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Florida interim head coach Billy Gonzales, along with quarterback DJ Lagway, running back Jadan Baugh, and cornerback Devin Moore met with the media on Saturday evening to discuss the Gators’ 31-11 loss to No. 20 Tennessee.
BILLY GONZALES
BILLY GONZALES: Obviously we didn’t want to let them start, get a fast start at the beginning of the game. We know their offense, we know their tempo. We knew they were fast-paced and an explosive offense. We wanted to stop them, and we didn’t make that happen. Obviously we wanted to slow them down at the beginning of the game. They came out and they scored on the first four drives. Our drives were nowhere near where we needed them to be.
The first half stats, obviously it was 31-0. First downs they beat us 19-6. Rushing yards, 177 to 70 at halftime. Total offensive yards, 323-110. Then you take a look at the possession time, it was 18:31 to 11:29. And I think the biggest thing is we talked about not letting them get off to a start, a fast start, but, you know, obviously we couldn’t get them off the field. They were 4-of-6 on third-down possessions, 1-of-1 on fourth-down possessions. And we were 0-5 and 0-1 on third- and fourth-down situations.
Came back in at halftime. Talked to the team about when you’re back’s against the wall, who are you, and that’s who you really are.
I thought they came back. They fought in the second half, obviously. I know both teams slowed the tempo down. Both teams slowed the pace down. But I guess a positive for us is, if you start looking at numbers, came back and obviously had a chance, I think, first and foremost, you recognize Baugh, Jadan Baugh played an exceptional game, both in the run game and pass game for us. We finished up, if you take a look at the possession at the end of the game, they still had the ball 10 more minutes than we did. Again, at the end of the game we couldn’t get off the field. They were 9-of-13 total on third downs and we were 2-of-9. And they were 1-of-1 and we were 0-for-1.
I think the biggest thing that people have done against us probably the last three games, when I come back and look at the stats at the end of the game, when you get a passing team, you think they’re a pretty balanced team, but they only threw the ball 22 attempts and they ran it 51 times. We’ve got to do a better job stopping the run consistently, and that hasn’t happened lately. We’ve got to get back to work and continue to get better.
Q. Even with the fight you saw in the second half, I know you mentioned before not really seeing players quit, but what’s the vibe of the team in this locker room to see this slide continue?
BILLY GONZALES: Nobody wants to — I mean, it’s not great because everybody wants to win, and nobody wants to lose. So if you’re asking what it feels like to lose, it’s not fun. It’s not good. It sucks for me to be up here in front of you guys, obviously. You know, I’ll take the loss for the players every game, no matter what it’s going to be. So I’ll continue that process. But we’ve got to get better. And does it hurt, absolutely.
Q. Given just the circumstances, Urban in the house, national TV and Tennessee, a big rivalry game, riding a big losing streak, how does all that resonate with the performance?
BILLY GONZALES: Whoever’s here is here. Obviously, I think it was awesome he had an opportunity to be recognized. I think that’s special for Coach. I think the world of him.
But as far as our players, we’ve got to continue to get better. We’ve got to try to continue to finish a game. We played a half of football. The last couple of weeks, the first — two of the first three games we played, we played a good first half and we didn’t play a good second half. This time we were the reverse. We didn’t play the first half and we came out in the second half and played solid. Run game kicked up a little bit and we set up some play-action off of it. But no, it doesn’t matter as far as who is here or who is not. We’ve got to be better, play better.
Q. But he’s talking to the team beforehand?
BILLY GONZALES: Sure.
Q. And just the team comes out so flat. Is there something you can pinpoint?
BILLY GONZALES: No. We played a good football team. They’re a field goal away from — last year they were a college football playoff team. This year they’re an overtime loss to Georgia and a field goal, really, to Oklahoma. Or else they’d be in the CFP playoff at a high level right now. They’re an extremely good football team. But we’ve got to find a way to get off the field. We’ve got to find a way to stop the run game. And I think that’s something that the teams have done over the last couple of weeks against us.
