2023 Florida Football Postgame Notes
Florida 29, No. 11 Tennessee 16
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
THE OPENING DRIVE
● Florida kept No. 11 Tennessee winless in The Swamp dating back to 2003, as Florida has won 17 of
the last 19 matchups vs. the Volunteers including 10-straight victories in Gainesville.
o The Gators totaled 300-plus yards of offense against Tennessee for the ninth-straight game
including 14 of the last 15 meetings.
o UF has surpassed 100 rushing yards in 17 of their last 18 matchups against UT.
● Across the last three home games in the rivalry (2023, 2021, 2019), the Gators have outscored the
Volunteers, 101-33, putting the average outcome at 33.7 to 11 – a 22.7-point spread.
● The Gators delivered their second ranked victory of the Billy Napier era and the first since Napier’s
Gators coaching debut vs. No. 7 Utah in 2022.
● Florida achieved these feats in front of the 12th-largest crowd in program history (90,751) including
the second-biggest attendance in The Swamp in the history of the UF-UT rivalry.
● The Gators held the Volunteers to their third-fewest points in the Josh Heupel era.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- WR Eugene Wilson III connected with QB Graham Mertz on the first-six completions of Florida’s
opening drive, effectively setting career highs in receptions (six) and yards (44) before the Vols
even touched the ball. - RB Trevor Etienne rushed for a career-high 172 yards on a career-high 23 attempts while posting the
third 100-yard rushing game of his career (first of 2023).
o Etienne‘s previous career high was 129 yards at Florida State on Nov. 25, 2022.
o Etienne accounted for six of Florida’s eight explosive plays. - Etienne tied the game at 7-7 with a 62-yard touchdown scamper in the first quarter, the second-
longest rush of his career and his longest since breaking off an 85-yard touchdown run against
South Carolina on Nov. 12, 2022.
o Etienne provided four explosive rushes of 10-plus yards in the first half while rushing for 119
yards on 11 carries (10.8 YPC).
- Mertz completed 17-of-20 passes (85.0%) for 146 yards and one touchdown in the first half,
equating to a passing efficiency of 162.8.
o Mertz finished with a 79.0% completion percentage – his third-straight game over 70% —
while completing 19-of-24 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown. - Mertz scored his first rushing touchdown as a Gator (ninth of career) to put UF ahead, 19-7.
- Mertz has thrown a touchdown pass in 18 of his last 21 games.
- RB Montrell Johnson Jr. put Florida ahead, 12-7, with a four-yard touchdown run in the second
quarter – the 23rd rushing score of his career and his 11th as a Gator (first of 2023).
o He scored his second touchdown of the night with an 18-yard touchdown reception in the
second quarter. - Johnson Jr. and Etienne have combined for at least one touchdown in 14 of 16 games together,
scoring 23 total TDs (rushing TDs in 14 of 16 games).
o The duo has combined for 21 total rushing touchdowns. - Following tonight’s performance, the Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards in 13 of their last 16
games dating back to last season including each of the last two games this season. - WR Ricky Pearsall recorded a catch in his 31th-straight game, the ninth-longest streak in the FBS.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
● Through three games under new DC Austin Armstrong, Florida is allowing an average of 15.7 points
and 256.3 total yards per game.
● The Gators held Tennessee to seven points, 122 yards (30 rushing), five first downs and 8:28
possession time in the first half.
o Conversely, Florida totaled 281 yards (135 rushing), 16 first downs and 21:42 possession time
in the opening half.
● CB Devin Moore gave Florida its first turnover of the season with his first-career interception, which
he returned 39 yards.
o DL Desmond Watson was credited with the QB hurry and QB hit on the play.
● DL Tyreak Sapp notched his first-career sack in the second-quarter, setting a new career-high in
tackles-for-loss in the process.
● S Jordan Castell (10) and LB Scooby Williams (eight) both set career highs in tackles.
● The Gators recorded one sack in tonight’s game.
o Since the start of 2021, Florida has out-sacked its opponents by a plus-25 margin.
o Florida’s 182 sacks since 2018 season ranks second in the SEC and tenth nationally.
● Since 1996, the Gators are fifth nationally in interceptions with 410 and lead the SEC with the next
closest team, Alabama, 12 picks behind.
● With one takeaway vs. Tennessee, Florida’s defense has now produced 101 turnovers since 2018,
which ranks fourth in the SEC.
o The Gators have produced at least one turnover in of 13 of 16 games in the Napier Era.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
● Florida was not for punt across five drives in the first half (MFG, TD, TD, TD, TD).
● K Adam Mihalek was unsuccessful on a 46-yard field-goal attempt on UF’s opening drive as well as
UF’s first extra point.
● K Trey Smack hit his first-career field goal on a 27-yarder to extend Florida’s lead to 29-10 in the
fourth quarter.
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted three times for an average of 35.7 yards with all three kicks inside the
opposing 20-yard-line.
