Vanderbilt Week Football Media Availability

Head coach Will Muschamp held his weekly news conference Tuesday afternoon. Players who spoke prior to him included Chavis Dawkins, Eric Douglas, Bryan Edwards, Tavien Feaster, Jaycee Horn, Ernest Jones, Dakereon Joyner, Nick Muse, Donell Stanley and Jay Urich.

HEAD COACH TRANSCRIPT

Will Muschamp | 4th Season

– You all ready? Thank you Steve. Got Vanderbilt here at 7:30. Williams-Brice, can’t wait to get back home in front of our fans. I know our guys are excited about it, and they’ve made a huge difference for us this year, and we appreciate that. Homecoming, so we appreciate all the alumni coming back. You know, Vanderbilt quarterback has been a little unsettled. Mo Hasan came in against Missouri and provided them a huge spark. He’s got legs, he can throw it, but certainly a different looking offense when he was in the game. Riley Neal is a transfer from Ball State, really throws it extremely well. Has played a lot of football for them. And also Deuce Wallace has played as well. But you know, looking forward to see who they go with there. As far as that’s concerned, I think Derek has said that Mo would be their guy moving forward if he’s certainly available. I think they’ve got one of the best running backs in the country. Ke’Shawn Vaughn is a guy that’s got a big lower body, he’s on his way to another 1000-yard season. But he really makes them go offensively. We’ve got a lot of respect for him. Kalija Lipscomb, a receiver, has been a difficult guy to cover. You know, the last, you know, three years we’ve played him he’s been there for a while, seems like. But really good football player. Jared Pinkney, at tight end from Norcross, Georgia is a guy that we recruited and we got to lot of respect for him. Defensively, you turn on the Missouri game and they played extremely hard, extremely well in that ball game. Really frustrated Missouri’s offense and got after them pretty well. And you know, when you turn that tape on, it certainly impresses, what you’re seeing. And Derek’s a defensive coach. But they got after Missouri really good in their last ball game. Injury-wise, Rico will be out but moved around really well today. So I think maybe next week. Not positive on that, but he moved around well. Dylan Wonnum worked out today, but he will be out for this weekend. A.J. Turner will be out with a hamstring. And Damani Staley with the turf toe. And hopefully we get the majority of those guys hopefully next week. And I’ll open it up for any questions.

– [Reporter] Will first, how are Hutch and Ernest?

– Yeah, they both practiced today. They’ll be ready to go.

– [Reporter] And when you look at the Tennessee tape offensively, how much of the struggles were, you know, play-calling or scheme, and how much of it was execution? How much do you have to tweak?

– Well, we’re not getting the production we need, you know, especially in the second half. And I don’t think that it’s one thing, I think it’s multiple things. You look at the second half, and we study this stuff, and you know, we’ve had 10 turnovers versus Power Five opponents this year. Seven of ’em have come in the second half. We had two against North Carolina, and I’m just thinking in terms of our first three games, two with North Carolina, two against Alabama, two against Missouri. We’ve had six possessions end on downs. We don’t convert a fourth down situation regardless of the situation it might’ve been. But that’s 13 possessions which right now, I want to say in the second half this year we’ve had anywhere from 46 to 48 possessions. I’m not very good at math, but I want to say that’s about 30% of your possessions are not ending with you giving yourself a chance to score points. You know, I think that you really look at it from a standpoint of, you know, why is that happening? I think that our, we’ve been ineffective consistently throwing the football. And I think that goes to multiple areas of protection, it goes to, you know, route running, precise routes, accuracy with the football. It’s not one thing, it’s multiple things. We’re trying to correct, we’re trying to get it right. Thought we got off on the right start on the first play of the game last week, and felt like there was some things that we did do positive as far as those things are concerned. You know, I’d point to some youth in some key areas. Just call it like it is. I mean, it’s hard what I’m asking some of these guys to do. I think that field position’s been an issue. You know, you look at the last second half and the third quarter against Tennessee, three possessions we self-inflict, you know, five-yard penalties, a delay of game, and two false starts. And right now when you’re not creating explosive plays, they’re hard to overcome those. And then obviously we can do a better job as coaches making some adjustments and helping our guys and putting them in better situations to execute better to get more production. So I think it’s multiple things. I go back and look at 2018 and thinking in terms of five of the nine games, we scored 17 points more in the second half. We know how to make adjustments. So you know, those are things we’ve just got to continue to iron out and find, you know, things that we can do better to improve offensively. ‘Cause we need to be more productive, bottom line.

– [Reporter] Dakereon said that Vanderbilt’s kind of a cover zero team, a lot of it. And they send the house sometimes. How much pressure does that put on y’all’s offensive line given, I guess, the performance the last couple weeks.

– Well, no doubt, I think that you got to be, you know, dialed in. You know, they’ve obviously had another week to prepare as well. So I’m sure there’ll be some new looks and wrinkles that they look at against us. But you’ve got to be dialed in protection-wise and where your hots are and run-game wise, the run-throughs, and different things you’ve got to be dialed in. Certainly heightened alert on run-throughs for linebackers and secondary defenders. So there’s no doubt you got to be focused and dialed into your job.

– [Reporter] Hey, Will, what were some of the issues in the secondary in the Tennessee game? It seemed like maybe some of the same carryover, some of the same problems from the Florida game as well. What were some of the biggest issues in the secondary on Saturday?

– You know, well, you know, against Florida our first touchdown we were in man coverage and they, you know, we had an opportunity to get the ball off the guy, the middle-field safety missed the reception area coming out of the middle of the field. We got beat in man coverage on the one scramble pass when they hit Swain in the endzone. You know, on that situation, and those are the two explosive passes that they had for touchdowns in that ball game. As far as the Tennessee game was concerned, you know, we could’ve rolled the post on the backside, with the backside safety on one of the posts to help Israel, to give more help down the field in that situation. They had two quarters beaters called. And what I quarters beaters, we’re in quarters coverage which are very hard to cover the route that they had called at the time, that we technique-wise fundamentally could’ve played it a little better, but it was a good call for what we were in. Just call it like it is. They had a really good call versus the defense that we were in in that situation. And on another situation. And we had some balls down the field that we got to get, find a way to get the ball on the ground in a situation. We got in a bad matchup in a man-to-man that we did not want to have happen goin’ to the game, that happened. In the heat of the moment, we didn’t get in the right matchup that we needed to get in the right matchup, that we had game planned going into the game. So there were several errors that were not all one thing. There were several things on different plays that we can certainly coach better in those situations.

– [Reporter] How important is physical toughness for a quarterback?

– Well, I think extremely important. I think that mental toughness is probably even more so, to be able to, you know, handle adversity, to be able to handle, you know, tough hits in the pocket, to be able to keep coming and keep battling, to be able to stand in the pocket knowing you’re going to get whacked again and throw the ball down the field, which is a lot easier said than done. So I think that those two, you know, qualities go hand in hand as far as physical and mental toughness at that position.

– [Reporter] Not specifically about the elbow and the knee, but Ryan has taken, just taken some big shots that had to hurt. How has he done in that area in responding to that?

– Well, I think he’s responded extremely well. I mean, as a guy that you don’t see in the pocket that fundamentally is drifting, fundamentally is not standing up in the pocket and stepping into some throws and taking some tough hits. And when you get in a, you know, three-score game, which we were in Saturday night, knowing we’re going to throw the football, knowing that their ends are loosening up and juicing the edge and getting some pressure, and to be able to stand in the pocket, and he delivered some nice throws in those situations. That takes a lot. Takes a lot for, especially for a true freshman.

– [Reporter] How does that affect how his teammates feel about him?

– Well I think–

– [Reporter] When any quarterback does that.

– I think that, you know obviously, he has great respect of his teammates before that ever happened, you know? And I think it just continues to carry on as we continue to move forward. And they understand that we got to keep the quarterback upright.

– [Reporter] Kind of on that quarterback subject, how tough is it to have, sort of the situation you’ve had where Ryan’s obviously nursing the knee, and then also his backup is nursing something as well, especially in terms of both having practice when two guys are kind of dinged up and situations like maybe the end of the Tennessee game where you don’t have a Dakereon to relieve Ryan when he’s taking some of those hits.

– Well again, we’re going to do what’s for the football team and what’s best for the young man. And I think Dakereon probably as healthy as he’s been in the last two or three weeks, going into this game. And certainly can, you know, help our football team in some form or fashion. And, but again, we’re going to put the best guy out there that gives us an opportunity to win the game.

– [Reporter] Ryan hasn’t run much, hasn’t run effectively. Is it because of what Ben was just talking about? I mean, are you concerned about the backup? Is he hurt, or is he just not a good runner?

– No, he’s not hurt. Lets make sure we’re very clear of that, he’s not hurt. I think that we’re going to accentuate what each player does best. And right now, he’s throwing the ball well at times. And we got to continue to improve around him for us to throw the football better. And that’s what he does best. We certainly have opportunities, excuse me, for him to run, in situations where he could be in a zone-read situation. Maybe the defense sometimes dictates that on who carries the ball and who doesn’t.

– [Reporter] Do you want to see him run more?

– I just want us to be more effective offensively and more productive.

– [Reporter] But–

– And if it means he’s running the footballs, I’m all for it.

– [Reporter] I know you might not be, or maybe you are a big analytics guy, but his offensive efficiency is really, really dragged down by the fact that he’s not an effective runner. Any thoughts on that?

– We need to throw the football better. That has nothing to do with running.

– [Reporter] Will, from the outside I know sometimes it’s easy just to look at wins and losses, but obviously there’s much more that goes into it. Your players today, very vocal in the support in terms of where this program is heading. How important is it when things aren’t going well to know that the players have that support and still trust the process of where it’s heading?

– You know, our guys, we got a really good locker room, we have a great culture here. We have really good leadership on our football team. That’s why you recruit the right kind of character and the right kind of young men to be in your locker room. And when you go through adversity, you know, you handle those things. And our guys will handle it in a first-class manner, and that’s part of it.

– [Reporter] I guess, I don’t know how much input you have on adjustments that get made on the offensive side of the ball. But are you privy to those conversations after those scripted plays on the first two drives? And what are those conversations like on the sidelines when players come off and start telling you what they’re seeing, to make adjustments offensively?

– Well, no. Depending on what side of the ball’s on the field is generally the side of the headsets that I’m on as far as those things are concerned. And then at halftime, we’re able to kind of go through some things that I might be able to see, that I’ll look at from a defense perspective, that I just tell Bryan, these are the things I’m seeing. Middle-field coverage, this is what they’re doing, this is the matchup they’re trying to get. I’ve just been in this league for a long, long time and knowing a lot of the coaches in this league, just as far as those things are concerned. But when the defense is on the field, I’m on the defensive headset.

– [Reporter] How often do you say, do your job, in a day? To your team. Quite a bit. I say it to myself a lot too.

– [Reporter] What’s the background of that being one of your real fundamental beliefs?

– Well, I mean obviously, when I was working for Coach Saban, Coach Belichick came to LSU a lot and visited us in the off-season. Whether it was working out a player for the draft or it was visiting with our staff to exchange ideas. You know, that was one of the things that I think’s very simple to understand. You know, do simple better, is one of our other things we talk about all the time. And that’s a very simple description for you and your job and what you’re doing. And sometimes in life, we all want to get concerned about what somebody else is doing or they’re not doing their job good enough, or we need to do this job, this is what, no, just do your job. How about let’s handle that first and then we’ll handle the others. And that’s something that’s easy for our, anyone to understand as far as those things are concerned.

– [Reporter] When a team is not getting the results it wants, do you have to preach that harder because people tend to want to reach outside of themselves to try to change some outcome?

– No, I think that, you know, again, I think you try and be very technical in the things that we need to do to improve. I mean, one of the things I had to remind our team, we had the lead at halftime. We just took the ball down the field 75 yards and scored to take the momentum going into halftime. We need to capture that into the second half, and we didn’t do that, you know? And we’ve got to, you know, put ourselves in a position, number one as coaches, and then number two as players, to put yourself in a position to go win the game, and we didn’t do that well enough on either side of the ball or special teams.

– [Reporter] There’s a video that’s been around forever of you expressing your do your job mantra at Texas. Do you ever get any feedback from that on players? Do people bring that up to you? Do you ever… Do you think that that has kind of become attached to you, that mantra has become attached to you because of that video, you think?

– I dunno. That’s for you to write about. I’ll read it.

– [Reporter] Hey, Will, when you say that you guys have to be better in the passing game, how do you balance, you know, making sort of these wholesale changes? Do you install anything new now, sort of now that more than half the season is over, do you install something new? How do you balance that?

– It’s hard to install a whole new concept, especially with some youth we have in some very important areas on the offensive line and the skill positions. So just continue to try and narrow down things that we feel comfortable with as far as what the quarterback feels comfortable with and what we can do to be successful. And again, I thought we did some good things the other night. I thought we’ve made some improvements. It’s not what we want, exactly where we’re getting, but we have made some strides, and we got to continue to do so. Just one thing the other night, and really the only two games this year, Missouri and Tennessee, we didn’t effectively run the football, and we need to be able to do that. You know, our formula’s not going to be very successful throwing the ball 50 times right now. Right now with our football team, that’s not a real successful formula for us.

– [Reporter] What do you think is Vanderbilt’s biggest strength, and how do you plan to combat that?

– Well, Ke’Shawn Vaughn is an outstanding player. They do a really good job of tying in the play actions. And the boots and nakeds with a very mobile quarterback that we saw against Missouri. They’ve got some talented guys outside, Lipscomb and Pinkney and some guys that we think are extremely talented players offensively. Defensively, you know, I think the thing you turn the tape on is they extremely hard. And they’re very disciplined in what they do and their techniques. They’re not going to be out of position, they’re not going to bust a coverage. They’re a team that plays extremely hard. And when you turn the tape on, that’s easy to see, especially in the last ball game against Missouri.

– [Reporter] You’ve mentioned at times that positions like receiver or running back, the week of practice kind of sets who goes, who does what. With quarterback, how much of when a quarterback plays, or if multiple quarterbacks were to play, how much of that is stuff you see in practice that week, and how much of it is sort of what you know about a quarterback as a leader, as a guy going all the way back through, you know, off season, that kind of stuff.

– Well, I don’t think there’s any question that leading into the week on how they perform on the practice field is extremely important. I also think it’s important of who you’re playing and what kind of scheme do they play, and what is our best matchups, and what are the best, you know, situations that give us an opportunity to win the game and be productive. So I think those two work more hand-in-hand than the other.

– [Reporter] I know Ryan played in a very difficult high school league. I would imagine he took some shots there. As you were watching recruiting film, did you see any of that? And how did it influence, how did the way he reacted to it influence your thought process about him?

– That’s a huge part of it, to be able to see a guy take a shot, and what is he going to do on the next snap. Is he able to move to the next snap, is he going to sit in the pocket, is he going to step into the throw? And there was no question that we saw that on tape. That’s a huge part of the evaluation process at that position, mhm.

– [Reporter] Talk to Keir anymore about, I guess, what his plan is for the rest of the season?

– Yeah, you know, right now I don’t know. He’s working out. And I think, Collyn, the frustrating part for all of us, starting with him, is just, because of the infection, the amount of time we had to shut him down. We’re talking about over two months. So that takes a while to get back in cardio shape, get back in football shape, get back in lifting shape. He’s working hard. He did put the pads on last week, and we moved him around a little bit. He didn’t necessarily practice, per se, with us, but we need to, he needs to get used to carrying the weight, carrying the pads. And again, I think it’s at least two weeks out at this time right now.

– [Reporter] If Keir were to end up redshirting and returning for next season based on that kind of timeline, how valuable of a player would he be for this defensive line kind of next season, with some of the veterans you guys are set to lose?

– Sure. Well, I think you lose two really quality leaders and seniors inside, Javon and Kobe, two guys that have been having fantastic senior years. Obviously, Dennis Wonnum is a guy that, you know, he’s another guy that’s been elected team captain in previous years. So there’s no question, his leadership ability will be very valuable for us if that’s what ends up happening. Mhm. You pump faked ’em, huh?

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Chavis Dawkins | Sr. | WR

– [Reporter] Mindset of the team coming off the two losses and trying to get this thing turned.

– Mindset is the same. Just focus on finishing, just getting better every week, and focus on what we got to do to get a win on Saturday.

– [Reporter] What is it you guys have to do to get that win, just focus?

– Just focus on the little things, the little details. Just take the coaching, get better, and just play well Saturday.

– [Reporter] Chavis, you live with Kiel. How’ve you seen him handle the last couple months?

– I mean, yeah. I mean, me and Bryan and Kiel live together. So, I mean, me and Bryan just always there for him, always talking to him just to see what’s on his mind and just be there for him.

– [Reporter] What’s kind of been your role in his, I don’t want to say recovery, but just mental state and trying to keep him–

– Just being there, just being there when he need me. Being there whenever he need to talk. Get him out of the house a little bit, you know. Just be there for him, be a brother for him.

– [Reporter] What do you guys do if you’re going to get out of the house?

– I mean, go get something to eat.

– [Reporter] Favorite places? just go. Our favorite places, we go to Chipotle a lot. We’re just getting him out of the house to play basketball. He’s been playing basketball this past week, well, past, last week. He’s getting out of the house, doing well.

– [Reporter] What is the level of confidence that you guys have in this QB room between Ryan and Dakereon?

– Always confident, those guys are great. I think they’re both great players, we’re always covering them.

– [Reporter] With both of them kind of nursing injuries, do you guys, as receivers, feel a little more need to step up and kind of find different ways to support them?

– I mean, everybody’s dealing with injuries right now, but, no we’re just doing our job and just helping them best way we can.

– [Reporter] What would be your confidence level if Dakereon had to go in again?

– Very confident.

– [Reporter] How many plays do you script to start games? I think it’s what, first two drives, something like that.

– I think so, yes sir.

– [Reporter] How do you feel like you guys have done starting games and then once you guys have to start making adjustments?

– I think we start great. We just got to learn how to finish and just keep the momentum going.

– [Reporter] What goes into just finishing? I mean people say it a lot, but just kind of what has to happen for you?

– Just finishing, just not getting off focus on what we need to do and just staying focused on the all four quarters.

– [Reporter] Is it hard to do, I guess when you’re up entering the halftime or entering the fourth quarter, is it easy to kind of relax a little bit?

– Not really, nah.

– [Reporter] Why do players like playing for Coach Muschamp?

– I personally like playing because, I mean, he’s a blue collar coach, he’s going to tell you how it is, he’s honest with you, he’s going to be there for you.

– [Reporter] You think that resonates all in the locker, like, you guys are all kind of in a lot of support of him, obviously these are tough, you see social media, stuff like that. Do you guys feel like you have to stand up for him at the times like this?

– Oh yeah for sure, definitely, cause he is a great coach. I mean knows what he’s talking about, but, I mean, we always got his back, like he got our back.

– [Reporter] Did you watch Monday Night Football this week? See Bryan get kind of recognized by–

– Oh yeah, I did, I did. We was sitting on the couch. I was like, he didn’t even notice. I was like, “you’re on TV.”

– [Reporter] Where did that catch rank in terms of catches you’ve seen?

– Oh, in person?

– [Reporter] Yeah.

– I’ve never seen anything like that in person, so definitely number one.

– [Reporter] How often do you all hear, do your job, from Coach Muschamp?

– Everyday, everyday.

– [Reporter] He’s got a lot of little catch phrases, is that number one?

– Yeah, definitely.

– [Reporter] How many times have you seen the video on YouTube when he’s at Texas and he says, “do your something job” and punches the white board?

– I’ve seen it a couple times

– [Reporter] Did you ever joke with him about that clip?

– Nah, no I don’t want to bring that up.

– [Reporter] How important is physical toughness for a quarterback?

– I think it’s very important. I mean, quarterback’s a hard position to be at and they got to deal with a lot.

– [Reporter] But you don’t think of it as a necessarily physically tough position?

– Oh, I definitely do.

– [Reporter] Do you?

– Yeah, yeah.

– [Reporter] Ryan’s taken some shots this year. Do you all ever wonder if he’s going to keep getting up.

– I mean Ryan’s a fighter. I mean, he’s continued to get up every time he gets hit, so I believe that he will continue to get up every time he gets hit.

– [Reporter] How frustrating has this year been for you personally? Because, you guys are showing that you can play with Alabama, give them a tough game, you beat Georgia and then you lose to what some people would call lesser opponents.

– I mean, it hasn’t been that disappointing. It’s just, we got to finish just like coach says every week. Just focus on the little things, the little details and just finish.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Eric Douglas | RS So. | OL

– [Reporter] What’s practice been like, kind of moving off of that Tennessee game?

– Just refocusing and just going through drills, and just getting our technique down, being sound at what we got to do. In the run game, passing game, so just tightening up all those. That’s what it’s looking like.

– [Reporter] Vandy’s kind of a zero blitz team, Dakereon said. How much pressure does that put on you and the offensive line to kind of try to pick that up for Ryan.

– Well it’s just getting in our positions and just standing firm. Standing firm in there, so you know we just get Ryan enough time to drop it off and let those guys outside make big plays, like we know they can. Just standing in there firm.

– [Reporter] Sorry. You guys had some struggles protecting everybody last week. Could there be some changes this week? Were you maybe looking at some first team reps today at practice?

– Yeah, I was just rotating everywhere, just cause I know I got to play from left tackle all the way to right tackle. So yeah I’ve just been working in all positions from left to right. So yeah, I’ve been rotating in a little bit.

– [Reporter] Sadarius back today doing some work with you guys?

– He’s back out there, he looked pretty good. So he should be ready for Saturday and everything should be rolling.

– [Reporter] How much pressure do you guys put on yourselves these last four games, kind of knowing the margin for error is pretty small?

– Not really that much pressure. Just go in there and do what we do. Cause we know we still got a great team. It’s just sometimes those 46 plays that coach Muschamp talks about in the fourth quarter didn’t go our way. So we know we still got a great team, not really a lot of things that we need to change, you just stay the course pretty much and just refocus this week. And get those 46 plays.

– [Reporter] Knowing you are the first guy kind of off the bench, what’s that anticipation like not knowing who’s going to go down and what position you’re going to be playing? What’s that like when you’re standing on the sidelines?

– I just really stay in the game, just stay focused and you know just look at everybody who comes in and out on the D-line. Like one play I’ll look at the left tackle, see what his rush is. And next play I’ll look at the right guard, next play I’ll look at the right tackle. So really, I’m just looking at everybody and every play, just rotating who I’m looking at, just in case you know I do have to be plugged in.

– [Reporter] How much does physical toughness in a quarterback mean to a team?
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– It means a lot cause sometimes we’re not always going to hold up on offensive line. We see him get a big hit and we see him get up. You know? It tells us that he’s a soldier, so it just keeps us wanting to fight more for him.

– [Reporter] Ryan has had some struggles with accuracy this year, but it feels like he has done a good job of that, of always sort of bouncing back up. How much does that win a team over?

– Oh yeah. Well every time Ryan lets his voice be heard, you know all the guys respond to him, offense and defense. Not even just offense, sometimes the defense, they respond to him too. Just getting them hyped. That’s just the type of guy that he is. His leadership and his energy is really what keeps the team going.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Bryan Edwards | Sr. | WR

– [Reporter] Two of the past three weeks have been kind of frustrating for you guys, but do you see any reason why the second halves have been as low scoring as they’ve been?

– No, I really don’t honestly. I guess other team’s just doing a good job of adjusting at halftime. That’s the only thing I can really say about it.

– [Reporter] Is there anything you guys can do as an offense to kind of shake yourselves out of that rut?

– Just keep working. You always got to keep working. Keep getting better at the things we’re doing and just try to execute. That’s all we can do.

– [Reporter] So you got some shout out from Randy Moss last night?

– Yeah I saw it. It’s pretty cool when you get a shout out from Randy Moss and all those guys on Monday night football.

– [Reporter] Is he one of the guys you looked up to growing up?

– Oh yeah, definitely. You know Randy Moss is a legend. So you know it’s always good to hear your name come out his mouth.

– [Reporter] Was he your favorite guy? Was there another wide receiver you tried to pattern yourself after?

– I always been a fan of just South Carolina guys just cause, you know, being from South Carolina. So you know, guys like DeAndre Hopkins, AJ Green, Alshon, you know, all those guys have always been my favorites.

– [Reporter] You talked a little bit a couple years back about wanting to have your name kind of included in that conversation the Kenny McKinleys, the Alshons of the world. Now that you’re a record holder, does that hold anymore weight? The fact that your name’s up there with them?

– I always held myself to that standard I felt like. That’s what I wanted to be when I stepped on campus and I feel like I did a great job working towards it. So, you know, it’s obviously an honor just to have your name up there and I feel like I deserve it. I worked for it.

– [Reporter] Did anyone reach out?

– I always talk to Alshon, but not too many guys reached out yet. They’ll probably reach out sometime soon, though.

– [Reporter] Is it catches or yards that get your name up there on the stadium?

– I don’t know. I’m trying to get all three though. Do you know?

– [Reporter] Do you know when that might happen?

– I’m not sure. I’m taking it one game at a time. I can’t try to look too far ahead. Just take advantage of every ball that comes to me and try to make the most of it.

– [Reporter] When you’ve got a quarterback like Ryan whose kind of working through a little bit of that nagging knee injury. Does that put a little more on your shoulders? Is there a little extra stuff you kind of have to do to kind of support him and keep him up?

– No I mean, well like I said, when I get the ball in my hands, I’m trying to do everything I can to make a play. Good ball, bad ball, Ryan’s hurt, not good, or whatever, I’m still trying to do the same thing every time I go on the field.

– [Reporter] Is it tough at all going through practice when kind of both your starting and your back up quarterback are nursing sort of nagging stuff?

– No I mean, they’re still out there throwing balls and I’m still out there catching them, so as long as I’m getting looks, I’m okay.

– [Reporter] What’s it been like the last few days? Are people still amazed by that catch?

– Oh yeah, yeah, you know, you hear it, like, everywhere you go. It’s what people talk about and it’s what’s being brought up. I just kind of talk to them about it and try to be as nice as I can, but I hear it all the time, so I’m kind of used to it.

– [Reporter] Bryan, I know you’re not really maybe thinking anything while you’re making the play, but do you ever look at yourself after the fact and say how did I come down with that?

– Yeah, maybe the next day you’re like wow, you know, kind of looking at the pictures like this really happened, but it’s just something I’ve been doing since I was young, just like when we used to go outside and play catch, you just used to dream just catching the ball with one hand and it’s just kind of, it’s natural.

– [Reporter] I know you guys have one handed drills in practice. Is that something that B-Mac likes to work with you guys on?

– Yeah. Everyday we just go through our basic catches and just kind of working your eyes and training your eyes to be on the ball at all times. It’s second nature for me.

– [Reporter] What’s it like to have a guy like Randy Moss kind of give you a shout out last night during the segment?

– It’s awesome man. Randy Moss is the goat. He’s a legend. Him and Jerry Rice, so to hear your name come out of his mouth, it’s kind of an honor.

– [Reporter] Bryan you live with Kiel. How have you seen him handle the last couple months?

– Aw man. Kiel’s handled it well I think. Him being who he is, football has been his life. That was taken away from him and he’s done a great job. He’s starting to kind of adjust and kind of just get back to being himself because he was kind of down for a moment, but I’m so proud of him. He’s doing a heck of a job.

– [Reporter] What’s been your roll on that?

– Just being friends. We’re close man. All three of us are so close. We do everything together. We’re together everyday. So you know, just being there for him and know he got a brother in his corner. I’d do anything for him, anything he needs and he knows that, so he’s got all the support he needs.

– [Reporter] When you guys prepare, how many plays do you script to start the game?

– They usually script down I think the first two drives or something like that, so, I think so.

– [Reporter] You feel like you guys have done a pretty good job with those this year?

– I feel like we’re started games pretty well. Obviously, we hit the big play with Shi, so I feel like we’ve done a great job executing the starters.

– [Reporter] Bryan, how important is physical toughness for a quarterback?

– I think that’s a big thing, just ’cause you have to stand in there and kind of take some shots sometimes and deliver some balls. That’s just something you have to do. Nobody really cares about how you’re getting hit and what’s going on. All they care about is if you’re completing passes and, you know, Ryan does a great job at that. He never complains. He gets up, he dusts himself off, and he keeps going. To see that out of a true freshman, that’s special.

– [Reporter] How much does that trait endear him to you guys?

– I’ve always had so much respect for Ryan just because the way he handles himself around here, even when things get tough. He doesn’t feel sorry for himself. When he does something bad or he makes a bad play, he accepts it. He tells the guys it’s on me and I got to do better. He always take full responsibility for everything. Just seeing that out of a quarterback, you know, he’s beyond his years.

– [Reporter] You don’t see how many of the hits he takes during the game.

– Oh no, I see him. Replays and things like that. I see him and he’s standing in there like a trooper, man, and I’m proud of him.

– [Reporter] Have there been one or two where you thought I don’t know, ’cause he’s got–

– The one where he got his helmet smashed on the flag was one. That looked pretty, you know, I’ve took a couple hits, so I know what it feels like. So, obviously you got to feel for the kid.

– [Reporter] Bryan what’s the attitude at practice these past couple days? Is there any frustration or anything like that among the guys?

– Yeah, I mean, anytime you’re losing, it’s not fun. You know, everything, food tastes worse when you’re losing, everything’s worse when you’re losing. But we’re still out there. Everybody loves football. That’s what it is. We’re just playing football and we’re trying to just enjoy our season and just get back to our winning ways.

– [Reporter] Bryan, Tavien hit upon just being able to finish and execute, is it as simple as those two things or is there anything else you guys can think of?

– No, I think it’s just that simple. You just got to execute and we know it’s going to be tough and we know it’s going to not go our way all the time, but we got to respond the right way and just keep fighting.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Tavien Feaster | Sr. | RB

– [Reporter] Tavien, two of the past three second halves you guys have been shut out. Just what has to change for you guys to break that trend?

– The mind set, we got to be a better second half team. We got to come out and finish. Finish the game the right way, you know we start off very well, but we just got to come out after halftime and finish it.

– [Reporter] Do you think this defense is adjusting to you guys or you guys got to shake it up a little more and more of what you’re doing?

– Just, we’ve just got to execute, you know coach going to call the plays and we just got to execute it.

– [Reporter] What is it like during practice with both of your quarterbacks kind of nursing, you know smaller injuries.

– You know, I mean it’s football, you know, this is a it’s a game of injuries, I’d really say that they’re hurt, not injured. You know, injured is something different, so you know, we’ve got to, they got to play through it.

– [Reporter] How high would the level of confidence be if Dakereon ended up having to go in again?

– I mean, I believe he is, he’s prepared, you know. He’s prepared the right way, obviously when he gets his opportunity, he always you know, executes, so you know, when he gets his opportunity, if he gets his opportunity, I know he’s going to do well.

– [Reporter] When you guys prepare, how many plays do you guys script to start the game?

– I don’t I don’t know. [Reporter] Is it first two drives you feel like you kind of rehearse, or I’m not trying to ask you to reveal state secrets but…

– I mean honestly I don’t know, I just go out there and play football so, you know you got to ask Coach B-Mac.

– [Reporter] How’d Rico look today?

– He look good, you know, the guy should be ready so.

– [Reporter] Coach Muschamp talked about I think he said a couple weeks ago he wished he would had pulled you aside and say wished he would’ve had you for more than a year. What have you learned about playing for him and you know when you see fans kind of being like, ‘oh he’s not the guy.’ How do you guys respond to that type of stuff?

– I mean we going to believe in coach, you know, believe in what he’s selling, believe in what he’s doing and buy in, you got to keep buying in. No matter, no matter what, trust the process. You know, you know coach like to be physical, so that’s what we do. We pride ourselves on being a physical team.

– [Reporter] A lot of his former players seem to really like him. What, why, what have you learned about him maybe in your short time with him?

– He’s a great guy, you know, just his mindset, you know the way that he approaches the game, you know obviously he was a safety, he thinks he’s a head hunter, but that’s a different story, but you know just the way he approaches.

– [Reporter] How tough can social media be sometimes,

– I mean it can be…

– [Reporter] Like winning streaks and people talking about coaches and stuff like that?

– I mean you got to have thick skin you know, you know, obviously you know everybody’s entitled to their opinion but it don’t really matter.

– [Reporter] You don’t respond to it?

– No, I just laugh.

– [Reporter] What is the mindset of the team coming off these two losses and trying to get back on the right side of things?

– Hopefully, and I know the mindset is finish, finish the season the right way, that’s all we got to do is worry about us each week, just help play for each other.

– [Reporter] Tavien is it as simple as you guys have mentioned before, finishing and execution in terms of what’s some of the troubles been in the big picture scheme of this season?

– I, yeah, you just go back, you just finish it. I don’t think it’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing. I think it’s just mindset and just finish it. You just got to go out there and take over the game.

– [Reporter] I know it’s in the past, but obviously some of the teams that you’ve been on in the past in terms of Clemson. Have you seen something in terms of just being able to learn and know how to finish, and know how to win because it seems like whatever reason once you guys get to the fourth quarter, you guys just don’t have that, that whatever that is.

– We, I think that it’s just the mindset, prepare yourself for a four quarter game, you know the game’s not over in the first quarter, the first half, you know even the third quarter. It’s a four-quarter game, so you just got to prepare your mind for that every time you step on the field.

– [Reporter] We talked to some of the seniors about, about leadership for the younger guys, well, how about you is there someone outside of the team, outside of football maybe that you rely on you know, for some advice or some guidance?

– You know I talk to a couple people, but here I would say Marcus has been you know, a great guy there I talk to about you know, off the field things and I don’t really want to come to him all the time about football cause it’s, you know, it’s different, I talk to him about life and just the mindset that he had you know, when he played.

– [Reporter] Tavien, how important is the physical toughness in a quarterback, because Ryan’s kind of getting beat to death back there?

– Well, he’s tough, he’s tough, he gets back up every play, you know he’s putting it on the line for his team, and I appreciate him, we appreciate him, and we got to step up, we got to help him out and protect our quarterback better.

– [Reporter] Is that, just simple act of getting up every time sort of endear him to his teammates, does that make you guys want to play for him, some more?

– Yeah, yeah definitely, definitely guys going to get up and fight for us, you know, I’m willing to fight for him.

– [Reporter] And has there been a hit he’s taken this year, where you thought, I don’t know if he’s getting up from that one.

– I really don’t be looking at the hit, I be blocking or running a route, so..

– [Reporter] I know you have a different view.

– Right, right so, you know I just, just hope every time he’s going to get up. Yes sir.

– [Reporter] Going back to Marcus, did you all know each other or just from being from the same area or just..

– Yeah, yeah we kind of knew each other from being in the same area and obviously he’s a legend so, obviously I always look up to him so, yeah.

– [Reporter] What’s the best advice Marcus has given you since you’ve became a Gamecock?

– Just have fun with it, just have fun with it, that’s just, that’s really the biggest tip, you know not too much pressure, you know just go out there and be myself.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Jaycee Horn | So. | DB

– [Reporter] Tennessee game, what do you kind of see structurally as sort of the breakdowns and how you kind of work to correct those?

– Uh the secondary was just, like I said before, they was calling perfect pass, pass plays. Uh, they hit us with uh couple of explosive pass plays but, you know it’s real good calls by the offensive coordinator really wasn’t, um, much we could do.

– [Reporter] What kind of pops with what Vandy does?

– What?

– [Reporter] What kind of pops and stands out with what Vanderbilt does?

– Uh, I haven’t watched a lot of film on ’em, so I don’t know yet.

– [Reporter] How does you, you go against the offense in practice, how does having two quarterbacks that are kind of dinged up. How does that change the practice dynamics or does it at all?

– Uh, not really, we usually like even if they weren’t dinged up, we’d protect them. Protect them pretty well in practice so not really change anything, they both can still throw the ball well so, we still get the same amount of work.

– [Reporter] What’s it been like watching Dekereon go through kind of this hamstring thing that’s, that’s kept him out for so long?

– Whatcha mean?

– [Reporter] That he, what’s it been like watching him kind of work his way through and kind of work his way back to potentially being healthy?

– Well he’s still been moving around pretty good, you know like I said, we, they really don’t do to much running and we don’t hit ’em in practice so we still get the same amount of work, he still can throw the ball well out there.

– [Reporter] How much are the coaches and the um leaders on this team stressing the importance of finishing strong in the fourth quarter this week?

– Uh well we haven’t had many meetings but it has been uh, a topic of discussion just cause we have like four games, four five games left, so we got to finish strong cause it can get uglier than it is if we go out there and lay an egg.

– [Reporter] When people come after Will Muschamp on social media, do feel kind of compelled to defend him?

– Nah we don’t, we don’t worry about what people on social media say, we in the building with him every day. Uh, we know how great of a coach he is and how much trust he has in his players, so we have his back 110% and we going to go out there and put it all on the line for him.

– [Reporter] What is the best part about playing for a guy like coach Muschamp?

– Uh just like a what I just said, he has a lot of trust in his players, you know he goes to bat for us uh, 100% of the time so we go out there and we try to lay it all, lay it all out on the line for him.

– [Reporter] In a season like this, how important is it for the players to have their coach’s back in that kind of way?

– Um, it is important cause we struggling right now, and you know, he needs some support so we got to do a good job of going out there and executing the plays he calls or our coordinator calls, we just got to go out there and help him out some.

– [Reporter] How many times the week, a day do you all hear him say do your job?

– Every day he always says that. You know that, that’s been one of his main things since I got here, is to do your job and when you walk in the building that’s one of the first things you see, so just a daily reminder.

– [Reporter] What does it mean to you?

– Uh, it means exactly what it says, do your job. Don’t worry about other things outside of your job cause when you focus on other people’s job, you seem to mess up doing yours so, if everybody do their job, than everything going to work out in our favor.

– [Reporter] How well have you all done that this year, do you think?

– Um, I mean I can’t really speak on a lot of other people’s jobs cause I’m focused on mine you know playing corner and just defenses. A tough job by itself so, I’m focused on my job.

– [Reporter] When you’re struggling it would feel like it might be more tempting to try to do more, to try to do somebody else’s job, is is that true? You, you want to?

– Yeah it’s definitely true, you know you struggling and my case when you’re not making many plays, you get its easy to get side tracked and try to do things outside of your job but, that only leads down a bad road so, just say keep the main thing, the main thing, and go out there and focus every play.

– [Reporter] Jaycee, I mean I know you try probably ignore social media as much as you can during the in season but I’m sure you guys hear things sometimes. When when people say stuff about Muschamp, and they don’t know the full story that don’t understand exactly the things that he does for you guys, what does he mean to you as a player and what, where is he bringing this this team in this direction, this program?

– Oh well when we see people talking bad about Muschamp or whoever, it’s kind of laughable, cause like you say they not in the building every day, they not practicing with us, so they don’t really understand the full context and, uh, as a player just playing for him you know, like I told, like I said earlier um, he has a lot of trust in his players and he goes to bat for us uh, everyday, and he does a great job at what he do, and we just got to go out there and execute so, I love playing for him.

– [Reporter] Ryan has taken some shots this year. As a defensive guy, does it endear you, him to you, when you see him keep getting up, does it make you like your quarterback a little better when he’s physically tough?

– Oh yeah well we’ve been Ryan had that, had that about um, very tough quarterback and he has taken a lot of hard shots, and we just be looking at it on the big screen and he pops up every time so, you know it just shows what type of character, what type of guy he is you know, I’m glad to have him as our quarterback.

– [Reporter] Have there been any particular ones that you thought “Ouch?”

– He been hit a lot so, I can’t really remember a particular one but, you know we all see it and he gets back up every time knowing, and goes and plays the next play.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Ernest Jones | So. | LB

– [Reporter] You just kind of whacked your funny bone or something?

– I think it was more so when I hit the guy, I think his helmet kind of hit right on and then as I was dragging him down, elbow and everything was just getting, you know, everybody was falling on top, so it feels a lot better now.

– [Reporter] How much do you hear Coach Muschamp say “Do your job.” Those three words.

– We hear it a lot. We hear it a bunch. He says that all the time.

– [Reporter] That’s kind of his thing. What does it mean to you?

– I mean I believe, I personally believe when we do our job that it’s a key to victory. I feel like as a team when we do our job that we are a really good team when that happens. And if everybody’s in their right spot or in the right gap or doing the right thing I feel like that’s the way of success for us.

– [Reporter] What happens when that doesn’t happen? What are the dangers?

– It never happens.

– [Reporter] Why does he preach it so much?

– Cause when we don’t do it it’s never good.

– [Reporter] How many times have you seen the clip of him punching the white board saying that when he was in Texas?

– I’ve seen it probably a few times. I’ve seen that a few times.

– [Reporter] What do you think when you see that? Have you–

– Have we? No, he hasn’t.

– [Reporter] Have you ever seen that?

– No, he hasn’t hit a board yet. But, when I see that I’m just thinking yeah, I mean it’s important to do your job. That’s the most important thing when we’re playing. Especially on defense. If you get out the wrong gap then they’ll strike a long touchdown or something like that. Something bad will happen if you don’t do your job. It’s just the way our season’s going. It’s happening to us, so.

– [Reporter] As a defensive guy, when you see your quarterback, your team’s quarterback taking a hit, take a shot, and keep getting up, does that make you like him more?

– Yeah, yeah, we love Ryan. You know, we never want to see Ryan hit the ground, but you know from a defense guy on the other side of the ball, when we see Ryan get hit, you know, we’re always on the weary side, cause we know he had an injury, so when he keeps getting up and he keeps fighting, you know, you’ll play for a guy like that. You learn to love a guy like that in your locker room and as a team, you know, you rally around a guy like that no matter what struggles he’s having or what’s going on on the offense side of the ball from a defensive standpoint you play your hardest for guys like him.

– [Reporter] When you hit a quarterback, when you hit an opposing quarterback, can you tell, and he pops back up versus maybe he stays down?

– Yeah, you can tell when they’re kind of faking it or you can tell when they really like, the hit didn’t really matter to them, like they’re one of those warrior type of guys that they’ll get up, they’ll keep getting up. That’s the type of guy he is. He’s going to keep getting up. He’s going to keep fighting, and he’s going to claw his way out of any bad situation.

– [Reporter] I’m sorry if you’ve already been asked, but how’re you feeling?

– Oh, yeah, I feel good.

– [Reporter] Did you practice today?

– Yeah, I did practice today. Elbow’s doing good.

– [Reporter] Chavis talked about, you know, Muschamp has your guys’ back, you guys have his.

– Definitely.

– [Reporter] Do you guys ever, like when you see stuff on social media, I know it can get crazy, do you ever have to hold back and not respond?

– Oh definitely. Yeah, all the time. We want to say a lot to some people, but we can’t. And, you know, that’s what comes with the job, and comes with being a student-athlete. Lot of people say things that they don’t mean, but they’re just mad at the time. For me personally, I laugh. It’s funny to me. I don’t let stuff like that get to me.

– [Reporter] When you see stuff about Coach Muschamp and maybe he’s not fit for this or whatever, what do you want to say? Okay.

– What did he say? He said if he had any comments on anything he’d get fined. I don’t know if I’d get fined, but I may get kicked off, so I’m not going to say what I want to say. But when I see people talk about him and talk about how he’s unfit for the job, they just don’t personally know him and know everything that he does to get us prepared. And being realistic I don’t believe. I believe more so, the problems that we have in games comes down to us. They teach us the right stuff. They show us the right stuff. It’s just a matter of, fact of just doing your job. That’s what I preach and I’m going to continue to preach it, because at times we have the ability to not want to do our job and to want to try to make too many plays at once. You know, just one play at a time. Make your play and good things will come out of that.

– [Reporter] Why do players, it seems like all his former players just love playing for him?

– He’s a great guy. I mean he’s a good coach. He loves us all. I believe he really loves his players and he’ll do anything for them and that’s the kind of coach you need in a locker room, that you want to continue to have around guys. Cause I feel like, more and more, that people are, you know, leaning, like I wouldn’t say leaning on him, but they’re trusting in what he’s saying a lot more. Because it works. When we do what we’re supposed to do it definitely does work.

– [Reporter] Is that what it comes down to for you all? Turning things around is just executing better? Is that really–

– Yeah, just executing better. Yeah, that’s all that, I believe, for me looking on, watching the tapes of previous games that we’ve lost it just comes down to doing your job. Nobody is, I don’t think nobody has done anything special to the point where we’re out there, like, what the heck are they doing? No, it’s just go back to your rules. When you see something new or when the offense is giving you something new I guarantee you’ve been taught this before. Just go back to your rules.

– [Reporter] What’s the mindset of the team right now?

– We just got to keep fighting. We got to, we’re in the hole right now. We’re going to dig ourselves out and rally behind one another. And you know, I love all of these guys on this team and you know, you come in to a building, you lost two straight games, you don’t see a team that’s backing down. You see a team and you see players, coaches that we’re ready to win, we’re ready to continue to win. Not just win one game and then next game don’t. We’re ready to continue to win, start streaking and stuff like that. You never see. Coming in today you don’t get the feeling of a team that’s just going to lay it down, Cause, you know, there’s maybe no hope of winning the east, or something like that. So now we’re playing for our seniors playing for our bowl game and we’re going to go down fighting each game.

– [Reporter] Ernest, do you put any extra pressure on yourselves, knowing that margins pretty razor thin?

– I feel like as a lower classman, there’s more pressure on the lower classmen that play because you don’t want to send the seniors out on a bad note. You want to get them to a bowl game and continue to allow them to play college football, because it’s about over for them. So I feel like for me there’s more, I feel I put more pressure on myself to make sure I’m doing more in the meeting room, making sure I can see some things that maybe some people don’t see and kind of help them out. So that’s mainly it, but I’m still going to continue to do my job.

– [Reporter] How do you tow the fine line between putting a little more pressure on yourself and not maybe trying to do too much on Saturday?

– Yeah, you just have to know yourself. You work extremely hard in the meeting rooms so that when it comes to game day everything’s easier for you and it just comes naturally. As much as you watch it, your body will find it’s way of getting there and doing what it needs to do.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Dakereon Joyner | RS Fr. | QB

– [Reporter] How’s the hamstring feeling?

– I feel really good, I think the best I’ve felt in a while.

– [Reporter] How frustrating has it been the last couple of weeks, kind of having to be sidelined?

– I wouldn’t say, well, it is kind of frustrating. Knowing that I wasn’t at my full potential, knowing that I couldn’t help my team like I wanted to, but I had to protect myself, so.

– [Reporter] Going in to the last game, do you feel like you could have played, or was it just kind of a matter of, you weren’t quite, maybe, there yet, or how did you kind of feel going in to that one?

– Coach’s decision. You know, I just didn’t think I was ready yet. I think I’m ready to go now.

– [Reporter] What have you seen from Vandy in the tape you guys have been able to watch?

– Very aggressive team, they put it on Missouri, A lot of guys there play very angry, you know. Every week is a tough matchup in the SEC, so.

– [Reporter] Derek Mason is kind of known as a defensive guy, just what have you seen, schematically from that defense that they do?

– Cover zero kind of team, bring the house. A lot of man, but they play a lot of different things to try to confuse you. But, a hard man team, cover zero and cover one.

– [Reporter] How important is physical toughness for a quarterback?

– I think it’s very tough. I think, like I said, it’s very tough, you know, your team looks at you, and if you show bad body language, you know, they’re going to look back and see you. So, I think your body language is everything.

– [Reporter] Ryan has taken some big hits this year, how do you think he’s responded in that regard?

– Oh, very tough guy. I think he’s responded well in every scenario, and I commend him for it.

– [Reporter] How difficult is it to stand in there and make a throw when you know you’re going to get creamed?

– Very difficult.

– [Reporter] Walk us through the mindset. Is it even a thought process, or is it just a reaction?

– Absolutely, 100%. I think if you see a guy like 35 from Tennessee, 19 from Tennessee coming at your head, it’s very tough, sometimes, but, you know, you got to be a hard nosed guy, stick in and make the throw.

– [Reporter] Do you feel like when you do that, you kind of win over a team as a quarterback?

– Absolutely, you’re here to get back up. Make the throw.

– [Reporter] When you’re nursing an injury like yours, or even like what Ryan’s been dealing with his knee, how does that change dynamics in practice?

– I think it comes down to taking care of yourself early on. I think communicating with the training staff, and the coaches so they understand how you feel. It’s all about protecting yourself, and make sure you have the best health for Saturday.

– [Reporter] Does it kind of hurt things a little bit, that you’re not, maybe, generating, building quite as much chemistry just because you’re maybe out there a little less, or?

– I mean, it can, but I think mentally, you have to take that upon yourself, get the mental reps, and be ready on Saturday.

– [Reporter] When you’re standing on the sideline, and Ryan is obviously taking some of those hits, does any part of you say, I wish I could play because I could at least relieve him, or at least be a receiver and maybe help him out?

– Absolutely.

– [Reporter] What’s the mindset of the team right now?

– I think, trying to go to war. I think that may be the only statement I can say that, you know, it’s time to go. We got four games left, we got to win out from here. I think our team is very desperate, and we know that we got to win, and I’m certain that we’ll get it done.

– [Reporter] Do you put any extra pressure on yourself? I know you always have the pressure to win, but do you put any extra pressure knowing that the margin for error is almost razor thin these last four games?

– You can if you want to, you know, but I think our team does a good job staying the same, I think we got to pick it up a little bit more, though, you know, this last home stretch.

– [Reporter] What do you mean by picking it up?

– Just, understand the scenario. We got to go out right for the seniors. I think that’s the biggest thing that, the underclassmen is focusing on is making sure the seniors go out the right way.

– [Reporter] Do you expect to be able play much receiver in the coming weeks, or still primarily quarterback?

– We’ll see.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Nick Muse | Jr. | TE

– [Reporter] Where do you feel your game is as compared to when you first got that waiver, and first stepped on the field, in the second game?

– I felt like, at the beginning of the year, it was more of, they were testing me. And, Charleston Southern, I did okay, there were some let downs, but, eventually, I got better, got better. I’ve increased my blocking a lot, since William and Mary, but my pass catching, I guess, has went down, so I’ve been focusing on that. What ever coach wants me to do, I do. We’ve been using 12 a lot, which is two tight end sets. So, me and Kyle Markway are in there most of the time together. That really works out, because he’ll either block and I’ll do route running, and when I get tired, or coach wants to switch it up, we’ll just flip positions.

– [Reporter] How impactful has that 12 personnel group been for you guys this season?

– I think it’s been good. We used it primarily on Kentucky, and it worked really well, ’cause they had, they always move their linebackers. Too far on one side or too far on the other side when they see a tight end, but when we had two tight ends, and they would move it too far, we’d just crease them on the other side when they wasn’t ready for it, so.

– [Reporter] What is it like going through practices where both the starting quarterback and the backup quarterback are kind of dinged up and kind of, maybe, not quite 100%.

– Well, I always talk to Ryan, he’s probably one of my top three best friends on the team, so, I always like to know how he is, sometimes he feels better than some other days. When he’s not healthy, I try to help him as much as I can, encourage him, tell him good ball, stuff like that. When he is healthy, the man can play. The man is good, and DK looked 100% today, so, therefore, he’s going to be a playmaker for the rest of the season, hopefully.

– [Reporter] Is it a tough situation when your starter might not be 100%, but really, for the past few weeks, your backup also hasn’t been 100% either?

– I think it’s difficult at times when it’s a mobility since he’s had a little bit of knee problems, but besides that, no one in the country is going to be fully healthy in week, what is this, week nine, week 10, something like that. I don’t think anybody is going to be fully equipped to do their job all the time, perfectly.

– [Reporter] How has Ryan handled, just sort of everything that’s come with going through all this stuff for the first time, and dealing with, maybe, some of the pressures that come with playing this position?

– Pretty good, well during the preseason, everybody’s working for the starting job, he got the number two job, and unfortunately for Jake, but I guess fortunate for Ryan, he got the starting position from an injury. You know, ever since then, it’s been Ryan and DK battling it out, even after Ryan started for the past five weeks, him and DK are still battling out to see who plays. You never know, so he’s always giving his all during practice, and if he gets the call on game day, he does what he does.

– [Reporter] And he seems pretty head strong with all the stuff that he’s, kind of, grown up with, he doesn’t really have any issues–

– Yeah, he’s been through a lot, but he’s known how to overcome it. Injury in football is nothing compared to what he’s been in life, so. Great guy.

– [Reporter] How do you feel like this team started games, this year, with scripted plays you guys run?

– I think coach is putting us in the best position. Everybody can blame Coach Muschamp, and all that, but, when he puts us in the right position, and we don’t make the plays, that’s not his problem, that’s our problem. So, everybody on social media that don’t really know what goes on behind the scenes. For Coach Muschamp, he’s the man. He does what you need him to do, so, therefore, I feel like, everything’s been ready at the beginning of the game, we just got to execute all the time.

– [Reporter] It appears that you’ve started pretty fast most games of the year, what’s kind of gone wrong once you have to start making adjustments and kind of get away from the plays?

– I’m not real sure. Everybody’s going to make different adjustments, especially if we’re creasing somebody, they’ll make adjustments on defense. We just have to find ways to make it work on offense again. Ever since, if you think about it, there’s a way that we could have been, what is it, seven and one, six and one, something like that. We had a couple bad opportunities for every game. Florida we had beat, Tennessee we were leading at halftime, UNC we were winning. It’s just the little plays that we haven’t made throughout the year that’s been costing us, but everyday we’re going to work to get those better.

– [Reporter] What are the conversations like after you come off the field, on your first two drives, when those are scripted? What are those conversations like with B-Mac and the other guys about? Is it you telling him what you’re seeing?

– Sometimes. Coach Bentley’s usually the guy we talk to most of the time. Him and Wolf, so, Wolf is on the field but Coach Bentley’s in the box, so we have to get on the mic for most of the game. But for Tennessee, there wasn’t much you could say after the first drive, it was what you wanted, yeah. But, after that, it was just trying to find ways to make it work.

– [Reporter] Nick, you talked about this just a little while ago, but just paint a picture of it, just the confidence you guys have in Muschamp in terms of the way this program is going, and I know you guys probably try to ignore social media as much as you can, but obviously, they don’t know exactly what’s going on in house, and what he’s trying to do, bringing this program in to the future.

– Yeah, he’s the man I would want running this thing, and, you know, everybody can say what they want, it’s whatever, everybody’s got opinions, but at the end of the day, when I was in the recruiting process, he’s the only one that wanted me to play this year. All the other coaches I went and saw, all the other visits I took, they were like, you know, you’ll sit out a year, and you’ll play, and Coach Muschamp said, heck no, I want you to play, so you’re going to play. And, eventually, that worked out, and ever since then, I’ve been head over heels going, I’m behind him, without a doubt.

– [Reporter] We touched on this a little bit earlier, but has there been more of a focus from the coaches or from the senior leaders about the importance of finishing up strong in the fourth quarter, especially where you are now in the season?

– Yeah, for the most part, I mean, we’ve had difficulty in the fourth quarter, as you can tell, I think we’ve lost, I think, three or four games this year from the fourth quarter. But, every week’s a new week, so, we’re going to work on what we got to work on, we’ve been working on all year, hopefully we get better at it, more than we’ve gotten better at it, so, hopefully that will work out.

– [Reporter] How do you guys put those loses behind you, obviously, putting one loss behind you on a Sunday is one thing, but two tough losses in a row, they start to pile up? How are you guys going to bounce back from that?

– Well, me personally, I try to look at it positively. That’s all you got to have in life is positivity. You can be made that someone has something, or you can be grateful for what you’ve got. I mean, some people don’t get to play the game, so being 3-5 is pretty good compared to not being able to play the game, but, it is what it is. We’ve lost games that we should have won. We should be a top 20 ranked team in my opinion. But, at the end of the day, you just got to look forward, because ain’t nothing we can do about Florida, ain’t nothing we can do about Tennessee. Don’t let Tennessee beat us twice, so we’re to have to work on Vanderbilt.

– [Reporter] Nick, do you guys put any extra pressure on yourselves these last four weeks, knowing that margin for error for a bowl game’s pretty small?

– Not really. I wouldn’t, like, UNC game we’re going to play the same as we play Vanderbilt, App, Texas A&M, Clemson, don’t matter. But, we know what we got to do to get a bowl game, but I want to go 7-5, I don’t want to go 6-6, and make the bowl game, I want to go 7-5. So, hopefully, we’re going to work on that, and see where it leads us.

– [Reporter] How many times a day or week do you hear Muschamp say do your job?

– A lot, because, like I said earlier, some people don’t do their job. Some people need to be told 100 times, and 100 more times, and 100 more times. But, you know, he says it as a confidence builder, he tries to lead us the right way. All you got to do is do your job. You can’t guard somebody if you’re a defensive lineman, you can’t rush the passer if you’re a safety unless you’re on a blitz. Like, you just can’t do that. I can’t throw for Ryan, and Ryan can’t catch for me. It is what it is, you just have to play your position and do your job.

– [Reporter] Does it become more difficult to stay focused like that when you’re struggling, because I would think the impulse would be, I want to try and do more, you know, and then you get outside of yourself, and then it becomes worse.

– Sometimes I feel like that in a personal way, I feel like I could do more. But, at the end of the day, the next play is the only play I can control.

– [Reporter] What do you think is Vanderbilt’s biggest strength on defense?

– They have a couple good defensive ends. Number 10, number 21 are strong, physical. Number seven is a good linebacker. All in all, they’re just a team with grit. They haven’t had the season they wanted, just like we haven’t had the season we wanted, but they’re a really good team, and they’re going to come in here and want to play.

– [Reporter] How many times have you seen the clip of Muschamp saying do your job and punching the whiteboard at Texas?

– Not much, I don’t, you know–

– [Reporter] That wasn’t part of your recruiting process, when you were doing your recruiting research?

– No, no sir, no sir. I’ve seen a couple things of him, a couple funny gifs, memes, whatever you want to call them, but, he’s all fired up all the time. I mean, he is who he is. You ain’t going to get no fake on social media, and you ain’t going to get no fake in person. That’s just who the guy is.

– [Reporter] You ever seen one of those whiteboard punching moments from him since he’s been here?

– Couple times, couple times when he gets mad at a couple players, but, I mean, he just wants the best out of everybody, so.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Donell Stanley | RS Sr. | OL

– [Reporter] First thing I just want to ask is, I mean at this point I know you guys try to ignore social media as much as you can. But I’m sure you guys do see things that’s said about Muschamp once in a while. What is that like? Because obviously you guys know what is actually going on in house and what does he mean to you?

– [Donell] Yeah, social media is something, you know I try to ignore everything, especially during the season. You know put got their opinions and you know they’re entitled to it and they can put it where ever they want. But as far as what goes on in this building, you know we got each other and that’s all we need.

– [Reporter] What does it mean though to you as a player, knowing where he’s trying to take this program?

– Yeah, I mean I got all the faith in the world in coach Muschamp. I mean, you know he puts us in situations to be successful and you know he’s a guy that does anything anybody asks him and everything. So I mean, he’s a, he’s a good guy to me and I trust what he’s doing and I like how he’s developed me into a player.

– [Reporter] It’s kind of the same period you guys had earlier in the season, take the tough loss, you know Florida and then kind of like Alabama, tough loss on the road. So you guys responded with a big win against Kentucky that time. So what’s the mindset been, obviously you got a two-game home stand here and trying to bounce back?

– Yeah, just that. I mean you know, two straight home games, you know, don’t got too many more at all at Williams-Brice For us seniors, we want to go out the right way. And, you know, and give it our all. And, you know, we got to bounce back. And, you know, that’s, that’s the focus this week is just bounce back, get back on track, and get that winning feeling back.

– [Reporter] Is it easier said than done though, to put those behind you? Obviously, you guys say you have the Sunday rule, but is it easier said than done in that aspect?

– No, I mean I already put Tennessee behind us. I watched the film. I learned from it and move on, benefit.

– [Reporter] What was the energy like at practice today?

– Oh, we had a pretty good practice. Everybody came in, you know, focused and ready to go. A little banged up but everybody pushed through it, just like everybody else is doing in the country, so everybody’s mentally is good and, you know, everybody’s just ready to get back out. Coach always says the bad things about playing football is you got wait the week to play so you got to wait the whole week to get back out there on Saturday and hopefully we’ll be good our home fans.

– [Reporter] How much have the coaches, senior leaders, been stressing the importance of finishing up strong in the fourth quarter this week?

– I mean, that’s just not only this week. That’s everything, you know. We do the off-season programs and stuff to get us in the fourth quarter. ‘Cause you know, that’s when games are won and lost. So, you know, we just got to play better. And, you know, we can learn from it and, hopefully, it won’t happen again. And, you know, we’ll finish.

– [Reporter] What did you learn from the Tennessee film, from an offensive line perspective?

– That we, we just got to grow up in every position. And, you know, when you get thrown in there, you got to be ready to execute. Anything could happen. And, you know, when we playing in hostile environments like that, you can’t be surprised that it’s going to be loud. And those guys can feed off their crowds energy just like we do at our place. So, you know, for me that’s just what I’m trying to get all the guys and especially the younger guys, but hopefully we learn and we move on from it.

– [Reporter] How much has the depth been tested up front this year?

– Oh, I mean, a lot. I mean, every year seems like we have to put new guys in and you have to move guys around, but, we prepared for it. And uh, so it’s no surprise to us, but I mean I got faith in all the guys we have and uh we, we going to keep rotating guys and we try to find the best five that go.

– [Reporter] Dakereon said that Vandy’s kind of a cover zero, kind of send the house kind of team. How much pressure does that put on an offensive line?

– Yeah, we uh, well just watching them, they blitz a lot so, we can, you know, we going try do some things to adust it and get Ryan some more time cause the do play cover zero so if get ball out fast and put them hands like Bryan and Shi and them, they can make some plays, and get down the field,

– [Reporter] Donell, when you see Ryan get hit, as an offensive lineman, sort of, what is your first …thought?

– Um, it’s just, I mean, get hit, he’s a guy he’s going to get right back up. I’m going to go try to help him up if I’m close enough to him, but uh no, just him taking hits, you just hate it for your quarterback, so it just kind of like motivates you to you know protect him a little more.

– [Reporter] How much does him just continuing to get back up, especially after some of those big hits, endear you guys, endear him to you guys?

– I mean it just shows how tough he is. I mean sometimes we’re, we’re not in the right protection zone, right calls and the you know he has to take, he has to go hot off one guy and he still gets hit, unfortunately. But I mean, that’s part of the game and you know it just speaks of how tough he is.

– [Reporter] Does he say much about it? Does he ever say ‘boy that guy got me’ or?

– No he just, you know, he just gets up and plays the next play.

PLAYER TRANSCRIPT

Jay Urich | RS So. | QB/WR

– [Reporter] How much of a challenge has it been sort of that you moved to wide receiver at the start of the season and seems like, are you still doing some wide receiver? Or you mainly just sticking to quarterback cause of the, all the injury, cause of Jake’s injury and stuff?

– Yeah. So right now I’m a quarterback. So I’ll be prepared to play there. You know, I could probably do receiver but, as of now I’ve been mainly at quarterback.

– [Reporter] Does it change practice dynamics at all for you guys, that your top two quarterbacks, they’re not injured but they’re nursing sort of, they’re hurt and they’re nursing you know, the hamstring and the knee.

– Doesn’t really change too much. I think practice is practice and the coach’ll do a good job of sort of, setting up practice to where it runs smoothly no matter, you know, if somebody’s nursing something or not. It’s still pretty smooth.

– [Reporter] Jay, looking at your season this year, would frustration be a term, did it look like you were going to get a lot of, on the field as wide out, but then kind of had to move back in the QB room.

– Yeah I mean, I wouldn’t say frustration. I think, you know, it goes back to what I said early in the year you know, just helping the team so, whatever that is, if it’s me not getting as much playing time, I’m fine with it. You know, whatever, whatever it takes to help the team, so that’s my mindset still.

– [Reporter] People outside of football program, a lot of the time look at quarterback situations and they say, “Well if Ryan’s getting knocked around and maybe have some issues here and there, why isn’t this guys getting a chance? Why is that guy getting a chance?” When you hear that, what is kind of your answer?

– I think, I mean, it really depends. It’s all up to the coaches. So I mean, you know you prepare, and you do your best as a player to be able to be the best guy to be able to you know, when you get your turn, to perform at the best of your ability. But, that’s really sort of not something you can focus on. It’s more of, you preparing, me preparing for you know, whatever happens.

– [Reporter] Is that important for quarterbacks and the coaches to kind of have a high level of trust that, all that sort of… Is going to work. They’re going to see your work, they’re going to reward it, they’re going to play the best guy. That kind of stuff?

– Yeah.

– [Reporter] In terms of how important it is, that level of trust between quarterbacks and, cause there’s some situations where quarterbacks, I don’t think on this team but, well you know say, “That guys playing, well I should be playing.” And to have everyone sort of on the same page, trust wise I guess.

– Yeah. I think trust is big thing, especially in the quarterback room. You know you have different guys that really are, you know, it’s a competitive room. So, you want to be able to trust each other and the coaches trust you so, that’s really a big, really does play into it.

– [Reporter] Generally, you don’t think of physical toughness as a key quarterback trait. But how important is it?

– I think it’s very important. Especially in the SEC. You know, you’re getting hit and, you’ve got big guys coming after you so I mean, Every week we try to, you know, scheme up the protection to where we have the best ability to win. But, sometimes you know, if we’re in a man protection, there might be another guy coming off hot, and you might not see that right away and you have to be able to take that and be able to you know, get up and keep moving on.

– [Reporter] Ryan’s been splashed a few times this year. Have there been any particular hits that you’ve thought…that hurts?

– Yeah.

– [Reporter] That hurts?

– I think the one, there’s been a couple but, I think last game, Tennessee, there’s a couple where, the personal foul and there’s another one that, where I was like “Wow.” Number 19, at Tennessee, hit him pretty hard so.

– [Reporter] As a quarterback, how much do you understand that, I have to get up and shake this off to sort of, win over my team? That’s a path to do that.

– That definitely is, I mean, people always look to you and that’s what we, Coach Warner always talks about is, you know, whether it’s a, you throw a bad pass, throw an interception, you know, everybody’s looking at you. And in your mindset, and your physical, you know what you’re doing, your body language. So I mean, shaking that off, or after a big hit you know, getting back up and being fired up and being able to you know, shake it off and go to the next play, is big.

– [Reporter] New to the team, what’s it been like since ya’ll been back in the building?

– Yeah I mean it’s, obviously it’s, you know, not ideal to lose and we don’t like losing. It’s not who we are. But I really feel like there’s a positive energy coming back, you know, leave Tennessee behind, and Vanderbilt’s a big challenge and, they’re going to be very, very good so, we got to be ready to put our best foot forward and play another week in the SEC and get a win.

– [Reporter] How easy is it to do that, whether it’s coming off a big win or a loss, to put it in the rear view mirror?

– Yeah, I mean I think it all comes down to, you know, your perspective, I think. I think somewhere in proverbs it says, “Your insight gives you patience.” So I think that’s a big thing that, for me, I personally try to you know, lean into is my insight. My perspective is so big, and that gives me patience to be able to you know, go through the season and not get too down, because you know, it’s a long season and you got to move on and put that one behind you, and look onto the next game. And that perspective is sort of what we’re rallying around.