2024 Florida Football Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 33, Florida 20
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
THE OPENING DRIVE
- Florida delivered its eighth-straight sellout (89,993) dating back to last season, including the 12th
sellout of the Billy Napier era.
o Florida had sellouts in five of six games last season.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- WR Chimere Dike led UF receivers with six receptions and 91 yards including his first touchdown
catch as a Gator.
o Dike surpassed 1,600 career receiving yards.
o Dike caught three passes for 43 yards in the first half highlighted by a 39-yard grab. - WR Elijah Badger put Florida on the board in the third quarter with a 14-yard reception, marking the
150th catch of his career.
o Badger has now caught a pass in 29-straight games, which ranks 10th in the FBS. - QB Graham Mertz completed 12-of-15 passes (80.0%) for 195 yards, one touchdown and one
interception to finish with a 197.9 rating.
o Mertz has thrown for a touchdown in 27 of his last 31 starts including 12 of his 13 starts as a
Gator.
o Mertz has now thrown for over 3,000 yards in his Gator career. - In 22 of 28 games in the Napier era, Florida has registered at least one passing touchdown.
- TE Tony Livingston caught his second-career reception for a career-long 11 yards.
- RB Ja’Kobi Jackson scored his first-career touchdown in the fourth quarter.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
● LB Jaden Robinson led Florida with a career-high eight tackles.
● DB Aaron Gates notched his first-career tackle for loss on Texas A&M’s opening drive.
● LB R.J. Moten and LB Jack Pyburn combined for a TFL in the first quarter.
● DB Jason Marshall Jr. tallied three tackles, two QB hurries and one pass breakup.
● Florida held its opponent to under 200 passing yards for the 11th time in the Napier era.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted four times for an average of 43.3 yards, including a long of 50, two
kicks inside the 20-yard line and one of 50-plus yards.
o Crawshaw had punts downed at the one-yard line and nine-yard line in the first half.
o Crawshaw has punted for 50-plus yards on 59 of 142 career punts.
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS (9)
● WR Chimere Dike (from QB Graham Mertz): 39-yard reception, second quarter
● RB Treyaun Webb: 14-yard rush, second quarter
● RB Treyaun Webb: 11-yard rush, second quarter
● WR Chimere Dike (from Mertz): 19-yard reception, third quarter
● WR Elijah Badger (from Mertz): 38-yard reception, third quarter
● WR Chimere Dike (from Mertz): 22-yard reception, third quarter
● TE Arlis Boardingham (from Mertz): 17-yard reception, fourth quarter
● RB Ja’Kobi Jackson: 10-yard rush, fourth quarter
● WR Elijhah Badger (from Mertz): 16-yard reception, fourth quarter
SERIES UPDATES
- Tonight’s game represented the seventh all-time meeting between Florida and Texas A&M and third
meeting in Gainesville. - With tonight’s loss, the Gators fall to 3-4 (.429) in the all-time series vs. Texas A&M and 1-2 (.333) in The
Swamp. - HC Billy Napier falls to 0-1 against Texas A&M HC Mike Elko.
THE STREAK
● Florida has scored in 451-consecutive games — an NCAA record and 53 games longer than any
other college football team in history.
o The Gators broke Michigan’s record of 365-consecutive games (1984-2014) against LSU on
Oct. 7, 2017.
o The last time Florida was shut out was on Oct. 29, 1988 vs. Auburn (L, 16-0).
GAME DETAILS
● Florida Game Captains: #34 EDGE George Gumbs Jr., #66 C Jake Slaughter, #9 DE Ja’Markis
Weston
● Coin Toss: Florida won the toss and deferred, Florida defended the south endzone.
● Attendance: 89,993
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Coach Billy Napier
Press Conference
Texas A&M 33, Florida 20
BILLY NAPIER: I will tell you what I told the players. I
think ultimately when we don’t have success and we don’t
play quality football on Saturdays, it’s my responsibility.
