Opening Statement
I told the guys before the game that it would really show them who they are. And I thought for the first half, we showed everybody that when we are doing the right things we can play with any team in America. We held the number two team in the country on the ropes, even with some missed opportunities. And now we have this decision as to what team we are going to be. Are we going to be the team that played like we did in the first half, that shows that we can play with any team in the country; or are we going to be the team that allows little things to be self-inflicted? It was a hard-fought game, thought they fought hard for four quarters. They obviously came up short. But again, learned a lot about these guys today. I think a foundation was laid today that could help us propel through the rest of the season. We are going to use the 24-hour rule, and we will come back ready to work tomorrow.
Q: Talk about the depth of the linebacker room in general.
A: We have been saying that we feel like Josiah Taylor may be the best linebacker we have. That’s not taking anything away from the rest of them, we have good linebackers, great speed, great size, instincts. We feel really good about the depth that we have built in the defensive line.
Q: What does this say about the mentality of your team stepping into an environment like this?
A: Of course, faith and fight are two of the seven Fs. So again, having the faith to know you are good enough to come into a game of this magnitude and I think my guys showed that. And the fight to go in and go toe to toe with one of the top teams in America and we didn’t flinch. I am extremely proud of the effort that we played with. Obviously, still attention to detail and some things we have to clean up. The good thing is they’ve shown that they will fight and compete.