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CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: FLORIDA STATE VS MICHIGAN

December 28, 2016

Taco Charlton

Miami Gardens, Florida

Q. Has your approach this year, this bowl game, been exactly the same as last year, the whole business, or has it been even more so this year?
TACO CHARLTON: It might even be more so this year than last year. It's been more businesslike. Last year we went to Disney World, this year has been more so just staying strict to the schedule, practicing, and making sure we win this bowl game.

Q. Is that fine with you guys? Is that enough fun to have for a bowl season?
TACO CHARLTON: Hey, like I said, if that's what our coach wants us, that's what we're going to bring. We know it's a business type of -- it's not really a vacation. We take it more as a business-type deal. We take that in stride and continue to practice hard.

Q. Did you think that was a benefit in last year's win?
TACO CHARLTON: Yeah, I believe so. That's why I think we did what we did and won by such a big margin was we took it more as a business trip more than a vacation. We were serious throughout the whole week and really didn't have any distractions, so we limited the distractions and made it more serious about practicing and making it more businesslike.

Q. Part of that business trip I bet is also getting a look at some of the younger guys that are going to be replacing you guys. People think there's no way this defense can be as good because of all seniors leaving. What have you seen from the young guys?
TACO CHARLTON: Like I said, they're young, but they're a great group of guys. There's a lot of young talent on this team. They haven't really got a chance to really show it because of all of our veteran guys that's been out there so much, but through practice I've been seeing that this team has a bright future because there's a lot of young guys with a lot of talent on this team that's ready to step up and show what they can do next year.

Q. Anybody jump out at you?
TACO CHARLTON: Like I said, on the defensive line you've got Rashan Gary. I tell him every day how much of a bright future he has if he continues to work hard and do what he needs to do. He's a guy even after I leave I'll probably stay on and continue to push because I want him to be as great as he can be, and I believe he can be great.

Q. I was asking Chris and Ryan about bowl practices and what Greg and Don do to kind of keep it fresh, and Chris mentioned a game, a D-line game where you guys get candy. Can you explain it a little bit and maybe talk about some of the other things you guys do to keep fresh?
TACO CHARLTON: Yeah, so me and worm, we pick teams, pick D-linemen who we want to be on our team. My first pick was of course Ryan Glasgow, holding down the weak side, me and him together. Like I say, my team took down Worm's team, so I like to put that out there. But it's just something to do to make us have fun, be excited about watching film, things like that, looking at our keys. It's a long week, and it's a lot of film we've watched since day one, so to kind of keep our enthusiasm there and our attention to detail, we kind of add games to make sure it stays sharp and make sure we stay laser focused.

Q. What have the last few weeks have been like for you on a personal level to be healthy?
TACO CHARLTON: Yeah, so it's been good to finally get back to close to 100 percent. I've been banged up here and there, especially at the beginning of the year, playing out for the first three games really and the first three games back I was still kind of rusty, still wasn't 100 percent, to get back close there, and trying to get back to 100 percent is still hard and still a challenge, but it's been good to get close to back to that.

Q. Your NFL stock has just skyrocketed. Can you sense that?
TACO CHARLTON: Probably. I hope so. I hope he's right. Like I said, I go out there every day to try to prove my point that I believe I'm one of the best pass rushers in this country. That's something I was able to prove the last couple weeks and especially the last game. It's something I'm going to try to prove this week, too.

Q. When you did that, you were going against Ohio State.
TACO CHARLTON: Yeah, like I say, I'm from Columbus, so that game meant a lot to me. Like I said, that even adds extra motivation, being from that city, and I wanted to win that game bad. It's something that I added -- bringing something that Coach Brown talked to me about from day one was bringing the pass rush to this defense, and he said he wanted me to be the best pass rusher, so every since I've been back, that's been my mindset and something I've been able to bring to this team.

Q. Do you guys feel like you still have something to prove with this defense even though you're so high up there statistically?
TACO CHARLTON: Yeah, of course. From day one we wanted to prove we were the best defense in the country. We can't go out there and let them run all over us or let them dominate us. Like I said, for a lot of us, a lot of the seniors, this might be the last time playing football, so we definitely want to go out there and put on our best performance.

Q. When did it start to click for you in that last game where you put on a showcase? Was there a moment where you were like, okay, this is starting to all come together?
TACO CHARLTON: Yeah, I mean, like I said, the more time I get out there, the more rhythm I get and the better I get. Like I said, just getting here and then just learning more and more, like I said, the more reps I get out there on the field, the better I'll become. I'm still new to the position, only been playing there since really college, knowing the techniques and stuff like that. The more I'm out there, the better I'll get. The last game, I wanted that game bad, so the closer I got, the harder I played. I wasn't 100 percent health-wise, but I pushed past that because of how bad I did want to win that game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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