Everything that happens within our organization from top to
bottom is under my direction and control, and certainly I
take full responsibility for that.
I do think players are young people; they come to the
University of Florida; we provide structure, we provide
routine, we teach football, we teach values, we teach way
of life. But ultimately at some point it becomes about
production.
We have not played — two out of three weeks here, we
have not played good enough football in many parts of our
team at all.
Today obviously couldn’t capture any momentum early. I
think we struggled to stop them. I think we had multiple
opportunities to get off the field, and we could not. The
play count got way out of hand; it was like 53-18 at
halftime. Time of possession was very distorted there, and
I think maybe we had three real possessions there on the
offense. We did have a possession right there right before
the half, I think there was 40-something seconds left.
Did score the first possession of the second half, got it
back to two scores, then we quickly — two plays later we
give up an explosive pass with a mental error in the
secondary.
We couldn’t run it, and they obviously rushed it effectively,
and they beat us today. Give credit to their backup
quarterback. I thought he played a good football game.
They used his skill set, and he caused issues for our team
today.
What questions do we have?
Q. You take responsibility, but how do you explain the
team coming out so flat for such a big game like this?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, I don’t necessarily think we were
flat. I just don’t think that we executed. I think we actually
had — we came right in after the running delay and had
almost every single clip, and I think there was — yeah, I
think there’s opportunities to make plays. I think there’s
mental errors. I think there’s fundamental mistakes.
I do think that — yeah, we just didn’t have the ball. Then
obviously they kept the ball. So it got out of control early
there.
Look, we have to play complementary football. That’s the
type of team that we have. If we’re out of whack in one
area, it’s certainly not good for our team.
Q. Is there something you can pinpoint defensively at
this point?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I think we struggled getting lined up
and executing basic calls, just to be quite honest. We got
the guy dead to rights handful of times in the first couple
drives of the game. His legs caused some issues for us.
We lost contain one time. We missed the guy for a sack
one time. Then we got a couple busts in the secondary.
We forced them to a field goal, but then here we go again,
right.
I’ll be able to tell you more Monday, but overall I would just
tell you, not good defense. That’s about as simple as I can
put it.
Q. Two defensive penalties also were pretty critical in
keeping two touchdown drives alive. Does it get to the
point where you have to bench guys over that? How
do you fix the mental errors with regards to that?
BILLY NAPIER: You’re talking about the targeting and the
holding penalty? Yeah, I’d be interested to see the video
from the targeting. They told me he used the crown of his
helmet. We’ll see what that looks like. We’ll obviously ask
for interpretation on that.
Then the holding, the guy — there’s no doubt the guy ran a
wheel route, kind of a little bit of a tug on the jersey there
on their sideline. So yeah, I think ultimately those players,
they committed penalties.
Q. Getting booed is part of the job, but it was pretty
loud and pretty intense at the end of the first half and
again leaving the field. What’s that feel like for you,
and do you think you deserve a chance to get this
thing turned around?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, I don’t blame — I have no excuse — I
have no negative comment about that. Ultimately when
you play a certain way in this arena, you’re going to be
criticized.
This is one of those places where there’s history and
tradition and expectations. There’s been a lot of really
good football teams that played in that stadium in the past,
and when you play ugly ball, and maybe it doesn’t look
quite like we all want it to, then hey, it comes with the
territory.
I probably would have done the same thing, truth be
known.
Q. What gives you confidence that you’re the right
man for this job?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, I think that ultimately we’ve worked
extremely hard, and I think we’ve — there’s been a ton of
progress made.
I think my frustrations are with how we’ve played two out of
the last three weeks. That’s where my frustration is.
I think we’ve done a lot of good in terms of behind the walls
and just the organization as a whole. I truly believe that. I
think most people that have familiarity with our program
would say that.
We’re not getting the result on the field right now that we
want, but ultimately that’s how you’re judged to some
degree in this arena, so it comes with the territory. We all
understand that as coaches. So we have to play more
competitive football. We have to play better quality
football. That’s my responsibility.