Explosive Plays (8)
● Trevor Etienne: 12-yard rush, first quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 62-yard rush, first quarter
● Kahleil Jackson (from Graham Mertz): 18-yard reception, second quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 15-yard rush, second quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 13-yard rush, second quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr. (from Mertz): 18-yard touchdown reception, second quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 19-yard rush, fourth quarter
● Trevor Etienne: 19-yard rush, fourth quarter
Series Updates
● Tonight’s game represented the 54th all-time meeting between Florida and Tennessee including the
23rd in Gainesville
● With tonight’s victory, the Gators improve to 32-21 in the all-time series vs. Tennessee and 17-5 in
Gainesville.
● Florida has won 17 of the last 19 matchups vs. the Volunteers including 10-straight victories in
Gainesville.
- HC Billy Napier improves to 1-1 against UT HC Josh Heupel in their second meeting as head
coaches. - The Gators have totaled 300-plus yards of offense against Tennessee in nine-straight games and in
14 of the last 15 meetings - UF has surpassed 100 rushing yards in 17 of their last 18 matchups against UT.
THE STREAK
● Florida has scored in 439-consecutive games — which is an NCAA record and 54 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: #65 Kingsley Eguakun, #23 Jaydon Hill, #6 Shemar James, #15 Graham
Mertz,
● Coin Toss: Tennessee won the toss and deferred; Florida received and defended the north end
zone.
● Attendance: 90,751
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Head Coach Billy Napier
Press Conference
Florida Gators 29, Tennessee Volunteers 16
BILLY NAPIER: …significant impact in the game. I think in
this league, home field advantage is a big deal. And they
were a factor tonight. There’s no question. How many
procedure penalties did the crowd create? I think Austin
had a really good plan. We stemmed the front on
occasion. They were a factor. All the third downs, the
fourth downs, really significant. Really thankful for that.
90,000 strong.
Man, I’m just really — this game will teach you a lot about
life. I was telling the players just now, if you’ll let it, this
game can teach you a lot about life.
And it’s hard. It challenges everything in you. And
anything that’s significant that you accomplish in life is
going to be a challenge. It’s going to be hard.
And I think for that to be rewarding, there’s got to be some
difficulty. There’s got to be adversity. There’s got to be
days that you wake up and you question yourself to some
degree, right? And that’s important that you surround
yourself with really good people. And we certainly have
good people here.
But I’m proud of the players. You know, you go back a
couple weeks ago. We went to Utah. We did not play our
best football. There was no finger pointing. I didn’t hear
one guy in that locker room complain or make an excuse.
They took ownership and ultimately responded the right
way. And we’ve been working ever since.
So, you know, this group can get better. That’s the exciting
thing to me. There’s areas of our team out there where we
still struggled a little bit, areas where we can get better.
We have young players that are playing. And I think as
they get more experience, they’ll continue to improve. But,
overall, I know there’s tons of keys to that game, and I
know you’ll ask questions about that, but I want to
compliment our players, the response and, ultimately, the
leadership from the staff. We’ve got good people. They
stuck together. We found a way to win a game.
And, ultimately, if we can keep our humility and try to
sustain this and get ready for the next one, that will be the
objective. We’re going to celebrate tonight, though. I can
promise you that. So what questions we got here?
Q. Thoughts on how the defense responded from that
first drive to the beginning of the game to kind of shut
them out the rest of the half and get the turnover, and
what kind of momentum did that provide for the rest of
the half?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. I think it was difficult early, right?
We moved the ball down into the red area. It forced us to
kick a field goal. We missed the field goal. And then they
just go straight down the field and score. So that’s when
you know I think you’re onto something when you see a
group rally and continue to work and stick together. Some
of those intangibles that we’ve built showed up tonight. I
think ultimately there was adversity in the beginning.
Q. And Graham’s ability to manage the game
throughout the game, especially in the first half, 17 to
20?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. Some of those third downs were
epic. The pump fake scramble. You know, the scramble
on the right side where he feathered it right over the
defender and Kahleil gets his feet in. Those are two off the
top of my head. But you go 17 and 20 1/2, you played
pretty good football. And look, we stayed on schedule. I
think we only got sacked maybe one time. We kept third
down manageable. We were able to rush the ball. I think
the guys up front did a great job. The tight ends did a great
job. That’s who we’ve got to be. We played really good
complementary football tonight. And, ultimately, the plan
that we had worked. You know, and offense and defense,
the kicking game, we obviously got a lot of things that we
can clean up. But what else we got?
Q. So you have one game and you mentioned
humility. But what does it mean to the program to be
the team that won the Orange Bowl last year, had such
a great season, beat you guys, was picked to finish
very well this year, comes in ranked. What does that
do for this program?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, I think it — you know, I think as a
leader, what you want is you want your people — I can’t say
the amount of work that’s been done since we hit the
ground here, okay. Look, I know we haven’t won as many
games as we’d like to win, but the amount of work our
people have done since we hit the ground here until today.