Q. You hit a big pass play to Baugh early and it gets called back on a penalty. Then the rest of the half, the rest of the quarter, I think only one yard. But the inability to exploit their pass defense — I think they came in worst in the SEC, what were some of the reasons you feel like were because of that or why couldn’t you get the pass –
BILLY GONZALES: I’ll go back and look. I can’t tell you every pass play that we called, right off the get-go. You know, when you start off with, when you start off with a big play in the pass game and all of a sudden you get a penalty it deflates you. And it’s hard to dig yourself out of a hole when you have a big play and all of a sudden now you’re moving behind the sticks. You go back through, and I’m just looking at some of the, where we got the ball, we got the ball on the one drive on the minus-5. And one of the other ones I think we got it a little bit further back as well, too. But we didn’t put a ton of drives together. Offensively a penalty negated a big pass play and we had to punt the ball on the first drive. Second play we had three plays, we punt. We missed a block by a block on the right side of the line up front. It was a good play. We missed a block. And then we had a offense turnover on downs; we couldn’t get the yard that we needed. Then we started on the minus-5-yard line. We’d like to be able to see, make the decision where we run away from the ball and try to let it go into the end zone. So we got it on the minus-5 and we had to punt out of that. The back part, we got it again on the minus-5. We drove down to the 14. Got ourselves in trouble again. And then we missed a field goal, which is uncanny of Smack. That’s kind of how it ended at halftime.
Q. Besides the second half effort, because obviously it was a much better than the first half, what other positives are you going to take with you into Florida State other than trying to stop them from going to a
bowl game?
BILLY GONZALES: I think our players want — we want to continue to fight, continue to win. I just got done telling them. I said sometimes life has to break you completely before you truly discover who you are. And that kind of resonates with me in talking to the players. And you’re searching, obviously. There’s been a lot of change and a lot of different emotions that have went on through these last five weeks. The one thing is the players are going to continue to keep going. There’s not a negativity. There’s nobody in there complaining to each other and throwing things around the locker room and fighting. But, yeah, it hurts. Anytime you want to have an opportunity, this is the last SEC game. We’ve got one more game here coming up against Florida State, another rivalry game. We’ve got to go back and obviously try to figure out what we can to get a victory here.
Q. This is just the nature of the beast, right, you’re dealing with here? I mean, the program’s in search of a new direction right now.
BILLY GONZALES: Well, obviously —
Q. I know you guys come into it with determination but is it difficult?
BILLY GONZALES: As a staff you keep fighting no matter what the situation is. I think anybody that would give in really shouldn’t be around a program. So I don’t think anybody’s quitting as far as the staff goes right now. We’ve got to continue to keep fighting. We’ve got to continue to keep pushing. Again, like I said, our job is to try to continue to help these players get better and coach them. We’ve got one more week with them. That’s going to be our job, continue to keep pushing these players so we can try to continue. We’ve made a commitment to them, and they’ve made a commitment to each other. So that’s our goal.
Q. Despite the stats and the outcome of the game, obviously it was a gut punch for the team and also the fans. What is the message to the fans despite in this tough stretch right now?
BILLY GONZALES: Gator football and Gator Nation has tons of tradition. The University of Florida’s tradition is second to none. Obviously we’re in transition right now. But the biggest thing is continue to keep being who they are. I think I’ve been here three different times with three different head coaches. The one thing that’s consistent, is the fans are unbelievable. They showed up again today. They’re going to continue to show up. I’ve always said this before, as a coaching staff, as a coach — I’m going to put it by myself, but as a coaching staff, embrace it, embrace the fans and the community because that’s what makes the university such a special place. The fans have always been great. I can go back through, some of the biggest games that we’ve ever won here, they’ve been fantastic. They’ve helped us win those games with the noise and the crowd that they’ve done. Just keep hanging in there, obviously. I want what’s best for this university. However the move continues forward in the future, I think as a coach, from my standpoint — I’m looking from a fan and a coach, Gator Nation and the fans are fantastic. And I think the relationship between the staff and the fans and the players and the fans has got to continue the way it’s always been. I think that’s second to none. I think the fans are amazing here.
JADAN BAUGH
Q. Could you take us through, I guess, the first half, especially the slow start for the offense and your takeaways from it?
JADAN BAUGH: Like you said, it was a slow start for us. I didn’t expect it, coming in with a lot of energy that we had, going into pregame, I thought we were going to go in, play fast, start fast. But the outcome wasn’t what we expected.
Q. How difficult has this stretch been, do you think, mentally for the offense these four games, and how do you try to regroup for Florida State?
JADAN BAUGH: It’s been difficult the whole season. But we continue to just keep coming in the facility and giving our best. To the game, Florida State, it’s another day in the office, going in there, keeping our head on straight, and preparing the right way.
Q. To kind of bounce off that. How do you guys kind of keep it together, kind of the light at the end of the tunnel, especially with this coaching change, especially for — I’m sure a lot of these guys probably might not be here with the way the portal works now. How do you kind hold it together?
