Head Coach Mark Richt

Transcription

1 Head Coach Mark Richt Opening Statement Just very thankful for the victory. I thought our guys showed up with the right frame of mind and played very well early on. I thought towards the mid-second quarter, there were a couple lapses on offense that weren t really clean - jumping offside on a quarterback sneak on third-and-one, or dropping a ball that should have been caught on a deep ball. The deep balls could have been thrown just a little bit better, to allow the receivers to run away from coverage a little bit. A couple of catchable balls - I thought the one to [Stacy] Coley quite frankly, I guess I m not allowed to say, but I thought it was pass interference but I won t say that. The play before, I m not supposed to say, but I didn t think it was holding either. Anyways, at the very end, getting a punt blocked wasn t great, but I thought the rest of the special teams were outstanding. We blocked a punt and returned one for a touchdown, which was great. We ran the ball well obviously three backs got over 100 yards, which is unique, but we got three really solid backs and we have a few more behind them that aren t bad. That was good. I thought the line played well in the run game. We gave up a sack on a third-and-medium that was a little hitch-and-go route that I thought we had open for a big play, but we just had a lineman not block the gap he was supposed to block, which was disappointing on a third downs. I think that was the third down right after the one where we jumped offsides. We jump offsides then give up a sack, which wasn t very good. Other than that, I thought we played pretty good. I m just thankful for the victory. On making his debut as head coach of the Hurricanes and the emotions surrounding it I ve had the ability to kind of focus on the things I can control: the types of plays that we re going to call, the formations they re supposed to be in, calling a game for the first time in a while, that s where all my thought process was. I want to give props to [defensive coordinator] Coach Diaz and [special teams coordinator] Coach Hartley, because I ve not spent much time at all getting in the middle of defense or getting in the middle of special teams or the kicking game, so I can focus on the job I ve got to do as a play-caller. Really, my emotions I don t get too emotional when I try to focus. My goal is to stay calm and try to make the best calls I possibly can for the team. I don t know, for whatever reason there are times when I ll get visibly mad or visibly happy, but this wasn t one of those games. It just didn t turn out to be that way, pretty anti-climactic type thing. I m just trying to get guys to play hard, execute the whole way though and, for the most part, I thought we did.

2 On the emotions of his first Hurricane Walk That was good. I enjoyed that just being with the people and seeing the fan base and the families, and just driving in and seeing the traffic. There was traffic - that was great. There was a lot of people tailgating throughout the entire parking lot, more than I can ever remember as a player really. I m sure it was good or better for certain games or certain days, but I thought our fans did a great job. Seeing all the students up in the stands early was great as well. I really appreciate what the students did. Obviously the Band of the Hour, we love them too cheerleaders, everybody. On the nervousness of his first game calling plays in a while, and if he was able to sleep I actually slept pretty good last night. For whatever reason, there was a calmness that started last night. I was able to sleep. I didn t go to bed until about midnight, but once I laid my head down, I slept pretty good. On getting back to play-calling I enjoyed it. Any time you don t score, you get upset with yourself from a call, or lack of execution or something along the way. We probably practiced more things than we should have going into this plan, but gosh, we had so long to get ready for the game, it s hard not to put all those ideas together. My guess is we maybe called a half of what we repped [in practice]. There were a few more things that I thought were going to give us a chance, but at the time, it wasn t time to throw certain pass routes once it got out of hand. On his evaluation of the play of quarterback Brad Kaaya I don t know. He did miss one on a scramble that he probably could have hit for a touchdown. We threw the deep ball to Ahmmon [Richards], which was a very catchable ball, but he had to slow down just a tad. [Stacy] Coley s, he probably could have kept him on the run a little better too. I thought he got interfered with. But it s better to put the ball in play to overthrow it, too. Overall, I thought he managed the game well, I thought he got us in the right running game just about every time he came to the running game with the options that we give him. I thought he did a nice job. I don t think there s any balls that could have or should have gotten picked, which is big for me. I thought he did good job. On his evaluation of the play of the freshmen linebacker trio I think the defense in general played very well. It s hard for me. Again, I m focused so much on offense and even in between plays, I m talking to coaches upstairs, talking to the run game guys - Coach Brown Coach Searels about

3 what we might run the next series. I m really active. I m not the coordinator, but when you call plays, there s things that need to be done in between series as well. I didn t watch a whole bunch. I ll get in position where I ll watch more as the season goes on, but for Game 1, I wanted to make sure I was doing my job well. On how to evaluate the team s play with a 60-point lead We want them to play hard, obviously we want to win the game, but we focus on the plays themselves and execution of the plays, and how hard we played and how well we tackled, how well we do our assignments not just the assignments, but the technique. That s what you have to focus on every play. That s what I talked to them about at the end. I felt like, on that punt at the end, somebody on Florida A&M cared more than we did at that moment, and that can t happen any time. You have to cherish every moment you get, every snap you get. If that had been the first play, I hope that wouldn t have happened. My guess is that somebody relaxed a little bit and got the thing blocked. On the first running back trio to each rush for over 100 yards in a single game Those guys all deserve it. They re all very quality backs. The blocking was good. A lot of times they did make people miss, but there was some good blocking up front, there was some good blocking on the perimeter. The one touchdown to Ahmmon [Richards], even though it was not a run, there was very good blocking by the other two receivers. There was some good downfield blocking and perimeter blocking, which turns a six-yard gain into a 60-yard gain sometimes. In the end, guys have to make people miss to get long runs like that, and they were able to do that. On being a well-conditioned team, and what he thought of his team in that area We were tired at times. Both teams were tired. It was hot. It was muggy it was warm enough and muggy enough to make it tough. There were times that we had guys fatigued. But they played through it. I know we're in good condition. I know we went through the entire camp, and the way practiced we had one I.V. the entire camp on Day 1, and that was probably from nervous energy. We might have had a guy or two come out, but I didn t see a lot of cramping. But there were a guys that probably came out. Overall, I think we re in good condition. We can t go backwards in that area. It s too late now. We ll keep practicing hard and keep practicing in the heat. We ll get better. On if this season opener was any different than his time at Georgia I ll just say this: I really, really like it here. I do. I like these players, I like this University, I like the vibe of the city. I m very thankful to be here at The U.

4 Junior WR Braxton Berrios On his career long punt return It was about time, right? After we blocked that punt, they started rugby-ing everything. I kept on being patient, because a lot of times rugby, they don t get the length on the kick that they normally do. I knew that if he out-kicked this coverage it was set up for it. On emotions before the game getting off the bus Honestly, when we come off the highway there was only one game before that we saw cars in that back lot it was FSU my freshman year [in 2014]. There were cars in that back lot and that was incredible, honestly, to see. It was the home opener, coach Richt s first game, new stadium, there s a lot of things. It really turned the notch up for everyone when we saw that. Then, getting off the bus, that was the deepest Hurricane Walk we have ever had. Like I said earlier in the week, we were just ready, we ve been ready, we wanted to play, we were tired of hitting each other and doing all those things. It was incredible to get out there. Redshirt junior RB Gus Edwards On how he felt when he had the 74-yard rushing touchdown Great, man. It s been a year [since I last played]. I was really excited the whole time, just patiently waiting for the opportunity. On how the play developed It was really about just trusting that everybody was going to do their job. Before the ball was snapped, I trusted everything and just hit it full speed. It pretty much worked out. On it being the first time since 1987 that Miami had three running backs each totaled more than 100 yards in a game I think we ve just got to keep working hard in practice. Practice plays pays off in the game and [running backs] coach Thomas Brown has been doing a good job of making us work hard every day, telling us after that, that it will translate into the game and it kind of did today. Junior QB Brad Kaaya On if it took a few plays to get back in rhythm