We’ve spent a lot of time — we work extremely hard. We
have good people. But this is a production business, and
ultimately we’ve got to play better.
Q. Coach, both sides of the line of scrimmage I think
against the power four teams have struggled but
specifically the offensive line. You’ve stated the
importance of having two coaches. Have you guys
recruited and developed well enough to play this level
of competition there?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, I think if you watched the Miami
game and the Texas A&M game, you would say no. So
ultimately we’ve got to do something to fix it. That’s about
as simple as I can put it.
We have struggled to rush the ball, and we have struggled
to protect the ball. I mean, protect the quarterback.
Now, is that group working hard? Do they have good
intentions? Yes, I think so. But we certainly — that’s our
responsibility. When it’s not good enough, as coaches, it’s
our responsibility.
I do think there’s an element of it — there is an evaluation in
the recruitment and developing part, developing some
cohesion with that group, trying to build a veteran group,
but we haven’t played well enough up front on offense in
the opener or today. That’s about as blunt as I can be.
Q. When you talk about the intention to get better and
to prepare, are you starting to see things or have you
seen things in the first three games that are
uncharacteristic of what you might be seeing during
the week, things that are being taught but then not
being transferred on game day to the play?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. I mean, I think that’s some of the
frustration. I mean, we come right in during the lightning
delay and watch the tape, and I mean, it is what it is.
What’s on that tape is who we are. I think we tell the
players that, and I would tell the assistant coaches that.
Our film is our resume, and ultimately we have to do a
much better job.
Q. What’s your message when you see those things
that are uncharacteristic on a continuous basis? Is
there messaging that you’ve leaned on, or is it just
something that continues to work itself out in your
experience?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, you know, they know. Players are
very aware. I think ultimately it’s not like they don’t
understand or are not aware. They completely understand
and are aware that, hey, I didn’t do what I was supposed to
do at times, or maybe made a poor decision or used the
wrong technique, whatever the case may be.
Look, I think my message to the team — the number one
thing that’s critical for that group is that they stick together
because ultimately that’s what they’ll have. 25 years from
now, they’re going to have those relationships with their
teammates. It’s critical, regardless of how negative it may
be and will be outside, it’s important that they stick
together, and really behind the walls, that’s all they have.
We may not be able to control what people say about us
on the outside, but we can control what we do on the inside
and how we — the words we speak, the actions that we
take, our attitude, our effort, our approach, and that’ll be
the challenge. That’ll be the challenge. Can they do that
and can we improve, can we find ways to eliminate some
of these issues and play better football going forward.
So that’s what I told the players, and ultimately I think that’s
what’s most important at this point.
Q. With regard to some of those errors, is there
anything that you can pinpoint with your process in
practices, whatever the case maybe, that’s led to some
of the repeat issues, missed tackles and poor
offensive line technique? Is there anything in the
process that you see is kind of a fault?
BILLY NAPIER: If I knew that, we probably wouldn’t have
the issues we have right now. Ultimately I’m trying to solve
those problems. It’s my responsibility to do that.
Yeah, that’s what we’re doing. We’re in the process of
trying to figure those things out.
Q. The quarterback situation today, how do you feel
like that played out, and do you regret not sticking with
Graham after that touchdown drive he had in the third?
BILLY NAPIER: No, I think ultimately we have a really
talented young player, and we have a really talented
veteran player that’s experienced and has great command
and knowledge of our system.
We ultimately made a commitment to rotate the players a
certain progression, a certain way, regardless of the
outcome, basically just to keep those guys in a good frame
of mind relative to not looking over their shoulder. They
have a really good relationship. They work really hard
together to prepare together. It’s incredible to see them
interact throughout practice, meetings. Even when we told
them in the meeting, hey, this is the approach we’re going
to take, they fully supported each other.
Yeah, I think we felt like it was in the best interest of the
team to do it that way, and we did it, and I don’t necessarily
think that that was one of our — that wasn’t the reason that
we got beat today. I think there were a lot of other things
that contributed to that.
