Miami Hurricanes Football: Georgia Tech HC Brent Key
Postgame Press Conference Transcripts
Sat., Oct. 7, 2023
Hard Rock Stadium
Opening Statement…
“There is really one thing that matters and that’s playing for 60 minutes. That’s the thing we’ve talked about for several weeks now, we knew what type of team we were capable of being. We’ve shown what our identity could be at times, but we hadn’t put it all together yet. We hadn’t spent every second on the clock and played the way you’re supposed to play. So, the challenge this week was identity. We talk about ‘No scoreboard, play the next play,’ but it felt like a little bit different way to say it, develop an identity, that was completely independent of any clock. I truly believe they did that tonight. We got the outcome we wanted. Like every game, we’re going to take the good things we’ve done and continue to grow. The most important thing was the ability to play for 60 minutes and take the things we’ve got to correct. The bye week is coming at a good time, it really is, we’ve played six straight games, I think everybody needs a little bit of a mental break from it. This is a chance to get in and clean up this game and get some fundamental work done in practice and get ready to play the second part of the season. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these kids, this coaching staff. You talk about being resilient, and these guys have just kept on plugging away. It really started at the beginning of this past week. I’m excited for the kids, excited for the guys, they played the whole time.”
On if he was surprised Miami didn’t take a knee at the end of the game…
“Yeah, we kind of felt that he was going to take a knee at that point. He didn’t though. Kevin talked all week, we spent a lot of time on situational football this week. Kevin told the defense all week, he said, this game is going to come down to a fourth and one. They were marked short of the first down on third and one. In the huddle, it was ‘Guys, this is what Kevin has said all week,’ and we just happened to be able to play two of them, a third and a fourth (down). I think it was Paul who got the ball out and we were able to make a couple of plays there at the end and get the victory.”
On the last 26 seconds of the game…
“I usually have a pretty good recollection of the game, but what does Will Farrell say in “Old School”? I think I just blacked out. That’s what I felt like right then. I mean, we got the ball back with 26 seconds, we were able to push the ball. Obviously, we knew we didn’t have any timeouts, but we had plenty of time to be able to get down the field and we were shooting for the 33-yard line. Made a couple big plays there, a couple big catches, and on the last one Haynes [King] flushed and the unique thing about Haynes King is he’s a guy that he can run, he can scramble, but when he scrambles he’s keeping his eyes downfield and looks to throw. I don’t think that was more apparent than tonight with what happened. We scored, obviously, you could kick the extra point but it was a six-point game then, 23-17, with two seconds on the clock. We brought him back over, had him take the delay of game and put the offense back out there. The blocked PAT it’s a two-point differential, but on an untimed down it’s more the case of a 15-yard penalty occurring. That’s what I didn’t want to have happen was somehow, a 15-yard penalty happen, and all of a sudden it gets out of flux in another way and the momentum shifts and changes. That was the reason for the decision with that, one of those situations where we talk through hundreds and hundreds a week, and that was one that we had talked about just recently.”