Obviously we, have a lot of work left to do. You want to
see your people experience some success, right, see the
fruits of their labor. And I’m not just talking about the
players. I’m talking about the adults too, right? So we
worked hard. And that’s the thing that it gives you is it
validates your plan, it validates what you’re selling, to some
degree, the things that you continue to harp on. Yeah. I
think you just — that’s what you want as a leader, right?
And, ultimately, when I woke up after the Utah game, that’s
what I think about. I think about our people. I hate it, you
know. I hate looking them in the eye and seeing that, if
that makes sense. That’s a lot more fun.
Q. Trevor’s run, just how critical was that just to kind
of ignite everything?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. I mean, Trevor was on fire out
there tonight. I mean, just the instincts, the vision. Him
and Montrell both were in situations where they made guys
miss tackles. And then after contact created big plays.
You think about the screen, Montrell gets a little piece of
the guy. Both of those guys have got great contact
balance. And what’s good for our team is they’re some of
the hardest working kids that we have. They have
character. They’re extremely bright. They set a great
example. So I think that helps your team when your best
players are the best examples.
Q. You have another game when first half, four
consecutive scoring drives there. How important was
that, the efficiency to help your defense out the rest of
the way?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. Well, we knew we needed to start
fast. If you look at the analytics, if you’re down at halftime
against this crew — now, it’s a different Tennessee team,
but I think just in general the importance of starting fast.
We emphasized that. And I think they were ready to play
early. Although we didn’t get points in the first possession,
we were ready to play. And then defensively, after that first
possession, we kind of settled in. And we chewed up
some clock. Not only did we score — I don’t know how
many play drives those were, but we were able to be
efficient and rush the ball, convert on third down and have
a pretty good lead. We found a way to win. I probably was
a little too conservative in the second half. All that being
said, when it’s a three touchdown game and your defense
is playing well, you’re trying to get to the house with a W.
Q. You had 21 minutes plus of possession there in the
first half. Would you talk about that.
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. I mean, I felt like the pace of their
offense, the play count, numbers can get up there. You’re
talking high 70s, low 80s on average when you play a
Tennessee team. So, ultimately, if you can move the ball
with some consistency and convert on third. We took a
two-down approach a couple times knowing that we would
go for it if we needed to. And those worked. And,
ultimately, we just converted on third down. The
quarterback was fantastic. And you get those two backs
going, and it makes everything easier for the quarterback.
Q. Just how gratifying was it to see the way you
executed the game plan? And then ESPN reported
that Eugene Wilson had a collarbone issue?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. So Trey is going to be fine. The
x-ray was normal. I think he has a bruise of some — you
know, but he wasn’t able to return. Just didn’t have the
strength to return. He wanted to play, but I don’t think he
was ready to play. So we’ll be able to give you a little bit
more of an update on Monday or Wednesday of next week.
But right now, he wasn’t able to play in the game.
Q. Billy, what kind of jumped out to you about your
defense’s performance as a whole tonight? I think
that’s the third fewest points Heupel has ever scored
as a head coach.
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. I think, first of all, Coach
Armstrong and the defensive staff had a terrific plan. We
obviously spend a lost of time on these things not just in
season but off season. We did our homework. We spent
extensive time in the off season and certainly a little bit in
training camp and obviously throughout the week. I think
what gets overlooked here is maybe the scalp teams and
the job they did throughout the week replicating the tempo.
Numerous walk throughs. We put them in the indoor with
crowd noise. We threw two teams at them. I’m not sure
how many reps we took this week, but we took a lot. And,
ultimately, we played — we tackled for the most part in
space well on the perimeter, especially as the game settled
in. We created negatives. We knew going into the game,
first down would be important. We created some negative
plays. They had procedure penalties. The crowd affected
them. And, ultimately, you talk about third down stops and
fourth down stops, right? So those guys played their tail
off, man. I can’t imagine playing much better outside of
that first possession. Don’t forget the turnover in the short
field, right? That was a huge momentum play in the game.
Q. The turnover and then to create a short field with
Devin there. How significant was that? And to be able
to generate turnovers in a game where Tennessee is
trying to operate so quickly?
BILLY NAPIER: How many fourth downs did they — three,
right? So, to me, those are turnovers, right? So, I mean,
when you have a four turnover game on defense, it’s going
to be hard to beat you. So the pick was huge, right, just
because we affected the quarterback. All the things we
talk about all week. Protect our quarterback, affect their
quarterback, to hit the guy and the ball to go up and get it
on the short field and then to cash it in. And you’re at
home and that crowd gets behind you and there’s a ton of
momentum there.
Q. And then just with Adam struggling in the kicking
to be able to change kickers like that and bring in
something who could be effective. How significant
was that? And just on Trey’s performance?
