[Fuller/Upchurch]
De’Veon, first tell us, how are you feeling?
“I’m feeling good. You know, I’ve got a boot on right now for precautionary reasons. You know…got a little banged up, but it’s not a big deal. Just trying to get healthier for next week.”
De’Veon, tell me what was going through your mind when you had that 60-yard run for a touchdown and were just going through everybody.
“To be honest, I thought I was down for a second but- then I put my hand down in the ground- but once I got to the second level I knew for a fact I was not letting #15 tackle me, so that kind of made me want to score even more.”
Jake, seemed like the most comfortable you’ve been in the passing game. How much of that is opening up the playbook a little bit and just finally getting comfortable?
“I think it all comes down to really just being comfortable with the calls that Coach has coming in, and having good communication with him, and saying, ‘No, I’d rather go with a different play.’ Just feeling more comfortable with that, and then I think it also goes to the offensive line. They allow you to be comfortable back there and that’s always- it’s really impressive.”
Jake, can you talk about the one-handed grab Amara made and how that came about, and also what it did in terms of energizing the team?
“Yeah, that was a great play by him. He had man coverage; I figured I’d give him a shot and the ball got a little more outside than I wanted it to but he made a great play, and like you said, I think that jumpstarted guys. It was a third-down conversion, I believe, and whenever you can convert third downs it’s always good for the offense.”
[More after THE JUMP]
Jake, did you make more of a concentrated effort to run the ball or throw it away as opposed to trying to force a pass? It seemed like that was the case, perhaps to cut down turnovers.
“Yeah, I mean, obviously you want to cut down turnovers. Just being smart with the ball. You know, having your feet as another checkdown opportunity, and the way they were rushing and the way our offensive line handled it and our backs came up blocking them you just saw some creases you could kind of come up and slide to. That just opened up to being able to run for it.”
Jake, what would you attribute the efficiency of the offense in the first half to versus previous games this year?
“It’s hard to say, being so short from the game. I think it was a good mix of running the ball well [and] also getting some good passes in there. You know, we’ll have a better answer on film, but obviously want to keep that going and keep it like that.”
When your coaches dial up the full team effort and full gameplan, was there a point in the game when you kind of saw that everything was clicking on all cylinders and everything was working out? Was there a point where you thought this game was yours?
JR: “I think once you start scoring points, that’s when you think things are going good. Being able to score points, unanswered points, and our defense playing lights out, giving up no points and whenever you get a shutout that makes it a lot easier on the offense, so I think it’s like you said, a full team effort. And then when you see points going on the board for us and nothing going on for them it makes everybody feel a little better.”
Jake, what was your view of De’Veon’s run there? You get a good look at it? The sixty yarder.
“Like he said, I thought he was down but the pile kept moving a little bit. Then he broke out of that—you probably saw me jumping; pretty excited about that—and then he got down and #15 was one him and I was like [/sighs]. Obviously I love the guy, [and] I don’t know what he did, but whatever he did I was just extremely hyped and happy for him. It was a great run.”
Jake, you were answering it a couple answers ago but what does it mean for the offense when the defense is performing at the level that it is, that it’s going to turn around and give you the ball back?
“Yeah, you can just take what the defense is giving you and not trying to press. I think that’s the biggest thing, you don’t have to press as much. You just can go out there and understand, ‘Hey, if we’ve got to punt the ball we punt the ball and our defense will do a great job’ and that’s just always a good thing.”
Jake, two-part question. One: you showed a little bit of mobility today with I think it was a 17-yard touchdown run and also just comfort level of the offense. Defense, I think, 10 of the last 12 quarters hasn’t surrendered a point.
“I think those runs, they just kind of opened up in the red zone. You’ve got to give them credit; they covered our guys well, but if they’re covering them so well sometimes it opens up running lanes. And then, yeah, unanswered points. That’s always a benefit for our team and give all the credit to the defense and their coaches and all those guys.”
How comfortable does it make you as a quarterback knowing you have a defense that was two drives from three straight shoutouts?
“That just makes you- like I said before, you don’t have to worry about pressing. You can just focus on, ‘Hey, let’s just work on this drive’ and just stay really small and not get global in your thoughts.”
How far has this offensive line come from week one until now, and what are the differences you’ve seen?
DS: “For me, the running lanes are getting bigger and bigger and better, and I’d definitely say they’re being a lot more physical than we were in the first week, from pass protecting to running the ball. So, that’s probably the big difference for me and making sure Jake’s off the ground.”
This is a team that you faced that had played pretty well against good competition, and basically people said this was a pick ‘em game. To dominate the way you did, what does that say about the progress of this team?
JR: “I’d say I think our guys answered the call. I think it all starts with the week of preparation, though. Everybody just sees the end result on Saturday, but throughout the week we had really solid practices and just trying to get better each and every week. And, you know, that’s the biggest thing to seeing progress; you’ve got to move forward and you’re correct, they’re a very good team. I wouldn’t be surprised- they’re going to win a bunch of games this year, so a lot of credit to them. But we’ve got to just keep putting work in each day during the week.”
De’Veon, did they give you a diagnosis on the foot, and do you expect to play next week?
“Yes, I expect to play next week.”
And is it sprained? Is it…?
“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s just precautionary. It’s just a little bit sore, but that’s really it.”
De’Veon, what did you do to get #15 off? Did you say anything to him when you finally threw him off of you?
“Uh, no. I wish I would have said something, but I really didn’t say anything to him. What made…I was just really determined not to go down since I was so close to the endzone.”
I know I’m not supposed to ask a second question, but to follow up, there was a lot of talk about vision issues after the first game. Are you doing something- you talked about the offensive line as being more aggressive and being tougher- are you doing something different since that game?
“I’ve actually been going to the offensive line room with them and we go over protections and blocking schemes, so that’s probably what’s helping me out the most. Coach Drevno coaching me up a little bit more.”
Any other backs or just you?
“Well, all the other- I’m not on the special teams, that’s why. I’m not on the special teams and that’s the time I go in there, so it’s only like 15 minutes.”
De’Veon, this program has struggled against ranked teams in recent years. What does it mean to finally have beaten one?
“Feels good to finally beat a ranked team. Like Jake said, it goes back to our weeks of preparation. We have to keep the momentum going, really, and keep making statements to other ranked teams and show that we don’t fear ranked teams.”