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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 12, 2009Mike LeachTaylor PottsBrandon SharpeTHE MODERATOR: Questions, please, for Taylor. Q. At one point did you know you were one off the team record of seven touchdown passes in a game? TAYLOR POTTS: I had no idea. No idea what the record was or anything like that. I knew I had six at one point. I told Detron, I'm going for eight, once I got seven. You know, didn't get the last one. Played really good. We as a whole played a really good game. Q. What did you see in a difference having Tramain out there compared to not having him in the last game? TAYLOR POTTS: It was nice throwing to him. He's a smart receiver, knows what he's doing. Showed that on the field tonight. Caught the ball well. As far as I know, he didn't have any busts. You know, it might be different on film. But he looked good out there tonight. Q. How strong a connection do you still maintain with Lyle back from your high school days? Is that something that is maintained through here at Texas Tech? TAYLOR POTTS: Yeah, definitely. We're still really good friends. He's been one of my best friends. Been that way since we were in elementary school together. You never turn around and he's not talking about me or poking fun at me and making me laugh. Whatever the situation, you know, he's always there to comment about something about my feet or how tall I am or something like that. Hadn't changed with him since we were kids. I don't ever see it changing either. Q. At the two yard line, were you surprised they called the sneak? TAYLOR POTTS: That was a dumb call on me really. You check what you see. That was just a dumb call by me. Looking back on it, I should have thrown a fade to Jacoby there on the outside, but I didn't. That's that. But that was just a dumb call by me. Q. What felt better tonight compared to the first game? Did you get all the jitters out of your system? TAYLOR POTTS: Yeah, I think so. I was just a little nerve wracked. Last week I think I dropped back there and kind of wouldn't believe anybody else, thought I had to get the ball right now and throw and get out of there. Took a few hits tonight. It never hurt. Kept some confidence to stay in there and throw the ball. Q. What do you feel you have to do to get ready for Texas next week? TAYLOR POTTS: It starts tomorrow with a really good practice, really good preparation, come out and be crisp, lifting tomorrow, watch some film. Have a really crisp practice, quick and efficient, effective. Go out and we'll study film next week, go out and play. Q. Did you make a concerted effort to try to really get the ball deep down field tonight? TAYLOR POTTS: Yeah. Really wasn't a conscious effort. It was when the play was called, by the look on the field, kind of determined what we did. Several times we had 'em deep, threw it. We had a few drops. But several we had catches. It really was what they were giving us on the field. You know, I think as far as the deep ball, throwing the fade, we just need to execute that better. Q. Seemed like a tale of two halves. What was different between the two? TAYLOR POTTS: After those first two drops, then we scored, it was kind of like we got a little comfortable, like last week. Some people started -- may have been myself included -- some of us may have gotten comfortable at 14, how easy it was, just kind of going down. But really it was all just us going out and doing our jobs. We can't get lax and fall off of it. We came out the second half, we were just checking the line of scrimmage, checking every play. We all had good tempo. No-huddle. Just like a two-minute drill or something. Came out there, ran around, really efficient. Q. How did it feel to see some of those younger guys like Austin and Eric Stephens step up when you didn't have Detron the second half? TAYLOR POTTS: Man, it was really nice to know that Zouk could step in there and nothing falls off. That was really comfortable. Caught the ball I think every time it came to him except maybe once. I mean, that was really nice. Then Eric Stephens, I told y'all like in the summer in camp that he was something exciting. Obviously he is. That kickoff return, should have been a touchdown. The screen we had to him was obviously really good. So he's a lot of fun to watch. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Taylor. We have Brandon Sharpe. Questions for Brandon. Q. You end up with seven sacks tonight as a defense. It turned into a feeding frenzy a little bit. BRANDON SHARPE: Yeah, you got to be excited. Once you excited, it's going to come sooner or later. Keep working hard. Hadn't had that mindset it's coming. You got to keep on like it's going to come, going to come. Got to eat. Got to eat. Like you said, feeding frenzy. We trying to eat. Getting sacks and all with Ronald McDonald's, having the kids and everything, we need it. We hungry. Q. Can you talk about the difference between last week and this week defensively as far as the pressure goes, the pressure you were putting on the quarterbacks. BRANDON SHARPE: I guess the first game, when you work out your jitters, just have to stay focused, try to work off what you didn't do last game and stuff. Coaches talked to us, got to be excited to play and everything else. Didn't get the quarterback last game. We didn't get off too good. We played pretty good, but you just have to work up each step each game each week. Q. What changed in practice this week with you guys? Seemed like practices were more up-tempo. BRANDON SHARPE: I mean, it's tempo, you know. We was just putting in our heads, if we want it, we got to get it. Every practice we got to work hard, try to run full speed, be excited to play every day, every team, even if it's scout team, whoever