Q. Over 300 yards on the ground. What did you see
there and how disappointing was that from your
defense?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, it’s disgusting. I mean, ultimately
that’s my fault. We need to do much better.
Q. I know you’re a process-oriented guy and you
focus on the process, but when you zoom out and look
at the macro in year three, what do you see?
BILLY NAPIER: Not good enough. Not good enough
against Miami, not good enough today. We’ve done a lot
of good behind the scenes in terms of building
infrastructure. We’ve got a great organization, but the
quality of football in the opener and today, not up to
standard.
I think we’ve played some good football at times and gotten
beat, and maybe I’d have been able to stand up here and
say, hey, we did a lot of good things, we’re close, but that’s
not been the case. So that’s the facts. We have to do
much better.
Q. Do you feel like you’re making progress?
BILLY NAPIER: I think that we’ve made progress in a lot of
areas. I just don’t think that the quality of that football out
there is what I would like.
And look, again, we’ve got a lot of people taking ownership
that are not in this room, and I think that’s a good thing.
But we’ve got to get it fixed.
Q. I know there’s not a lot of patience in this
profession, but what is your sense where the patience
is with you and this administration, and how important
is it for you to be patient, stay the course during what’s
clearly a tough time for this program?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I think the most important thing is
that we make decisions with perspective. I think we’ve got
to try to be objective. That’s the biggest challenge in
leadership, I think, is kind of trying to put your ego on the
shelf a little bit and evaluate things objectively and try to
make decisions that reflect that.
For me, all my decisions are about stewarding the people
that have been entrusted to you, the players, your staff
members. Ultimately that’s how I try to view it. That’s my
responsibility to the players to do better for the players.
That’s probably what I struggle with the most when we
don’t play well is what are we — what can I do to help those
young people in that locker room, because I’ve seen them
work their tails off since January. You just want the reward
for the player, and I think that’s what motivates me.
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Graham Mertz
Press Conference
Texas A&M 33, Florida 20
Q. Graham, where is this team at mentally right now?
Two big games, you weren’t really in either of them.
What are you guys telling yourselves right now about
where the program is?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I mean, I think all the guys in the
locker room, they’re tired of losing. I think if you’ve ever
been on a team and you’ve lost a big game or you lost a
game at home at your high school, you feel like you let
your fans down, you let your team down. We don’t want to
feel that anymore.
I think that the guys in that locker room — I just got done
talking to a few of them, but that’s where we’re at. We
know what it takes, and reality is we got our butts kicked
today, and early. It was weird for the offense. I think we
had 12 snaps in the first half. That just showed us that the
amount of drives we made in the second half, we had to
maximize them. There’s no time to waste, especially in
SEC play. You need to start fast and you need to get that
going, and that starts during the week.
I think looking back at just what we’ve done, we need to
have more urgency in practice. We have great plans, but
it’s on us as players to execute them during the week and
really sharpen that blade going into the game.
Q. Tremendous heat on Billy right now, and he’s 12-16
right now at UF. What would you say to us, outsiders,
people who are saying it’s not working? Your support
of Billy basically.
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, he has my absolute full support.
I’ve never seen somebody prep the way that we prep,
prepare the way we prepare. We have a great plan going
into every game, and I know everybody in the locker room
trusts Coach with everything we’ve got.
It’s up to us, honestly. It’s up to us and what we do during
the week, what we do during the game. Are you playing
with heart or are you not?
I think that’s where us as a team, we need to come
together and the players need to — we need to play the ball
that we know we can play. So I think that really, we have
so much — so many resources during the week that we
prep, and our coaches are fantastic, and I think that we
need to do a better job as players of putting ourselves in
the right position and executing.
But no, he has my absolute full trust. I know as an
outsider, you’re not in the building every day. You don’t
see what we do every day. But as somebody that’s been
in there for a year and — almost two years, there’s nobody
I’d rather play for.
