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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 1, 2008

John Parker Wilson

CHUCK DUNLAP: Can you just give us your thoughts on playing Florida for the championship this Saturday night?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: You know, I think it's going to be a big game. I think we're all excited, ready to go. You know, we've had a good season thus far. Right now it's just about finishing what we've started.

Q. Can you just talk about what you've seen of Florida's defense? They're obviously noticeably improved over a year ago.
JOHN PARKER WILSON: Without question. I think they're super fast. They do a lot of stuff, confuse quarterbacks, try to throw different looks at them, and then obviously their athletic ability, they're a very good team, or the best team we're going to see coming so far this season.

Q. I know you've already played in the Dome this year, which is said to be a pretty fast track. Florida obviously has a lot of team speed. Do you see Florida's team speed being an advantage or the fact that y'all have already played there, y'all are already used to the speed that y'all are going to see and you face it in practice every day?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: Yeah, well, we see speed every day, and everybody in the SEC has got speed, so I don't think that's going to be a factor at all. We've played there already once this season, kind of know what to expect. But we've got fast guys, too.

Q. You guys have been No. 1 most of the season or at least the latter half of the season. It seems like when Florida got on a roll, everybody started penciling them into the National Championship game. You're ten-point underdogs. Is there some disrespect going on there?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: I guess you say that, but it's nothing that we've really given much thought about or looked at too much. Whatever the prediction of the game is really has no bearing on the outcome of the game. You know, it's going to go in there -- we're going to play just like we've played in any other game. Being an underdog or whatever makes no difference to us.

Q. Why do you think you guys have been able to turn it around this year from 13 and 13 the last two years, and what are the reasons why it's happened for you?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: I think we came in here and just changed the attitude about things, the way we go about everything, whether it's working out or practicing. I think guys have bought into the system, kind of understand what's going on, and just going out there and doing the things we need to do, day in and day out. It's not waiting until Saturday; it's doing everything throughout the week that's going to make us a good team and make us a winning team.

Q. Both you and Florida played really, really well in the first quarter of games this season, really gotten teams behind the 8-ball early. I was wondering, considering you all are such fast starters, how important is the first quarter of this game going to be?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: I think the first quarter is important but not nearly as important as the third and the fourth quarter. What we talk about all the time as a team is the fourth quarter, the end, the second half. Getting off to a fast start helps out a lot, get points on the board early, and putting the other team in a situation where they're doing things they don't want to. But finishing the game and staying strong the rest of the game is I think the key.

Q. Why do you think you've been such a fast starting team this year?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: I don't know, kind of the mindset we have, I guess. We don't really talk about it or put a lot of emphasis on coming out and scoring points early; it's just kind of one of those things that have happened for us.

Q. Can you just talk about I guess the influence that your offensive coordinator Jim McElwain had this year? How did he help you out? You really seemed to be in a rhythm all year throwing the ball.
JOHN PARKER WILSON: Well, I think he came in and kind of made things simple, not made things tougher than they really are. I think we have really good communication throughout preparation during the week, on the same page game-plan-wise and going into Saturday. I think that's helped out in the past games more than anything is really the running game, the way we've been able to come out and run the ball, made people put more guys in the box than they want to is tougher on the passing game than anything.

Q. Can you ever see yourself apologizing for a loss? We've all been asking about Tim Tebow's comments after the Ole Miss game where he basically put the entire season on him; no team is going to play harder, no player is going to play harder than me the rest of the season. Could you ever see yourself doing that in public, I guess, after a game?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: I don't know, I think it would depend on the situation. I think we do the things we need to during the week to prepare and everything, where Saturday rolls around, the hay is in the barn. I think the preparation we have around here has led us this season not to have any regrets after the game.

Q. Kind of in the same vein, Tim Tebow gets all the hype and all the talk this week, but you're not exactly a slouch, either, quarterback. Could you talk about making an impression of your own in this game?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: You know, I think I'm going to go out and do the things that I've done so far this year that's got us here. We've kind of changed the way our offense has been the past couple years. We're not throwing the ball nearly as many times as we have. But I'm taking care of the ball, making good decisions and keeping our team in a good chance to win. I think I'm just going to go out there and try to do that, let our players make plays and not try to do too much. We've got some athletes that can make plays after they get their hands on the ball, so that's the way it is for me. I think everything will take care of itself after that.

Q. How much has Julio helped you this season?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: A lot. He's one of the best players I've ever played with. He works hard in practice, he's a good guy. He makes everybody else around him better, not only himself with his athletic ability, but he makes everybody else better around him.

Q. I was talking to Javier Arenas earlier, and he said that one of the things about Coach Sabin that makes him so great is his attention to detail, and I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that and how much that has helped this team make this turnaround that they've made.
JOHN PARKER WILSON: Yeah, you know, everything, every little thing is big. There's nothing that's overlooked or pushed to the side. I think every aspect of the program he pays close attention to and inputs a lot of time and effort into, whether it's guys going to class or doing what they need to do day in and day out. I think everything is held to a high standard, whether it's -- even if we're playing Western Kentucky or we're playing LSU, it's the same every week. We know we're going to get the same attitude, the same intensity every week, so it's so consistent, it's easy for us to come in here and go to work every day.

Q. I'm just wondering, do you have any kind of relationship with Tim Tebow, and have you thought about what life would have been like if he decided to go to Alabama three years ago?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: No, never really talked to him and never really thought about that, either.

Q. What are your impressions when you watch him play?
JOHN PARKER WILSON: I mean, he's a good quarterback. He's a good player. He makes plays, and he gets his team ready to play.

End of FastScripts

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