BILLY NAPIER: Adam — nobody wants to do their job
more than he does. And I think much like many of you
when you go play golf sometimes you show up and you
don’t quite have it, you know. He hit a couple low balls
early there. And we just felt like Trey has been doing well
in practice, and we decided to put Trey in there. And, look,
Adam’s not the only player out there that made mistakes
tonight? You know, there were several others out there. I
made a bunch of mistakes myself. We’ll continue to work
and try to improve. And I promise you nobody wants to do
their job more than Adam does.
Q. Coach, you talk about your people and your players
seeing the fruits of their success and the validation.
What about you personally? I don’t know if you hear
all this criticism out there, but what about you?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, you know, I think, ultimately, I think
you got to keep perspective. I mean, I think that — you
know, I think that if you’re seeing things relative to your
standard, right? If you’re always evaluating am I doing the
best I can do relative to my role on the team, right? And
oftentimes you don’t feel like you did your best, you know,
and sometimes that affects your team, it affects your
players, it affects your staff. That’s a huge motivator, right?
So I think if you’re building a culture, you want a loyal
group. And I think as a leader, it’s really, really important
that you do your best for your people.
And, look, you’ve got to have a foundation. You’ve got to
have some value. You’ve got to have an identity
independent of the game, right? And I think for me, that’s a
faith foundation. Right? So that helps you keep
perspective, right? And I think this game’s always been
about people. And I think if you’ve got purpose, right, and
you have a foundation, and you view the game for what it
is — it is a game. And I think it gives you an opportunity to
teach things. If you lose sight of that, I don’t think you’ve
got a chance, right? So, ultimately, those things will
continue to be tested. There’s no doubt about it, right? So
success is a dirty process, right? And, ultimately, it’s
rewarding. You have to go through some ups and downs
along the way.
Q. Billy, in odd years, you get some big recruiting
weekends. And this one is always one of them. What
does a win like this do from that standpoint to have a
night like this in The Swamp?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. You’ve got to get them in the
building and you’ve got to cash it in, right? You know, that
place is special, you know. I grew up watching games on
TV, right? I grew up watching Florida and Tennessee. So
we’ve got one of the best game day experiences in all of
football. I mean, that place, when it’s sold out and they’re
into it like they were tonight, there’s not another place like it
in the country, right? So to get kids in there for them to
have a front row seat to that, for them to see our players
play with the effort and to play with the loyalty that they
played tonight, I mean, it only helps. It adds to the product
and the experience that we have to offer the players.
University of Florida is unmatched, the student-athlete
experience here is second to none, right? So pretty good
night. Pretty good night.
Q. How do you explain the leadership of Kingsley and
Tyreak Sapp tonight in the trenches?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. No. I think without question, you
know, we won the battle up front on both sides of the ball.
And I think Kingsley, there was a presence there during the
week and I think before the game, within the game. His
personality — I mean, Kingsley is an alpha, right? And he’s
got an edge to him. And I think that rubs off on the group.
And Sapp’s the same way. We talk about being a black
flag guy, Sapp is a black flag guy, right? So Sapp is a
player that never has a bad day. He is an effort guy. He’s
tough. He’s physical. He’s one of our best practice
players. You walk around the corner and you see Sapp,
he makes you better. And those two definitely impacted
our team for the better tonight.
Q. Hey, Billy, as you continue to build this thing,
what’s a win like this in this environment — we talk
about belief, how much does that augment that belief
going forward? I know you guys have made a lot of
gains in the program, recruiting, facilities, but to win
one like this at your place in your environment.
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah. I think the most important thing is
the players in that locker room. I’d like to think the staff —
we got young staff that may be — you know, what are they
thinking in their head at times. But I think ultimately for
your players, there is — it galvanizes your team a little bit.
All of a sudden you say, hey, you’re late. You got a 300
yard shuttle after practice. All of a sudden that carries a
little more weight than it did before. Right? So just the
discipline, the attention to detail. We’re probably a little
over the top at times, but I think, ultimately, it’s helped us
have success in the past.
We ask a lot of our players. And, look, when you’re not
getting a return on the investment, you know, much like
you guys do, you take your money and go somewhere
else, right? So, ultimately, I think that group will double
down. We got good veteran players that have set a good
example, and we’ve got some really talented young players
that I think it’s good for them to experience what they
experienced today.
All right, guys, thank you all.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Graham Mertz
Press Conference
Florida Gators 29, Tennessee Volunteers 16.
GRAHAM MERTZ: Sorry, everybody. Headband with a
polo on. It’s a good look.
Q. Just being able to put together those four
touchdown drives in the first half, what was working,
what was clicking to have the kind of completion
percentage? You had also 17 of 20?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah. I think the big thing that I was
proud about was — I mean, we hit on it after week one. We
said, look, we flat out didn’t execute. And then the thing
I’m proud about is that the guys took that to heart. And the
moments we needed to execute, the guys were on, and we
executed. I think that goes back to the work week. Like,
Tennessee is a great team. And I’m proud of how we
executed in the moment when you needed to make the
play. Coach always talks about make the play. And I think
across the board we saw guys from — young guys, old
guys, across the board, guys were just making that play.