Q. What was your assessment of the two-quarterback
system, and did you feel like when you caught a little
fire there in the second half and then to have to sit
after that, was that frustrating, disappointing, anything
like that?
GRAHAM MERTZ: No. I mean, every time that — anytime
you have an opportunity to go out and play, it’s up to us to
go out there and execute it. To me, you can’t let the
factors of what’s going on take you away from doing your
job.
For me, every time I step out there, every play that’s called,
it’s up to me to make it right. There’s no time to sit and
self-pity when you’re in an SEC football game.
Q. I think they came into the game 110th in the
country against the run. How surprising was it you
couldn’t get that aspect of the game going on offense?
Were they overloading a little bit? What were some of
the reasons you couldn’t get the run game going
today?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, we knew just their philosophy.
They’re trying to get an extra hat in the box in a bunch of
different ways, a lot of middle close zone, fitting the box
from safety level with speed.
For us, we’ve just got to get all 11 moving as one, and what
we’re going to be harping on all week. If we want to
establish the front, if we want to run the ball, we need to do
it every single day. I think that’s one thing I can do a better
job of getting guys the simple, hey, there’s a guy coming
from the field right here, little simple alerts that I can help
just do my job better to help us all move as one.
I think we need to do a little self-reflection on how we can
do our job better to free up everybody to go play.
Q. It looked like there were some timing issues on
some handoffs, too.
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, it was a simple
miscommunication. We had a run called. Yeah, can’t have
that.
Q. You had a few more deep balls than usual today, a
couple of completions that went for 20 and 30 yards.
Were you trying to air the ball out a little bit more to
complement your compatibility with DJ and the
receivers or was that just natural instinct?
GRAHAM MERTZ: No, I was trying to win. I was trying to
do my job. I was trying to execute any play that was
called. No, I just go out there and try to make my reads
and do my job.
Q. Obviously the fans had a lot to say this week about
the quarterback competition. How do you avoid letting
that get to you on a personal level in the days coming
up to the game or as you take to the field?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I think it just goes back to what
you pay your attention to. We knew during the week — DJ
had a great game last week. It was no surprise that we
were going to do that. For me, like I said earlier, it’s so
easy to make this game a lot more complex than it is, or
you can simplify it and realize, hey, I’ve got a job I’ve got to
do, and when my number gets called, I’ve got to go out
there and execute.
Like I’ve said a few times, I like to simplify this game and
just try to go do my job.
Q. We’ve talked to you quite a bit about how strong
the culture is and the togetherness. How important is
that right now?
GRAHAM MERTZ: It’s the most important thing. I think
that — I was on a team at Wisconsin, we started 1-4, and
we won out, and it was a credit to the guys that we had on
that team, the coaches we had on that team, guys coming
together. We all know there’s going to be a lot of noise,
and it’s up to us players what we pay attention to. Is it
each other, or is it what’s going on externally? Is it doing
our job, or is it something else?
We’re going to rely on the older guys who have been
through a lot of these experiences. I shared it with Chim
when we were at Wisconsin. We know what it looks like.
We know it all comes down to winning and doing your job
every single day of the week.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports.
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Devin Moore
Press Conference
Texas A&M 33, Florida 20
Q. Devin, they obviously had a lot of success running
the ball, 300 something yards. What did you see from
your run defense tonight?
DEVIN MOORE: I think the coaches put us in a great spot,
the play calls, and just the leverages and assignments. I
think the coaches put us in a great spot. We prepared very
well during the week. The coaches worked so hard to put
the game plan together. I think it’s really just on us as
players to go out there and execute. It doesn’t matter what
the game plan is if we can’t execute as players.
Q. What did it do to the defense to get on its heels a
little bit with the 3rd downs early on and they just
continued to keep drives sustained?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, as a defense we’ve got to be just
more resilient, even when they do complete one or two 3rd
downs. The drive is still not over. We’ve got to finish
drives better and don’t let those 3rd down completions lead
to points.
