[Mark Wheeler]

Billy Napier

Opening statement…
“I just want to thank our fans for coming out. I think that was the tenth largest crowd in the history of the school. We said in the very beginning that it was going to take a team effort to get this done, to build, to create moment, positive energy on the outside. They made a difference tonight. There’s no question they effected the game. The University of Florida is a special place and these people coming back because of the way it impacted them. The memories they had here influenced their lives and some of those memories are football games at the Swamp. We are very thankful for our fans showing up. They contributed to our team.”

On Anthony Richardson…
“The one thing I can tell you about Anthony [Richardson] is that he is sitting in that locker room right now and he is thinking about, probably, the six or eight plays that he could have done a little bit better. That’s what I love about him. He is very critical of himself. He is an unbelievable competitor.

We all know the kid has got the physical talent. We’ve known that for a long time, but what’s
impressed me is his work ethic, his discipline, his detail. He’s a good teammate. He’s a great example.

He’s selfless. This kid has been in the spotlight for a long time. You may worry that that would affect him. I think that’s made him a better person. I think he, being from Gainesville, I think he realizes the platform and the opportunity of the example that he can set in the building and also in our community. Anthony’s going to stay humble. That’s his first start in the Swamp. He’s going to continue to improve. I’m certainly thankful we got him.”

On coaching in the Swamp…
“I think I told one of our guys during the game ‘Can you believe they pay us to do this?’ It’s a game of football, right. I think sometimes we get caught up with the event, but what’s rewarding is when you know what went into the event, the preparation for the event. When you go all the way back to January, just the unique thing about the game of football. I mean countless hours. On the books, off the books. Not just players, but staff members. Then we get to go out here in front of all the people and put the work on show. It’s rewarding to see players. When you know the individual players, and you’re observing them, the growth you’ve seen, and the work that you’ve seen from them. They’re having success and they’re in the fight. There’s a lot to this game that is rewarding. I think we are thankful for the work and trust in this group of players.”

On making a statement…
“This group’s got fight in them. I think I’ve said that publicly. That’s one thing about our team. They compete. I’ve got to slow them down sometimes. I can remember a good friend of mine, when we took the job, who had worked here before, he said ‘The kids at Florida are the most competitive kids that I’ve been around.’ I would agree with them. They’ve got a little bit different edge about them.

The execution wasn’t always what we wanted out there. We got so much work to do. That’s what I’m thinking about. We were fortunate to overcome many mistakes tonight. But the intangibles that the team showed. They continue to respond and to rise up there at the end and make a play. We got work to do. We won a game. We are going to enjoy it. Then, we are going to turn the page tomorrow and get ready for SEC play.”

On Amari Burney…
“Amari Burney is one of my favorite players on the team. I think this is his sixth year. He’s really played like 1600 snaps here and I call him an old man all the time. We are thankful for Amari. He’s got character. He’s a great communicator. He makes other players around him better. He’s a guy who really has risen to the occasion, in terms of that position and what we need from that position. That’s one of the things that I was describing earlier. To see that guy make a play, I think that’s a special moment for that locker room because they love Amari Burney. For that guy to make a play, I think that’s pretty special.”

On Utah…
“Hat’s off to Utah. I told Coach Whittingham, ‘I know we got to play you next year, but at some point, here when we get done competing against each other I want to come see you.’ They played great football. They played complementary football. They are physical. They get a lot out of what they have. I’ve got so much respect for them. We knew those tight ends were going to be a matchup issue and they certainly were.”

Anthony Richardson

On the 2-point conversion…
“I did that in practice a few weeks ago. That wasn’t my first time ever doing it. Just tried to make something happen. I guess it worked. I am glad it worked.”

On first start in the swamp…
“It was different for sure. During the first few drives, I messed up on a couple plays but got motions. I was a little jittery, but it was definitely fun. My first start in the Swamp, second career start. I was in my head a little bit, but the game was fun. Shoutout to Utah and shoutout to my teammates, but I was jittery.”

On having the ball in his hands with the game on the line…
“It was different. Coach Napier told me I was going to score right here, a game winner. My heart froze and I hadn’t really heard those words before, especially in a situation like that with the crowd being so loud. I was thinking a lot. I feel like the team trust me, the coaches trust me. I made a play.”

