that we've become and the team that we know that we can be.

Q. What has changed last year with that? You lost so many close games last year. This is now two in a row.
CAMERON BATSON: It's just definitely the mentality and the maturity of this group. Guys are really hungry. They want to win. There are no individuals. Everybody is all for the team. So I think that's the biggest difference in why we've been able to win those close games.

Q. When you look at this game, do you guys look at this being if you do win that you could be rocketed into the top 25. Do you use that as motivation or do you not focus on that at all?
CAMERON BATSON: We really don't focus on it. We just go out there and play the game we know we need to play. Everything else will take care of itself. We try not to focus too much on the media and what guys are saying about us. We just want to go out there and be at the Big 12 Championship at the end of the year.

Q. How much has Nic improved from Game 1 to Game 3?
CAMERON BATSON: He's improved a lot. Nic is a guy that really feeds into the competition and the close game. That's the kind of competitor he is. You can just see it in him being able to read the coverages and check out different things. So I feel like Nic has done a great job this year. Obviously spreading the ball around to all the receivers. Our running game has been very improved from last year. So we're just looking forward to keep going and keep proving everyone wrong.

Q. Nic talks about being his hardest critic, does that push the receivers and everyone else on offense to be harder on themselves to improve the offense as a whole?
CAMERON BATSON: Oh, yeah. As a competitor, as a true competitor, myself included, I'm sure Keke and everyone else around here, I mean, if you're not hard on yourselves and you don't want the best for yourselves, then nobody else is going to want the best for you.

Yeah, we all have that mindset of we're all competitors. We all want to be the best and everything. That really just comes with the nature of the game.

Q. You mentioned social media and Twitter, a lot of people this weekend were using the TTVE hashtag, what's that mean to you?
CAMERON BATSON: That means a lot. We were a team last year that didn't win a lot of games. We're the team that the media talked about how poorly we would be this year that we want to prove everyone wrong. That Texas Tech versus everybody means a lot. They took the double T away from us this summer and in the spring. We had to earn that back.

You come to this school because that double T should be worn with pride. So Texas Tech versus everybody, it means a lot. It means a lot to me and me and Coach Kingsbury, and because they were alumni of this school as well as to myself now. Yeah, it definitely means a lot.

Q. What do you think is causing the slow starts on the offense?
CAMERON BATSON: We've been having a couple slow starts in the game. I don't know. Sometimes you have to get the feel of the game we have to start fast. In practice we start fast, and that's why we have a drill called fast start. I think things will be changing this week.

Q. How glad are you that it's not going to be 90Â° with humidity this week?
CAMERON BATSON: Oh, yeah, Houston was very hot. But the weather shouldn't really play a factor in how we play. We just have to go out there and play our game.

Q. Your defense got five turnovers last week. You scored 3 points in those turnovers as an offensive unit. How do you correct that problem?
CAMERON BATSON: Can you repeat that?

Q. Your defense got five turnovers last week, and you scored 3 points off those turnovers as an offense. How do you correct that going forward?
CAMERON BATSON: We have to hop on other team's mistakes. That's what it comes down to. As an offense, we can't start slow as you stated earlier. We have to hop on the mistakes of the other team, and really just play our game. That's what it boils down to.

Q. Has it been a different feeling on the sidelines in general in these games that are close? The outcome is going to favor you and not the opposition?
CAMERON BATSON: Oh, yeah, we definitely as a sideline, Coach Kingsbury says he wants guys on the sideline that are fired up, pumped and that will keep it exciting no matter what the scoreboard is saying and what's going on. We always know the controversy is in the game. We try not to focus on that. We try to put the mistakes to the side and just make corrections tomorrow and focus on the now.

Q. I know you mentioned a minute ago that you want to win all these games, but perhaps a little more against Oklahoma State?
CAMERON BATSON: I mean, of course (laughing). Of course I want to win against those guys. They recruited me and never offered me, but I really don't care about that at this point in my career. I'm here at Texas Tech. I made the best decision of my life coming here. I've graduated. I've obtained my degree in accounting, so we'll see those guys Saturday.

Q. Oklahoma State's safeties, Ramon Richards and Tre Flowers, it seems like those guys have played there forever. Of course it seems like you've been here forever. What do you think of those two guys in particular, and what is that match-up like?
CAMERON BATSON: We know those guys. They're pretty good cover guys. They can tackle in space. So really we just have to do what we do. Me and Keke, they try to get the ball to us out pretty fast. We have to make guys miss in space. We have Dylan and Derrick and Quan out there. Guys that are deep threats. We have to run our offense to a T, and be efficient as we know we can be.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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