Q. Billy said it was a unique situation on the punt where you and Eugene were on the field at the same time. What was the unique situation, the communication breakdown?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Like he said, it was just lack of communication. I didn't know he was going to be out there at that time. Like I said, lack of communication.
We're going to fix that in the future, so...
Q. How tough was that for the defense in that situation?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: It kind of sucks. We stopped them, then we got the penalty, turned around, had to go back out there. It was like a sudden change. That just gained momentum from them.
Q. When you game plan for other quarterbacks, was there anything that stood out to you maybe you hadn't seen before, difficulty preparing for those guys given the lack of film on them?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Not necessarily. We game planned for whoever was going to be out there, if he played or not. Unfortunately he didn't play, so we just had to go against whoever it was out there.
Q. How did you process that first play, try to shake it off and bounce back?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: It's football. It happens. Yesterday we got in the meeting room, fixed it up, talked about what everybody seen, basically how we could do better, not allowing that to happen again.
Q. How do you feel like the defense responded after that? Forced a lot of punts, great drives.
JASON MARSHALL JR.: We responded very well. It's unfortunate that that play happened. You wouldn't want that play to happen on the first play of the defensive drive.
We responded well, just put that behind us, keep moving forward.
Q. How has this team rallied, learned from that experience? What's the key to doing that?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Like I said, better communication on the back end, not look for that to happen again.
Q. In general, the whole experience...
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Can you elaborate on it?
Q. How do you guys as a team, I'm not talking about that play, just saying the whole performance, eight months buildup, you're ready to roll, then lose. How do you learn from it, shake it off, rally?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Like I said, just putting it behind us. We went into that game, we made a lot of mistakes going in. Now it's time to fix the mistakes, learn from that, and just keep moving forward.
That game is behind us. We can't go back and change the outcome of that, so...
Q. Coach said Miguel Mitchell was one of the players of the game. What did you see in his performance?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: He played well. He played tremendously well. I give him his props. He made some big plays, ultimately helped the defense out.
Q. Other than that one big play, they only averaged about four yards a pass. Y'all really shut them down. What was the key?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Once we gave up that big play, we just had to come back to our senses and calm down. We gave up that big play, 70-plus yard touchdown. Like I said, it's football, it's going to happen.
Coming to the sideline after that play, talking it out, calming down, that was pretty much it.
Q. How did Jordan perform, seven tackles? What was your overall assessment of him?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: He's another guy that played tremendously well. Like you said, contributed with the seven tackles. First game out there...
I kind of talked to him before the game. He was kind of anxious and things like that. Just told him to calm down, you've been playing football for a long time, just go out there and play ball.
Q. What is the meaning behind your 'enough said' tweet?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: It's a lot of media and things like that. Sometimes you get caught up in looking at it, hearing what they say, seeing what they say, just taking that in, grasping it. Enough said, you know. Now it's time to get back to work.
Q. Are you trying to block all that out? Are you using some of it as fuel being counted out by some people?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: I wouldn't say using it as fuel. We do see it, people doubting us, things like that. I wouldn't necessarily say we're using it as fuel.
Q. How big is this game to get some confidence back, energy back, SEC opener a week later against a rival and good offense?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: It's very big. Playing against a very disciplined team. We have to be disciplined ourselves. No matter who we play, we can't just go out there and lollygag, things like that, not be focused.
We have to go out there minds ready, get the game plan, go over the game plan, set it forth because we do have a big one next week.
Q. What was the difference in the execution and mentality on third-down defense?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Just getting off the field. Third down, you want to be off the field. You don't want to have long drives 'cause those could turn into touchdowns. Our defense, we don't want to give up touchdowns. So just getting off the field.
Q. The way you were feeling when you tweeted, did you share some of those emotions with your teammates?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: No, I didn't. No, that was basically like a self-motivate thing.
Q. Austin tried to get guys after the game to stay and appreciate the fans. How important is that?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: I did see it. I was right there with him. I kind of gathered some players, as well. Coming from here, going all the way to Utah, we did have quite a few fans. Just appreciating them, that they came out and supported us.
Q. How excited are you to play a home opener under the new lights?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: I heard about 'em. I haven't seen 'em necessarily. I'm excited. I have seen a couple of stadiums with those lights. The lights get the crowd into the game. I'm excited for it.
Q. What have you seen from Billy Napier since this loss, his attitude, what he said to the team?
JASON MARSHALL JR.: I could say he's more locked in, more into the team. He's putting us, some of the leaders, forth. He's just rallying behind us.
Q. (No microphone.)
JASON MARSHALL JR.: Gathering the team and being more focused and locked in.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports