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CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 2, 2018Sony MichelRoquan SmithGrapevine, Texas Q. Roquan, I wanted to ask you about your feelings about Jake Fromm when he first came into the program. It seems like he's kind of a galvanizing guy that people sort of are drawn to and got early respect, but I just wanted to get your take on Jake in that way. ROQUAN SMITH: Yeah, I think he's a phenomenal guy, first-class guy. When he first got here, prior to him even being the starter, the way he carried himself was like a senior or something like that. It was pretty good, and just seeing what the guy has done is like -- hasn't surprised me one bit. Q. Roquan, I'm sure you didn't get to see the Alabama game last night, but I'm sure you've heard about how they dominated that game. Do you see Alabama maybe as an underdog since they were kind of the last team to get in this four-team playoff and obviously took it out on Clemson? ROQUAN SMITH: No, I don't see them as an underdog, I see them as a team in the SEC, so in the SEC any team can win on any given Saturday, whatever day the game is. No, I don't look at them as an underdog. Q. How do you see Alabama? ROQUAN SMITH: A great football team. Q. A lot has been made about Nick and Kirby's relationship, and Nick said earlier these games aren't about the coaches, but for players, do y'all kind of buy into any of the talk that it's master versus pupil kind of thing or just kind of seeing how the two coaches prepare for this game? SONY MICHEL: I believe it's more for Coach Smart and the Georgia football team as a whole. It's special for all-around players and coaches because we all work hard for the same goal in the off-season and throughout the season. In my opinion, I think it's special for the coaches and the players of the University of Georgia. ROQUAN SMITH: And my take, just piggy-backing off of what he said, I think it's very special for the university, the players, the coaches because everyone put in a lot of work throughout the year and just to say one particular group is excited or happy or something like that, I think that would be shorting itself. I definitely think it's a lot of excitement, and it's for more in the players and the coaches and the fan base and everyone else associated. Q. I wanted to ask you about the emotions that you had last night in the game and flying back to the other side of the country. What was today like, and is it going to be tough to kind of, I guess, have the right mindset? How much energy was spent, and how do you have to watch yourself and how do you prepare for this week? SONY MICHEL: We were very excited. I'm sure there's still a lot of excitement around this program in the building, but we won games around here, so we know how to handle situations like this. We know our task at hand. We've just got to move forward. We've got a big -- a good opponent we're about to face, so I'm sure this team, this coaching staff knows what we've got to focus on from here on. ROQUAN SMITH: I would say the same thing. There's a lot of excitement winning the Rose Bowl and whatnot, but the focus has to shift back to the bigger picture, and that's the National Championship game. I think everyone knows, and I think everyone knows that they have to shift their focus back. Q. I actually had one for each of you. Roquan, I'm wondering, I don't know how much chance you've had to see Jalen Hurts, but what kind of stands out to you about him because he can make plays both ways? ROQUAN SMITH: Oh, definitely. I haven't seen like too much but more so was going to hone in on that today. But yeah, from like just seeing games and whatnot, I think he's a heck of an athlete, can beat you on the ground, and he has a pretty solid arm, as well, to give his receivers a chance to make a play on the ball, in the air, as well. Q. Sony, what have you seen from Alabama's run defense because that's obviously something over the years that they've prided themselves on a lot, and they did a pretty good job last night against Clemson's running game? SONY MICHEL: That's what Alabama is known for, having good run defense, just an overall good defense. I'm excited for the challenge. I'm sure this offense is, the team is, and I'm looking forward to it. Q. Talking about the emotion of that win and the logistics of getting back from California and back over here, are you guys in any way wiped out because of the emotional energy expended, and do you think there's any way that you won't be at 100 percent ready to go by the time you've got to play that game on Monday? ROQUAN SMITH: Well, you know, that game happened -- there was a lot of excitement around and whatnot, but we just have to shift our focus back because the main thing is to win the National Championship, and we know that if we're not honed in and like doing everything we can in our power to prepare ourselves for that game, then we know we'll be shorting ourselves, but I definitely don't think -- I think we'll be 100 percent, though, for sure. SONY MICHEL: Just to piggy-back off of that, the Rose Bowl, there was a lot of excitement, but our ultimate goal was to get to the National Championship, and I think that's everybody's focus. Everybody has shifted their focus onto that game, and I think everybody is prepared and ready to move on. I don't think any more energy was wasted on celebration. I think we celebrated enough, and we're kind of getting ready to move on to our next opponent. Q. Roquan, talking to Coach Kirby, he said you just didn't play Georgia defense in the first half, good as the Sooners were. Something really changed the second half when their offense was held to 10 points and then the overtimes. Was it a case of schemes changing or did you guys just try to dial the pressure and play with more intensity? And then for Sony, the 75-yard run last night, it looked very similar to the 77-yard run you had against Florida this year. Was it the same type play or the case of the offensive line opening that hole real quick? SONY MICHEL: That's the type of play, but we're a downhill team, so we run the ball. We've got plenty of plays running downhill, and our offensive line did a tremendous job blocking. Receivers did a tremendous job blocking downfield, and I think those guys just gave a lot of effort yesterday with their blocking, which made it so much easier for me to make that 75-yard run happen. ROQUAN SMITH: Yeah, I would say we definitely had to make some halftime adjustments and whatnot, but we knew going into the game that that was going to create some challenges for us on defense and a lot of things. We were just missing assignments in the first half, and they were just taking advantage of it. We know we can't afford to do that when we're facing a team like that. And then the second half we just had to come in -- it wasn't more so changing the scheme, it was more so just doing our scheme to the best of our ability, and once we did that, we figured out that we can actually stop those guys on offense, which we knew all along, but we didn't show that in the first half. Q. I don't know how much you guys can really talk about this yet, but with all the ties between the schools and everything, is it almost like playing a team that's a mirror image of yourself? SONY MICHEL: As far as comparisons, I would just say we play hard-nosed football. ROQUAN SMITH: I would say the same thing. Just two physical football teams. I wouldn't say -- we both do what we do different and whatnot, and we're just not the same, but I will say we both are very physical football teams and both protect the ball on the offensive side of the ball and play stingy defense. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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