Every defense is going to give up 3rd downs here and
there, but as a defense it’s on us to eliminate how much
more they can do with the drive.
Q. For a defense, how demoralizing is a play like the
long touchdown right after you guys scored and
seemed to have a little bit of juice there?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, it can definitely affect us a little bit,
but that’s why we play the game. We can’t let it affect us.
It’s the next-play mentality. Figure out what went wrong on
the play and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Q. Talk about you had some extra time with the
weather delay. By then the defense was struggling a
little bit. Was anything discussed during that delay to
really try to improve what had been happening up to
that point?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, for sure. The coaches had their
iPads. They just went over with us what they were seeing,
and like I said earlier, the coaches can put together the
perfect game plan. They work countless hours on us. It’s
just on us as players — for instance, in the run game, just to
make those tackles, get off blocks, have gap integrity.
Yeah, we went over some stuff during the lightning delay.
Q. You mentioned execution, and there’s been some
mistakes. There was obviously the holding on 4th
down, the targeting near the end of the half, both of
which led to touchdowns. As the season progresses, I
know you said the coaching has been solid, so as
players what specifically needs to happen, especially
now heading on the road to prevent those mistakes
from occurring again?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, I think Graham harped on it
earlier. It’s just the weekly process. You’ve got to lock
yourself in the facility. Every little resource that’s available,
because the coaches provide so many for us, you’ve got to
take full advantage of it, work countless hours for it, and
just be able to go out there on Saturday and just apply it.
Q. A lot of missed tackles today. How concerning is
that, and how do you get that fixed?
DEVIN MOORE: You know, it comes down to just
execution. We work tackling drill every day, tackling
stations every day in practice. It’s just on us as players to if
we’ve got to stay after and do some more, then that has to
happen.
Q. Weigman was a game-time decision today. Did you
feel you were as prepared as you should have had for
a mobile quarterback and read?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, for sure. Our coaches, they
looked at that during the week, the reports of him being
questionable. Our scout team and just throughout practice,
we were preparing for both quarterbacks to play. Like all
the quarterback read game, all the quarterback keep
game, we definitely prepared for that, too. We’ve just got
to execute as players.
Q. What would you say to fans who question the
direction of the program under Billy?
DEVIN MOORE: We’ve just got to keep going, keep just
trusting us. We’ve got to stay together. It’s not always
going to be bright, sunny days, but you’ve got to ride out
the rainstorms, and us as a team, we have to get better
and just trust our coaching more and go out there and
execute. It’s really on us as the players. The players got
to execute; that’s why we play the game.
Q. When you hear all the criticism tonight, how do you
guys process that?
DEVIN MOORE: You know, we know all the hard work
Billy and the coaching staff puts in. Just going out there to
fight for them. They take hours to put together a game
plan. As players we need to kind of match their energy
and intensity, put in all the hours they do, just so we can go
out there and execute and avoid situations like that from
happening.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
2024 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Mike Elko, Texas A&M Head Coach
Texas A&M 33, Florida 20
September 14, 2024
Opening statement…
“It’s now been zero days since we’ve won an SEC road game so that’s a positive. Obviously, the
physicality in the game is going to be the big story. When you win the rushing battle, 310 to 52 yards,
that’s going to win you a lot of football games. Really proud of how our offense played, really proud
of how our O-Line and our running backs played. I thought every kid that played on the O-line today,
every kid that played at running back, played with the demeanor that we wanted to play with. How
about 10, I mean I thought he was lights out. I thought he could’ve thrown it a lot more, we kind of
took the air out of it a little bit when we got the big lead in the second half but kind of protected the
game the way I think you should to win football games on the road. He was calm, he was confident,
he made throws, I mean that first drive he put together, I thought he made some tremendous throws
on third down, it was really, really good to see. He was consistent all day, operated at a really high
level and so we have confidence that he could go out there and do it and he went out and he did
it. So, proud of him. Defensively, I thought we did a better job in the run game, I thought we
controlled the game until it became a throw game at the end and I think we have a lot of things at
the end of that game that we have to clean up. We didn’t finish it, obviously, the way we wanted to
defensively. We got to make some field goals down the stretch, those are going to be big problems
as we move forward and so there certainly are going to be things we got to get better at, things
moving forward but that will be tomorrow. Today, we are just going to enjoy this win. And then just a
quick injury update.”
On injury updates…
Obviously, Tyreek Chappell is going to be out for the year. He suffered a non-contact lower leg injury
on Wednesday in practice, unfortunately. And so, he’ll be done for the year. And then Trey Jones III
had an upper-body thing, kind of a freak thing happen on Thursday but we anticipate him to be
back sooner rather than later. Hopefully, he’s back next week. And then with Conner, just so
everybody knows, it’s an AC in the shoulder. It happened in the other day game, he kind of went
through a process last week where at least he thought as the week went on he was able to go out
and function really well, we kind of anticipated that’s how it would go. This week, he had a full
practice on Wednesday and was able to go out there and throw the ball and then they just had a
setback from Thursday for whatever reason. We’re trying to figure that out from the medical
standpoint. And so, he just wasn’t going to be able to go today, so again, we will leave that for
Monday and kind of move forward with that. But proud of our guys, proud of the win, proud of the
job we did coming down here on the road, winning this game. And so, from there we’ll open up to
questions.”
On if Reed’s performance was surprising, and when he knew who was starting…
“No. We talked about, we think we have multiple quarterbacks that can function and play. Marcel
was one of the backups, it was a heated battle. We still think Jaylen Henderson is a good
quarterback, we just felt like Marcel had a little bit better camp, a little bit better job operating so we
went with him as the number two. We prepare quarterbacks, you know you can’t just prepare one
quarterback. So, it’s not like we’ve only been preparing one quarterback, and now all of a sudden,
you’ve got to get a second one ready. That’s certainly not a real smart thought process in this
league, as you go through this league and so Marcel’s been getting a ton of reps with the ones, with
the twos. We rotate guys through every week in practice, so you see it from him and we have a lot of
confidence in him. When did I know? Probably coming out of Thursday’s practice, it was really
concerning where Conner was with his shoulder, and he’s a gamer, and he’s a competitor and he’s
tough as nails. We knew he was going to try and do everything he could to get ready to go today,
but just the way he was Thursday, we just didn’t know that that was going to be the right thing for him
long term for the season, to come out and go today.”
On what the early 31-yard run did for Marcel…
“I don’t know if it was one particular play. That’s the dimension that he has. He has the ability that
when a play breaks down, he can utilize his legs and he can make something happen. He has a lot
of confidence in his ability to do that, and so I think that relaxes him, for sure. I think that big ball he
threw to Moose Muhammad was probably every bit as important and impressive, that he stood in
the pocket and drilled that one across the middle, so we’ve got a lot of confidence in Marcell.”
On how the runners and offensive line did in the field conditions…
“I thought, that was physical SEC football that our offense did. Again, that’s what you need when you
go on the road, when you want to win games on the road. For Le’Veon Moss to go for over 100 yards
and average over six yards a carry, for Marcel Reed to average over six yards a carry, Amari Daniels
to average five yards a carry. That’s what we want to be able to do, and it’s not that taking air out of
the ball. It’s just when you get a lead, you want to be able to control the game. We talked about
game control on the road being something that’s really important, and we were able to do that
today.”
On how impressed he was with the linemen on the 99-yard drive in the rain…
“It was obviously a huge drive. I thought there was two of them. I thought that one was critical
because we’re backed up, it slowed the game, it was 13-nothing at the time. We had to run a
quarterback sneak just to get it off the goal line, that’s how tight we were backed up in there. For us
to be able to do it, then we start driving and here comes the rain, and so now the throwing
conditions are challenging and it’s really hard to throw it at that point. You’re kind of stuck to being
on the ground a little bit during that drive because it’s kind of raining sideways on you. For us to put
that in the endzone, I thought that was huge. I thought the seven-minute drive from the end of the
third quarter to the start of the fourth quarter, I thought that was a big one even though it didn’t end
up in points. I just thought that really sucked the air out of the game and put us in a position where
we really had control of it. And then obviously, Marcel’s response when he hit Cyrus after they hit to
score to get back into it, and then he comes right back on the next play and hit Cyrus for the long
touchdown. I think that was another one that was really big.”