So I’m definitely proud of this group.
Q. And also a little surprised at the end of the game
that you took that shot and —
GRAHAM MERTZ: I had no idea.
Q. — what did it mean for your teammates to defend
you like that?
GRAHAM MERTZ: I think that just shows what this locker
room is about. I can say from my end, I love every single
guy in that locker room, and I’m going to fight with them
every single day. That’s across the board. So that
definitely means a ton. But any time — that was just the
weirdest end to a game I’ve ever had, but I guess that’s
Tennessee. That’s kind of how it goes. But, no, man, I’m
excited. I’m proud of this group.
Q. Your coach said that in the last 17 days, this team
stuck together, no finger pointing. How critical in your
experience is that for helping enable what happened
tonight?
GRAHAM MERTZ: I think the biggest thing there is what’s
the easy thing to do? It’s to point. And it’s always to point
a finger. But when you do that, you have, what, three
pointing right back at you. So what I’m proud about is that
we talked about that up front. We said, look, adversity is
going to happen in the season. What are we going to do?
And the thing we decided is we’re going to look internally,
see, okay, what can I do better for the team? How can I
serve the team better? And I think across the board I saw
that. Guys took that to heart. They looked at what they
were doing and how can I be better for everybody next to
me. And that shows on game day. It shows every day in
practice, in film, walk throughs, lifts. So I’m proud of how
this team went internal and figured, okay, how can I serve
everybody on this team to make it better. And that means
a lot to me and every single person in that locker room.
Q. I hate to ask you about injury after the game, but
we saw you wearing the glove. We talked about your
toughness. What happened? Have you ever had that
experience before having to wear a left-hand glove in
the middle of a game?
GRAHAM MERTZ: I did last year. Something little. I was
fine. It was just a little something. So I did it last year. I
had a little sprain last year. So I wasn’t afraid — I knew that
if I threw a glove on it, everything would be fine for now.
Q. Knock on wood, right?
GRAHAM MERTZ: We’re all good.
Q. The second straight week you guys run off several
drives in a row, completely efficient and you score.
Would you talk about how this team is growing with
your offensive efficiency, making plays, everybody
playing cohesively?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah. I think we’re playing complete
offensive football. When you’re running the ball effectively
and you’re making plays in the passing game, you’re
executing on third down, you’re not getting third and longs.
I mean, I think the big thing about this game in college
football is staying ahead of the sticks. And I think our team
is doing a good job of that right now. So, I mean, it’s —
you’ve got to just thank the big boys up front, man. They’re
fighting all day. It’s hot out there. It was a little humid.
Those dudes go. So we — all the skill players, I can’t them
enough. But the boys up front, man, they train for it every
day and they go out there and execute it. It means a ton.
Q. How about the pump fake?
GRAHAM MERTZ: It’s kind of funny. We’ve talked about
that. We just talked about it a bunch in meetings. And
we’re like, look, if you ever get down there, just try the
pump fake. And I was like, all right. So, yeah, it worked
out.
Q. Graham, what’s been clicking for you? Your
completion percentage is off the charts, particularly in
the first half.
A. Yeah. I think it’s my process, man. Like all week, it’s
just investing in making the right decision in everything I
do, whether that’s — it’s so cliche, but when you stack small
wins, it makes something like a game pretty easy. I know if
I’m setting myself up for success and, really, I feel like I
owe it every single day to this program, these players,
man. I owe them everything I got. And that’s what I’m
going to give them every single day. Yeah. It’s just the
process, every single day, man. It’s long days, but it’s
worth it when that’s the result.
Q. Billy said he might have gotten a little conservative
in the second half and not just, you know, kept —
wasn’t aggressive play calling maybe because the
defense was playing well, a big lead. What did you
kind of see there?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I mean, it was — it’s so different.
I mean, everybody — no one really talks about it, but the
new ruling with the clock, it changes the game a little bit.
So there’s a new aspect to it that we’re in constant
communication about. So, I mean, I think at the time of the
game, where the score was, I mean, we had to milk the
clock a little bit. We all know that. Everybody in the stands
knew that. But whatever coach says, I’m going to trust with
all my heart and I’m going all in on it. Never once would I
ever doubt anything that he does.
Q. The screen pass, that touchdown really seemed to
fire you up. You have a guy bearing down on you and
you get rid of it and Montrell sheds a tackle. How
satisfying was that to be able to make that kind of
play?
A. I think — this might be a little weird to explain, but the
reason I was so fired up about that — I mean, I always talk
about process and everything. But the amount of times we
repped that this week and Coach Napier, Coach O’Hara
everybody told me, look, if you execute it with this
technique, they’re going to think they got you sacked.
You’re going to have a split second to get it out. And
trusted the technique to a tee. And I was more fired up for
all of us just because we repped it. We talked about it.