On making a statement…
“It is definitely a big win. A lot of guys first game in the swamp. Coach Napier’s first game in the Swamp. We just knocked off a top ranked team. There is a lot of good energy in the locker room right now. I felt like it boost some guys confidence. A lot of people were doubting us. That’s just how the world works. Some people love you, some people don’t. So, we fought through it and won the game.”

Gervon Dexter Sr.

On Amari Burney’s Interception to seal the win…
“That was electric as well and obviously a great play by [Amari] Burney. He’s a senior who knows what to do and where to be and he knows how to make big plays.”

On the younger players…
“Chris [McClellan] and some of the other young guys coming into the season[…] We knew we were inexperienced at defensive line and he came in and prepared himself to be there. Obviously, Coach [Sean] Spencer and Coach [Patrick] Toney trust him enough to put him out there. He did his job and I feel like he did pretty well.”

On being doubted prior to the game…
“I don’t think we felt any doubt. We prepared for this moment and the moment came and it was
time for us to execute. We’re the Florida Gators and we’re playing in the Swamp so it was nothing new.

On Freshman Linebacker Shemar James and Chris McClellan…
“Shemar is not experienced but I feel like he is a young mature player for his age. Just like Chris McClellan he came in and competed for us and he earned his spot”

On the Goal Line Stand before Halftime…
“Coach [Patrick Toney] made a call and we just executed it.”

On how much confidence Anthony Richardson gives the team…
“He’s a leader. The whole team follows him. Every step he takes we are right behind him. We’ll go to battle with him and everything he does we will follow him. He makes a huge positive impact.”

On Anthony’s ability with the ball in his hand and the two-point conversion…
“In my opinion every time Anthony has the ball I feel like something good is going to happen. He has so many abilities. He can run the ball and throw the ball so when you play a quarterback like that you have to watch for both and it’s hard to stop a quarterback like Anthony Richardson.”

Montrell Johnson Jr.

On his first game in the Swamp and the early fumble…
“My first career game in the swamp was…amazing I’m not gonna lie…it was amazing to hear 90,000+ thousand screaming for you. When the fumble happened, I was kinda frustrated with myself and my teammates came to me and picked me up and made sure I was alright and just told me it’s a long game to play. I feel I stepped up to the occasion.”

On the Swamp crowd and environment…
“Everything I heard, everything was true. I was kinda shocked when I first walked out I was just like looking around and taking it all in and it was great to play here.”

On the offense tonight…
“I feel like we played alright. You know we got some mistakes that we gotta fix but overall, we came out with the win. That’s all we could ask for.”

On the fumble and Coach Napier leaving him in the game…
“That shows me that he puts his trust in me and I gotta show up every day and work.”

On singing the alma mater at the end…
“It felt amazing. It felt unreal. I was just soaking up the moment. I’m still trying to learn the alma mater. I know the fight song a little bit but I’m still trying to learn the alma mater.”

Amari Burney

On the environment
“This is my fifth year right now, so just to come back and play in this type of environment again, it was just a great feeling. I love the crowd.”

On how he made the interception…
“We were basically in man coverage. I’m the Rat. I read the quarterback, he threw the ball […] I just knew I had to come up with it. I played receiver, so it was really easy to catch the ball.”

On covering Brant Kuithe all game…
“Number 80 and number 86 are great tight ends. They’re probably the best tight ends we are going to play all season. Just guarding him tonight, great coverage. Just got to get my head around for the ball. Those boys are very outstanding athletes so I’m going to give them that for this one.”

On the defense having big moments like they had in the game…
“It is very great. I feel like at the end of the day we shouldn’t let them get down there. But when we do let them get down there, we got to make four-point plays. That means either they kick a field goal or we just stop them completely. That is basically what we were trying to do the whole game.”

On the interception
“Yeah, we were yelling at each other that somebody has to make a play right now and it just
happened so to be me. Coach called a very good defense at that time, and I came up with the
play. Shout out to Coach [Patrick Toney].”

Kyle Whittingham

Opening statement…
“Tough loss but I am extremely proud of our football team, but there are no moral victories so I am not trying to paint that picture. We are going to work past that. We have guys that are going to compete until the bitter end. They showed toughness, grit and determination. You name it they showed it, we just didn’t do enough and came up short. A big takeaway in the first quarter, when we stripped that ball and returned it 40, 50, 60 yards and the offense punched it in and that was huge.

