|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL: AUBURN VS PURDUEDecember 28, 2018Gus MalzahnDarius SlaytonDeshaun DavisJarrett StidhamNashville, Tennessee Auburn 63, Purdue 14 GUS MALZAHN: First of all, I'm real proud of our team. They practiced extremely hard when we were at Auburn. When we got the bowl site, business approach. They carried over. We talked about playing our best game of the year and we did that today. Defense having the two turnovers, the one for a touchdown, was big. Offense, zero turnovers. It was a very good performance overall by our team. I'm real proud of our seniors. They've led us. We've had some ups and downs this year. They've kept us together. This is a big win for us. Give us some momentum in the off-season. I really want to thank our crowd. Our crowd was unbelievable and helped us win this ballgame today. THE MODERATOR: Questions for coach and the players. Q. Gus, what was it about this performance? Did you sense anything like this coming in? GUS MALZAHN: The players' approach. You could just sense it. It was completely different. They were focused in practice. They really were demanding of theirselves. It doesn't surprise me at all that we played well. Q. Jarrett, what is it like with the couple plays early in a year where you have struggled to make the big plays? JARRETT STIDHAM: I think for us, there were some opportunities that presented themselves throughout the game. This guy right here, I mean, he's about as fast as they can get. Just did a great job up front protecting. We just tried to make those explosive plays that we've needed all year. GUS MALZAHN: Feel good the way our guys executed. You could call any play the way they executed today and it would work. Our quarterback just did a super job all day of leading us. We made explosive play after explosive play in the passing game. I thought we ran the football well, too. Q. Coach, did you envision getting out to a lead that quickly? GUS MALZAHN: You know, everything went very well. I think we scored just about every possession of the first quarter, maybe even the first half. But our defense played well. We came out and played our best game, played our best half of football. Really put the game away at halftime. Q. Darius, to have three catches and three touchdowns, describe what it was like to have a day like that? DARIUS SLAYTON: It was pretty exciting. I just wanted to come out here and help my team get a bowl win. Like Coach Malzahn said, we were looking to play our best game today. Also for me on an individual front, it was my best day. Q. Deshaun, what does it mean to go out with a win like this? DESHAUN DAVIS: Means everything to me because I know what this team has been through. Our senior class, we've been through a lot. We wanted to send those young guys into next season with a lot of momentum. We didn't want them to have that bad taste in their mouth. This win is good for the program, not just the seniors. Q. On defense, you come out with a couple big turnovers. What was your key to that? DESHAUN DAVIS: We knew we had to limit big plays, get pressure on the quarterback. We knew they were going to try to get the ball to 4, try to take a couple shots. We knew if we could get pressure, we could control everything we wanted to control. I tip my head to the defensive line. Coach threw in some great plays. Earlier in the week, this probably has been the best two weeks of practice I've had since I've been at Auburn. I'm not surprised about this performance at all. Q. Gus, is this win satisfying for you personally considering all the stuff off the field? GUS MALZAHN: Not really. What I'm excited for is our players. Like I said, their approach, they deserve all the credit. Their approach, you know, when we were at Auburn, it was a very focused, intense practice approach. When we got here to the bowl site, they were all business. A lot of bowls you have fun, all that. Their fun was winning this game and playing this game. What I'm proud of is these guys. They've earned it. We finished the season off on a high note. There has been some ups and downs, but it's going to give us great momentum for next year, like Deshaun was saying. Just really happy for our players. Q. Jarrett, is there a better way to finish it off? JARRETT STIDHAM: I mean, it's nice personally to have a great day. For me, at the end of the day, it was all about the team. Obviously last year, bowl game, we didn't finish well. This year, a lot of ups and downs. Deshaun and I, the other leaders on the team, Darius and Ryan with the receivers, I mean, everybody came together throughout the entire year. We decided we were going to stick it out. It was really great to get a win like this and to do it the right way. Q. (Question about playing till the end of the season.) JARRETT STIDHAM: First of all, I'm a competitor. Not knocking anybody else. At the end of the day, that's who I am. I'm a competitor. If you want to play checkers, let's play checkers. That's just who I am. In my short two years here, I've grown so close to these guys. I could never imagine not finishing the season with them. I'm happy, more than happy, I came back to play in this bowl game with these guys. It's been a tremendous honor to play with each and every one of them, especially these two up here. Can't speak highly enough on these guys. They deserve a lot of credit for how great Auburn has been in recent years. So at the end of the day, super happy we got a win. Q. You talked about all year how you felt like the offense was close. What was it like to see it all come together? GUS MALZAHN: It was very satisfying. Like I say, it was all about these guys executing. I mean, it was a thing of beauty to watch from the sideline, the guys make plays. When we make explosive plays, we play fast, we're a pretty good offense. Today it all came together. I really believe that will carry over to next season. Q. Were you making a cautious effort (indiscernible)? GUS MALZAHN: Any time you have explosive plays, it's a lot easier to call plays, play with tempo. Really that was a big part of it. I think all of our runningbacks did a really good job. Did a very good job of blocking up front. I think we ran the play two or three times to score behind that right side. Like I said, our offensive line, I thought they did very good, too. Our runningbacks, offensive line, I think they also improved. Q. What did you see from Malik and Joey? GUS MALZAHN: Good to get them in the game, there's no doubt. The score was kind of out of hand there, but they still got some reps there. Good to see Joey. I think you can see once he gets out in the open, he's a big guy, tough to tackle. I thought Malik did some good things, too. Q. Jarrett, the start of your college career, no one could have envisioned how it was going to play out. What has that meant to you, what is your lasting impression of your time there? JARRETT STIDHAM: It's been a tremendous honor to rep Auburn University every Saturday the last two years. I can't speak highly enough on Auburn University, between the administration, coaching staff, support staff, every single player. My time at Auburn has been, I mean, nothing short of great. Some of my best friends are here at Auburn, I made them at Auburn. Some of the best guys I've ever played with here at Auburn. I'm an alumni now. I want nothing but the best for Auburn moving forward. I'll forever be grateful for Auburn University. Q. Deshaun, what is it like playing for Coach Steele the last few years? DESHAUN DAVIS: One thing about him, man, he believes in his players. I tell people all the time, there's nothing like having someone, especially a coach, that just believes in you, lets you play so free. His IQ for the game is just amazing. He watches film, he can tell what the offense is going to do. It's like he's in the mind of the offensive coordinator. When you put those things together, when you know the game, you have the ability to make your players play for you, not just for themselves. Sometimes can get your players to play above and beyond their talent. Coach has been everything for me, man. I'm glad he came here. I know he's going to do great with the defense also in the future. I'm excited to watch those guys on the other side. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|