5 Yeah, you know, when you practice it s one thing. This is our first time playing in this newly renovated stadium. I haven t played in it in a while, almost a year. Still getting used to how it looks, getting used to its vantage points, like where the light hits you for everyone, especially for me and the receivers, just getting used to it again, and that s huge. This game helped carrying into next week. On Mark Richt s first game It was great, couldn t ask for anything better. On all sides of the ball, just to make coach Richt s first game a win like this and hopefully it just carries on and continues. Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz Opening Statement We re proud of the effort of our players tonight. I thought it was important that we start the game and set the tempo early on, and to have a senior like Corn Elder make an interception on the first drive is what you want your older guys, your experienced guys, to do, and I think the other guys fed on that. I was very impressed with the way we played up front, and I think what we wanted to be as a defense in terms of the way we re getting our feet across the line of scrimmage, being disruptive making plays in the backfield. It looked for most of the game they had a hard time getting the ball back to the line of scrimmage against our rush defense. I thought there was a time in the second period where we lost our focus. Our tackling started to slip. We challenged them at halftime to play to our standard and I thought in the second half, regardless of people we rolled in and out of the game, I thought they did a good job finishing the game. We played a ton of people tonight. We were on the field [for a long time]. It was a very unusual night with the rushing yard disparity and the time of possession disparity. So, we played most of the night was on defense, so our depth was tested very early on. I was very proud of the guys who weren t out there the first play of the game who played like starters most of the night. On being animated after senior DB Corn Elder s interception I was just happy. It s a long offseason and you sit around and you visualize this day for a long time. You want the best for your players, a guy like Corn [Elder], who we ve really challenged since we ve been here, we knew he had to play his best ball for us to have a chance. And so for the first third down of the season, Corn to make that play, there are so many different emotions, but the biggest emotion is you re just so happy for him. If you could dream it up, that s what you want to happen on that first third down. You want your senior, you want your leaders in your secondary to step up and make that play. There were a lot of emotions. This is football now. It s supposed to be fun now defense is fun.

6 Senior WR Stacy Coley On being the voice among the receivers It feels great. Just knowing that I m a leader and knowing that everyone else is listening and buying into what I m saying and they see me going hard every day, and they respect that, so there s nothing to it. Just being a leader is what I ve always wanted to do. Seeing that, Allen Hurns, Herb Waters and Rashawn Scott, seeing what they taught me when I got here, I just want to give back to the freshmen. On downfield blocking We always emphasize that in practice. We always chase the ball, no matter what. We don t know what will happen. It might be a fumble or a cutback and we will just be there to make a block and we showed that out there today. Freshman LB Shaquille Quarterman On his first game experience It was a great experience. It was everything that I hoped it would be running through the smoke. Coach [Richt] even added the flames which made it even more exciting. So, it was just amazing. On if he took a moment to take it all in when he ran on the field Actually, I did that pregame when we were out there warming up by ourselves getting a feel for the field. I like to kneel down, actually feel the grass with my hands and things. That s when I really got to sit there and think about where I am, where I came from and everything like that. Once we ran through the smoke, I was totally focused and locked in at the task at hand. On if he was nervous at all before he got that first hit in No, no. We d done so much banging against each other. You know, spring, fall camp that I was more excited than nervous. I didn t have the pregame jitters. Some people may say that s weird if you don t have them but I was just excited to tackle somebody else, you know, start the season off right. On if he talked with Zach McCloud and Michael Pinckney about how unusual it is for three true freshmen to start at linebacker for a major college program

7 Well, we haven t talked about it in a while. The last time we had a conversation about that was when we first stepped on campus. We were like, we want to work hard. We want to do everything we need to do so we can all be out there together. We have a tremendous chemistry together so we went out there today, it was nothing new to us. We had been planning on this and preparing for this. So, we were comfortable with each other.