On the difference between how the run defense played today compared to the past…
“We just didn’t give up the big one. We were a little bit more consistent in how we fit things. I think
when we look at the film, of the 52 yards rushing they have, I’m going to bet probably 35 of it was on
plays when we were in two minutes prevent defense at the end of the half and then some at the end
of the game. So, I think if you look at our run efficiency today, we fit things better, our lines were
better, our lines were tighter, and we didn’t let the ball get out, and if you don’t let the ball get out,
you are going to be really good.”
2024 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Texas A&M Student-Athletes
Texas A&M 33, Florida 20
September 14, 2024
1 Bryce Anderson, Junior Defensive Back
On his interception…
“Post safety, see Will Lee, playing solo to the field. I start showing over to the boundary, came over
late, drove on it. Will Lee made a great play on it, tipped it. It was nothing but green grass and it was
nothing but a foot race to the endzone.”
On what he said in the endzone…
“Really just told them to be quiet. It was just words, we were saying to be quiet.”
On the importance of the takeaways…
“When you win the turnover battle this hard, to beat a team, that’s one of our main focuses. Number
one thing, playing to win, just win the turnover battle. That’s one thing we did, win the turnover battle.
So, that helped us out in a big way.”
On Marcel Reed’s performance…
“Marcel helped us, showed up in a big way. Got out there, wasn’t afraid of The Swamp. Came out
there, played huge for us, man. We knew what Marcel had last year. He was giving us scout looks
and he killed it on one defense. So, we pretty much knew what Marcel had and he was just waiting
for his chance.”
On who Marcel Reed practiced as on scout team last season…
“Jalen Milroe. I think Tennessee he did. A couple of running quarterbacks we went against, he was
the scout team quarterback. Giving RPO and all the good looks. He was waiting for his opportunity
and finally got it and showed what he could do.”
On the run defense…
“Coach challenged us and said if you can stop the run we are going to win this game. He said that if
after the game they had only 100 rushing yards he knew that we would win. That was the biggest
focuses of the week.”
10 Marcel Reed, Redshirt Freshman Quarterback
On his first road start…
“I wouldn’t say I expected it, but things happen and I have to be ready. I prepared like I was going
to start this week and I got the green light and did what I had to do.”
On which play made him feel good…
“It was the first touchdown I threw to Theo, tight-end, that was a full-progression read and I made it
through just about all the way, and I kind of took a little hit toward the end. I was like I can do this, I’m
not a little kid, I can make plays in this conference and that one just set me up for some success and
gave me the confidence I needed to make it through the rest of the game.
On his approach in practice knowing he’s one play away from starting…
“You just have to do it every day. You never know what’s going to happen. As you guys know last
year, we had guys go down throughout the week. So just staying prepared. The coaches preach
that all the time just staying prepared. You never know what’s going to happen so you have to be
ready when your name is called.
On when he got the green light to start and what it felt like…
“At the end of warmups. This whole week I didn’t know if I was going to start, I just had to prepare like
I was going to. But, I got the green light in warmups. I kind of had a feeling it was going to happen or I
would’ve been in eventually so I was prepared to play in general. He told me when we were in flex, it
was your game. Walking in with Conner [Weigman], he was just like I’m right behind you and I got
your back and to go win the show so, both of them had confidence in me and that’s when I knew.”
On the long touchdown pass to Allen…
“Really, my read told me to throw the flat, but I just saw the cloud coverage just sitting there and
Cyrus passed him, and I was like that’s a fast dude, so I let him get the ball and use his feet to get the
ball.”