Conversely, we gave up a big quarterback run in the first and that was damaging. We didn’t run the ball effectively in the first half and then we came back in the second half and did exactly what we needed to do. Second half being stopped on the one-yard life was a tough deal and it hurt our chances to win. Then we scored and a couple possessions later botched the two-point conversion and that would have been big. A lot of shoulda, coulda, wouldas. Bottom line I couldn’t be prouder of Cam Rising and Tavion Thomas and the defenders that played their hearts out. Give credit to Florida, they are a great football team. They have some terrific athletes starting with their quarterback. But I am proud of our guys. We have to regroup and can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”

On Cam Rising’s interception…
“It wasn’t one of his best throws of the night and I am sure he will wish he had it back but he played really well tonight. Ran the ball effectively and threw the ball effectively. He is our guy and that is not going to change.”

On the Anthony Richardson’s running ability…
“He ran for over 100 yards and there were some damaging runs in the first half and the touchdown run in the second. He is going to get his. The guy is like 6’4” and 240 and runs like a 4.3 so there is no way to keep him bottled up. He did the damage at key points and times in the game and he is a terrific player.”

On the successful adjustments in the second half…
“We didn’t have a lot of possessions in the first half. In the second quarter we only had a few. So that was a big thing. In the second half our offense got in a rhythm and we started to run the football which is what we are all about. You start running the football and everything else opens up.”

On Brant Kuithe…
“What a stud, that dude is one of the best tight ends in the country if you can call him a tight end. Between him and Dalton Kincaid there are not a lot of teams that have that good of a one-two punch. I think Georgia has a few good tight ends. We are probably top 2 or 3 in the country with those guys.”

On R.J. Hubert…
“He has had a few injuries and is not able to practice full time due to the lingering effects of the injuries. He is just a tough kid and I love coaching him and having him on the team.”

Brant Kuithe

On overall emotions after that ending…
“Yeah it’s hard. Just a lot of missed opportunities. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot, but give them credit because they made stops when needed and they are good team, but we just got to bounce back from this one and go on to next week and try to go 1-0.”

On how being one of those leaders can help Cameron Rising…
“We have been playing this game forever, people make mistakes but at the end of the day things
happen and we are all here playing the game and I had a lot of opportunities I could have made, but I didn’t. So, at the end of the day, we don’t really look too harsh on it cause you can’t go back and change that. The only thing you can do is improve. So, just trying to get back Monday and look at film and see what we can do and go onto the next.”

On how much of a factor the crowd, the noise and the environment was tonight…
“It was none. We worked over a couple weeks on crowd noise, so it was not a factor at all. At least for the offense. We didn’t care about it. We had a couple false starts, but I think that was more technical, but you know, it had no effect on us.”

R.J. Hubert

On what it was like trying to contain Anthony Richardson…
“There was a couple things where we would bring me down into the box to kind of; you know we’re down a man if the quarterback runs and that’s kind of what the free safety’s job is to mirror the quarterback and so they brought me down in the box a couple times.”

On handling the passing game well…
“It’s hard. I’m very critical on myself. Not so much my teammates, but I think there was definitely things we could have done better. I thought we did an alright job. I mean we didn’t get gashed deep so you know that’s always a big thing.”

On if there was any difference in the locker room at halftime…
“In the first half we had seen everything we had practiced for. The scouts did a great job this week leading up. Well I guess most of the weeks leading up. Just giving us a really good look of what Anthony Richardson would do. So, it wasn’t anything that took us by surprise, but there was you know missed tackles, missed assignments that were really horrendous.”

Cameron Rising

On late-game interception
“Not very happy about it […] that’s it.”

On if the environment had an effect on the game…
“Nope we train for it. We prepared for it.”

On what changed for him from the first half to the second…
“Just settled down and started to play ball.”

On the possibility of running it on the last play…
“You don’t have timeouts, and the clock [was running]. Usually you want to pass the ball because you just can’t get a field goal right there.”

On what Coach Kyle Whittingham’s message was on the final drive…
“Get the ball in field goal position and if we can score, score the ball.

On the goal line stand in the 3rd quarter…
“I think I got in, but hey, it is what it is […]I think I got in.”

On why they did not challenge call on the goal line…
“It is what it is. It happened. And that’s the way it is.”

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