And that’s when plays are super fun. That’s when this
game is fun is when you rep it all the time and then you get
on game day and it works out how you rep it. So that’s
why I was fired up for that one.
Q. You kind of touched on it a little bit before, but
what’s it like when you’re quarterbacking and you see
your offensive line, particularly in the first half, really
asserting itself and kind of controlling things. How
much easier does that make your job, and just talk
about them a little if you don’t mind.
GRAHAM MERTZ: Oh, man, I could talk about them for
days. I mean, I think going into the game we knew it was
going to be physical. I mean, it’s Florida-Tennessee, you
know what you’re getting into. So we knew that up front we
had to set the tone. We harped on it all week. The big
thing I saw about that group is just the communication all
week. I mean, they knew it was going to be like that. They
wanted to be the aggressor. And, really, in everything we
were doing, that was their mindset. And it shows on game
day. I mean, I love that group so much, but, yeah, they
make our job a little bit easier as skill players so —
Q. Billy started his part of the press conference by
thanking the fans who came to this game.
GRAHAM MERTZ: Man, oh, my gosh.
Q. But coming from Big 10 country, does this even
compare or how do you even —
GRAHAM MERTZ: Man, it got loud. I was on the side, I
couldn’t hear my coach in front of me. I was trying to figure
it out. Man, it got rocking. Yeah. We knew we got The
Swamp, man. And when that place is fired up, that’s truly
special. So, yeah, we owe it to them to thank them for
everything we got too. Coach hit on it in his press
conference. I saw it on an Instagram, he was like, you
have the opportunity to affect the game, and they truly
affected the game. So props to them, man. That was
freaking awesome.
Q. Was there a point there where you looked coach —
it was so loud, like —
GRAHAM MERTZ: Oh, yeah, a couple of times. No,
definitely. It was — that place was rocking, man.
Q. Graham, obviously, one of the moments that it was
the loudest was Trevor’s touchdown in the first
quarter. Can you talk about what that did for the
offense, you know, obviously, as a whole. You guys
go down the field, miss the field goal, and then,
obviously, they get the quick touchdown. What did
that do to kind of restore confidence in the offense?
GRAHAM MERTZ: I think just — I mean, he’s right there.
He’s going to hear me talk about this. But the way — the
way our running back room runs the ball — I mean, their
intent is they’re getting in that paint every single time they
touch the ball. And you see that in practice every day. I
always talk about practice. I always talk about the process.
But that is what this game is all about. And if you don’t
trust it, you try to take shortcuts, that room does not take
one shortcut any day of the week. Yeah. Early touchdown
sets the tone, sets the pads a little bit, and it was great for
us. I appreciate that entire room.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Trevor Etienne
Press Conference
Florida Gators 29, Tennessee Volunteers 16
Q. How big was that 62 yard touchdown you think just
to the team effort tonight to kind of get things rolling?
TREVOR ETIENNE: I mean, it was a critical point in the
game I feel like. I feel like we needed a big play to get the
offense going, and it just happened to be me that made the
play. And I was just thankful for that. But I felt like that
really set the tone of the confidence on our sideline.
Q. 173 yards, a career high. How are you feeling
about the performance you had?
TREVOR ETIENNE: I mean, just grateful. I want to give a
shout-out to my O-line, first of all. Just thankful for those
guys. Like I said earlier in the week, it was going to be a
physical game. And they came out and dominated for 60
minutes. And I just want to say thank you. I owe those
guys. I have to take them out to dinner or something.
Q. You bounced back big time from the Utah game.
You surpassed the first two games. You had more
carries tonight than you did in the first two games
combined. Yardage, we already covered that. How did
you gain your confidence back? How did you come
through tonight and possibly the toughest opponent
that you guys have faced to this point?
TREVOR ETIENNE: I really just fed off of the energy on
the sideline, man. Everybody was amped up for this game.
They knew how much it meant to not just us but the Gator
Nation, the players that played ahead of us in this game,
and just off that energy. It just had everyone fired up.
Q. So you think the fans were a big part of that?
TREVOR ETIENNE: Definitely. Definitely, man. I was
standing on the training table trying to hype the fans up
one defensive drive, man. I’m just thankful for those guys.
Q. How special is it to get your first SEC win here in
The Swamp when it was sold out tonight?
TREVOR ETIENNE: I mean, it means a lot. Sold out,
packed Swamp. It doesn’t get any better than this. I feel
like The Swamp is the best stadium to play in in the SEC.
Q. On the touchdown run, you kind of bump into their
corner back and you’ve got a step on him. Talk about
blowing by him. You kind of had that look like he ain’t
going to catch me.
TREVOR ETIENNE: No, man. I had the end zone in my
eyesight, and I was going to do anything to get there.
Q. Would you talk also about — you know, so many
times there on third down, you make a tough gain and
you’re breaking tackles, et cetera, like that. Were you
just super motivated tonight or something?