we practicing against. Whatever we do during the week, is going to pay off during the game. If we practice hard during the week, it's going to pay off during the game. Practice hard, play hard. Q. You got to eat, you said. Did you set a goal how much you wanted to eat, how many sacks? BRANDON SHARPE: My plan was to get three sacks a game (laughter). I guess it ain't coming out too good. I just keep on working. Just pray about it, keep working hard. That's all there is to it. Q. How nice is it to have a game like this defensively confidence-wise with Texas coming up? BRANDON SHARPE: Oh, man, it's really nice. Just builds up that confidence within the team and the defense. We got a lot of young guys coming in, getting that experience with Big 12 and D1 schools. The first game, D2, we learned we had to step it up the next level with them. We all talked, get ourselves excited, get ready for it. It's a school, it's a D1. You know what I'm saying, you got to go out there and hit them harder than they do. They come on our side and hit us in the mouth, we got to hit them in the mouth, too. Q. Are you where you wanted to be in the defense after the second game? BRANDON SHARPE: We're not where we want to be. I think we can let loose a little bit more. It's never enough from where you at. So we just got to keep pushing till the next level, each game, each practice and stuff. Q. Seemed like Marlon Williams was all over the place. Talk about his play, what he means to the defense. BRANDON SHARPE: Our linebackers mean a lot to us. Chaos, that's what they causing. He bring chaos, feed off of everybody. We all just try to bring chaos to the whole field, the offense, just get 'em. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Brandon. Questions for Coach Leach. Q. Are you pleased with the difference performance of Taylor compared to last week? COACH LEACH: I thought the second half he played really well. Did a good job commanding the unit of second half. Kind of led by example as far as really good tempo. You know, I thought the first half was kind of a half full of good intentions, then the second half, you know, I thought we had a lot better tempo as a team - not just offense, but defense and special teams, too. Q. What did you see out of Tramain this last week? What did you like about his play today? COACH LEACH: He played hard this last week. He had a good week of practice. You know, went out and played well on the field, too. Yeah, we're excited about how he played today. Q. On the kickoff return that was called back, did you get an explanation on what the penalty was on Alex? COACH LEACH: No. Can't talk about that stuff anyway. I got to really have to have something to say in order to do that, you know. Q. Any thoughts on Eric Stephens' play tonight? COACH LEACH: I thought he played real well. You know, he's been explosive in practice. He had several plays that, you know, were arguably the highlights of the night. I thought the kick return was. I thought that screen he caught was. You know, but that runningback position right now is pretty competitive and we got several explosive guys. But I thought he looked good. I thought, you know, just as he does more and handles more, then we need to see if we can't get him in more, you know. Q. The dropped passes, did you feel that was Potts or your receivers? COACH LEACH: I think you know the answer to that. Do you need an eye checkup, I mean? You don't need my help with that one (smiling). Q. Was this the kind of game that you like out of your team going into next week against Texas? COACH LEACH: Well, you know, it is what it is. It's like Bob Dylan says: You are where you are. I just think that we just need to take that second half and build on it. That's the biggest thing. I mean, just keep improving all phases. There's plenty of room for work in all phases of the game. I thought that, you know, the biggest thing the second half, despite the fact there were some glaring mistakes, everybody played the next play. Nobody focused on them or worried about 'em. They just, you know, went and played the next play. Let our intensity and momentum take care of the mishaps, which it will if you have the ability to move on quickly, which I was proud that they did. Q. What did you like about how some of the younger receivers stepped up in the second half without Detron out there? COACH LEACH: I like the way they keep logging plays, keep gaining positive experience. You know, I thought that was good. They just need to see what it feels like and then duplicate it. Q. Do you feel like your team is just kind of streaky so far? COACH LEACH: Yeah, appears to be. I think we are. I think we are. Although I think to an extent all teams are streaky. What I did like is there was a real long streak the second half, so perhaps that's signs of consistency to come, I hope. Q. Is your team where you wanted it to be after the second game? COACH LEACH: Yeah, you just keep rolling. You keep building on it. I don't know that it is. I mean, you're never where you want to be. We just keep getting better and keep working to get better. Q. Are you concerned about the production of the running game so far after the first two games? COACH LEACH: We got a lot of yards out of those guys. No. I mean, I worry about if there's a position not contributing. We're getting a lot of contribution out of the runningback position. What did we have yards-wise for the runningbacks? I know we had quite a lot. So we had 52 yards and then we had 52 yards, another 46. That's approximately a hundred. Then Stephens had 34. Then Jeffers had two. I was hoping it would be a little higher, but we're sitting there about 138 yards out of the position, which is decent. End of FastScripts |
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