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Florida head coach Billy Napier along with quarterback DJ Lagway, running back Montrell Johnson Jr., linebacker Shemar James, and defensive lineman Tyreak Sapp met with the media on Saturday evening to discuss the Gators’ 31-11 win over in-state rival Florida State.
BILLY NAPIER
Opening statement
“Before we get going here, obviously what happened there at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program. And it’s embarrassing to me and it’s a distraction from a really well-played football game. So, I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization, just in terms of how we represented the University there. We shouldn’t have done that and we won’t do that going forward, and there will be consequences for all involved. I do think that we played complimentary ball. I thought, defensively, we were really lights out. We had a season high in TFLs and sacks, limited the explosive plays, and then, obviously created some takeaways and were able to take advantage of those on offense and get some points from those. Montrell [Johnson Jr.] goes over 3,000 yards. And look, I think we didn’t have our fastball on offense. I think it was evident there. We had some missed opportunities, and I do think that it could’ve been worse, is what I would say. But I think we struggled at times there. We got to play better around the quarterback. Obviously, across the board there, I think we’ll look back at it and we’ll see that we got to play better around the quarterback. But in general, good ball. Good to see us finish it there in the second half. And then, really proud of the leadership of the players. We talked all week about finishing the race, and we’re here. Proud of our
team.”
On the defense being opportunistic with five fumble recoveries
“Yeah, some of those were just takeaway behavior. We talk about putting takeaway behavior on the film. Do it in practice, you do it in the game. Second, third, fourth, fifth defender in, being around the ball. Population around the ball contributes to turnovers. The mission here was to come here and put a bunch of identity clips on the tape, and I think we did that.”
On clinching the team’s first winning season since 2020
“I think midseason is when it all kind of came together. Think the players did a good job of kind of putting their blinders on in the first month, and didn’t allow excuses, didn’t allow blame. Really just went back to work. Go back to that first open date, and I think that Tennessee game was pivotal. The way they responded to that. Just in general, good to have some momentum, and I thought we took advantage. That was the mission, was to capture the momentum we had tonight and I think we did that.”
On the locker room excitement following the win
“It’s a huge positive. It’s unfortunate that we have a distraction, that again is inexcusable. Look, our guys deserve it. They’re worked their tails off. I’m proud of them. As a coach, you want to see the players get some gratification from all their work. These guys, what we ask them to do, is not normal. And all they’ve done is continue to show up, and they’ve brought the effort, brought the attitude and they were ready to play.”
On looking back and identifying when the mindset got to where it needs to be
“That Wednesday of that first open date, that’s kind of where I kind of saw our guys change tunes a little bit. Change gears as competitors. Get back to playing the game, enjoying playing the game. And then I think the way we competed on the road at Tennessee, in that first half we really showed up and fought our tails off, and thought we were in position to win that game. Then obviously that transitioned to Kentucky and then the way we competed against Georgia. All these things kept adding up. But in general, taking pride in how we compete on game day. One thing we’ve learned is you got to earn it. You gotta go take it. There’s no shortcuts. There’s no guarantee of a return. You got to do all the work during the week and then when the ball gets spotted, you have to go execute. You have to win one-on-ones. You have to communicate at a high level. You got to play with extra effort. You got to play with physicality. So, we figured out that we could do it and that’s football. We got some guys that can play, and they finally started playing with some confidence. I think belief is powerful.”
On the touchdown before half followed by the pick to open the third quarter
“We were trying to play make-it, take-it. I thought we managed the clock pretty good there. We didn’t start the half very good, so I was disappointed with that. But yeah, to make it two scores and really just kind of extend the lead, and get control of the game. At that point, although we were in control the score didn’t reflect that. Making it two scores right before the half was big.”
On Lagway shrugging off a potential sack for an explosive play
“Superman. There were a handful of plays that were off-schedule and I think that’s what he does. He’s going to be frustrated because he knows there were six or eight plays out there where he could have been better. But look, we got to play better around the quarterback. I didn’t think we were as sharp. Every position there can be better around the quarterback tonight.”
On seeing Montrell Johnson Jr. returning from injury to eclipse 3,000 rushing yards
“He worked his tail off to get over the high ankle, the bone bruise. Missed a chunk of the season there in the middle. You could just see, just last week against Ole Miss, when he’s on, he’s a little different. His patience, his acceleration, his vision. And then he showed some finishing speed tonight. I mean, 3,000 yards. How many backs in the country right now have got 3,000 yards rushing? So, he’s taken full advantage. And he’s a class act off the field. He’s everything you would want a player to be in terms of representing the program.”