TREVOR ETIENNE: Definitely. I knew this game was
going to be physical, and we were going to have to play
hard. And I wanted to keep our offense out of those tough
play calling downs, keep us from being backed up.
Running backs, we had to run the ball hard. So that was
our goal each and every play.
Q. As a running back room after the Utah game, what
were the conversations like, just about maybe
frustration or the need to get the run game knowing?
And now I guess how relieving is it? You’ve had two
games back to back where you guys were great on the
ground.
TREVOR ETIENNE: Coming from the Utah game, we
didn’t really touch the ball that much. But the way we took
it was how can we affect the game without the ball? How
can we be a threat without the ball? We didn’t try to focus
on so much that we didn’t get the ball. We just tried to
worry on being the best teammate we could be without the
ball.
Q. So 7 of 8 on third down in the first half. I think you
came into the game 6 of 19 on the season. Is that like
— is that how this offense, how efficient this offense
can be? It was pretty flawless at that point.
TREVOR ETIENNE: I mean, definitely. I feel like this
team we saw tonight in the first half, I mean, when we’re
playing like that, we’re a really great team. We just have to
be consistent and keep being that team week in and week
out.
Q. Good answer to a bad question.
(Laughter.)
Q. Trevor, a couple questions. First off, Coach Napier
last week talked about the preparation Sunday through
Saturday. How did that match the effort tonight, first
off?
TREVOR ETIENNE: I mean, I’m sure you seen it out
there. Guys were amped up. They knew how much this
game meant and just focused on the details in practice and
walk throughs and taking advantage of every situation that
coach puts us through in those practice settings, it just
prepares us for the game.
Q. Second question, are you going to be in
Jacksonville tomorrow?
TREVOR ETIENNE: No. I have to lift at 4 tomorrow, so
it’s kind of challenging balancing.
Q. Trevor, can you just talk about — obviously, last
week, you, Montrell, Trevaun all got pretty equal
workload. Did you know coming into the game that
you were going to kind of be the lead back this week?
TREVOR ETIENNE: No. I had no idea. It was shocking
to me. I mean, I’m just thankful for those guys too because
even though it was me in the game most of the time, they
were still pushing me, still encouraging me, still giving me
tips when I came off the field. So I’m just thankful to have
those guys in my circle.
Q. Both Billy and Graham spoke about how in the
second half you guys have a big lead, maybe playing
more conservatively. You know then you’re going to
be featured a little bit more. Is there something you’re
doing at halftime knowing that they’re expecting the
run a little bit more or, you know, you just pretty much
follow the same strategy in the second half?
TREVOR ETIENNE: Definitely. I knew we were going to
run the ball a little more. So the main thing we talked is
with the running back group, we were just focused on
protecting the ball. Don’t have any lazy turnovers, any
dumb turnovers.
Q. I know you said you’re not going to be in
Jacksonville tomorrow, but do you and your brother
critique each other and talk several times during the
week and maybe you give him tips and he gives you
tips?
TREVOR ETIENNE: Definitely. I’m going to have to call
him after this. I’m sure he has some plays he wants to talk
about. It’s never enough. I never done anything right. And
I’m the same with him. I try to stay on him, just week in
and week out.
Q. (No microphone.)
TREVOR ETIENNE: Man, I said early in the week, he
looked like he’s been here before and just the way he was
making it look easy. That kid is special.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
2023 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
Florida 29, No. 11 Tennessee 16
September 16, 2023
17 Scooby Williams, Redshirt-Sophomore, Inside Linebacker
On Coach Armstrong…
“The defense, really, we put all our trust in Coach Armstrong and the way he prepares us throughout
the week. We trust his gameplan and we go out there and execute.”
On generating pressure…
“We knew the crowd would be a factor, as you can see they had a lot of false starts. So just getting
the crowd into it and making plays when we needed to. At the start Coach Armstrong told us we
were going to be straight.”
On facing Tennessee…
“I wouldn’t say [Coach Armstrong] had this game circled, but it was really just the next game. It was
just, had to beat Tennessee, which has an explosive, great offense. Kudos to them. The coaches play
their whole style. But Coach Armstrong, just one week at a time. It was just Tennessee this week, so
we’re really proud of ourselves on being at the Gators’ standard. Living up to the Gators’ standard
from practice to the film room, to the weight room, and translating it to the field.
On the tempo…
“It was fast. It was fast. We had to be fast. You should’ve seen our practice. Our practice was crazy,
really intense. Just beating them back to the ball, getting the play in, and getting set up front.”
2023 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Josh Heupel, Tennessee Head Coach
Florida 29, No. 11 Tennessee 16
September 16, 2023
Opening statement…
“Extremely disappointing start to the football game the first half. Not very good in any sense of the
way. Offense had the one drive and the defense got the one stop. Other than that, not the way you
want to start. I do appreciate the competitiveness of the guys that come out to compete and play in
the second half. Still didn’t play as clean as we need to, as well as we need to in a lot of ways. We
got to get a lot better. Hats off to, give credit to Florida. They did a good job, but we got to get a lot
better. We need to be cleaner.”
