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00:00 Okay, quarterback here at green.
00:01 Questions for Garrett.
00:02 So, Garrett, Neil said that was your best overall performance,
00:07 and again, not just offense,
00:08 because he said he saw that coming,
00:09 but team-wise, defense, special teams,
00:13 did you feel that way, and did you see this coming?
00:15 Yeah, you know, I think it was only a matter of time.
00:17 You know, I think we've played really, really good on defense.
00:20 We've played really, really good on offense,
00:21 and we've played really, really good on special teams,
00:23 but we haven't really done that,
00:26 played really good on all three phases.
00:29 You know, I think offense still left some points out there,
00:32 so offense really wasn't excellent today,
00:35 but, you know, I'm really proud of our defense.
00:39 I don't know how many --
00:40 yeah, they had less than 300 total yards,
00:43 and, you know, we all used a bunch that's used to winning,
00:46 and, you know, for our defense to go out and play like that,
00:49 you know, it was really, really good.
00:51 Could you take us through the touchdown pass
00:53 for President Fox?
00:54 Yeah, so that's a play we kind of always work,
00:57 kind of in that area, and, you know,
01:00 he's a great, great guy with the ball in the air,
01:03 so, you know, I just let it fly,
01:05 and, you know, he made a hell of a play on it.
01:08 How about the drive before halftime?
01:11 I mean, you guys are already up 27,
01:13 and then you get the penalty, and you get pushed back.
01:15 So what was the mindset at that point?
01:17 Yeah, I think any time that you can really work --
01:20 you know, we work two-minute drill
01:23 every week during practice,
01:26 and I think any time that you can really work it
01:28 in a game scenario, it always helps,
01:32 and, you know, for us to be able to go from being behind
01:36 the chains and then, you know, end up, you know,
01:40 getting points out of it is really a testament
01:42 to the resiliency of our guys.
01:45 That big catch by Ray early in the game,
01:49 it looked like you threw it almost intentionally
01:51 a little bit high so that he would have a chance to go get it,
01:54 and then you made a play on it, and nobody else had a chance.
01:56 Is that part of chemistry that you're building with him,
01:58 and how great of a play was that?
02:00 Take us through that. Yeah.
02:01 You know, Trae and Ray, he's --
02:03 me and him are from the same hometown.
02:04 We're both from Tallahassee, Florida.
02:06 So whenever we're at home, we always work together,
02:11 and, you know, it's kind of a throw
02:13 that, you know, you kind of have to make
02:15 because that DB is right behind him,
02:16 so if you throw it too much on the line,
02:19 you know, the guy has a chance to hit off his helmet
02:21 or whatever, so you put a little air on it.
02:23 It gives Trae an opportunity.
02:26 That's a tough catch, you know.
02:27 He knew he was going to get hit, but, you know,
02:29 he stood in there, and, you know,
02:30 he still ended up making the play.
02:32 Garrett, as somebody who had a pretty up-close view of it,
02:35 can you describe the first down run from CJ?
02:38 He gets met in the hole,
02:40 and it looks like he's going to get stopped short.
02:41 Yeah.
02:43 Yeah, I think CJ, he ran for 102 today.
02:47 No negative yards for him.
02:49 You know, when he's really running like that,
02:52 you know, he's a problem to tackle, you know,
02:54 not too many because DBs,
02:56 they're anywhere from, you know, 180 to 210 pounds,
03:00 and he's running downhill fast at 240,
03:03 so that's really a load, but, you know,
03:04 I think that all goes back
03:06 to how our offensive line played today.
03:08 You know, running for 300, I think that was our total.
03:12 You know, it was really impressive,
03:13 and that's a testament to how good our offensive line is,
03:16 you know, for Doug to be out and, you know,
03:20 for our O-line to still play like that.
03:22 I thought Wyatt played a hell of a game,
03:23 Tomas, Frazier, and then Malone, Jaquay, Yates.
03:28 I think that group is the best offensive line group
03:31 in the country, and there's nobody
03:33 that I would rather play behind.
03:36 Garrett, you didn't run the ball quite as much today
03:38 as you have in a lot of other game teams.
03:40 Did they take that away? You just didn't need to?
03:42 You were running very effectively as a team without it,
03:45 so just, I mean, was it something they were doing,
03:49 and the read just wasn't there for you to pull it,
03:52 or things were just working so well,
03:54 you just kept giving it off?
03:55 Yeah, it wasn't really too much what they were doing.
03:58 There just wasn't a lot of looks.
04:01 You know, I knew going into the week
04:02 that I probably wouldn't be running the ball that much,
04:06 but, you know, my job is to execute the plays
04:08 that Coach Brown calls.
04:09 You got, like, I think six or seven receivers
04:11 involved tonight.
04:13 How important is that to distribute
04:15 and get everybody going?
04:16 You know, in our offense, you know,
04:18 from our running back room to, you know,
04:20 our tight end room to our wide receiver room,
04:22 you know, we have playmakers everywhere,
04:24 and, you know, it's just my job to be point guard
04:26 and just get the ball to those guys in the open space,
04:29 put balls on guys, and, you know,
04:30 just let them go make plays.
04:32 Do you like having a game like this,
04:33 or you said you knew going in you might not be able
04:35 to run as much or do as much running,
04:37 or you kind of proved yourself that,
04:39 hey, I'm not just a running quarterback?
04:42 I mean, you know, I'm a happy one,
04:43 so if I have to carry the ball 30 times
04:46 and for us to win, you know, I'll do it.
04:48 If I have to, you know, if I have to hand the ball off
04:50 to Jaheim, CJ, and all those guys, you know, I'll do it.
04:53 I have no problem.
04:54 You know, the main thing is just winning.
04:57 You missed a couple chances to Cole throughout the game.
04:59 How big was it to get that last one?
05:02 Yeah, it was really good, and, you know,
05:05 I'm not surprised that he took it all the way.
05:08 You know, I have to do a better job of hitting him
05:10 and getting him in open space to let him be special.
05:14 As you guys saw there, you know, he broke three,
05:16 four tackles and found a way to get in,
05:18 which was really awesome.
05:21 Back to the Preston touchdown for a second.
05:23 From up top, it looked like there were, like,
05:25 four blue jerseys in the back of the end zone there.
05:27 Did that play go off as scheduled,
05:30 or was there some crowded stuff going on?
05:33 You're talking about, like, what they did?
05:34 Yeah, I mean, I saw a window, and PFOX saw it, too,
05:37 and, you know, just put the ball up there
05:38 and let them go make a play.
05:42 How much of that is trust in knowing
05:44 that he has the ability to make a catch like that?
05:47 Yeah, I think it all goes back to trust.
05:49 You know, I think football is based around trust.
05:51 You know, I have to trust that, you know,
05:53 the offensive line is going to do their job,
05:54 that running back is going to pick up the blitz,
05:56 that, you know, the wide receivers
05:58 are going to run the right route.
05:59 But, you know, as an offense, we've done such a good job
06:05 that, you know, they show up to work each and every day
06:08 that, you know, it's just a matter of time
06:10 before all those things happen, but, yeah.
06:15 Oklahoma next week, you kind of came onto the scene
06:17 against those guys last year.
06:19 Is that anything you were able to take away from that?
06:21 And, obviously, I'm sure you'll watch the film,
06:22 but, you know, looking back on that,
06:24 what made you effective in that game?
06:26 Yeah, you know, it's a new year,
06:28 so, you know, I'm going to enjoy this one for the night,
06:31 and then, you know, Sunday morning we'll come around,
06:34 and, you know, I'll get back to watching Oklahoma.
06:40 How much better of a quarterback do you feel you are
06:42 since you emerged in that game than now?
06:45 I feel like I've come a long ways,
06:52 you know, just from a leadership perspective.
06:55 But, you know, from an offensive standpoint, you know,
06:58 I think our offensive unit is a hell of a lot better
07:01 than what we were playing against them last year.
07:04 You know, our O-line continues.
07:07 I could talk about them all day, but they continue to grow,
07:09 continue to get better.
07:11 They come to work every day,
07:12 and, you know, Jaheim's coming into his own,
07:15 you know, in our whole entire wide receiver corps.
07:17 They're really putting the time in, so we feel good.
07:21 How do you enjoy a win,
07:23 especially when there's obviously not a lot of time
07:25 left tonight or tomorrow morning before you come back?
07:28 Do you think about the game,
07:29 or do you get away from the game?
07:31 What do you do to enjoy it?
07:32 Yeah, so I'll probably just go spend some time with family.
07:36 I don't know what time it is, but, you know,
07:37 then I'll go to bed and wake up in the morning,
07:40 go to church and, you know, come to the stadium at 1,
07:43 2 o'clock and start the rehab process
07:46 and start the preparation for Oklahoma.
07:48 Okay. Thank you very much, Garrett.