Keith Patterson said that Saturday’s 2nd half turnaround by the defense had little to do with adjustments but more to do with execution.

“The first half everything was self-inflicted, it was busted assignments. I give Houston credit, they executed well, and we didn’t there in the first half. Every TV timeout I just kept telling them, hey men I believe in you, keep believing in yourselves. I promise you, as soon as we just start doing our own jobs (the defense will correct itself) so, they made the adjustments."

"Really the only thing different between the first half and the second half was I got a little bit more aggressive, bringing 5 and 6 a more. Started to try and force the issue a little bit, just to try and give ourselves some confidence and get into a rhythm.”

Coach mentioned that on the first touchdown pass by Houston there was a miscommunication amongst the DBs, and the second touchdown pass was on a busted assignment.

“That was a miscommunication (first touchdown pass), they made the right check but didn’t play the right check. Again, that’s coachable, we’ve got to get stuff like that fixed. The second touchdown pass was a busted assignment. It was third and goal on the 9. People should not score touchdowns on us from 3rd and goal from the 9. We take great pride in that."

"It was a lot of what happens in a first game, but the good news is it’s all correctable, to me, that’s coaching, that’s my job.”

Coach Patterson mentioned that he spoke to the entire team last Thursday and his message seemed to be just what the Red Raiders needed to hear prior to the Houston game.

“I shared with them that I don’t believe there’s adversity in football. I think sometimes things don't go as planned, but you had a great picture of what adversity is when we went to Luke's funeral, that’s adversity."

"In a football game you have things that don't go your way, you have changes of momentum, there's momentum swings in a game. You’ve got to manage that, you can’t let your high get too high or your low get too low. That's where I'm the proudest because they didn’t let their low get too low. I mean, it's 21-7 and they never batted an eye.”

Coach spoke about “The Blueprint,” which is how the Texas Tech coaching staff measures success on defense. It consists of five different areas:

1) 9 TFLs & QB sacks – Texas Tech had 11 on Saturday

2) 5- 3 & outs – Tech had 5-3 & Outs

3) Get off the field 70% of the time – Tech got off the field 65% of the time

4) 3 or more takeaways – Red Raider defense had 4 takeaways

5) Hold opponent to less than 5.0 yards per play – 2.2 per rush, 4.6 per pass, 3.4 yards per play for the Tech D

Coach Patterson mentioned if the Red Raider defense can hit three out of the five areas, then they are “typically going to do ok.”

Coach Patterson on the SFA offense and specifically WR Xavier Gipson:

“He’s (Gipson) explosive, he’s a guy where you better have an understanding about where he is. It’s very similar to last week to me in that it begins with the quarterback. We have to win the battle up front. One of their running backs transferred in from Hawaii (Miles Reed), he’s a guy that you have to be aware of. Then their wide receivers with Gipson and #11 (Jeremiah Miller)."

"We’re obviously game planning for Stephen F. Austin but we’re continuing just like last week to focus on us. Trying to get better, become more disciplined, and push through a lot of things.”

Coach Cumbie on the offense’s performance against Houston:

“I was really proud with how they responded. Especially with the way the first drive ended. We had really gotten into a rhythm and moved the ball down the field. Erik (Ezukanma) made an explosive play. We didn’t have a ton of time of possession in the first half. Our goal is the make the most of our possessions when we do have the ball and to worry about executing our plays."

"There was a little bit of a lull in the second quarter but in the third quarter I think we finally started to get into a little bit of a rhythm. I was really proud of how they were able to stay together. There was a good demeanor about our offense at halftime, they were calm. They weren’t complacent by what was going on but had a good look and an intensity that they were ready to get this going in the right direction.”

Coach mentioned that he was really pleased with the way Tyler Shough started the game.

“He came out of the gate fast, he was very accurate, got the ball out of his hand. There was a little bit of a lull in the 2nd quarter. Could have done a little better job in some situations where he couldn’t get the ball out of his hands, but I thought he competed. He made plays, outside the pocket. All together I thought it was a good first start. He (Shough) knows that we’ve got a lot of room for improvement.”

Sonny Cumbie on the SFA defense:

“They’re very physical, they fly around, the guy’s up front. It’s a unique roster makeup really, the guys that have been there for a long time, their older players are really good players that play hard up front. They give you multiple looks in terms of blitzes. They’re not a group that’s predictable in terms of what they do coverage wise by down and distance. So, for us it’s going to be a good challenge.”

"They have 3 guys that transferred in from Baylor. Then the young guys that Coach Carthel and his staff have recruited are really good players. They’re playing those guys, so that says something about their belief in them."

Sonny Cumbie on the early chemistry of Tyler Shough and Erik Ezukanma :

“I about came down from the press box and got after Tyler a few more times for not throwing it to him. (JOKE) They have a lot of chemistry and it’s easy to have chemistry with a guy like that. You put it in his zip code and he’s going to go up and make a play on it. Erik has had a really good fall camp and they’ve worked a lot together. When they work together on their own, it gives you a chance for what happens on Saturdays. I think they have a lot of chemistry because they put a lot of time in together off the field.”

Coach said he graded the offensive line a B- for their performance against Houston.

“I think they were very physical in the run game, very physical. They can even take another step in that. I think that’s something as a coach you’re really proud of. At the end of a game when you have to run the football, to run the clock out. They (Houston) put 9 guys in the box and we were able to run the ball. Tahj hit an explosive play because our guys came off the ball and created space."

"Obviously we have to pass protect better and we have to pass of twists better on the line. I think Houston is a good defensive front, they’re very active and athletic, and they did a nice job with line movement. Like I said, on two of the three sacks we’ve got the get the ball out of our hand.”