On third down defense…
“Didn’t get off the field. Had them in some third-and-long situations. Applied some pressure to the
quarterback. We didn’t match out on some things. We got to be better. We got to get off the field.”
On the final timeout…
“The timing of when it was, a chance to try to push one into the endzone. Obviously, at the end of it,
by the time of when it happened. You weren’t going to be able to have a full sequence of plays to
try to get back into the endzone.”
On the offensive line…
“We’ll go back and watch it. The first half, at the end of the day, nobody is doing what they need to,
at the level that they need to. It can be run game. It can be protection. It can be quarterback play.
It can be wide receiver play. I’ll tell them. It’s me and our coaching staff too. We’re in it together.”
On communication and tempo…
“The first half we didn’t get it going. We were behind the chains the entire time. You’re not going to
see the tempo at that point.”
On the team’s capability…
“They are capable of it, absolutely. We got to be better. We got to go back to work and continue to
grow.”
On team tackling…
“Not very good in the first half. It was part of the problem. You can look at tackling and not getting of
the field on third down, defensively. Offensively, you can look at pre-snap penalties and lack of
efficiency.”
On improving throughout the game…
“We did some good things down the stretch. Early in the football game, we as a unit weren’t playing
the way we needed to, to move the football consistently. Joe [Milton III]’s done some very good
things. He, like the rest of them, I was proud of the way that they competed in the second half. Not
playing as efficient as we needed to be, but they came out and competed.”
2023 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Tennessee Student-Athletes
Florida 29, No. 11 Tennessee 16
September 16, 2023
7 Joe Milton III, Senior, Quarterback
On how much the environment impacted them…
“Not as much, man. You know, when you’re in environments like this as a team you gotta come
together as a collective and just gotta execute plays. We didn’t start off doing that in the beginning
of the first half so that led up to the score tonight.”
On his interception…
“It happened, man. It happened. I can’t go back and change what happened. I can learn from it.
It’s totally on me, I understand.”
On what him and other leaders said in the locker room postgame…
“It’s just all about if we’re going to come together or separate. These game right here lead you to the
most important things in life. You look at the game and you be like, ‘oh man, we lost to Florida, right?’
and you go back in the locker room Sunday and you watch the game and just see all the mistakes
you made as a team, personally. You want to just fix those and go execute the next week.”
On what changed after the first drive…
“Just got to keep executing man as an offense. You just got to keep going no matter what. When
you score that easily and things can be so easily scored you can’t just ride the wave. You got to be
able to execute and attack.”
On adjustments made at halftime…
“Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Just keep going as an offense, as a defense, as a special teams, you
just got to execute.”
15 Bru McCoy, Redshirt Senior, Wide Receiver
On the impact of the crowd…
“Early in the season and haven’t played in an environment like that so far. Probably just focus and
being dialed in with the things that practiced throughout the week and we will look back on things
we didn’t do right and see what we can improve on moving forward.”
On what changed after the first drive…
“I cannot pinpoint exactly, but we came out fast and started fast and then sort of lost are
momentum I think that me personally we started thinking back that we couldn’t do it again and it’s a
mindset thing and a confidence thing, and going out there and doing what we are capable of
doing.”
On mistakes and missed opportunities…
“A loss like this will really light a fire under anybody. I know me personally; this feeling and the way it
feels I’m not going to take this lightly and I think everyone else on the offense will fall in line on that.
So, hopefully moving forward, there won’t be laboring days and nights not that we will be perfect but
we are going to work for it.”
On how to correct the offensive mindset in practice…
“Once you’re being coached on about it, now it’s about the mindset along with the focus and just
applying it. And it can be reps with just more and more reps, just taking what you know and working
at it in whatever way you feel necessary and as a teammate, you have to go out and do things on
your own with the guys around you in the right direction and just show up.”
6, Aaron Beasly, Senior, Linebacker
On what lead to Etienne’s big game…
“They were just running the offense on our end. I feel like it was just a lot of mistakes. We really weren’t
playing sound football in my opinion, just undisciplined on our part.”
On the lack of discipline…
“We just gotta be more intentional with like always, we could have improved our urgency and our
intensity, just the way we work throughout the week, we could start there for sure.”
On the last ten seconds…
“Yeah, I think we were just trying to get the ball back and I say that they went in a little barrier call,
trying to run the clock out and we were trying to get them down and get the ball back to the
offense.”
On whether the team has the leadership to bounce back…
“Yeah, most definitely I do. I feel like all in all we have the team to do that, so we shall see.”
On the message from the seniors…
“Yeah, just stick together. We are not defined by this time in the year. You know what we want to
accomplish in this season is still not off the table. That was a main thing, just telling the guys, you know
it’s about how you respond, it’s not just this moment in general, but it’s how we respond, too.”
