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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: CLEMSON VS OKLAHOMA

December 28, 2015

D.J. Reader

Miami Gardens, Florida

Q. How has the week gone so far?
D.J. READER: The week has gone good. Got that first practice out of the way yesterday. So it's been good. It's good to be down here, good weather. I mean, we feel good. Yesterday playing, just knocking off the rust off and finally getting back to contact after that long break that we had.

Q. What does this defense think about Baker Mayfield and the way he can -- what kind of pressure does that put on you guys?
D.J. READER: You know, it's a hard game plan. He's a great player. Reminds us a lot of what we play against in practice. He's a pretty good player. He's a competitor. That's what we've seen from him on film. He really likes to compete, and he's a leader, and his team feeds off his energy, so yeah, it's good to go against a player like that, and we're excited to get out there and play against him.

Q. What do you do what he's scrambling in the pocket and trying to find somewhere to go? How do you keep him there, contain him?
D.J. READER: You just try to fill your lane, your rush lanes, man, and really just try to get him on the ground. I watch a lot of film and watch him escape tackles and it's amazing to watch because it's not like he's the biggest guy, but he's crafty with his feet, he's got good balance. He, like I said, competes and wants to make every play. Really just got to have control of the rush lanes, can't get out of the gap or he's going to expose you. He does a great job at what he does. So we've just got to really get him on the ground and make sure we have controlled rushes.

Q. Do you see any of Watson's tendencies in him, Deshaun's?
D.J. READER: I think he's a great player. Deshaun is a great player. They're different in their own aspects. So I mean, I think both of them are really competitors and both leaders. That's really the comparison I can tell you. Other than that, you know, they're both really good. Baker has got 35 touchdowns on five picks this year. He's having a great year, so you can't argue with what he's done. He's done a great job for them.

Q. Does he remind you of Johnny Manziel at all?
D.J. READER: Yeah, like the way he competes, wants to extend plays. He does a great job at taking care of the ball, obviously, with only five picks. He's very productive, and he's a leader. He feeds off that energy. He's not afraid to sometimes put his head down, maybe fight for those extra yards. Yeah, you definitely see those characteristics out of him.

Q. Do you have a favorite story about Coach Venables?
D.J. READER: Do I have a favorite story about Coach Venables? Probably my funniest story is probably last year playing South Carolina, Coach V, Vic has a strip sack, and the ball is just on the ground, and Coach V there's almost two yards on the field floating at the ball, and our strength coach has to grab him and pull him back and then finally recovered it, but he's that intense. That's the funniest part about Coach V. There's always intensity, and it's kind of cool to see him flip that switch and be one of the guys whenever practice is over, and he goes right back to being one of the guys. He's just a normal guy, so it's pretty cool.

Q. What are some of the hallmarks of his intensity? I can think of the eyes.
D.J. READER: He chews five different flavors of gum at practice, and when you just see him -- like it's like the end of practice. During the game, middle the game, he'll start chewing so hard. That gets me every time, like he's really chomping down. He's so intense right now. I think that's like the part that gets me. Maybe his spasms of yelling. He'll go from such a high yell to calm right in the next second, so it's just like -- those parts really get me about Coach Venables. He can tell he's into those moments.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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