DJ LAGWAY
On the rivalry win
“It’s pretty cool, just to see the stadium. You always watch, see it on TV, and just seeing the horse and stuff like that in the middle of the field, it’s pretty cool to go there and see that. And then go play and get the dub, especially, in those stadiums, it was great.”
On escaping a sack for a big play
“Just playing football. Just going out there, having heart, just competing. It wasn’t the prettiest game, there was a lot of mistakes that we made offensively, and just going out there when my team needs me to make a play, just got to make a play, just doing everything I can do to get the W, you know.”
On how he is feeling from a health standpoint
“Yeah, I am feeling a lot better since LSU. It’s just a week-by-week process just to get it back. I am starting to be able to move a lot better now, as you can see. You know, I feel like it’s getting better each week and it’s just going to continue to progress.”
On how big that touchdown was right before the half
“It was huge, especially, you know we had some communication issues in the redzone that led to the pick, so it was huge for me to come back to [Marcus] Burke, ‘cause he felt like he let everybody down. But it’s a team effort, we just all had to get on the same page and it felt great to go back to him on that route and get that touchdown.”
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR.
On going out with a winning record
“It means a lot for the future of this program. Just knowing that these guys, myself included, have set the standard and the platform for the guys in the future. Just to go out and make this program great again.”
On not being able to play last week
“He kind of addressed it in the locker room. He said there’s no place for this. We’re not the type of program. Again, there’s no place for this. It’s football. We’re trying to become a winning program and winning programs don’t do that.”
On what he has seen from DJ as a leader
“As a leader, I have seen a lot of maturity at his age that you don’t see a lot, just kind of becoming that natural leader that this team needs right now. Just like whenever guys mess up, you know a lot of young guys don’t want to speak up, but he’s the opposite of that. He speaks up, he speaks his mind and that’s going to be great in the future.”
On what it means to rush for 3,000 yards
“I don’t really know how to feel about it, honestly. Obviously, it means a lot to me, but I just feel like going out there, getting a win with the team, just going out the right way, that means more to me.”
SHEMAR JAMES
On how he felt after the rivalry win
“Happy, so happy, so happy y’all. Like [Tyreak Sapp] said, you know two losses in a row to these guys, and it was great to get that bad taste out of our mouth and come into their house and get the dub.”
On his fumble recovery and getting the ball back to the offense
“Yeah, it felt great for myself, for the team. You know, that was just a big turning point in the game, just any big play on defense getting the ball back to the offense. And it was great like you said, I almost ran to the endzone with it but, the ref gave me a couple of choice words, but it was good. Yeah, I had to make sure we got it back.”
On the amount of forced and recovered fumbles the defense had
“Yeah, I mean shoot we practice that in our takeover circuit throughout the week. We expect that. That’s kind of our standard, get the ball out, get it back to our offense. You know, we wanted to score on defense but we unfortunately couldn’t do that, but it’s coming.”
On The improvement in manufactured defensive pressures and coverages
“Yeah, I think you kind of explained it well. Just guys being comfortable in the defense. Coach Roberts and Coach Armstrong, they kinda draw things to kind of get the quarterbacks looking this way and the pressure is coming from the other way. Like kind of disguising different coverages just to get to the quarterbacks. I think it’s just guys that got that confidence that can disguise very well and we hit a lot tonight.”
TYREAK SAPP
On what the win means to the team
“It was like a relief, off my back. I’ve gone two years, two years losing to these guys. That’s a great group of guys that they put together, always find a way to put a team together. It’s always a challenge, it’s a rivalry game, we don’t like them and they don’t like us. So, for two years, this has been sitting on us, sitting on me and Shemar especially, because we were here to see it. It was just great to see the work that we’ve been putting in since the offseason. This is one of the best ways to end it.”
On the feeling in the locker room after this three-game win streak/turnaround
“It’s gratifying, but it’s great to know that we earned it. I tell my guys, we don’t ‘deserve’ anything. We ‘earn’ everything that we have and everything that we get. Nobody gives us anything, because when people play the Florida Gators, they’re going to put their best foot forward and try to destroy us just because of who we are. We accept that challenge… week in and week out, we take that personally and go to work…”
Transcripts courtesy Florida Sports Information | Videos courtesy GatorVision & YouTube
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