JADAN BAUGH: Again, make the main thing the main thing. We were all recruited here to play football and finish the mission. And this is one thing, our speakers that came last week to talk to us, just finishing the mission.
Q. Just what are the emotions that go through you guys when things kind of snowball so quickly and you have all these reasons to perform, whether it’s in the Swamp, or you’ve got Urban here and all these things?
JADAN BAUGH: Just a lot. Being able to be with a legend like that, him talking to us, I think it motivated us in the right way. But we have to do better as, into going into the game with the right mindset, preparing the right way all the time.
Q. Devin was talking about the Gator standard and that’s something you guys have to continue to strive for. What does that mean to you? What does being a Gator and pushing for that standard, how does that resonate with you?
JADAN BAUGH: Coach G, he always preaches to us, play for the patch. I feel playing for the patch is not just playing for my brothers that’s with us now, but the ones who came before us, and it means something to us but it means something a lot to them.
Q. The early penalty, you make a pretty good catch and the crowd is energized and stuff, and then, unfortunately, a hold brings you back. Just how tough was that mentally for the team and how come you guys maybe couldn’t regroup for that for the rest of the half?
JADAN BAUGH: Things happen. We dealt with a lot of calls this year that we thought could have been a little bit better or called a little bit better. But things happen and we’ve got to get our minds straight and take it to the next play.
Q. I know individual stuff doesn’t mean a lot when you come off a loss, but just your season, do you take pride in what you’ve been able to do and kind of stay the course and now you’re over a thousand yards in scrimmage, closing in on a thousand yards rushing?
JADAN BAUGH: We think about it. We see it on the Internet and stuff. But I’m not too much worried about it. I’m worried about finishing the mission, finishing with my teammates and sending the seniors out the right way.
Q. Obviously you’ve had a lot of success in your young career. But can you please talk to us about, what does it mean to play for the orange and blue and what does that mean to you?
JADAN BAUGH: It means everything to me. Coming into my recruitment, just knowing that Florida wanted me, stuck out a lot, just because my pops, some of my uncles, we always grew up watching the Gators just play and be efficient, and like play like how Gators play. And so I think it gives me extra motivation just to know, like, you’re playing in one of the greatest places you can play in.
Q. I know it’s a little different when you’re down 31-0 at halftime. But you come out in the second half. You guys looked a lot better out there. You seemed a lot freer out there. Was that kind of the message going into the second half, just be free, just be able to do things maybe that you weren’t able to do in the first half?
JADAN BAUGH: That was the message going into the game in general. Us going into halftime and getting into the locker room, a lot of emotions are flying. But we all knew for a fact that the first half is not us. We didn’t play as well as we should, but the message is just keep fighting. It’s only a couple of plays that changes the game, and I always thought that the four to five plays that can change a game, somebody has to make them.
Q. From a personal standpoint, too, obviously there’s a lot of lessons that were taught this season. What do you think that you’ve learned off the field just from all the trials and tribulations you’ve gone through this year?
JADAN BAUGH: Controlling my emotions. Being frustrated with certain things not going our way. That shows a lot of people are watching and character is one thing Coach Juluke preaches, and controlling our emotions because a lot of people are watching; you don’t want them to see you in certain ways. I think that’s what I took away from the season a lot more.
DJ LAGWAY
On wanting a faster start in the beginning of the game…
“Yeah, we beat ourselves. Penalties hurt us early on offense. Made a big play to Jadan (Baugh). He made a good catch, which was a big play. It kind of slowed down our momentum when we got that penalty. Just self-inflicted wounds that hurt us in the first half, for sure.”
On the frustration he has after such a big rivalry game…
“Yeah, it’s frustrating. Just the tradition and everything. It’s just hard, especially to Tennessee. It is such a big rivalry. You always want to come home and close those ones out, so…”
On if he still supports his popular tweet ‘You’re either going to win with us, or watch us win’…
“I stand on my word for sure. In due time, we are going to get this thing rolling. Then we are going to look back at that tweet in 3-4 years from now and see. We just have to continue to get better. We have the young pieces around us. We just have to execute and get better.”
On whether it is hard to not look ahead, pertaining to his future at UF…
“I try not to look ahead. For me, it is just focusing one day at a time and focusing on the little things that we can get better at. I came into this game with the recognition of some things that I wanted to get better at and I did get better at them. A lot of players here have those same types of goals, but collectively, we all have to play better. The end of story.”
On playing toward the Gator Standard…
“It means everything to me. The people that came before us, the legacy and tradition that this place holds. We had Coach Meyer come and speak to us in the locker room before the game and it definitely brought some chills. It is just way bigger than all of us, and it is a blessing to be here.”
DEVIN MOORE
Q. It was a rivalry game coming into the Swamp. How surprising was the first half to you, both offensively and defensively, in terms of maybe the effort and the execution?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, I was very surprised. There were some things we’ve got to get cleaned up for sure. I feel like we weren’t out there playing to the full extent of our effort. And that’s something we’ve got to get cleaned up at halftime and get guys back in line with.
Q. As a locker room, you guys on this kind of tough skid, one of the worst losses to this rival team for a while. How do you guys just stay together in this last week? How do you guys just make sure you don’t mentally check out and just want to make it to the light at the end of the tunnel?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, we put in so many hours together, you know, from winter workouts to spring practice, to summer offseason OTAs, to fall camp. It’s some tough times. There’s a lot of ups and downs throughout, being a college football player, and being held to such a high standard like this at the University of Florida. I’ve bled, I’ve cried, I’ve sweat with these guys. That just means the world to me and all the other guys in the locker room. So just the motive is just to keep going. You know, it’s the standard here at the University of Florida, especially the guys leaving, including myself. We’re playing for each other. Those guys in the locker room don’t want us to go out on a bad note. And that’s definitely the motivation, and to continue to keep chipping wood, continue to keep going, show up every day. I know the guys in that locker room have my back for sure.
Q. When Urban gives you guys a pep talk and you’re back in the Swamp and national TV and everything, what’s the level of it like disappointment when you come out and it kind of goes that way so quickly?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, that’s a high level of disappointment. But we control what we can control. Get back in the locker room and on the sideline and make the adjustments we need to make. Guys gotta play with more effort. Just the little things. It’s always the little things that add up to the big things. It was definitely disappointing, but it was important to focus on what we could do better at the time. And just continue to get better as the game went on.
Q. Florida State helps, right? Your final opponent, that helps to kind of energize you guys?
DEVIN MOORE: Oh, yeah, for sure. We kind of look at every game like the other, every game, juiced up, ready to go play. Because like I said before, this is the last one for the seniors. Tonight was the second to last one. Last night game for the seniors. We are playing for our brothers and we’re playing for the program. The fans still show up, consecutive sell-outs and they still believe in us. So every time we’re going to show up and try and win the game, for sure.
Q. Cormani McClain going down, how tough was it to watch for a guy who kind of broke out this year getting a lot more playing time?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, it’s incredibly tough to watch. I have experience with injuries, and just seeing him go down, man, that broke my heart. Because I have seen the guy, extra means, extra hours in the weight room just doing
all the extra little things so he can make the plays on Saturday like he does. It breaks my heart anytime one of my brothers go down for sure.
Q. This is probably building off of one of your previous answers but I’m not even sure we’ll get to talk to you again at some point now that you’re almost done here, but what’s your parting message to the players who are going to be experiencing this change just after all you’ve seen here the four years you’ve been here?
DEVIN MOORE: Yeah, I’d definitely say just college football as a whole right now, the amount of things that the University of Florida has done for me and my brothers, we owe the world to the university. So every time it’s something to do with the football, something to do off the field involving the patch, playing for the patch. Give your all. That’s all I’ve got to say really, because it changed my life, it changed a bunch of people’s life in the locker room. It’s a standard to the university and we’ve got to uphold it.
Q. When you see a player like Jayden Woods as a leader how do you see him stepping up and see those other young guys stepping up when others are going down?
DEVIN MOORE: Woods, you know he’s a freak. I’m sure somebody in the media has said that before — I’ve kind of seen it somewhere, you know, but I’m here to add on to it. He’s a animal off that edge and just seeing his progression
throughout the season is amazing to watch. You know he’s going to be a guy next year who’s going to cause havoc in the SEC for sure.
Q. You knew kind of going into the game that Aguilar is going to be to be hard to handle. I think he completed 11 of 13 in the first half. What made him particularly affective in finding open guys, do you think?
DEVIN MOORE: Just moving in the pocket, I say that’s definitely one of them. And just his ability to throw on the run and just be accurate with the football. I feel like he was pretty accurate tonight. They have a tough offense to stop. They spread you out, run you, run it, run it, run it. And then they’ll come with a pass, too. So you’ve got to play both sides of the play, honest.
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